Category Archives: pandemic

Experts Say the WHO’s Response to the Ebola Crisis Has Been a ‘Failure’ | TIME {Profit and Non-profits try to score points from tragedy}

{WHO answers to nations that budget it – Ebola stricken states pressured WHO to not push panic buttons to save their industries – Mistakes by many – not just WHO. Obscene how many institutions trying to profit from tragedy and errors.}

A panel of 19 experts brought together by the Harvard Global Health Institute (HGHI) and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) on Sunday condemned the World Health Organization’s (WHO) response to the Ebola crisis, calling it an “egregious failure.”

Source: Experts Say the WHO’s Response to the Ebola Crisis Has Been a ‘Failure’ | TIME

Avian Flu Diary: CDC Updated Travel Notices: Chikungunya In Mexico & Central America

Local transmission of chikungunya is now being reported in other countries in Central America. See map. As of November 24, 2014, the following Central American countries have reported cases of chikungunya:BelizeCosta RicaEl SalvadorGuatemalaHondurasNicaraguaPanama

Source: Avian Flu Diary: CDC Updated Travel Notices: Chikungunya In Mexico & Central America

Genetic Analysis Indicates Likely Person-to-Person Transmission of Avian Flu | GenomeWeb – Oops!

Human infections of H7N9 influenza emerged in February 2013, with three epidemic waves affecting 17 provinces and cities in China. As of earlier this year, the researchers noted there have been 672 laboratory-confirmed cases with 271 deaths reported.The index patient in their study became ill with a fever, cough, and sore throat last February. After visiting two village clinics, he was admitted to a district hospital for treatment. He was then transferred to a provincial hospital where he was diagnosed with H7N9 through an RT-PCR test. After confirmation, he was moved to a specialist hospital.Meanwhile, the second patient was admitted to the same district hospital for his chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. There, he and a third patient with diabetes shared a room with the index patient. The second patient was discharged following an improvement in his COPD, but he soon became ill and was admitted to the negative pressure ward of a fourth hospital, as he’d been exposed to H7N9.

Source: Genetic Analysis Indicates Likely Person-to-Person Transmission of Avian Flu | GenomeWeb

Scientists discover new antibiotic-resistant gene MCR-1 in China | News | DW.COM | 19.11.2015

A new gene rendering bacteria immune to an antibiotic has been found in China by a Lancet research team. Doctors worry that it could roll back decades of medical progress, as bacteria adapt to resist antibiotics.

Source: Scientists discover new antibiotic-resistant gene MCR-1 in China | News | DW.COM | 19.11.2015

E.coli has developed resistance to last-line of antibiotics, warn scientists – Telegraph

Bacteria like E.Coli have mutated to be resistant to our last-line of antibiotics and untreateable bugs may already be circulating in Britain, scientists have warned.Health experts have warned for years that antibiotic resistance could send medicine back to the dark ages, with even the smallest infections proving lethal.Currently, when all other drugs fail, doctors use polymyxins – such as colistin – as a last resort to treat bacterial infections like E.coli and those which cause pneumonia.

Source: E.coli has developed resistance to last-line of antibiotics, warn scientists – Telegraph

Avian Flu Diary: WHO: Autochthonous Cases Of Zika Reported In Suriname

On 2 November 2015, the National IHR Focal Point of Suriname notified PAHO/WHO of 2 autochthonous cases of Zika virus infection. Preliminary laboratory testing was conducted at the Academic Hospital Paramaribo. The investigation is ongoing and further information is pending.WHO adviceGiven the increased transmission of Zika virus in the Region of the Americas, PAHO/WHO recommends that its Member States establish and maintain the capacity to detect and confirm cases of Zika virus infection, prepare their health services for a potential additional burden at all levels of health care, and implement an effective public communications strategy to reduce the mosquitoes that transmit this disease, particularly in areas where this vector is present. The complete set of recommendations is available in the latest Epidemiological Update (see related links).

Source: Avian Flu Diary: WHO: Autochthonous Cases Of Zika Reported In Suriname

Asymptomatic human dengue cases spread virus to mosquitoes | Vaccine News

sort of makes us the carrier – the vector –

“This finding raises the possibility that people with few or no symptoms — in other words the majority of those infected by dengue — may actually be contributing to the spread of the virus without realizing it,” Louis Lambrechts, a CNRS scientist in charge of the Insect-Virus Interactions Group at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, said.
This 75 percent may be part of the virus’ spread, and these research results may alter how scientists understand the epidemiology of dengue fever.
“These data should lead us to revisit our approach to the early management of dengue epidemics,” Veasna Duong, a scientist in the Virology Unit directed by Philippe Buchy at the Institut Pasteur in Cambodia, said. “Transmission rate estimates will also have to be adjusted to ensure sufficient vaccination coverage for the vaccines currently under development.”

Source: Asymptomatic human dengue cases spread virus to mosquitoes | Vaccine News

Universal flu vaccine could end need for annual injections – Telegraph

Olga Pleguezuelos, the lead immunologist at Seek, told the Sunday Times: “We are confident this will protect people from any new strain of flu and we are hoping it will be fast-tracked through the regulatory process.”The vaccine is made using chemistry, not cells, [so] it can be cheaply produced and stored indefinitely at room temperature. The hope is that it will confer many years of immunity from flu.”

Source: Universal flu vaccine could end need for annual injections – Telegraph

Avian Flu Diary: WHO WER: Zika Virus Outbreaks In the Americas – {the Real World War Z}

In May 2015, the Ministry of Health of Brazil confirmed autochthonous transmission of ZIKV in the north-east­ern part of the country. This was the first documented outbreak in Brazil and in the Americas. As of October 2015, 14 states have confirmed autochthonous virus transmission: Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Pará, Paraíba, Paraná, Pernambuco, Piauí, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Norte, Roraima, and São Paulo.In October 2015, the Ministry of Health of Colombia reported the first autochthonous case of ZIKV infection in the Department of Bolivar. As of 16 October 2015, ZIKV was laboratory confirmed in 9 of 98 samples from Bolivar. Recent outbreaks of ZIKV infection in different regions of the world underscore the potential for the virus to spread further in the Americas and beyond, wherever the vector is present. Given the worldwide spread of chikungunya and dengue, associated with urbanization and globalization, there is a potential risk of outbreaks of urban ZIKV infection in urban settings in any part of the world where the mosquito vector is present or may become established in future.

Source: Avian Flu Diary: WHO WER: Zika Virus Outbreaks In the Americas