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On eating potatoes
Correspondence
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discussed their recent work on these issues and took stock of progress in the past decade. This is the first meeting on the origins of AIDS in nearly a decade. In 2001, a conference was held at the Royal Society in London, UK, on the origin of the HIVs. That meeting was prompted by the publication of Edward Hooper’s book The River—in which he associated the origins of HIV with the early development of polio vaccines in Africa. Although it is now clear that HIV’s origins are not related to polio vaccines, there has been increasing evidence that HIV and other blood-borne pathogens (such as hepatitis C virus) existed by the early 20th century and several became epidemic by mid-century. In recent years, this research on the origin and evolution of HIV has isolated new strains of simian immunodeficiency viruses, as well as several other atypical HIVs in central and west Africa which show that HIVs crossed over to human populations on several independent occasions during the first part of the 20th century. Research was presented on the modalities as well as the timing of the interspecies transfer and adaptation of HIV in human beings. Most novel was the presentation and interaction of field and bench scientists with virologists, epidemiologists, and historians who described in some depth the context in which these changes permitted the emergence of the new human viruses. These viruses certainly expanded in human populations and continued to cross over from simian species in close association with many of the changes of human culture in the mid-20th century—including the significant expansion of medical care in sub-Saharan Africa after World War 2. Recent researchers, drawing their arguments from molecular phylogeny as well as the archives of medical services in Africa, found that the iatrogenic 1902
amplification of the transmission capabilities of many blood-borne viruses coincided with some of the earliest treatment campaigns of African populations in the 1920–30s (Yaws, sleeping sickness, sexually transmitted diseases, etc) and took a quantum leap with the mass injection campaigns of the 1950s and the rise of blood transfusions in sub-Saharan Africa throughout this period—holding important lessons for the role of iatrogenic factors in other emerging diseases.
1
2
Hunt C, McNamee D. The potato: fertile ground for more funding. Lancet 2010; 376: 669. MacKenzie D. Let them eat spuds. New Scientist 2008; 199: 30–33.
We declare that we have no conflicts of interest.
*Guillaume Lachenal, Preston Marx, William Schneider, Ernest Drucker, François Simon [email protected] Université Paris Diderot, Paris, 75013, France (GL); Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA (PM); Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA (WS); Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA (ED); and Université Paris Diderot—Hôpital Saint Louis, Paris, France (FS)
On eating potatoes Chloe Hunt and David McNamee (Aug 28, p 669)1 make a fair point about the misuse of Medline, but it is pity that they seem to trivialise research on the humble potato. Like wheat, the potato is an important staple, yet it is more easily grown than cereals, especially in damp temperate climates. The failure of potato crops, owing to potato blight, in the middle of the 19th century led to widespread famine and mass migrations. The world population is projected to rise to 9 billion and modern strains of potato are not completely immune from blight nor are wheat strains immune from rust.2 The issue of the security of the human food supply might turn out to be just as important as research into major human diseases such as HIV. I declare that I have no conflicts of interest.
A Kennedy alexanderkennedy@mypostoffice.co.uk 16 Brincliffe Gardens, Sheffield S11 9BG, UK
Department of Error Lumbiganon P, Laopaiboon M, Gülmezoglu AM, et al, for the World Health Organization Global Survey on Maternal and Perinatal Health Research Group. Method of delivery and pregnancy outcomes in Asia: the WHO global survey on maternal and perinatal health 2007–08. Lancet 2010; 375: 490–99—In this Article (Feb 6), there were some errors in tables 1 and 3, which have been corrected. Additionally, in table 4, the denominator for intrapartum CS without indications in the group for neonatal mortality up to hospital discharge should have been 554. These corrections have been made to the online version as of Dec 3, 2010. Spence SJ, Thurm A. Testing autism interventions: trials and tribulations. Lancet 2010; 375: 2124–25—In this Comment (June 19), the affiliation for both authors should have been: “Pediatrics and Developmental Neuroscience Branch, Intramural Research Program of the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA”. This correction has been made to the online version as of Dec 3, 2010.
www.thelancet.com Vol 376 December 4, 2010
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discussed their recent work on these issues and took stock of progress in the past decade. This is the first meeting on the origins of AIDS in nearly a decade. In 2001, a conference was held at the Royal Society in London, UK, on the origin of the HIVs. That meeting was prompted by the publication of Edward Hooper’s book The River—in which he associated the origins of HIV with the early development of polio vaccines in Africa. Although it is now clear that HIV’s origins are not related to polio vaccines, there has been increasing evidence that HIV and other blood-borne pathogens (such as hepatitis C virus) existed by the early 20th century and several became epidemic by mid-century. In recent years, this research on the origin and evolution of HIV has isolated new strains of simian immunodeficiency viruses, as well as several other atypical HIVs in central and west Africa which show that HIVs crossed over to human populations on several independent occasions during the first part of the 20th century. Research was presented on the modalities as well as the timing of the interspecies transfer and adaptation of HIV in human beings. Most novel was the presentation and interaction of field and bench scientists with virologists, epidemiologists, and historians who described in some depth the context in which these changes permitted the emergence of the new human viruses. These viruses certainly expanded in human populations and continued to cross over from simian species in close association with many of the changes of human culture in the mid-20th century—including the significant expansion of medical care in sub-Saharan Africa after World War 2. Recent researchers, drawing their arguments from molecular phylogeny as well as the archives of medical services in Africa, found that the iatrogenic 1902
amplification of the transmission capabilities of many blood-borne viruses coincided with some of the earliest treatment campaigns of African populations in the 1920–30s (Yaws, sleeping sickness, sexually transmitted diseases, etc) and took a quantum leap with the mass injection campaigns of the 1950s and the rise of blood transfusions in sub-Saharan Africa throughout this period—holding important lessons for the role of iatrogenic factors in other emerging diseases.
1
2
Hunt C, McNamee D. The potato: fertile ground for more funding. Lancet 2010; 376: 669. MacKenzie D. Let them eat spuds. New Scientist 2008; 199: 30–33.
We declare that we have no conflicts of interest.
*Guillaume Lachenal, Preston Marx, William Schneider, Ernest Drucker, François Simon [email protected] Université Paris Diderot, Paris, 75013, France (GL); Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA (PM); Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA (WS); Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA (ED); and Université Paris Diderot—Hôpital Saint Louis, Paris, France (FS)
On eating potatoes Chloe Hunt and David McNamee (Aug 28, p 669)1 make a fair point about the misuse of Medline, but it is pity that they seem to trivialise research on the humble potato. Like wheat, the potato is an important staple, yet it is more easily grown than cereals, especially in damp temperate climates. The failure of potato crops, owing to potato blight, in the middle of the 19th century led to widespread famine and mass migrations. The world population is projected to rise to 9 billion and modern strains of potato are not completely immune from blight nor are wheat strains immune from rust.2 The issue of the security of the human food supply might turn out to be just as important as research into major human diseases such as HIV. I declare that I have no conflicts of interest.
A Kennedy alexanderkennedy@mypostoffice.co.uk 16 Brincliffe Gardens, Sheffield S11 9BG, UK
Department of Error Lumbiganon P, Laopaiboon M, Gülmezoglu AM, et al, for the World Health Organization Global Survey on Maternal and Perinatal Health Research Group. Method of delivery and pregnancy outcomes in Asia: the WHO global survey on maternal and perinatal health 2007–08. Lancet 2010; 375: 490–99—In this Article (Feb 6), there were some errors in tables 1 and 3, which have been corrected. Additionally, in table 4, the denominator for intrapartum CS without indications in the group for neonatal mortality up to hospital discharge should have been 554. These corrections have been made to the online version as of Dec 3, 2010. Spence SJ, Thurm A. Testing autism interventions: trials and tribulations. Lancet 2010; 375: 2124–25—In this Comment (June 19), the affiliation for both authors should have been: “Pediatrics and Developmental Neuroscience Branch, Intramural Research Program of the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA”. This correction has been made to the online version as of Dec 3, 2010.
www.thelancet.com Vol 376 December 4, 2010