Britain is in the midst of a measles epidemic, the country’s public health watchdog says. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) warns that the total number of unvaccinated children was now large enough to sustain the “continuous spread” of the potentially lethal virus throughout the U.K.  HPA blamed a failure by parents to give their children the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

This has resulted in vaccine rates falling below the level necessary to prevent the disease from becoming established in the general population, doctors say.

The report said: “Due to almost 10 years of sub-optimal MMR vaccination coverage across the U.K., the number of children susceptible to measles is now sufficient to support the continuous spread of measles.

Figures released this week show cases of measles in London reached a new peak last month, exceeding last year’s monthly record set in August 2007, and are continuing to rise.

A total of 95 cases of measles confirmed in London and 35 in the rest of England and Wales bringing the total for the year to 461.

Recently, a 17-year-old patient from West Yorkshire died from the disease. In another case, a physician working in a hospital cancer ward contracted measles.

Fifty years ago, a measles epidemic killed 500 children a year in the U.K. Last month’s death was only the second in more than a decade.

The HPA, which published the latest figures in its weekly report, said the rise in measles cases in London was linked to an outbreak at a secondary school which had spread to neighboring schools and nurseries in the capital.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director

Children are dying of measles once again.

Posted: June 24th, 2008 under Diseases, Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Vaccinations.
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A new concern is emerging in medicine — infection protection and control in dental office waiting rooms.

The Organization for Safety and Asepsis Procedures addresses the topic in its May issue in a feature entitled, “The Reception Room” is a feature in the May issue of the OSAP’s association publication Infection Control in Practice.

The article is aimed at helping dental professionals recognize sites in the reception room that need constant attention with regard to cleanliness and infection control, and is the second installment of a new series on compartmentalizing infection control policies and procedures.

Patients, caregivers and the the dental team are all at risk of infection in the waiting room. The article reports that there are new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as to how to control infection in the reception area, and provide disease prevention information for patients.

– by The Editors

The dental office — next place where MRSA will flourish?

Posted: June 4th, 2008 under Diseases, Herpes-Cold Sores, Influenza, Meningitis, Mumps, Norwalk-Like Viruses, Pneumonia, Rubella.
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The Irish Health Protection Surveillance Center is warning students that they should have the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine following outbreaks of mumps in a number of third-level colleges.

This year, health authorities said, there have been over 150 cases of mumps among Irish students, and five were admitted to hospital.

Seven centers of learning have been affected - the Institutes of Technology in Waterford and Limerick and at Universities in Cork, Limerick, Galway, Maynooth and Dublin City University.

The mumps is a contagious acute viral illness, which until recently has been on the decline.

Complications with the mumps are usually mild but it can cause meningitis and deafness.

In years past there was major concern about the MMR vaccine after a study in 1998 linked it with autism.

That research has only recently being found to be untrue but in the intervening years it led to a major declikne in the number of children availing of the vaccine.

Now around 86 percent of children are getting the vaccine but health experts say 95 percent should be covered in order to prevent against a major outbreak.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director

Nearly 20 percent of Irish children do not recieve the MMR vaccination. Source: Vaccine Ireland.

Posted: May 29th, 2008 under Diseases, Measles, Mumps, Rubella.
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A new report released by the Ministry of Health indicates that there were more than 4.7 million cases of infectious diseases in China last year, up 2.95 percent from 2006. That’s nearly four in every 1,000 people.  The diseases killed 13,037 people, 2,311 more than the previous year.

According to the report, rabies was the “top killer” among the 37 leading diseases, claiming 2,873 lives last year.

Additionally, the report noted:

* Respiratory tract and blood-borne/sexually transmitted diseases rose by 3.55 and 6.96 percent, respectively.

* The number of HIV/AIDS cases reported increased 45 percent year-on-year.

* The number of hepatitis C cases was up 30 percent, and syphilis cases up 24 percent on last year, according to the report.

The report indicates that four human cases of bird flu were reported last year resulting in two deaths. In 2006, there were eight fatalities from 12 cases.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, director of scientific communications

For more information, go to,

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-02/23/content_6478813.htm

AIDS awareness poster — China.

Posted: February 29th, 2008 under Avian Flu, Feature Stories, HIV, Influenza, MRSA, Measles, Pneumonia, Rubella, SARS, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Tuberculosis, Whooping Cough.
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 Students at the University of Maine are being sent home from school, unless they demonstrate proof of two doses of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination. Mumps is an acute viral infection of the salivary glands. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle ache, swelling and tenderness of the salivary glands at the angle of the jaw. Transmission occurs through coughing and sneezing, making contact with saliva, or touching surfaces that have been contaminated with the mumps virus. Proper use of disinfectants can control spread of the disease.

According to Richard Young, practice manager at Cutler Health Center,  e-mails were sent to all students in November when the “first cases of mumps” were found. Young said a second e-mail was sent on Dec. 28 after the news of the “mumps outbreak.”

At the time of the mumps outbreak, nearly 2,000 students had incomplete records. Flyers were spread across campus stating, “No mumps immunity, no classes, it’s that simple.”

Experts said that if a student doesn’t meet the immunization requirements, there are some exceptions that would allow him or her to still be enrolled in school. These exceptions include a physician’s statement declaring the vaccination is medically inadvisable or if a student or parent states in writing an opposition to the immunization because of a religious belief or for moral, philosophical or other personal reasons, according to local press reports.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director

http://media.www.mainecampus.com/media/storage/paper322/news/2008/01/24/News/Local.Mumps.Outbreak.Spurs.Um.Enforcement-3165153.shtml

 Boy with mumps. Image courtesy of the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Posted: February 1st, 2008 under Feature Stories, Infection Protection, Measles, Mumps, Rubella.
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The director of the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Department for the government of Malta, Charmaine Gauci, says there have been two new outbreaks of infectious diseases, rubella, also known as German measles, and scarlet fever, which are both very rare illnesses in Malta.

The rubella outbreak occurred in Malta, an island nation, and part of Europe, and concerns three people who fell ill after having been in each other’s company. All three, aged between 23 and 28, did not have a history of vaccination against the disease, health officials said.

The World Health Organization advises that:

*  Following any confirmed outbreak of rubella, surveillance should be conducted to identify suspected congenital rubella syndrome cases in infants up to 11 months in age.
* Surveillance should continue until nine months after the end of the outbreak.

The department is enhancing the surveillance of rubella and congenital rubella syndrome, according to international press reports. 

On the scarlet fever outbreak, the department, has recommended that children in the same class be excluded from school for the coming seven to 10 days until results of the tests that are to be performed are available, in order to limit the possible spread of the disease.
 

– The Editors

http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=63698
 

German measles. Source: World Health Organization.

Posted: January 29th, 2008 under Measles, Rubella.
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New findings released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)  indicate that the majority of adult Americans lack awareness of vaccines, and are at risk for serious infectious diseases.An expert panel discussed the data at a press conference held by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID), which is calling for “increased use of vaccines in adults to reduce needless, illness, and deaths associated with infectious diseases.”Other pertinent points of the survey are as follows: * The survey shows only 2.1% of adults 18 to 64 years of age are immunized against tetanus-diphtheria-whooping cough.* Immunization to prevent shingles among people 60 and over was only 1.9%. Vaccine coverage for the prevention of HPV — human papillomavirus — among women 18 to 26 is about 10%”Routine immunization of children in the U.S. has saved hundreds of thousands of lives and prevented millions of cases of disease, but vaccines are not just for children,” says Anne Schuchat, M.D., director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. “These new data show there are not yet very many adults taking full advantage of the great advancements in prevention that have been made in the past few years.”We understand there are now 17 diseases that can be prevented from vaccines given to children, teens, and adults. Several vaccines, including three fairly new ones licensed since 2005, are recommended specifically for the adult years. Immunization is recommended for U.S. adults to protect them against chickenpox, diphtheria, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, human papillomavirus/cervical cancer (HPV), influenza, measles, meningococcal disease, mumps, pertussis (whooping cough), pneumococcal disease, rubella, shingles, and tetanus. We also recommend that adults use effective infection control methods — gloves, masks — at home to prevent the spread of these diseases.– The Editors

Kids are not the only ones at risk for chicken pox — adults are too.

Image source: National Library of Medicine.

Posted: January 23rd, 2008 under Hepatitis, Influenza, Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Whooping Cough.
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