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WHO opens French office
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News & Comment
TRENDS in Microbiology Vol.9 No.4 April 2001
In Brief
Health of Galapagos under surveillance
prevalence rate of <1 case per 10 000 population. The achieved rate by January 2000 was 1.25 cases per 10 000 population. The GAEL partners and international experts expressed full faith in the efficacy of multidrug therapy for leprosy consisting of rifampicin, clofazimine and dapsone, and discounted problems of drug resistance. CK http://id.medscape.com/33314.rhtml?srcmp =id-020201
Adenovirus in the water
Although the immediate threat caused by January’s oil spill in the Galapagos has dissipated, scientists are concerned about the long-term effects. After the tanker Jessica ran aground at San Cristóbal Island, most of the 240 000 gallons of petroleum products on board were spilled. So far, damage to wildlife in the area has been minimal – 9 animals were known to have died within weeks of the spill – however, the future health of the ecosystem will depend on the continued growth of algae in the surface waters of the ocean. The microscopic phytoplankton are part of the first trophic level in the archipelago and are a vital link in the carbon cycle. Direct measurements of these microorganisms will help in assessing the extent of the damage. In addition, NASA will be monitoring the levels of algae using their sea-viewing wide field-ofview sensor (SeaWifs) satellite, which measures the color of the water. AV http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ ast07feb_1.htm?list112226 http://www.darwinfoundation.org/oilspill/ park1.html
Leprosy initiative The Global Alliance for Elimination of Leprosy (GAEL), which met for the first time in New Delhi at the end of January 2001, has emphasized the need to scale up implementation of anti-leprosy measures to detect and cure all remaining cases worldwide. GAEL was formed in November 1999 by representatives of leprosy-endemic countries, the WHO, the Nippon Foundation, Novartis and the International Foundation of anti-Leprosy Associations, and aims to eliminate leprosy as a public health problem from every country by 2005. Elimination is defined as achieving a
Although the cool temperature of the Pacific might not be enough to dissuade you from taking an ocean dip, new research findings just might. Sunny Jiang and colleagues from University of California, Irvine sampled the coastal waters off Southern California only to find that water from 4 out of 12 sites contained human adenoviruses. Detection of the virus not only indicated that waste waters are contaminating the coastal regions, but that human waste in particular is entering the sites. The presence of adenovirus, detected by PCR from 20–40 litre samples, was not correlated with an excess of indicator organisms such as fecal coliforms, (although fecal bacterial counts exceeded recreational water quality, standards in some cases). Jiang, whose research was funded by California Sea Grant, says a new approach is needed to monitor recreational water quality which includes the detection of human viruses. AV http://www.seagrantnews.org/news/ 20010207_viruses.htm
Anti-HIV drug price cuts The Indian generic drug manufacturer Cipla Ltd announced at the beginning of February 2001 that it will supply triple-drug therapy for HIV to the world’s poor at a cost of <$1 a day, significantly undercutting multinational companies. The company, which makes cheap copies of drugs that are patent-protected in other countries, is offering stavudine, lamivudine and nevirapine to the international charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) for $350 per patient per year, and to governments for $600; their normal price is $1200 per patient per year. MSF said the offer showed that its target of $200 per year was almost within reach, and it called on western pharmaceutical companies to match the Cipla price. The same combination therapy would cost $10 400 per year in the USA. CK
http://id.medscape.com/33486.rhtml?srcmp =id-020901
April fools all year round Necrotizing fasciitis, according to a recent warning circulating on the Internet, can be caught from Costa Rican bananas. But don’t believe the hype, says the CDC. The story is unfounded and, like many others, is deconstructed on a CDC website devoted to hoaxes and rumors. The site provides accurate information in the face of some terrifying tales about various contagious diseases. For example, the public was recently alarmed by a claim, apparently spread by the media, that the CDC had discovered a mutant strain of HIV that could be transmitted through the air. The CDC has corrected this misinformation. Luckily, neither HIV nor necrotizing fasciitis is spread as easily as the rumours about them. AV http://www.cdc.gov/hoax_rumors.htm
Salmonellosis incidence falls The incidence of salmonellosis in England and Wales up to the end of 2000 continued to fall from its peak in 1997, and the provisional total for the year (14 845) is the lowest in the Salmonella dataset of the PHLS since 1985. The provisional total of Salmonella enteritidis phage type 4 cases was 4846 (~33% of all cases), which is a much smaller proportion than in recent years. It is likely that this dramatic reduction in S. enteritidis PT4 has been achieved by the vaccination of poultry flocks, an intervention that seems to have had major public health benefits. CK http://www.eurosurv.org/update
WHO opens French office The WHO, with the support of the Municipality of Lyon, the French Government and the Marcel Mérieux Foundation, has opened an office in Lyon, France. The office is part of the WHO Dept of Communicable Diseases, Surveillance and Response in Geneva. Speaking at the inauguration on 8 February 2001, Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General of the WHO, said that the main mission of the new office will be to strengthen the capacity of developing countries to contain epidemics and emerging diseases, including the detection of drug resistance. CK http://www.who.int
http://tim.trends.com 0966-842X/01/$ – see front matter © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
News & Comment
TRENDS in Microbiology Vol.9 No.4 April 2001
In Brief
Health of Galapagos under surveillance
prevalence rate of <1 case per 10 000 population. The achieved rate by January 2000 was 1.25 cases per 10 000 population. The GAEL partners and international experts expressed full faith in the efficacy of multidrug therapy for leprosy consisting of rifampicin, clofazimine and dapsone, and discounted problems of drug resistance. CK http://id.medscape.com/33314.rhtml?srcmp =id-020201
Adenovirus in the water
Although the immediate threat caused by January’s oil spill in the Galapagos has dissipated, scientists are concerned about the long-term effects. After the tanker Jessica ran aground at San Cristóbal Island, most of the 240 000 gallons of petroleum products on board were spilled. So far, damage to wildlife in the area has been minimal – 9 animals were known to have died within weeks of the spill – however, the future health of the ecosystem will depend on the continued growth of algae in the surface waters of the ocean. The microscopic phytoplankton are part of the first trophic level in the archipelago and are a vital link in the carbon cycle. Direct measurements of these microorganisms will help in assessing the extent of the damage. In addition, NASA will be monitoring the levels of algae using their sea-viewing wide field-ofview sensor (SeaWifs) satellite, which measures the color of the water. AV http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ ast07feb_1.htm?list112226 http://www.darwinfoundation.org/oilspill/ park1.html
Leprosy initiative The Global Alliance for Elimination of Leprosy (GAEL), which met for the first time in New Delhi at the end of January 2001, has emphasized the need to scale up implementation of anti-leprosy measures to detect and cure all remaining cases worldwide. GAEL was formed in November 1999 by representatives of leprosy-endemic countries, the WHO, the Nippon Foundation, Novartis and the International Foundation of anti-Leprosy Associations, and aims to eliminate leprosy as a public health problem from every country by 2005. Elimination is defined as achieving a
Although the cool temperature of the Pacific might not be enough to dissuade you from taking an ocean dip, new research findings just might. Sunny Jiang and colleagues from University of California, Irvine sampled the coastal waters off Southern California only to find that water from 4 out of 12 sites contained human adenoviruses. Detection of the virus not only indicated that waste waters are contaminating the coastal regions, but that human waste in particular is entering the sites. The presence of adenovirus, detected by PCR from 20–40 litre samples, was not correlated with an excess of indicator organisms such as fecal coliforms, (although fecal bacterial counts exceeded recreational water quality, standards in some cases). Jiang, whose research was funded by California Sea Grant, says a new approach is needed to monitor recreational water quality which includes the detection of human viruses. AV http://www.seagrantnews.org/news/ 20010207_viruses.htm
Anti-HIV drug price cuts The Indian generic drug manufacturer Cipla Ltd announced at the beginning of February 2001 that it will supply triple-drug therapy for HIV to the world’s poor at a cost of <$1 a day, significantly undercutting multinational companies. The company, which makes cheap copies of drugs that are patent-protected in other countries, is offering stavudine, lamivudine and nevirapine to the international charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) for $350 per patient per year, and to governments for $600; their normal price is $1200 per patient per year. MSF said the offer showed that its target of $200 per year was almost within reach, and it called on western pharmaceutical companies to match the Cipla price. The same combination therapy would cost $10 400 per year in the USA. CK
http://id.medscape.com/33486.rhtml?srcmp =id-020901
April fools all year round Necrotizing fasciitis, according to a recent warning circulating on the Internet, can be caught from Costa Rican bananas. But don’t believe the hype, says the CDC. The story is unfounded and, like many others, is deconstructed on a CDC website devoted to hoaxes and rumors. The site provides accurate information in the face of some terrifying tales about various contagious diseases. For example, the public was recently alarmed by a claim, apparently spread by the media, that the CDC had discovered a mutant strain of HIV that could be transmitted through the air. The CDC has corrected this misinformation. Luckily, neither HIV nor necrotizing fasciitis is spread as easily as the rumours about them. AV http://www.cdc.gov/hoax_rumors.htm
Salmonellosis incidence falls The incidence of salmonellosis in England and Wales up to the end of 2000 continued to fall from its peak in 1997, and the provisional total for the year (14 845) is the lowest in the Salmonella dataset of the PHLS since 1985. The provisional total of Salmonella enteritidis phage type 4 cases was 4846 (~33% of all cases), which is a much smaller proportion than in recent years. It is likely that this dramatic reduction in S. enteritidis PT4 has been achieved by the vaccination of poultry flocks, an intervention that seems to have had major public health benefits. CK http://www.eurosurv.org/update
WHO opens French office The WHO, with the support of the Municipality of Lyon, the French Government and the Marcel Mérieux Foundation, has opened an office in Lyon, France. The office is part of the WHO Dept of Communicable Diseases, Surveillance and Response in Geneva. Speaking at the inauguration on 8 February 2001, Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General of the WHO, said that the main mission of the new office will be to strengthen the capacity of developing countries to contain epidemics and emerging diseases, including the detection of drug resistance. CK http://www.who.int
http://tim.trends.com 0966-842X/01/$ – see front matter © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.