Monthly Archives: November 2013
Health officials in Africa are investigating two separate outbreaks of unknown illness, a small one in Niger that has killed nearly a third of patients and a larger one in Tanzania in which no deaths have been reported so far, the World Health Organization (WHO) African regional office said today. Deadly outbreak in Niger In Niger, the outbreak as of the middle of October had sickened 23 patients in two villages in… Read More
Forty-four cases of poliomyelitis occurred after importation of a wild-type strain into Xinjiang, China — an area previously certified as poliomyelitis-free. China — the country with the world’s largest population — was certified as poliomyelitis-free in 2000. A decade later, a poliomyelitis outbreak occurred in the province of Xinjiang. In response, the Chinese CDC initiated an investigation and a massive vaccination campaign. In the investigation, poliomyelitis cases were defined as acute flaccid… Read More
In a significant move, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has agreed to set up a working group on possibly offering HPV vaccinations to adolescent boys and gay and bisexual men. In the minutes of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) (United Kingdom) October meeting, the committee agreed that “consideration of options for vaccinating men who have sex with men (MSM) should be prioritised.” HPV (human papillomavirus) is known to spread… Read More
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) 2013 Global tuberculosis report, 8.6 million people developed TB and 1.3 million died from the disease in 2012. The rate of new cases has been declining at 2 percent per year for a decade. The scale of India’s TB control measures is laudable but population, grinding poverty and a doddering healthcare system cause the problem to dwarf all efforts, according to experts. Prevalence has reduced… Read More
Late last week Texas public health officials confirmed a new wave of dengue fever has cropped up in the southernmost tip of Texas, marking the first outbreak the state has seen since 2005. The news came on the heels of reporting in Scientific American about how scientists are trying to uncover why the mosquito-borne infection is cropping up in Florida but not in other regions of the nation that host the same… Read More
PRINCETON, NJ — Princeton University officials decided Monday to make available a meningitis vaccine that hasn’t been approved in the U.S. to stop the spread of the sometimes deadly disease on campus. The university said doses of the vaccine for the type B meningococcal bacteria are to be available in December for undergraduate students, graduate students who live in dorms and employees who have sickle cell disease and other medical conditions that… Read More
While Guillermo del Toro only recently wrapped production on the pilot for his potential FX series The Strain, the network apparently really liked what they saw. FX announced today that it has ordered a full 13-episode first season of The Strain, which will debut on the network in July 2014. The ambitious series is based on the trilogy of novels by del Toro and Chuck Hogan and centers on a team of… Read More
Guillermo del Toro will be adapting his own vampire trilogy, The Strain, into a series, starting with a pilot order from FX. Del Toro plans to co-write the pilot script with Chuck Hogan (Prince of Thieves), who also co-wrote the books. Del Toro will also direct and executive produce the pilot episode. Also on board as showrunner to help develop the series will be Carlton Cuse (Lost), which is fitting since The Strain is planned for a limited… Read More
The OIE (World Organization for Animal Health) has provided a fact sheet concerning frequently asked questions about the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-Cov): What is MERS CoV? MERS CoV is a particular strain of coronavirus which is thought to cause Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), a respiratory disease of humans. MERS CoV had not been seen in humans before September 2012. Since then sporadic outbreaks of MERS CoV with human cases have… Read More
Spanish officials said a woman who traveled to Saudi Arabia with Spain’s first probable MERS case-patient is believed to have the virus, the Canadian Press reported today. Officials said the two women shared sleeping quarters. Spain’s health ministry said there was not enough evidence to determine if one of the women caught the disease from the other or if both caught it from a common source, the story said. The ministry said… Read More
THE OUTBREAK 