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September 14–20, 2013
This Week in Medicine
John Rensten/Corbis
Vaccine donation Walgreens—the biggest pharmacy in the USA—will help to provide vaccines for millions of children in low-income countries. The company has pledged that for every vaccination given in one of its US outlets, it will make a donation to the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign, which fights diseases including polio, measles, pneumonia, and diarrhoea. Preventable heart deaths More than 200 000 deaths from heart disease or stroke in the USA could be prevented every year by public health measures, according to the latest Vital Signs report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Preventable deaths varied by age, sex, US state, and ethnic origin, with twice as many preventable deaths occurring in black than in white individuals.
CJD exposure Up to 13 people in the USA might have been exposed to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). The patients were operated on with equipment previously used on a patient thought to have sporadic CJD. Public health officials have given assurances that the risk of transmission is extremely low.
Drug drought Congo (Brazzaville) has an acute shortage of antiretroviral drugs, placing patients with HIV/AIDS in danger of drug resistance or disease relapse. The government has admitted that more than 38 000 individuals were waiting for antiretrovirals because of an interruption in the supply chain.
Under your skin Researchers at Harvard University (MA, USA) have received approval for human trials of a vaccine implant that targets skin cancer. The implant, which is about the size of a fingernail and has proved successful in animals, is placed under the skin and stimulates the immune system to destroy cancerous melanoma cells.
Female genital mutilation The UK Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) says that the UK is closer than ever to its first prosecution for female genital mutilation (FGM). The practice has been illegal in the UK for 27 years, but no prosecutions have been successful to date. The CPS is considering whether to bring charges in five cases. According to the Home Office website, an estimated 24 000 girls younger than 15 years are at risk of female genital mutilation in the UK.
Worldwide happiness Denmark, Norway, and Switzerland are the top three happiest countries in the world, according to the World Happiness report 2013, published by the Earth Institute and sponsored by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. The report strengthens the case for wellbeing as a crucial component of economic and social development and calls for world leaders to include happiness as a target for the post-2015 agenda.
Chad fights malaria Cases of malaria in Chad have increased by ten times, according to Médecins Sans Frontières. A rise in malaria infection is common during the rainy season; however, the size of this peak is unexplained. A quarter of all deaths in Chad are caused by malaria. Médecins Sans Frontières are working to provide bednets and anti-malarial drugs in the country.
Helping the homeless The UK Department of Health has announced the voluntary organisations that will receive money from a £10 million fund to help homeless people after they are discharged from hospital. The 52 schemes will support specialist training for health-care providers, beds for recently discharged patients, and support for outpatient care.
Hunger in Zimbabwe 2·2 million Zimbabweans are facing food shortages in the next 7 months, according to estimates by the UN and the Zimbabwe Government. One in four people living in rural areas are expected to need food assistance after poor harvests. Plans are being made to provide cash and food to the most vulnerable people. www.thelancet.com Vol 382 September 14, 2013
For The Lancet News podcast see http://www.thelancet.com/ lancet-news-audio/ For the Vital Signs report see http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/ HeartDisease-Stroke/index.html For the World Happiness Report see http://unsdsn. org/files/2013/09/ WorldHappinessReport2013_ online.pdf
Andrew Steven Graham/Demotix/Corbis
Australian outbreaks Outbreaks of three different contagious diseases are ongoing in southeast Queensland, Australia. So far, norovirus has infected 130 people in Ipswich and on the Sunshine Coast, 35 cases of Escherichia coli have been traced to animals at an agricultural show in Brisbane, and four people along the east coast have contracted measles in the past month.
Gideon Mendel/Corbis
Mental illness database Patients with severe mental illness in China should be recorded in a nationwide database, according to the Chinese National Health and Family Planning Commission. Patients with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, persistent delusional disorder, and paranoid schizophrenia should be entered at discharge to ensure that they receive appropriate aftercare.
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John Rensten/Corbis
Vaccine donation Walgreens—the biggest pharmacy in the USA—will help to provide vaccines for millions of children in low-income countries. The company has pledged that for every vaccination given in one of its US outlets, it will make a donation to the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign, which fights diseases including polio, measles, pneumonia, and diarrhoea. Preventable heart deaths More than 200 000 deaths from heart disease or stroke in the USA could be prevented every year by public health measures, according to the latest Vital Signs report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Preventable deaths varied by age, sex, US state, and ethnic origin, with twice as many preventable deaths occurring in black than in white individuals.
CJD exposure Up to 13 people in the USA might have been exposed to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). The patients were operated on with equipment previously used on a patient thought to have sporadic CJD. Public health officials have given assurances that the risk of transmission is extremely low.
Drug drought Congo (Brazzaville) has an acute shortage of antiretroviral drugs, placing patients with HIV/AIDS in danger of drug resistance or disease relapse. The government has admitted that more than 38 000 individuals were waiting for antiretrovirals because of an interruption in the supply chain.
Under your skin Researchers at Harvard University (MA, USA) have received approval for human trials of a vaccine implant that targets skin cancer. The implant, which is about the size of a fingernail and has proved successful in animals, is placed under the skin and stimulates the immune system to destroy cancerous melanoma cells.
Female genital mutilation The UK Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) says that the UK is closer than ever to its first prosecution for female genital mutilation (FGM). The practice has been illegal in the UK for 27 years, but no prosecutions have been successful to date. The CPS is considering whether to bring charges in five cases. According to the Home Office website, an estimated 24 000 girls younger than 15 years are at risk of female genital mutilation in the UK.
Worldwide happiness Denmark, Norway, and Switzerland are the top three happiest countries in the world, according to the World Happiness report 2013, published by the Earth Institute and sponsored by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. The report strengthens the case for wellbeing as a crucial component of economic and social development and calls for world leaders to include happiness as a target for the post-2015 agenda.
Chad fights malaria Cases of malaria in Chad have increased by ten times, according to Médecins Sans Frontières. A rise in malaria infection is common during the rainy season; however, the size of this peak is unexplained. A quarter of all deaths in Chad are caused by malaria. Médecins Sans Frontières are working to provide bednets and anti-malarial drugs in the country.
Helping the homeless The UK Department of Health has announced the voluntary organisations that will receive money from a £10 million fund to help homeless people after they are discharged from hospital. The 52 schemes will support specialist training for health-care providers, beds for recently discharged patients, and support for outpatient care.
Hunger in Zimbabwe 2·2 million Zimbabweans are facing food shortages in the next 7 months, according to estimates by the UN and the Zimbabwe Government. One in four people living in rural areas are expected to need food assistance after poor harvests. Plans are being made to provide cash and food to the most vulnerable people. www.thelancet.com Vol 382 September 14, 2013
For The Lancet News podcast see http://www.thelancet.com/ lancet-news-audio/ For the Vital Signs report see http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/ HeartDisease-Stroke/index.html For the World Happiness Report see http://unsdsn. org/files/2013/09/ WorldHappinessReport2013_ online.pdf
Andrew Steven Graham/Demotix/Corbis
Australian outbreaks Outbreaks of three different contagious diseases are ongoing in southeast Queensland, Australia. So far, norovirus has infected 130 people in Ipswich and on the Sunshine Coast, 35 cases of Escherichia coli have been traced to animals at an agricultural show in Brisbane, and four people along the east coast have contracted measles in the past month.
Gideon Mendel/Corbis
Mental illness database Patients with severe mental illness in China should be recorded in a nationwide database, according to the Chinese National Health and Family Planning Commission. Patients with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, persistent delusional disorder, and paranoid schizophrenia should be entered at discharge to ensure that they receive appropriate aftercare.
i