News Scan for Jun 18, 2014

News brief
Topics
Polio
Public Health
Pandemic Influenza
Business Preparedness

Another WHO/UNICEF polio vaccine campaign begins in Syria

Syria's eighth vaccination campaign in as many months begins this week and hopes to reach 2.8 million children over 5 days, according to a news release yesterday from the World Health Organization's (WHO's) Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean. 

The campaign, supported by WHO and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), aims to reach children even in contested and hard-to-reach areas of the war-torn country. Conditions there are preventing many families from accessing health services. The goal is for every child in the country to receive multiple doses of oral polio vaccine, the WHO says.

Elizabeth Hoff, the WHO's representative to Syria, said that immunizations are helping stem transmission. "We have not seen a case of polio in Syria since January this year, but we need to be extra vigilant during these summer months as this is the high season for transmission," she said.

Hoff also pointed out that a coordinated response is needed in Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Turkey to ward off an epidemic. Some 25 million children in the region have received more than 100 million doses of vaccine to date, according to the agency. The WHO declared polio a public health emergency of international concern last month.
Jun 17 WHO news release
May 5 CIDRAP News story on polio emergency

 

IOM report highlights potential readiness benefits of ACA

Participants at a workshop late last year said that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) may provide important opportunities for public health preparedness for events like pandemics, such as better use of healthcare data and new opportunities for collaboration, according to a report released last week by the Institute of Medicine (IOM).

"The implementation of the ACA provides an opportunity to consider how to better incorporate preparedness into all aspects of the evolving health care system and daily delivery of care," the IOM says in its summary of the report, which is based on an IOM Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness for Catastrophic Events held Nov 18-19, 2013.

Workshop participants said that public health needs to address the impact of coverage expansion on preparedness; how the changing reimbursement systems and incentives will affect preparedness activities; the use of data to help preparedness, response, and recovery; how existing resources can be used to improve both day-to-day operations and response during public health emergencies; workforce transformation and training needs; and opportunities for collaboration among healthcare delivery systems that might not have been involved in preparedness activities in the past.

Some of the themes the group identified included bridging healthcare and public health preparedness communities, fostering resilience through better healthcare access, focusing on the most vulnerable, leveraging telemedicine, and enhancing preparedness through public-private partnerships.
Jun 13 IOM report

Avian Flu Scan for Jun 18, 2014

News brief
Topics
Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)

Man dies of H5N1 avian flu in Indonesia

A fatal case of H5N1 avian flu has been reported in Indonesia, according to a story in the Jakarta Post today. This represents the second confirmed human case of the highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza in the country this year.

The patient was a 33-year-old man who was hospitalized and died in Jakarta last month. The diagnosis, confirmed by the country's health ministry yesterday, was made on the basis of real-time and conventional polymerase chain reaction testing.

The first confirmed H5N1 case in Indonesia this year occurred in a 2-year-old in Wonogiri, Central Java, says the story. The child had been exposed to live poultry after some 70 chickens had died in the area.

Indonesia has had 197 cases of avian flu, 165 of them fatal, since the current outbreak began in 2003—the most of any country.
Jun 18 Jakarta Post story

 

Chinese H7N9 vaccine looks promising in animal study

Chinese researchers found that a hybrid monovalent (single-strain) H7N9 candidate vaccine produced an immune response in mice and ferrets and protected the former against the virus, according to a report yesterday in PLoS One.

The team produced a virus that contained hemagglutinin and neuraminidase genes from an H7N9 virus and six genes encoding internal proteins from a non-H7N9 influenza A virus from Puerto Rico.

They found that a monovalent H7N9 split vaccine prepared using the hybrid virus was immunogenic in both mice and ferrets. They also found that two doses given by injection completely protected mice from a normally lethal wild-type H7N9 virus challenge.
Jun 17 PLoS One study

In related news, the World Health Organization (WHO) today provided new details on a fatal H7N9 case reported by Chinese officials yesterday.

The patient, a 42-year-old man from Jiangmen city in Guangdong province, became ill on May 25 and was hospitalized on May 31. He died on Jun 5. Provincial health officials said yesterday that his case was confirmed on Jun 9.

The man had no exposure to live poultry, the WHO said. China has now reported 450 H7N9 cases and at least 158 deaths, according to an ongoing tally posted by FluTrackers, an infectious disease message board.
Jun 18 WHO statement
FluTrackers human H7N9 case list

This week's top reads

  1. Analysis of cow, cat H5N1 avian flu samples raises concerns about spread to other animals

    The cats started showing symptoms a day after clinical disease was noted in the cows, and about half of the cats died.

    Lisa Schnirring
    barn cat with milk pails

  2. Common diabetes drug lowers SARS-CoV-2 levels, clinical trial finds

    The mean SARS-CoV-2 viral load was reduced 3.6-fold with metformin.

    Stephanie Soucheray
    metformin

  3. WHO COVID vaccine advisers recommend switch to JN.1 strain

    The FDA's vaccine advisory group will discuss the make-up of 2024-25 vaccines at its meeting on May 16. 

    Lisa Schnirring
    vaccine prep

  4. USDA to test ground beef for traces of H5N1 avian flu virus as more poultry outbreaks reported

    Dairy cows make up about 7% of US beef production.

    Lisa Schnirring
    ground beef

  5. High-risk patients with COVID symptoms should use PCR rather than rapid tests, study suggests

    The sensitivity of RATs was 47%, compared with RT-PCR and 80% versus viral culture.

    Mary Van Beusekom
    Stack of rapid COVID tests

  6. COVID booster linked to 25% lower odds of long COVID

    People who received the COVID-19 booster vaccine had 25% lower odds of having long COVID than their unvaccinated counterparts.

    Stephanie Soucheray

  7. USDA genome study sheds light on H5N1 avian flu spillover to cows, but data gaps remain

    In other developments, the USDA said ground beef samples were negative for the virus and Michigan and Colorado announced emergency measures.

    Lisa Schnirring
    dairy cows in barn

  8. Case report bolsters evidence for H5N1 avian flu spread from cow to Texas dairy worker

    The patient worked at a farm where the illness was suspected in cows and in a region where H5N1 was confirmed in other dairy herds.

    Lisa Schnirring
    milking parlor worker

  9. FDA finds no live H5N1 avian flu virus in sour cream or cottage cheese, will assess raw milk

    The FDA will test pooled raw milk to give the agency a better picture of the viral load before pasteurization.

    Lisa Schnirring
    cottage cheese

  10. Global survey shows COVID booster uptake in question

    Willingness to get a booster dose of vaccine dropped most notably in high-income countries.

    Stephanie Soucheray
    Ukrainian vaccine