News Scan for Oct 22, 2013

News brief

South Korea, US to set up bioweapon monitoring of North Korea

South Korea and the United States will establish a surveillance system against biological weapon threats from North Korea, Seoul-based The Chosun Ilbo reported today.

South Korea's Defense Ministry said the contract to build a monitoring system against biological weapons was signed Oct 18. The system will be designed to detect about 10 potential bioterror agents such as anthrax and smallpox, the story staid.

The agreement will enable South Korea to receive information on disease threats and vaccines from the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, while the United States will benefit from real-time information gathered by the new surveillance system.
Oct 21 Chosun Ilbo story

Study: HPV vaccine may lower cervical defects

A human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination campaign in Victoria, Australia, schools was associated with a significant reduction of cervical abnormalities within 5 years, according to a study today in BMC Medicine.

The study involved 14,085 unvaccinated and 24,871 vaccinated women who were eligible for vaccination at school starting in 2007, 85% of whom had received three HPV vaccine doses.

The researchers found that histologically confirmed high-grade (HG) cervical abnormalities and high-grade cytology (HGC) were significantly lower for vaccinated women.

Those who received at least one vaccine dose had an HG rate of 4.8 per 1,000 person-years, compared with 6.4 per 1,000 person-years in unvaccinated women. The rate of HGC was 11.9 per 1,000 person-years in vaccinated women, versus 15.3 in unvaccinated women.

The investigators also found that the greatest effect was in younger women.
Oct 22 BMC Med abstract

Flu Scan for Oct 22, 2013

News brief

Cambodia confirms H5N1 in 8-year-old girl

An 8-year-old girl in Cambodia has become the country's 21st H5N1 avian flu case-patient this year, according to a detailed statement today from Cambodia's Ministry of Health (MoH) and the World Health Organization's (WHO's) Western Pacific Region.

The girl, from O-Raing village in Kampong Thom province in central Cambodia, developed a fever and sneezing on Oct 8, and her parents sought treatment for her the next day at the village clinic. On Oct 10 she also experienced coughing and vomiting, so her parents brought her to a clinic outside their village.

Her condition worsened on Oct 11, and the clinic referred the girl to a hospital in Siem Reap. On hospital admission she had a fever, cough, vomiting, and difficulty breathing. She was treated with oseltamivir (Tamiflu) on Oct 14 and is now in stable condition, the statement said. Testing by the country's Pasteur Institute found her positive for H5N1 on Oct 17.

MoH rapid response teams in O-Raing found that the girl had direct contact with dead poultry when she helped prepare a meal using a chicken that had died earlier.

Of Cambodia's 21 H5N1 cases this year, 11 have been fatal. Since 2005 the country has confirmed 42 cases, 30 of them fatal. Thirty-one have been in children under 14 years old, the statement said.
Oct 22 Cambodia MoH/WHO statement

OIE, FAO extend pact to share animal flu data with WHO

Two global animal health organizations have extended for another 5 years an agreement to share animal influenza data with the World Health Organization (WHO) for use in formulating human flu vaccines.

The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced the extension yesterday. The two agencies manage OFFLU, a global network of experts on animal flu, one of whose aims is to share data with the WHO for use in choosing the flu strains for human vaccines.

"The first such agreement was signed by the three sister organisations in January 2011," the OIE announcement said. "Since then, OFFLU has collected data about avian influenza viruses isolated from animal samples by the OIE and the FAO Reference Centres, to identify which strains of virus should be relevant for use in human vaccines. These data continue to provide a cornerstone for human pre-pandemic preparedness and for WHO’s ability to understand the potential public health risks arising from influenza viruses circulating in animal populations."

The OIE said the agreement has been extended to last through 2018.
Oct 22 OIE statement