A bill to fund an investigation into a hepatitis C epidemic in Las Vegas is being delayed in the U.S. Congress. A total of $26 million had been set aside as part of an earmark in a war funding bill, but that plan has now been scrapped. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says the money for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would have gone toward genetic mapping of unexplained hepatitis cases in the valley.

But, Sen. Reid says he has earmarked funding in a separate federal bill that could be approved later this year.

The Southern Nevada Health District says it has redirected funds from grants and other sources toward the probe.

At least eight acute hepatitis C cases have been linked to alleged unsafe practices at the now-closed Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, and another 50 thousand patients have been urged to get tested for hepatitis and HIV. Infection Protection reported on the unsafe infection control practices earlier this year.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, MA, Editorial Director

Posted: June 30th, 2008 under Diseases, Hepatitis.
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A new version of Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) — considered a “gay cancer” by the medical community– has been discovered by French dermatologists in middle-aged, HIV-negative gay men with apparently normal immune function, according to a leading medical journal.

Caused by HHV-8, a virus of the herpes family, is often a co-morbidity with AIDS. HHV-8 is carried in saliva and the higher rates seen in gay men are attributed to oral sex, the report in the latest edition of  the journal AIDS indicates.

The KS cases observed in HIV-negative men are more aggressive than in the “classical,” originally described type of KS which is seen most often in men of Mediterranean origin, and occurred at an earlier age, i.e., mid-50s instead of late 60s.

One in seven of the KS sufferers went on to develop other cancers – in one case, another skin cancer, but in other cases cancers of the lymphatic system. This is the same proportion of patients who go on to develop other cancers as in HIV-positive KS cases.

Most patients had some form of treatment – the majority topical treatment such as surgery or radiotherapy. But one in six had systemic chemotherapy.

HHV-8, discovered in 1994, is thought to have been already widespread in gay men before the advent of HIV.

The average age at the onset of symptoms was 53 and at diagnosis 56 – considerably younger than the 64-72 age range for diagnosis of classical KS. The youngest person diagnosed was at 35.
Cases of KS with a similar presentation and progression pattern have also been seen in HIV-positive gay men with normal CD4 counts.

The scientists suggest that all men who have sex with men should have their HHV-8 antibody status ascertained, especially if immunosuppressive drugs such as steroids are prescribed.

REFERENCE

Lanternier F et al. Kaposi’s sarcoma in HIV-negative men having sex with men. AIDS 22:1163-1168. 2008.

Lesions from Kaposi’s sarcoma spread over the patient’s torso. Image source: National Institutes of Health.

Posted: June 30th, 2008 under Developing Diseases, Diseases, HIV, Herpes, Impaired Immunity, Sexually Transmitted Diseases.
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A $198 million medical building at Boston University is raising concern among residents in the neighborhoods near the school.  Microorganisms that cause Ebola, SARS, and the bubonic plague are among viruses and bacteria that scientists are stockpiling at a biosafety lab there for the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Court challenges have been launched by South End and Roxbury residents, who reckon airborne germs may escape the lab and cause illness or death to their kin.

Boston University believes the lab will be safe, yield important research, and help the school, city, and region by adding jobs and an estimated $72 million a year in research contracts. The school is likely to prevail because of the lab’s potential benefits to society, said Arthur Caplan, an ethicist who follows health-policy clashes.

“It could easily bring in grants in the tens of millions of dollars,” Caplan, 58, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, told the media. “It is not fair to say that it is money versus ethics, but that at the end of the day the benefits overwhelm the concerns about the risk.”

The U.S. has six similar labs, none in Massachusetts. Long overshadowed by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in nearby Cambridge, Boston University, hopes to move past those schools as places where infectious germs and vaccines can be studied.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, MA, Editorial Director

Boston residents fear that their neighborhoods may be plagued by deadly infectious diseases.

Posted: June 27th, 2008 under Developing Diseases, Ebola Virus, SARS.
Comments: 1

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the number of Americans harmed by Salmonella-contaminated tomatoes continues to soar, and has now reached 756, making this the largest outbreak of its kind in U.S. history.

The actual number of illnesses is likely much higher than the reported number of cases, experts say, as, for every laboratory-confirmed case, the CDC estimates that another 30 illnesses go undetected. That’s more than 22,600 illnesses in the tomato outbreak thus far.

The second-largest Salmonella outbreak in U.S. history that was linked to tomatoes sickened 510, six years ago.

CDC classifies the outbreak as ongoing, with the most recent cases occurring June 13, a week after federal authorities warned against eating certain types of tomatoes.

Doctors say it can take two weeks or longer to link an infection to the Salmonella Saintpaul strain behind the outbreak. That confirmation starts with a person experiencing symptoms such as nausea and diarrhea, and seeking medical help. A doctor might order a stool sample sent for testing to a private lab to discover the source of the illness.

If a lab turns up Salmonella, an illness that must be reported to public health authorities.

The majority of infections have occurred in Texas, with 330 cases, and New Mexico, with 80, the CDC said.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration sent investigators to farms in Florida and Mexico last week to examine steps along the distribution chain — from farms to packinghouses and distribution centers — to try to discover the source of the outbreak.

The FDA indicates that grape tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, and those sold on the vine are safe to eat. Round red tomatoes, Roma, and plum tomatoes from areas cleared by the FDA are also safe.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, MA, Editorial Director

Attack of the killer tomatoes?

Posted: June 27th, 2008 under Diseases, Salmonella.
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The HIV infection rate throughout 33 U.S. states is growing dramatically, and new diagnoses are escalating by 12 percent annually amongst young gay and bisexual men, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Scientists at the CDC reckon the rise is “especially concerning” for young black men aged 13 to 24 who have sex with men. For this cohort, the annual rate of new HIV diagnoses rose by 15 percent annually, compared to a nine percent and an eight percent annual rise amongst their white and Hispanic peers.

The findings were released Thursday in the journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The CDC researchers reported that, “during 2001-2006, an estimated 214,379 persons had HIV/AIDS diagnosed in the 33 states.” Almost half (46 percent) of these new cases were diagnosed among men who have sex with men, and there was a noticeable decline in HIV transmission for the time frame in all categories except for this high-risk group, the report found.

Overall, gay and bisexual men comprised 63 percent of all cases of new infection among U.S. males, and almost two-thirds of new cases among men who have sex with men occurred in the 25-to 44-year-old age group, scientists said.

The agency noted that certain risk factors, including use of alcohol or illicit drugs, especially methamphetamine, can encourage HIV transmission among young gay and bisexual men.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, MA, Editorial Director

HIV infection rates on the march again.

Posted: June 26th, 2008 under Developing Diseases, Diseases, HIV, Impaired Immunity.
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Rapid response teams will soon be attached to every hospital ward in South Wales in the U.K. in a massive move to reduce infection rates.

Health Minister Edwina Hart is ordering every National Health Service hospital to set up a fast response cleaning team, which can be mobilized to carry out deep cleaning after infection outbreaks, including Norovirus, Clostridium difficile, and MRSA.

The policy is designed to boost standards of cleanliness in hospitals and give patients the confidence that they are being treated in a safe environment.

They are among a package of measures announced following a series of recommendations made by the empowering task and finish group, which publishes its report today.

Mrs. Hart added: “We are already working hard to improve hospital cleanliness. The overall infection rate in Wales is lower than that in England and Scotland. However, we are not complacent which is why I am accepting the recommendations of today’s report. These new measures will strengthen our efforts to tackle infections.”

Hart said that cleanliness is everybody’s responsibility – not only that of the hospital staff, but of patients and visitors too.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, MA, Editorial Director

Cleaning teams a priority.

Posted: June 26th, 2008 under Clostridium difficile, Developing Diseases, Impaired Immunity, MRSA, Norwalk-Like Viruses.
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The Ministry of Health of Vietnam this week warned that dengue fever — also known as petechial fever — is spreading at an alarming pace in the country’s southern provinces. During the past week, more than 1,400 dengue fever patients in 27 locations were reported by doctors. Four of the patients died, increasing the total number of cases to 19,859 so far this year, including 20 deaths.

Provinces with the highest numbers of patients are Ho Chi Minh City, with 3,754 cases and two dead, Soc Trang, with 1,717 cases and one dead, and Tien Giang, with 1,489 cases and one dead.  

Government health officials said that though the total number of patients is less than last year’s figure, the disease could spread even more widely as the rainy season has now arrived.

The Preventive Health and Environment Agency, a division of the Health Ministry, also warned that many other kinds of diseases are continuing to develop. Three northern provinces have recorded several cases of acute diarrhea with Vibrio cholerae bacterium, experts said.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, MA, Editorial Director

Patients being treated for petechial fever in Vietnam.

Posted: June 25th, 2008 under Dengue Fever, Developing Diseases, Diseases, Impaired Immunity.
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Raw waste is streaming into rivers throughout central and eastern Iowa as sewage treatment facilities are being overwhelmed by the record floods that have swept the state during the last few weeks.

Cow, sheep, and goat manure is also part of the toxic mix, along with spilled fuel and chemicals. These raw sewage products are headed to the flooding Mississippi River and down to the Gulf of Mexico, creating an infection control nightmare for citizens and public health officials.

The Environmental Protection Agency is warning folks to avoid contact with floodwater that may be poisoned with sewage because exposure to the waste could transmit intestinal illnesses and skin infections.

Do not wade, swim, or enter floodwaters and immediately wash hands and bare skin that comes in contact with floodwater with soap and hot water, health officials tell Infection Protection.

Experts say it may be weeks before hundreds of damaged sewage treatment plants are operating properly.

In southeast Iowa, sewage plants at Keosauqua and Bonaparte are flooded, and Ottumwa is allowing some wastes to flow into streams, officials with the state’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said. Officials in Burlington shut down the city’s sewage treatment plant and all Burlington sewage is now directly entering the Mississippi River.

Meanwhile, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, is planning for expected flooding in Illinois and Missouri later this week, with water and generators being pre-positioned as flood waters flow down the Mississippi River.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, MA, Editorial Director

Floods sending toxic waste downstream.

Posted: June 25th, 2008 under Developing Diseases, Impaired Immunity.
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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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Six children in the northwest suburbs have contracted measles, the Cook County Department of Public Health said. The government agency is urging parents to have children vaccinated to prevent a recurrence of this unusual outbreak of the disease.

Measles presents with a number of common symptoms, including a rash, high fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes. Additional complications from measles infection can be severe, including ear infections, diarrhea or even pneumonia in 6 to 20 percent of cases. A patient may also suffer encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain, or death.

“When parents make the decision to withhold childhood immunizations, it can have devastating effects on the health of their children and the lives of others,” Department of Public Health chief operating officer Stephen Martin said. “Vaccinations are the safest and most effective means to prevent serious illness.”

Measles may be prevented with routine vaccinations, which give lifelong immunity, and by proper infection control

“Measles is a very serious illness and we have seen a surge in cases in unvaccinated persons in our region this year,” Martin said.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director

Measles causes many symptoms, including rash, high fever, cough, and runny nose.

Posted: June 24th, 2008 under Diseases, Measles, Pneumonia, Vaccinations.
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