Tropical diseases updates

waltky · Jul 28, 2012

Chance to use the new vaccine...

Officials: Ebola breaks out in Uganda
28 July`12 The deadly Ebola virus has killed 14 people in western Uganda this month, Ugandan health officials said on Saturday, ending weeks of speculation about the cause of a strange disease that had many people fleeing their homes.

The officials and a World Health Organization representative told a news conference in Kampala Saturday that there is "an outbreak of Ebola" in Uganda. "Laboratory investigations done at the Uganda Virus Research Institutehave confirmed that the strange disease reported in Kibaale is indeed Ebola hemorrhagic fever," the Ugandan government and WHO said in joint statement. Kibaale is a district in midwestern Uganda, where people in recent weeks have been troubled by a mysterious illness that seemed to have come from nowhere. Ugandan health officials had been stumped as well, and spent weeks conducting laboratory tests that were at first inconclusive.

On Friday, Joaquim Saweka, the WHO representative in Uganda, told The Associated Press that investigators were "not so sure" it was Ebola, and a Ugandan health official dismissed the possibility of Ebola as merely a rumor. It appears firm evidence of Ebola was clinched overnight. Health officials told reporters in Kampala that the 14 dead were among 20 reported with the disease. Two of the infected have been isolated for examination by researchers and health officials. A clinical officer and, days later, her 4-month-old baby died from the disease caused by the Ebola virus, officials said. Officials urged Ugandans to be calm, saying a national emergency taskforce had been set up to stop the disease from spreading far and wide.

There is no cure or vaccine for Ebola, and in Uganda, where in 2000 the disease killed 224 people and left hundreds more traumatized, it resurrects terrible memories. Ebola, which manifests itself as a hemorrhagic fever, is highly infectious and kills quickly. It was first reported in 1976 in Congo and is named for the river where it was recognized, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Scientists don't know the natural reservoir of the virus, but they suspect the first victim in an Ebola outbreak gets infected through contact with an infected animal, such as a monkey.

The virus can be transmitted in several ways, including through direct contact with the blood of an infected person. During communal funerals, for example, when the bereaved come into contact with an Ebola victim, the virus can be contracted, officials said, warning against unnecessary contact with suspected cases of Ebola. In Kibaale, some villagers had started abandoning their homes in recent weeks to escape what they thought was an illness that had something to do with bad luck, because people were quickly falling ill and dying, and there was no immediate explanation, officials said.

MORE
Click to expand...

See also:

Vaccine developed against Ebola
6 December 2011 - Around 1,200 people have died of Ebola virus infection since 1976

Scientists have developed a vaccine that protects mice against a deadly form of the Ebola virus. First identified in 1976, Ebola fever kills more than 90% of the people it infects. The researchers say that this is the first Ebola vaccine to remain viable long-term and can therefore be successfully stockpiled. The results are reported in the journal Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences.

Ebola is transmitted via bodily fluids, and can become airborn. Sufferers experience nausea, vomiting, internal bleeding and organ failure before they die. Although few people contract Ebola each year, its effects are so swift and devastating that it is often feared that it could be used against humans in an act of terroism. All previously developed vaccines have relied on injecting intact, but crippled, viral particles into the body. Long-term storage tends to damage the virus, paralysing the vaccine's effectiveness.

The new vaccine contains a synthetic viral protein, which prompts the immune system to better recognise the Ebola virus, and is much more stable when stored long-term. The vaccine protects 80% of the mice injected with the deadly strain, and survives being "dried down and frozen," said biotechnologist Charles Arntzen from Arizona State University who was involved in its development. He said the next step is to try the vaccine on a strain of Ebola that is closer to the one that infects humans.

Source
Click to expand...

waltky · Aug 7, 2012

Dat reminds Granny to pick up some toilet paper at the store...

New Dysentery Threat Emerges
August 06, 2012: Its known that clean water and sanitation can bring a sharp decline in dysentery cases in developing countries. But its not enough to stop the spread of the disease in countries undergoing rapid development and industrialization.

Dysentery, a diarrheal disease, is primarily associated with developing countries where it kills more than one million people a year. Most of them are young children. The bacterium that generally causes this type of dysentery is known as Shigella flexneri. As nations improve sanitation and provide clean drinking water, the germ affects fewer people. For most its severe watery, and its characterized or differentiated from a more mild disease by blood spots. You get blood spots in the diarrhea, said Professor Nicholas Thompson of Britains Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and lead author of the new dysentery study. The severity of dysentery can vary. If we are well fed and if we are relatively healthy, then its a very acute infection. Its something that we wouldnt want to get again. But generally, because we have access to clean water and medicines, we recover and we recover perfectly fine. The problem is in countries where perhaps - especially the under fives - theres a lack of proper nutrition and a lack of access to clean water, then it has much more severe implications, he said.

Thompson said clean water and sanitation are the most effective ways of treating all diarrheal diseases. But theres another bacterium that causes dysentery Shigella sonnei. And its spreading despite improvements in water and sanitation. [In] industrialized countries or industrializing countries where there are improvements in both sanitation and water, you have a reduction in Shigella flexneri. So thats one of the bacteria that causes bacterial dysentery. But you get an increase in Shigella sonnei. Thats the species or the type of Shigella that weve studied. And we think, and other people think as well, that this is associated actually with improvements in water quality, he said.

That begs the question why? Why would Shigella sonnei affect more people if the waters cleaner? Its because cleaning up drinking water also gets rid of a harmless common bacterium called Plesiomonas Shigelloides. To the immune system, the outer coat of that bacterium looks identical to Shigella sonnei, and antibodies are created to fight it. So its presence helps create somewhat of a natural immunity against the dysentery bacterium. And without that, in countries where overall health is poor, a tougher strain of dysentery can spread and is spreading.

Thompson said, Luckily there are still alternative antibiotics, and certainly antibiotics in combination can be used against Shigella sonnei. What were saying and what were showing is that there is an increasing trend of this particular bacterium towards acquiring genes that make them increasingly resistant to drugs used in therapy. If this trend continues, there will come a time when none of the antibiotics that are available to us will work on this bacterium. He added that a vaccine will eventually be needed. Research is currently underway. He says the fact that the bacterium has a stable outer coat could help scientists develop a vaccine more quickly. Its believed Shigella sonnei first emerged in Europe about 500 years ago. Contamination often occurs from not washing hands and through contaminated water.

http://www.voanews.com/content/dysentery-new-threat-6aug12/1474445.html
Click to expand...

waltky · Aug 15, 2012

West Nile outbreak bad in Texas...

West Nile virus kills 17 in Texas, sickens hundreds
15 Aug.`12 - The southwestern US state of Texas is battling an outbreak of the West Nile virus, with 17 deaths blamed on the mosquito-borne disease, authorities said Wednesday.

Throughout the state 465 people have been sickened since the start of the year, putting it on track to have the most cases since the disease first emerged a decade ago, the Texas Department of State Health Services said. The county incorporating Dallas, the ninth-largest city in the United States, has been the hardest hit, prompting the mayor to declare a local state of disaster. "The city of Dallas is experiencing a widespread outbreak of mosquito-borne West Nile virus that has caused, and appears likely to continue to cause, widespread and severe illness and loss of life," Mayor Michael Rawlings said in a proclamation of emergency that took effect Wednesday. The virus has claimed ten lives in the county so far, local and state health authorities said.

First discovered in Uganda in 1937, the virus is carried by birds and spread to humans by mosquitoes. Severe symptoms of the virus include high fever, vision loss and paralysis, while milder symptoms range from headaches to skin rashes. At least 693 cases -- both confirmed and probable -- of the virus have been reported in the United States this year, including 26 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Texas tops the list in both total cases and fatalities. In 2011, Texas saw a total of 27 cases and two deaths, the CDC said. Across the United States, 712 confirmed and probable cases and 43 fatalities were reported over that same 12-month period.

The worst year on record in Texas was 2003, with 40 deaths related to the West Nile virus, said Christine Mann, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of State Health Services. Mann told AFP that the outbreak could be linked to a mild winter and rainy spring in the state. "It's really not clear at this point," she said. In an effort to stem the number of new infections, Texas authorities have urged residents to use insect repellent before heading outdoors, remain inside at dusk and at dawn, dress in protective clothing and drain standing water that could become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Last month, officials in New York City said the West Nile virus had been detected on Staten Island, one of the city's five boroughs.

Source
Click to expand...

See also:

Dallas in state of emergency after West Nile virus
15 August 2012 - The virus is carried by birds and transmitted to humans via mosquitoes

The city of Dallas in the US state of Texas has declared a state of emergency as it struggles to contain an outbreak of mosquito-borne West Nile virus. At least 14 people have died after contracting the virus in the state so far this year. Almost 700 cases have been reported across the country - the highest number since 2004.

Texas residents have been urged to use insect repellent and avoid going out at dusk and dawn. "The city of Dallas is experiencing a widespread outbreak of mosquito-borne West Nile Virus that has caused and appears likely to continue to cause widespread and severe illness and loss of life," Michael Rawlings said. The move clears the way for aerial spraying to kill infected mosquitoes that transmit the disease.

Protective clothing

Aerial spraying is also being used elsewhere, including in New York City - where the virus was discovered on Staten Island last month - and Sacramento, California. There have been cases of infection reported in people, birds or mosquitoes in 42 US states, with 80% of the cases in Texas, Mississippi and Oklahoma. In Texas, the worst-affected state, residents have been urged to get rid of stagnant water, where the insect can breed, and to wear protective clothing.

Officials say it is too early to say what has caused the fresh outbreak, though some suggest that a mild winter and wet spring may have been a factor. The virus was first discovered in 1937 in Uganda. It is carried by birds and spread to humans by mosquitoes. In extreme cases, symptoms can include high fever, loss of vision and paralysis. Milder manifestations can include headaches and skin rashes. Those at greater risk of a serious case of the illness are those over the age of 50, or people who already suffer from a major health problem.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-19276240
Click to expand...

waltky · Aug 17, 2012

Granny says, "Kill dem skeeters!...

Airplanes spray Dallas to kill mosquitoes
Aug. 16,`12 (UPI) -- Texas officials say spraying pesticides is the best way to fight West Nile virus-carrying mosquitoes, despite concerns over exposing people to the chemicals.

Two twin-engine planes loaded with 200 gallons of pesticide are set to spray Dallas, which has so far had 111 reported infections of West Nile virus that caused 65 hospitalizations, the Dallas Morning News reported. The planes are expected to take off Thursday night. "This is very much like a battle plan," Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said Wednesday. "We're going to hit them with this weapon, and we expect the result to be knocking them back in most places. But we'll do our reconnaissance and adjust our battle plan as necessary."

So far, 11 cities north of Interstate 30 have decided to spray pesticide to kill the mosquitoes. "I think this is the right thing to do," said Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings. "I cannot have any more deaths on my conscience because we didn't take action." Jim Olson, a retired entomologist at Texas A&M University, said the pesticide being sprayed poses little risk to humans. "It's just like the disclaimer on medicine," he said. "Do you not take what the doctor prescribes for you because of the low chance you'll have a side effect? No, you take your medicine."

Nationwide, a total of 693 cases of West Nile virus disease in people have been reported, including 26 deaths, the Center for Disease Control reported. Of those cases, 406 of those cases were classified as neuroinvasive disease, such as meningitis or encephalitis, and 287were classified as non-neuroinvasive disease, the CDC said. More than 80 percent of the cases have been reported from six states -- Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and California.

Source
Click to expand...

waltky · Aug 21, 2012

Outbreak of cholera in Sierra Leone...

Cholera emergency declared in Sierra Leone
Aug 20,`12 -- An outbreak of cholera in West Africa has infected more than 13,000 people and killed at least 258 people in Sierra Leone and Guinea, authorities said as they appealed for international assistance.

Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma has declared the outbreak there an "emergency issue," and has set up a task force to prepare the budget that will be needed to stem the outbreak. "All of this is the aftermath of the 11 years rebel war when we had a huge rural-to-urban migration and a huge population clustered in the urban area where adequate provision has not been made for water and sanitation. This is what we have been witnessing today," Minister of Health and Sanitation Zainab Hawa Bangura told The Associated Press.

She said that in the capital, Freetown, there have been about 100 deaths during the past month, especially in congested areas. That brings the total to at least 176 dead in Sierra Leone, while 82 deaths have been reported in neighboring Guinea. "It is important to request help from the international community in order to spread the mobilization of resources," she said. Cholera is an infection of the small intestine, contracted by eating or drinking contaminated food or liquids. It can cause acute diarrhea and vomiting and can kill within hours.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said there has been a spike in reported cholera cases since mid-July and the onset of the rainy season. Over the past five weeks, 6,000 cases alone have been confirmed in Sierra Leone and many other cases might not been officially reported.

"This current outbreak of cholera has the potential to be devastating and is proving very difficult to control," said Amanda McClelland, IFRC emergency health coordinator. "We are particularly concerned by the rising numbers in Freetown, which suffers from overcrowding, poor sanitation and lack of safe water access - all factors which contribute to this deadly disease." Parts of Mali and Niger have also been affected by the outbreak, the Red Cross said.

Source
Click to expand...

waltky · Aug 22, 2012

Granny be swattin' any skeeters dat land on her...

CDC: West Nile outbreak one of largest in US
22 Aug.`12 The current West Nile outbreak is one of the largest in the U.S., with four times the usual number of cases for this time of year, federal health officials said Wednesday.

It's still too early to say how bad the year will end up because most infections are reported in August and September. But never before have so many illnesses been reported this early, said Dr. Lyle Petersen, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "We're in the midst of one of the largest West Nile outbreaks ever seen in the United States," said Petersen, who oversees the CDC's mosquito-borne illness programs. So far, 1,118 illnesses have been reported, about half of them in Texas. In an average year, fewer than 300 cases are reported by mid-August. There have also been 41 deaths this year, the CDC said. And cases seem to be accelerating: about 400 of the cases were reported in just the last week.

Experts think the mild winter, early spring and very hot summer helped stimulate mosquito breeding and the spread of the virus. Mosquitoes pick up the virus from birds they bite and then pass it on to people. CDC officials are also looking into the possibility that the virus mutated, but so far have no information showing that happened, Petersen said. West Nile virus was first diagnosed in Uganda in 1937, but no cases were reported in the U.S. until 1999 in New York. The virus gradually spread across the country.

It peaked in 2002 and 2003, when severe illnesses reached nearly 3,000 and deaths surpassed 260. Last year was mild, with fewer than 700 cases. Only about 1 in 5 infected people get sick. Early symptoms can include fever, headache and body aches. Some recover in a matter of days. But 1 in 150 infected people will develop severe symptoms including neck stiffness, disorientation, coma and paralysis. Many illnesses probably go unreported, especially milder cases. In this year's case count, more than half are severe, CDC officials said.

MORE
Click to expand...

waltky · Aug 23, 2012

Granny says if dey'd castrate dem skeeters, dey wouldn't be able to breed...

US West Nile cases, deaths jump 60%
Fri, Aug 24, 2012 - The number of West Nile virus infections in the US has jumped more than 60 percent in the past week in what federal officials say is one of the countrys biggest-ever outbreaks of the disease.

The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Wednesday that 1,118 cases and 41 deaths had been reported so far this year, up from fewer than 700 cases and 26 deaths just one week ago. That is the highest number of West Nile virus infections reported through the third week of August since the virus was first detected in the US in 1999, the CDC said. The worst US outbreak occurred in 2003, with 9,862 cases and 264 deaths that year. Were in the midst of one of the largest West Nile virus outbreaks ever seen in the United States, said Lyle Petersen, director of the division of vector-borne infectious diseases for the CDC. Federal officials are stumped by the severity of the outbreak.

Cases usually flare up in the summer because the illness is most often transmitted from infected birds to people by mosquitoes. Victims may suffer fever and aches that can become severe or even cause death, especially in the elderly, children and other at-risk groups. There is no specific treatment for the infection. Symptoms are often mild and many people stricken do not see a doctor, meaning cases are likely underreported. More than half of this years cases are in Texas, but the disease now has been detected in 47 states, and 38 states have reported cases in humans, with only Alaska, Hawaii and Vermont reporting no cases. About 75 percent of the cases have been in Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma and South Dakota, officials said.

Nationwide, 56 percent of cases are of the more serious type that can cause paralysis, meningitis or encephalitis, the CDC said. The remaining 44 percent are the milder form of West Nile Fever. Officials said they were uncertain why this years outbreak had been so severe. A mild winter, a hot summer and other factors such as fluctuations in the bird population are contributors, officials said. We dont really know why its worse this year than in previous years, Petersen said. One observation that has occurred over many decades ... has been that hot weather seems to promote West Nile virus outbreaks.

Dallas, where a health state of emergency was declared this month, is experiencing an unprecedented epidemic, Petersen said. Latest figures show there have been 640 cases of the disease in Texas. Texas state health officials said 23 people had died, including 15 in north Texas. Dallas has been hardest hit, Texas Department of State Health Services commissioner David Lakey said. So far, 11 deaths have been reported in Dallas County this year, compared with 10 in the period between 2003 when the disease was first detected in Dallas and last year.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2012/08/24/2003541088
Click to expand...

waltky · Aug 29, 2012

Lingerin' leprosy lurkin' in Liberia...

Liberia Steps Up Fight Against Leprosy
August 28, 2012
In an effort to combat the spread of lebrosy, Liberia's Health Ministry has set up its first-ever TB & Leprosy Treatment Center in the northeastern town of Ganta in Nimba County - where dozens of people have contracted the diseases. The treatment center is trying to battle not only the disease but also the belief that lepers have been cursed by their ancestors.

The Ganta Leprosy Center treats some 300 men, women and children living with leprosy. John Saah Brimah, who runs the center, says one priority is to educate the community on how to prevent the transmission of leprosy. The first line of prevention is somebody who you know has leprosy and is not on treatment, when they are coughing or sneezing you ask them to cover their mouth and nose while coughing," Brimah says. "The second line could be you take all of the children that are born, to be vaccinated. Because one of the vaccines, which is BCG help you to reduce the getting of the worst part of leprosy. I am not saying that when you take the vaccine you will not get leprosy but you will not get the worst one.

The spread of the disease in rural Liberia is due to widely held belief that the disease is caused by mystical powers and one that cannot be cured by modern medicine, according to Brimah, who adds more health workers are being trained to educate patients and their families. We have trained people who are working in those TB clinics more about leprosy. So whenever you see these things I am talking about, a red mark on you that is not hurting and it is not itching, you have to report to these clinics," he says. "Any of the big hospitals in Liberia are all having TB clinics open in them because this leprosy and TB they are like uncle and nephew. It is the same germ that can cause both of them. So every TB clinic should have the facility of also treating leprosy.

Abraham Tamba, 40, a patient at the center, has been receiving treatment for more than seven months. His hands are deformed and he says family members abandoned him because of his condition. My conditions are terrible. All of my hands are deformed. I have been suffering from this illness for several months now," Tamba says. "And to make my situation more worsen, my family members have turned against me and no one wants to care for me. I am doing everything be myself. Thats how it looks.

Leprosy is a chronic bacterial disease of the skin and nerves in the hands and feet and, in some cases, the lining of the nose. It is not clear how the leprosy germ is spread, but household and prolonged close contact is important. The germs probably enter the body through the nose and possibly through broken skin. The germs get in the air through nasal discharge of untreated lepromatous patients. Patients with leprosy should be treated by a doctor who has experience with the disease. Treatment is with multiple drugs for six months to two years. The TB and Leprosy Control program of Liberia plans to publish nationwide figures on instances of leprosy in Liberia soon. But, for now, it is providing treatment and shelter for more than 1,000 patients suffering from the disease.

Source
Click to expand...

waltky · Aug 30, 2012

Finding viruses and new medicines in the jungle...

Hunting for the deadliest prey in the jungle: viruses
Thursday 30 August 2012 - We are on the brink of a new pandemic age, warns the Indiana Jones of pathogens. And what he finds in the wilderness could destroy our cities, he tells Mark Piesing.

For many, the dimly remembered panics over the bird-flu, swine-flu and Sars pandemics may now seem like a case of the authorities crying wolf, or even a conspiracy to boost the profits of Big Pharma. But to "virus hunter" Professor Nathan Wolfe, these viruses, which had all crossed over from wild animals, were merely the first gusts of a viral storm blowing out of the jungle and heading straight towards us. Last year, Professor Wolfe's work led to the creation of an embryonic early-warning network of "viral listening posts" across Africa and Asia. The network earned his not-for-profit Global Viral Forecasting Initiative (now renamed Global Viral) the label of the "CIA of the viral world" and its founder a place in Time magazine's top 100 most influential people of 2011.

His for-profit Global Viral Forecasting Inc has been renamed Metabiota. This year, his latest book, The Viral Storm: The Dawn of a New Pandemic Age, which was pubished last October, has been longlisted for the Royal Society's Winton Prize, won previously by the likes of Jared Diamond (author of Guns, Germs and Steel) and Stephen Hawking. "Up to now, we have been bullet dodging, but right now lurking in the jungle are viruses that, if they crossed over, have the capability to kill hundreds of millions of us," Professor Wolfe says. "And in a world where for the first time in history we can travel from the heart of the jungle to downtown London in little more than 24 hours there is an ever-increasing risk our luck is going to run out. "After all, despite all the efforts of the public health authorities, swine flu still infected 10 per cent of the world's population, and if it had been a little more deadly it could have easily killed millions."

However, for Professor Wolfe there is also hope as, along with "the wonderful precedent of earlier efforts of the campaign to eliminate smallpox", we now have "a whole load of tools that mean for the first time we can do something to prevent one of these hugely costly pandemics". Ultimately, he can imagine the possibility of a single global viral control room. Imagine Dr Strangelove's war room, but with the enemy being swarming viruses. Professor Wolfe was first made aware of the danger posed by the viral reservoirs carried around by wild animals particularly in the jungle hotspots of Africa and Asia as a field researcher in Cameroon and Uganda, where he witnessed the devastation wrought by Aids.

His own research on the many variations of the HIV virus in the villages he was monitoring showed just how big the viral reservoir was. He believes that, while humans and this viral reservoir have always been connected "through the catching and butchering of wild game", the further we have moved away from our origins as hunter-gatherers the more vulnerable we have become to viruses that we would once as a species have had immunity to. So the "accelerating interconnectivity of the modern world" has helped to create the potential for a viral storm because any virus that crosses over and which would have burnt out in a small population (victims either dying or developing immunity) "now has, in a world of six billion people, the potential to spread and spread, as people are the fuel of viruses".

MORE
Click to expand...

waltky · Sep 6, 2012

West Nile Deaths Up 32% Last Week...

West Nile cases in U.S. up 25 percent in latest week: CDC
Wed Sep 5, 2012 - The number of U.S. cases of West Nile virus rose 25 percent in the latest week, putting the 2012 outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease on track to be the most severe on record in the United States, health officials said on Wednesday.

It's already the worst year ever in Texas, they said. So far this year, 1,993 cases have been reported to federal health officials, up from 1,590 reported the week before, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in its weekly update of outbreak data. A total of 87 people have now died from the disease, compared with 66 reported one week ago. The disease has been reported in people, birds or mosquitoes in 48 U.S. states, so far absent only in Alaska and Hawaii. About half of all human cases are in Texas, the CDC said.

Of the nearly 2,000 cases reported to the CDC this year, 1,069, or 54 percent, are of the severe neuroinvasive form of the disease, which can lead to meningitis and encephalitis. The milder form of the disease causes flu-like symptoms and is rarely lethal. Texas, the outbreak's epicenter, has had 40 deaths and 495 neuroinvasive cases this year, said Dr. David Lakey, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services.

About a quarter of the cases have been in Dallas County, he said. "This is our worst year ever in Texas," Lakey said. The previous Texas record was in 2003, when there were 40 deaths and 439 neuroinvasive cases. Texas has had 1,013 cases overall this year, Lakey said. CDC figures - which sometimes lag behind state data - show that South Dakota has the next-highest number, with 119 cases and two deaths.

More than 70 percent of the cases have been reported from Texas, South Dakota and four other states: Mississippi, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Michigan, the CDC said. The CDC said the number of cases so far this year is the highest reported to federal health officials through the first week in September since the disease was first detected in the New York City in 1999. The worst outbreak overall occurred in 2003, with 9,862 cases and 264 deaths for the full year. The disease is thought to have originated in Africa.

MORE
Click to expand...

waltky · Sep 12, 2012

Granny says we all gonna die...

West Nile Outbreak To Set Record
September 12, 2012 - If historical trends hold true, the West Nile virus epidemic peaked some time in August, although numbers of cases continue to increase because of lags in detection and reporting.

As of Sept. 11, the CDC had received reports of 2,636 cases of West Nile virus disease, with 118 deaths, up from 1,993 cases and 87 deaths last week. The virus has been detected in humans in all but five states and has been found in humans, birds, or mosquitoes in every state except Hawaii and Alaska. Slightly more than half of the reported cases (1,405) involved neuroinvasive disease. That's the highest number of such cases reported through the second week of September since the virus emerged in the U.S. in 1999.

And the number of neuroinvasive cases -- the best indicator of the size of a West Nile epidemic -- is expected to meet or exceed the previous record of 2,946 in 2002, Lyle Petersen, MD, MPH, director of the CDC's division of vector-borne infectious diseases, said Wednesday on a conference call with reporters. The same trend is expected for the number of deaths, keeping the current outbreak on track to be the worst on record, Petersen said.

Although there were more total cases reported at this time of the year in 2003, Petersen said that that was an artifact of excessive testing for non-neuroinvasive disease by a single state that year. "One good piece of news is that, based on historical data, ... we've turned the corner on the epidemic," he said. "We're hopeful that the worst of the outbreak is behind us."

http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/GeneralInfectiousDisease/34729
Click to expand...

waltky · Sep 14, 2012

Anybody been campin' at Yosemite?

Yosemite park hantavirus alert to 230,000 campers
13 September 2012 - Park officials have closed the cabins at Curry Village, linked to most of the cases

Yosemite park rangers have expanded a health advisory about a killer virus to nearly a quarter of a million people who have stayed there since June. The mouse-borne hantavirus is now known to have infected nine people - three of whom have died. There is no known cure. Officials at the California park insist their letters to more than 230,000 people are purely precautionary. Deer mice, which spread the infection, have increased in number and now the rodents are being trapped and killed.

Yosemite initially sent a warning last month to 1,700 campers who stayed at a specific campsite, before gradually expanding that figure as infections emerged elsewhere. Most of the cases involved guests at the Signature cabins in Curry Village, but one case involved someone who had stayed at multiple High Sierra camps in wilderness areas. A ninth person is now recovering after being stricken with the disease following a visit to Yosemite in early July, said National Park Service spokesman John Quinley on Thursday. It can take six weeks for the emergence of early symptoms such as aches and fever, or in half the cases headaches and sickness. It then moves into the lungs.

One third of cases are fatal, but identifying it early through blood tests increases a person's chance of survival. The hantavirus is carried in rodent faeces, urine and saliva. When it dries out and mixes with dust, it can be inhaled by humans, especially in small spaces. The first death was reported in August. One of those who died was a 37-year-old man from the San Francisco Bay area. The park saw two other cases of the hantavirus in a more remote area during 2000 and 2010, but this year's were the first known deaths.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-19594542
Click to expand...

waltky · Sep 15, 2012

Hope for dengue fever vaccine...

Test of New Dengue Vaccine Shows Promise
September 14, 2012 - A clinical trial of a new vaccine against dengue fever shows progress toward fighting the most common mosquito-borne disease. The drug is less successful than hoped, but seems to be effective at preventing three of the four related viruses that cause dengue.

Dengue fever increasing

Dengue fever is endemic across the tropics, with more than 2.5 billion people in 128 countries at risk. Symptoms can range from aches and fever to circulatory failure, coma and death. Some 21,000 people die of dengue each year, and the number of cases is increasing, including outbreaks in the southeastern United States. There is no vaccine available to prevent dengue fever. Part of the difficulty in developing one is that there are four different but related types of the disease. Those who recover from infection by one type gain lifetime immunity, but only against that type. Scott Halstead, of the Dengue Vaccine Initiative, explains that they are still at risk of infection with one of the other types.

"Dengue normally produces a short acute febrile disease, sort of a flu-like disease which ends in a rash, and when you're convalescent, you have life-long immunity to the type you've been infected with, say Type 1. But you are susceptible then to either type 2 or 3 or 4, and what we've learned is that two different infections - with say, Type 1 and Type 2 - can result in a very severe catastrophic disease called dengue hemorrhagic fever, and this occurs all over the tropical world, mostly in Asia and the American tropics," Halstead explained.

New vaccine

That is why researchers are focused on developing a so-called tetravalent vaccine, modeled on the successful yellow fever vaccine, combining weakened versions of all four types of dengue virus into a single drug. Halstead, who was not involved in the new clinical trial, says the pharmaceutical company, Sanofi Pasteur, took a molecular approach to creating its vaccine. "They actually spliced the gene for each of the four dengue viruses into a yellow fever backbone. So this is a combined vaccine called a chimera, combining the yellow fever replicative machinery and the dengue surface proteins," he said. "But it is a vaccine mixture of dengue 1, 2, 3 and 4."

In the first trial to determine whether a vaccine could actually prevent the disease, Sanofi's drug was tested in 4,000 school children in Thailand. The children got three doses of either the vaccine or a placebo. Spacing the shots six months apart was meant to mimic the natural immune response people develop over time. Two years later, the vaccine seemed to have protected the children against three of the four strains, but not the most common type of the virus, which accounts for about 40 percent of severe dengue cases worldwide. But the results show that the vaccine is safe, and technologically possible.

Although Halstead and many other dengue experts expressed disappointment that Sanofi's vaccine was not more effective, they regard it as an important step forward. "The problem is, can we use a vaccine that only protects against three? In my commentary that I wrote for The Lancet, I speculated that maybe, if you could really give enough of a three-component vaccine to stop transmission, you'd actually leave just one virus, and one virus all by itself won't cause dengue hemorrhagic fever. So a lot of the really serious problems caused by dengue viruses might be controlled with a three-component vaccine," said Halstead. Sanofi is already testing its new vaccine in large Phase 3 trials involving more than 30,000 people in 10 countries, with results expected in 2014. A report about the Phase 2 trial, and Dr. Halstead's commentary, appear in the medical journal, The Lancet.

Source
Click to expand...

waltky · Sep 21, 2012

West Nile virus strikes the Balkans...

West Nile Virus Kills 5 In Balkans, Dozens In Hospital
Thu Sep 20, 2012 - At least five people in the Balkans have died from West Nile virus and several dozen others have been hospitalized in the past four weeks, according to health authorities in Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia and Croatia.

West Nile virus is a mosquito-borne disease usually found in temperate and tropical regions. While many cases are mild and have no symptoms, severe disease symptoms can include headaches, high fever, neck stiffness, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness and paralysis.

Kosovo confirmed its first fatality on Wednesday, saying the victim was a woman from central Kosovo who died on Sept 14. Macedonia's health officials said on Thursday one woman had died and two other people were infected with the virus.

A spokesman for the Kosovo Health Ministry told Reuters on Thursday two other people who died recently were also suspected of having the same virus, but the cases had not been confirmed with laboratory blood tests. The United States is currently experiencing one of its worst outbreaks of West Nile virus since 2003.

In Serbia, three people have died and 35 were hospitalized since mid-August. "This is the first time the West Nile virus has been officially registered in Serbia," the country's Department for Public Health said in a statement. All the infected people were over 50 and had other chronic diseases, it said. Serbia's western neighbor Croatia has registered five probable cases of the virus but no deaths.

Source
Click to expand...

waltky · Sep 21, 2012

Encephalitis in India...

Numerous Encephalitis Cases Devastate North India
September 21, 2012 - Health officials in northern India report that a serious outbreak of Japanese encephalitis has infected hundreds of children. The viral brain disease, which can cause permanent disabilities and sometimes death, is a common seasonal disease in Asia. Experts say it is likely the virus also is spreading in other countries in the region, but is going undetected due to inadequate surveillance and diagnostics.

In India every year, during the rainy monsoon season, hundreds of children die or become disabled, physically or mentally, after contracting Japanese encephalitis. Doctor K. P. Kushwaha is a senior pediatrician at a government hospital in Gorakhpur, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. "We have the highest number of patients admitted in one day, which is 550 patients," said Kushwaha. "We have never got such figures in the past. In the current cases of encephalitis, the children not only have swelling in their brains, but their skin, kidney, liver and heart also show swelling. "Japanese encephalitis is interesting because it is in animals as well as in people. This is a virus that will never be eradicated or eliminated, said Dr. Julie Jacobson, who is trained in clinical tropical medicine and is a senior program officer at the Gates Foundation, a private philanthropy.

She explained that encephalitis is a zoonotic infection that is found in humans, as well as in a variety of domesticated and wild animals. Pigs and migratory birds pose a special danger because they are so-called "amplifying hosts" - they store the virus in large amounts in their systems without getting sick. When mosquitoes bite an infected pig or bird, they pick up the virus and can transmit it to humans when they bite them.

Jacobson said Japanese encephalitis, when it is not fatal, can leave victims with severe physical and mental damage. Peoples personality changes - they have behavioral issues," she said. "A very striking finding is that within families when you are talking to them, the children who have survived, kids will not recognize a family member. So they will be crying, crying to talk to their sister, 'I want my sister, I want my sister I want to talk to my sister' - it is very devastating for families to have that kind of disability that comes to the household.

Health experts say the best way to protect people against this crippling disease is to immunize them with the encephalitis vaccine. They recommend that children especially be routinely vaccinated. Jacobson said there also is an urgent need for public health agencies to step up surveillance and diagnostic operations in endemic countries - to look for early signs of encephalitis and take steps to limit its terrible toll.

Source
Click to expand...

See also:

16 Die from Disease at Refugee Camp in South Sudan
September 21, 2012: The international humanitarian agency Oxfam is warning that living conditions of refugees in a camp in Upper Nile state are becoming increasingly desperate, and more people will probably die if help does not arrive soon.

More than 100,000 refugees have fled fighting between Sudanese armed forces and rebels in Sudans Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan states. At least 16 refugees have died in the past two weeks from an outbreak of Hepatitis E, according to the U.N.

Pauline Ballaman, Oxfams South Sudan director, said the best way to curb the spread of the water-borne disease is to relocate thousands of Sudanese refugees to a safer place. The government of South Sudan and UNHCR, who are the lead agencies, would encourage them to look at all other possibilities because this is not going to be a sustainable job or solution, Ballaman said.

South Sudan and the UN refugee agency considered relocating the refugees to areas along the Nile River, according to Ballaman, but she said no decision has been made so far. Ballaman said more people are showing symptoms of Hepatitis E. She added, there are a lot more people affected and, of course, it is far more serious for the nursing and pregnant mothers and young children, and malnutrition kicks in as well,

According to Ballaman, no season is favorable to housing more than 100,000 refugees. Widespread flooding during South Sudans rainy season is the problem right now, but when the dry season arrives the problem will be not enough water.

Source
Click to expand...

waltky · Sep 24, 2012

Granny says is one o' dem Biblical plagues like it says inna Old Testament in Zech. 14...

New SARS-like virus detected in Middle East
Sep 24,`12 -- Global health officials are closely following a new respiratory virus related to SARS that is believed to have killed at least one person in Saudi Arabia and left another person in critical condition in Britain.

The germ is a coronavirus, from a family of viruses that cause the common cold as well as SARS, the severe acute respiratory syndrome that killed some 800 people, mostly in Asia, in a 2003 epidemic. In the latest case, British officials alerted the World Health Organization on Saturday of the new virus in a man who transferred from Qatar to be treated in London. He had recently traveled to Saudi Arabia and is now being treated in an intensive care unit after suffering kidney failure.

Health officials don't know yet whether the virus could spread as rapidly as SARS did or if it might kill as many people. "It's still (in the) very early days," said Gregory Hartl, a WHO spokesman. "At the moment, we have two sporadic cases and there are still a lot of holes to be filled in."

Hartl said it was unclear how the virus spreads. Coronaviruses are typically spread in the air but Hartl said scientists were considering the possibility that the patients were infected directly by animals. He said there was no evidence yet of any human-to-human transmission. "All possible avenues of infection are being explored right now," he said. So far there is no connection between the cases except for a history of travel in Saudi Arabia. SARS was first spread to humans from civet cats in China. Hartl said no other countries have so far reported any similar cases to WHO.

Other experts said it was unclear how dangerous the virus is. "We don't know if this is going to turn into another SARS or if it will disappear into nothing," said Michael Osterholm, a flu expert at the University of Minnesota. He said it was crucial to determine the ratio of severe to mild cases. SARS hit more than 30 countries worldwide after spreading from Hong Kong. Osterholm said it was worrying that at least one person with the disease had died. "You don't die from the common cold," he said. "This gives us reason to think it might be more like SARS," which killed about 10 percent of the people it infected.

MORE
Click to expand...

waltky · Sep 28, 2012

Granny says, "Just like it says in Zechariah 14 inna Bible - we all gonna die...

SARS-related virus linked to bats, camels and other animals
September 28, 2012 - Britain's Health Protection Agency has published an early genetic sequence of the new respiratory virus related to SARS that shows it is most closely linked to bat viruses, and scientists say camels, sheep or goats might end up being implicated too.

So far, officials have only identified two confirmed cases and say the virus isn't as infectious as SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, which killed hundreds of people, mostly in Asia, in a 2003 global outbreak. In Geneva, World Health Organization spokesman Glenn Thomas told reporters Friday that so far the signs are that the virus is "not easily transmitted from person to person" -- but analyses are ongoing. The agency said it's too early to tell how big a threat the new virus will be since it is unknown how exactly it spreads and whether it will evolve into a more dangerous form.

Global health officials suspect two victims from the Middle East may have caught it from animals. "It's a logical possibility to consider any animals present in the region in large numbers," said Ralph Baric, a coronavirus expert at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "Biologists now need to go into the area and take samples from any animals they can get their hands on, including camels and goats," he said. Baric said it was crucial to find out how widespread the virus is in animals and what kind of contact might be risky for people. Baric suggested bats might be spreading the virus directly to humans since the two confirmed infections happened months apart. "If there was an established transmission pattern from other animals, we probably would have seen a lot more cases," he said.

WHO said it is considering the possibility the new coronavirus sickened humans after direct contact with animals. The agency is now working with experts in the Middle East to figure out how the two confirmed cases got infected but could not share details until the investigation was finished. One patient was a Saudi Arabian man who died several months ago while the other is a Qatari national who traveled to Saudi Arabia before falling ill and is currently in critical but stable condition in a London hospital. Earlier this week, WHO issued a global alert asking doctors to be on guard for any potential cases of the new respiratory virus, which also causes kidney failure.

Saudi officials have already warned that next month's annual Muslim Hajj pilgrimage, which brings millions to Saudi Arabia from all around the world, could allow the virus to spread. As a precautionary measure, they are advising pilgrims to keep their hands clean and wear masks in crowded places. Experts said knowing where a virus comes from provides clues on how to stop it. "This means we could prevent the fire before it starts instead of rushing towards it with fire trucks and water hoses afterwards," said Michael Osterholm, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Minnesota.

Osterholm said it was possible bats had simply passed on the virus from other animals and that there could be a complicated transmission chain that ultimately ended in humans. Viruses reproduce as they infect animals and people, giving them more chances to evolve into a deadlier version. "We don't know enough about coronaviruses to predict which mutations might make them more lethal or transmissible," Osterholm said. "But you don't want to tempt genetic fate with microbes because you're bound to lose most times."

Source
Click to expand...

waltky · Sep 29, 2012

New SARS virus causes kidney failure, death...

New 'Sars-like' virus not easily transmitted says WHO
28 September 2012 - In both cases to date, the infection was acquired in the Middle East

A new respiratory illness - from the same family as the Sars virus - appears not to spread easily, experts at the World Health Organization (WHO) say. A Qatari man, 49, with the virus is being treated in London. The first person known to have had it, in Saudi Arabia, died. The WHO said on Friday that it appeared the new virus "cannot be easily transmitted from person to person."

The Sars virus, which emerged in China in 2002, killed hundreds of people. Both Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and the new, un-named, virus - as well as the common cold virus - belong to the coronavirus family But this new virus is different from any coronaviruses previously identified in humans. Both of the patients known to have had the virus experienced kidney failure.

Zoonotic

The WHO said it would continue to monitor the situation but was not recommending any travel restrictions for Saudi Arabia or Qatar. However it said it was working closely with Saudi authorities in advance of the forthcoming Hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. The WHO also announced diagnostic tests were being developed by scientists around the world as quickly as possible.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), which monitors disease in the European Union, said initial findings suggested the virus may have originated in animals - diseases known as zoonotic. Writing in the journal Eurosurveillance, they said: "It is quite probably of zoonotic origin and different in behaviour to Sars."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19756089
Click to expand...

waltky · Oct 4, 2012

Meningitis vaccination drive in Africa...

New Immunization Effort Launched
October 04, 2012 - Over the next three months, about 50 million young people in seven African countries will be vaccinated against meningitis. Its part of larger campaign to eliminate the disease in 26 at-risk countries.

Meningitis is a swelling of the protective membranes of the brain and spinal cord. Its usually caused by a bacterial or viral infection and can kill quickly. Symptoms include a high fever, vomiting, headache, stiff neck and back, confusion and a heightened sensitivity to light. Those who survive may suffer from deafness, brain damage and learning difficulties.

Meningitis is really devastating for these countries. Its very unpredictable. It sweeps in unannounced every seven to fourteen years. And when it comes to a country it really causes huge problems. For a start, a lot of people fearing the disease, fearing the death and illness that it brings--they decide to stop gathering and getting together in large groups. So this means children not going to school or adults actually not going to work, said Dan Thomas of the GAVI Alliance, a Geneva-based public-private partnership working on improving health in poor countries.

Africa has a meningitis belt that stretches from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia in the east. The first phase of meningitis immunizations began in Burkina Faso in 2010. About 12 million people were vaccinated. Health officials say since then no cases of the disease have been reported in the country. The countries targeted in the current phase - between October and December - are Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan. Thomas said that the immunizations target meningitis caused by a virus and will be given to babies, children and young adults. This is a vaccine called MenAfriVac. Its a vaccine against meningitis A, which sweeps through these countries at this time of year before the rainy season, and affects more than 430 million people, who are at risk from illness and death, he said.

He added the vaccine costs only one half U.S. dollar, or 50 cents, per dose. One of the key ideas behind it was that it had to be a vaccine which was affordable. Affordable to GAVI so that we could roll it out for more than 400 million people, but also crucially that these countries take on the cost of the vaccines themselves. The immunization campaign is a partnership involving the GAVI Alliance, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the Serum Institute of India and the Meningitis Vaccine Project.

http://www.voanews.com/content/africa-meningitis-4oct12/1520404.html
Click to expand...

waltky · Oct 7, 2012

65 cases now with 7 deaths...

Death toll from US meningitis outbreak continues to mount
Mon, Oct 08, 2012 - The death toll from a widening outbreak of fungal meningitis linked to steroid injections has risen to seven, with 65 cases now reported in nine states, officials said on Saturday.

The latest two deaths were reported in Michigan, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Those affected fell ill after receiving steroid injections linked to a pharmaceutical compounding plant in Massachusetts. New cases in Ohio and Minnesota on Saturday brought to nine the number of states affected, officials said. Other states with reported cases of people who fell ill after receiving the injections primarily for back pain are Michigan, Tennessee, Virginia, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina and Indiana. Meningitis is an infection of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord.

Vials of steroids linked to the outbreak were shipped to 76 facilities in 23 states and could have been used to inject thousands of patients, authorities have said. As in other states where the outbreak has been detected, Minnesota authorities are trying to determine who else may have been infected at six locations known to have used the drugs in question, said Buddy Ferguson, public information officer for the states Department of Health. We have identified a list of approximately 950 people who did receive injectable steroids from the implicated lots, he said.

Tennessee, where the outbreak was first detected, accounts for most of the cases, with 29, state officials said on Friday. Three of the deaths have been in Tennessee, and one each in Virginia and Maryland. The infected patients have shown a variety of symptoms from one to four weeks after their injections, including fever, a new or worsening headache, nausea and neurological problems that would be consistent with a deep brain stroke, the CDC said.

All the cases have been traced to three lots of the steroid prepared at New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Massachusetts. The company said it had suspended its operations while the investigation proceeds. The Massachusetts Health Department said there were 17,676 vials of medication in each of three lots of methylprednisolone acetate sent out from July through to last month and have a shelf life of 180 days.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2012/10/08/2003544700
Click to expand...

waltky · Oct 8, 2012

Meningitis Outbreak Spreads: 8 Dead, 105 Sick...

Eighth death reported in meningitis outbreak
Oct 7, 2012 - Michigan and Virginia report new cases

The Centers for Disease Control said Monday that the number of people infected with meningitis related to steroid injections has gone from 91 to 105. The death toll has risen from seven to eight.

Patients in nine states contracted the deadly fungal meningitis after being injected in their spine with a preservative-free steroid called methylprednisolone acetate that was contaminated by a fungus. The steroid is used to treat pain and inflammation.

The New England Compounding Center (NECC), the Massachusetts-based pharmacy that made the contaminated injections, voluntarily recalled three lots of the injected steroid last week.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/08/eighth-death-reported-in-meningitis-outbreak/
Click to expand...

See also:

Pharmacy linked to outbreak issues wide recall
The pharmacy that distributed a steroid linked to an outbreak of fungal meningitis has issued a voluntary recall of all of its products, calling the move a precautionary measure.

The New England Compounding Center announced the recall Saturday. The company said in a news release that the move was taken out of an abundance of caution because of the risk of contamination. It says there is no indication that any other products have been contaminated. The Food and Drug Administration had previously told health professionals not to use any products distributed by the center.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted updated figures to its website Sunday showing there are 91 confirmed cases of the rare form of fungal meningitis. The outbreak spans nine states and has killed at least seven people. The states with reported cases are: Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia.

The steroid linked to the outbreak had already been recalled, and health officials have been scrambling to notify anyone who may have received an injection of it. The Massachusetts pharmacy that made it has said it is cooperating with investigators.

It is not yet known exactly how many people may have been affected, though it could affect hundreds or even thousands of people who received the steroid injections for back pain from July to September. Meningitis is caused by the inflammation of protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. Fungal meningitis is not contagious as are its more common viral and bacterial counterparts.

http://news.yahoo.com/pharmacy-linked-outbreak-issues-wide-recall-200818604.html
Click to expand...

waltky · Oct 8, 2012

Typhoid vaccine crisis in England...

Typhoid vaccine failure warning
8 October 2012 - Typhoid fever is uncommon in England, with an estimated 350 cases occurring each year

More than 700,000 people recently immunised against typhoid may not have full protection because of a dud vaccine that has now been recalled, say experts. Manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur MSD has recalled 88% of its stock - 16 batches - of Typhim Vi vaccine because tests found some samples were too weak. Anyone immunised with the vaccine since January 2011 could be affected. Officials stress that the vaccine was safe and posed no health threat.

But it could mean as many as 729,606 people who potentially received the affected vaccine are not fully immunised against typhoid, according to the body that regulates drugs in the UK, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Experts say people should not get revaccinated but should take precautions against typhoid when abroad. If you received this vaccine and have recently returned from abroad, and are unwell, you should contact your doctor.

Precautions

Typhoid fever is uncommon in the UK, but people visiting South Asia and South East Asia, where the life-threatening bacterial disease is most common, are at greater risk. Typhoid is very contagious. An infected person can pass the bacteria in their faeces. If someone else eats food or drinks water that has been contaminated, they can catch typhoid fever. It can be treated with antibiotics if diagnosed early enough.

The MHRA said: "There are no concerns over the safety of this vaccine, but the recall has taken place because the vaccine may not be as effective as it should be. "Anyone who has been to a typhoid region of the world and has a fever, abdominal pain and vomiting should contact a healthcare professional. They can also give them information and advice about minimising the risk of getting typhoid."

More http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19873171
Click to expand...

waltky · Oct 8, 2012

Meningitis breaks out on cruise ship...

Meningitis strikes 4 on cruise liner
Oct. 8.`12 (UPI) -- A bacterial meningitis outbreak on an Italian cruise liner left four crew members hospitalized, one in critical condition, officials said.

The four were admitted to a hospital in the Tuscan port of Livorno Sunday at the end of a cruise by MSC's Orchestra liner, Italy's ANSA news agency reported.

Two crew members were in the hospital's intensive care unit -- a 32-year-old Indonesian, who was critically ill, and a 47-year-old Italian man.

The two other sick crew members were in the hospital's infectious diseases unit. The ship left Livorno to start another cruise late Sunday.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-N...ruise-liner/UPI-18811349709222/#ixzz28lksjksY
Click to expand...

waltky · Oct 9, 2012

Youth pneumonia vaccine drive launched in Pakistan...

Mass Pakistan pneumonia vaccination campaign launched
9 October 2012 - The pneumococcal vaccine is initially due to be rolled out in Punjab province, then Sindh

Pakistan has become the first South Asian country to introduce a vaccine against a virulent form of pneumonia - one of the nation's biggest killers of children, officials say. The pneumococcal vaccine will be given to five million children annually. It is the largest roll-out of its kind following similar drives in Africa and Central America. The programme - backed by the UN and a leading aid agency - was officially launched by PM Raja Pervaiz Ashraf. Officials from the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi) say they do not expect the immunisation drive to suffer the same problems that have recently affected efforts to introduce a polio vaccine in the north of Pakistan.

In July, officials said that about 250,000 children in the tribal areas had not received a polio vaccine because of a Taliban-imposed ban. The militants said vaccinations in North and South Waziristan were banned until the US ended drone strikes in the region. Administering polio vaccines has been further complicated since the death of Osama Bin Laden in May last year by the fallout from the CIA's decision to use a fake vaccination programme - allegedly carried out by Pakistani doctor Shakil Afridi - to confirm the whereabouts of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

'Important milestone'

Gavi officials say that because the vaccine against the pneumococcal form of pneumonia is administered routinely soon after birth - along with several other vaccines - it is much easier to deliver than the polio vaccine. It is estimated that about 80,000 children die every year from pneumonia in Pakistan, and about a third of deaths are due to the pneumococcal form of the disease.

The vaccine is being delivered through a partnership between the Pakistan government, Gavi, the UN children's fund and the World Health Organization (WHO). "The introduction of the pneumococcal vaccine represents an important milestone in the fight to reduce the heavy infant and child mortality burden facing Pakistan's families," Pakistan WHO representative Guido Sabatinelli said. The pneumococcal vaccine is initially due to be rolled out in Punjab province, then Sindh and then the rest of the country. The plan is for the vaccine to be extended to Bangladesh next year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19883143
Click to expand...

See also:

Karachi: Brain-eating amoeba kills 10
9 October 2012 : People are being urged to use clean water at all times

A rare brain-eating amoeba is responsible for at least 10 deaths in the Pakistani city of Karachi in recent months, health officials believe. The source of the parasite is not yet known, but it is thought victims may have been exposed to it when using water to rinse their nasal passages. The amoeba, Naegleria Fowleri, lives in warm water and kills its victims by destroying brain tissue.

Officials are now increasing the amount of chlorine in the public water supply. The deaths are in various locations across Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city. Dr Shakeel Mallick, who works for the provincial health department, said nine of those killed were men, while one victim was a child of four. Officials suspect other cases may have gone undetected. Dr Mallick said hospitals were now being "vigilant". The ministry was "very concerned" about the amoeba, he said.

Cities on alert

Although the amoeba is usually picked up in contaminated pools or lakes, only one of those killed had been swimming. Officials are therefore concentrating their attention on the possibility that people picked it up when cleaning out their nostrils - a practice which is common in South Asia, BBC regional analyst Jill McGivering says. The amoeba travels to the brain through the nasal passages. Those infected have symptoms including fever, nausea and vomiting, as well as a stiff neck and headaches. Most die within a week.

The World Health Authority's Musa Khan says other cities across Pakistan have been put on alert. An awareness campaign has also been launched among health workers and the public. "People should avoid getting water too deep into their nostrils," Mr Khan said. "Those with symptoms should seek help immediately." People are being advised to use boiled or chlorinated water to rinse their noses, and to clean out domestic water tanks where amoeba may flourish. The amoeba cannot be passed from person to person.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19887497
Click to expand...

waltky · Oct 16, 2012

Like Granny says, "It's the lil' things in life dat'll sneak up an' get ya...

West Nile Surge Keeps Exterminator Busy
October 15, 2012 Four years ago, the mosquitoes around Virginia resident Stephanie Samples house and neighborhood were voracious.

They would get into the car and before you could shut the car doors," Sample says. "We would be driving and getting bitten by mosquitoes. So she hired the Mosquito Squad to spray her yard. Damien Sanchez, who owns the pest control company, says the chemical spray not only kills mosquitoes, but has a long-term repellent effect as well. Since he started his company five years ago, Sanchez says the demand for his services has increased considerably, especially this year. Aided by a mild winter and rainy spring, West Nile disease has been confirmed in 48 U.S. states. "Sales-wise, weve increased sales 10 times, Sanchez says.

That doesnt surprise mosquito expert Jorges Arias, a supervisor at the Fairfax County Health Department in Virginia. The CDC [Centers for Disease Control] has reported over 3,100 cases in the U.S.," Arias says. "We have had over 130 fatalities so far. Most people infected with West Nile have no symptoms and recover completely. About 20 percent get headaches, muscle pain and fever. Then a percentage of that 20 percent could develop what we call neuroinvasive disease, it's either encephalitis or meningitis," Arias says. "Then these are much more serious. These people can go into coma. Then there is a certain percentage of these people that do die.

The entomologist speaks from experience. Arias contracted West Nile last year and was in a coma for six days. He came out of it with a neurological problem: he couldnt sit up or walk. I received therapy for six months and then it took me four months to be able to walk again," he says, "and Im here walking.

Arias believes raising awareness about the disease is essential to preventing it. His office prepares and distributes dozens of publications showing people how to protect themselves and their family from West Nile. Wear an insect repellent. Wear long, loose-fitting, light-colored clothing, because mosquitoes like dark clothing," he says. "Eliminate anything with water around your house. If you cant eliminate it, treat it. That's because mosquitoes breed in standing water. And that means the mosquito control industry will likely stay very busy as the threat of West Nile Disease in the United States continues.

Source
Click to expand...

Log in or Sign up

Tropical diseases updates

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

Share This Page

Log in or Sign up

Tropical diseases updates

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

Share This Page

Useful Searches