Singapore has reported 215 cases of Zika infections, as scientists in the city-state said the virus strain came from within Asia and was not imported from Brazil.Key points:Scientists say the virus evolved from South-East Asia strain and was not importedMalaysia says it expects the number of local transmissions to growIt is urging residents to adopt preventative measuresThe Ministry of Health and National Environment Agency said in a joint statement on Saturday evening that of the 26 new cases reported on Saturday, 24 were linked to a cluster in the Aljunied district where the country’s first locally-transmitted cases were reported.The statement did not say where the other two cases were from.A week after Singapore reported its first case of locally transmitted Zika infection, local scientists say they have completed genetic sequencing of the virus.”The analysis found that the virus belongs to the Asian lineage and likely evolved from the strain that was already circulating in South-East Asia. The virus from these two patients was not imported from South America,” the statement said.
Category Archives: healthcare
Zika Virus | Ministry of Health Singapore
The Ministry of Health (MOH), Singapore has been closely monitoring the Zika virus situation, and will be introducing several measures to enhance the surveillance of the disease and the protection of Singaporeans. We also urge all Singaporeans to take the appropriate precautions to prevent mosquito breeding as vector control is critical in preventing transmission and reducing the risk of the virus from taking root in Singapore.
Source: Zika Virus | Ministry of Health
Oil Fires in Iraq : Image of the Day
For the past few months, a smoke plume has shifted with the winds over northern Iraq. In recent years, periodic oil fires have cast a dark pall over this arid landscape. They are one consequence of ongoing war in the region.On August 17, 2016, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 acquired an image (above) of dense smoke plumes roughly 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Mosul. There appear to be multiple sources of fire, most likely oil wells from the Qayyarah oil field. The images in the grid below show the plumes changing direction and thickness since they were first spotted by Landsat 8 on June 14.
Outbreak: 200 under observation in Madrid over hemorrhagic fever | In English | EL PAÍS
According to the World Health Organization, the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus causes severe viral hemorrhagic fever outbreaks, with a case fatality rate of up to 40%. “The virus is primarily transmitted to people from ticks and livestock animals,” the WHO website explains. “Human-to-human transmission can occur resulting from close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected persons.”The illness, the WHO states, is endemic in Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East and Asia, “in countries south of the 50th parallel north.” There is currently no vaccine available for either people or animals.
Source: Outbreak: 200 under observation in Madrid over hemorrhagic fever | In English | EL PAÍS
Airborne flu detection at bird markets hints at human exposure risk | CIDRAP – Duh! Virus is passed on in feces, urine, and saliva, so how can you not walk in it, breathe it, move it from place to place?
Viable avian flu virus is easily detectable in the air of live-poultry markets, which may explain why those who visit markets but don’t have direct contact with the birds become infected, according to air sampling from sites in China and Hong Kong.
Source: Airborne flu detection at bird markets hints at human exposure risk | CIDRAP
Study: Zika could reach 2.6 billion people | CIDRAP How have people helped this risk grow?
Two new studies published today present an alarming picture of the potential reach of Zika virus and its complex clinical presentation, while researchers reporting in the latest issue of Eurosurveillance said that Culex mosquitos aren’t likely to transmit the virus.Global at-risk populationsIn a study published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases, researchers from the University of Toronto used modeling to identify the areas around the world most at risk for Zika virus. After considering mosquito activity, air travel data and climate information, the researchers said potentially 2.6 billion people living in low-resource parts of Africa and the Asia-Pacific region could be sickened by Zika virus.
Madagascar: The Blue Gold Rush | UNICEF USA
Tsihombe district, Madagascar, August 2016 – Under a blazing sun, men, women and children are digging in the sand. Holes are scattered everywhere in what used to be a river, suggesting a kind of gold rush. And indeed, it is a rush for something more precious than gold: liquid blue gold! In the dried up Manambovo riverbed in Madagascar’s southernmost Tsihombe district, people and cattle share the water, for drinking, showering, washing laundry and doing the dishes.
More Than 50 Pregnant New Yorkers Have Been Infected With Zika: Gothamist Duh!?! If 500 with it get bitten by a local mosquito – they pass it on because that skeeter passes it to the next person it bites!
More than 500 New Yorkers have been infected with the Zika virus, including 56 pregnant women, according to the NYC Health Department. Although no Zika-carrying mosquitos have been found in New York (yet), health officials are urging New Yorkers—particularly pregnant women and their partners—to refrain from traveling to Zika-infested parts of the world for the next year.
Source: More Than 50 Pregnant New Yorkers Have Been Infected With Zika: Gothamist
US first: E coli resistant to both colistin, carbapenems | CIDRAP
US researchers say they’ve identified a strain of Escherichia coli that is resistant to both colistin and carbapenem antibiotics in a US hospital patient.According to a study published today in the journal mBio, the strain was isolated from the urine of a 76-year-old male patient who was being treated for a urinary tract infection at a New Jersey hospital in 2014. Whole-genome sequencing of the isolate, performed this year, confirmed the presence of the MCR-1 and blaNDM-5 genes, which confer resistance to colistin and carbapenems, respectively. The strain was found to harbor resistance genes to several other antibiotics, as well.The finding confirms fears that were aroused when researchers in China first identified the colistin-resistance gene MCR-1 in E coli isolates from pigs, pork products, and humans in November 2015. Colistin is considered an antibiotic of last resort in humans, used mainly when bacterial infections won’t respond to other drugs.
Source: US first: E coli resistant to both colistin, carbapenems | CIDRAP
Antibiotic resistance prompts new WHO STD guidance | CIDRAP
Quinolones out for gonorrheaAffecting an estimated 78 million people each year, Neisseria gonorrhoeae has become widely resistant, and older, cheaper antibiotics have lost their treatment effectiveness. The WHO said antibiotic resistance has appeared and expanded with every release of a new antibiotic class for managing gonorrhea.According to the guidance update, countries should track antibiotic resistance patterns in the strains that are circulating in their populations.Quinolone antibiotics are no longer recommended for treating gonorrhea because of widespread high levels of resistance.The WHO also said strains are showing decreased susceptibility to extended-spectrum (third-generation) cephalosporins, a recommended first-line treatment from its 2003 guidelines. Several countries have reported treatment failures, the agency said.New guidance now covers recommendations for treating oropharyngeal infections and retreatment after treatment failure. The WHO said dual therapy is now preferred over single therapy, with single therapy based on local resistance data.Updated guidance contains changes to some dosages and suggests new topical medications for the prevention of ophthalmia neonatorum, a type of conjunctivitis contracted by babies born to infected mothers.Single injection recommended for syphilisSyphilis affects about 5.6 million people each year, and infected mothers can pass the disease to their unborn babies, which can result in early fetal death or stillbirth. In its guidance, the WHO said resistance to azithromycin has been reported in some strains of Treponema pallidum, the bacterium that causes syphilis.To cure the disease, the WHO’s new guidance strongly recommends a single dose of benzathine penicillin, an antibiotic injected into the patient’s buttock or thigh. The drug is more effective and cheaper than oral antibiotics, the WHO said.Though benzathine penicillin was deemed an essential medicine in May by the World Health Assembly, shortages have been reported for the past several years, and the WHO said it has received out-of-stock reports from antenatal care groups and from health providers in countries that have high syphilis burdens.The WHO said it is working with partners to monitor the global supply of the drug and to help bridge the gaps between needs and supply.New guidelines also address congenital syphilis, including considerations for pregnant women, people living with HIV, immunocompromised patients, and key populations such as sex workers, men who have sex with men, and transgender people.First-line chlamydia treatmentThe WHO estimates that 131 million people are infected with chlamydia each year, making it the most common bacterial STI. People infected with Chlamydia trachomatis are frequently co-infected with gonorrhea.Treatment failures have been reported for tetracyclines and macrolides, according to the WHO. The new guidance provides updates for first- and second-line treatment of the disease.The chlamydia module includes nine treatment recommendations for genital infections and lymphogranuloma venereum, the more invasive, chronic form of the disease caused by a different subtype. Recommendations also address key populations, such as those living with HIV, and include specific recommendations for genital chlamydia infection in pregnant women and for prevention of ophthalmia neonatorum.
Source: Antibiotic resistance prompts new WHO STD guidance | CIDRAP










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