Via The Hindu, excerpt :
" NEW DELHI: As the country grapples with a “mixed burden” of diseases that beset the developing as well as developed countries, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday said adequate research was needed to deal with the challenge of non-communicable and re-emerging diseases.
Addressing the centenary celebrations of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) here, Mr. Azad said as the country moved from a developing nation to the status of a developed one, it had to face the challenge of communicable, non-communicable and re-emerging diseases.
Diversity of problems
“The health parameters of our population show a very wide range which reflects diversity of problems, lack of proper maternal and child healthcare facilities in a significant portion of the country and a large burden of morbidity due to infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis and HIV-AIDS.” Malaria after the initial success in 1960s and 1970s has become a killer disease again especially in the inaccessible tribal population."
Showing posts with label Public Health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Public Health. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
High prevalence of poor man's diseases in India
An article from Zee News :
" Geneva: India continues to rank very high in the prevalence of neglected tropical diseases like dengue, rabies and soil-transmitted helminthiases, according to a report released by the World Health Organisation today.
"Of the world's poorest 2.7 billion people (defined as those who live on less than USD 2.00 a day), more than 1 billion are affected by one or more neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), says the report.
Though country-wide estimates are not provided, India is expected to have a majority of the 1 billion NTD-patients given the high incidence of poverty coupled with poor sanitary and hygine conditions. "
" Geneva: India continues to rank very high in the prevalence of neglected tropical diseases like dengue, rabies and soil-transmitted helminthiases, according to a report released by the World Health Organisation today.
"Of the world's poorest 2.7 billion people (defined as those who live on less than USD 2.00 a day), more than 1 billion are affected by one or more neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), says the report.
Though country-wide estimates are not provided, India is expected to have a majority of the 1 billion NTD-patients given the high incidence of poverty coupled with poor sanitary and hygine conditions. "
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Australia : Students at risk of viruses
Via The Mercury :
" GROUP of southern Tasmanian high school students have undergone tests for possible blood-borne viruses after a teacher decided to take blood tests from a class a month ago.
Eighteen Grade 9 and 10 students were attempting to test the PH levels of their blood in the class experiment.
The science teacher made an attempt to sterilise the needle with methylated spirits between tests.
Dr Roscoe Taylor, Director of Public Health said methylated spirits would not prevent the transmission of HIV or Hepatitis B or C.
"The risk of transmission is extremely low in this age group, but it is always a risk to share needles," he said.
"This is an incident that should not have happened."
" GROUP of southern Tasmanian high school students have undergone tests for possible blood-borne viruses after a teacher decided to take blood tests from a class a month ago.
Eighteen Grade 9 and 10 students were attempting to test the PH levels of their blood in the class experiment.
The science teacher made an attempt to sterilise the needle with methylated spirits between tests.
Dr Roscoe Taylor, Director of Public Health said methylated spirits would not prevent the transmission of HIV or Hepatitis B or C.
"The risk of transmission is extremely low in this age group, but it is always a risk to share needles," he said.
"This is an incident that should not have happened."
Friday, September 3, 2010
India : Diseases in Mumbai jumpes three-fold in August
Via DNA India :
" Malaria became deadlier in August, a lot deadlier. Despite the slew of measures taken by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and other civic agencies to counter the disease, a near three-fold jump in malaria deaths was recorded in August.
According to statistics provided by the public health department in the BMC, 47 people died of malaria in August this year. The toll was 18 in July.
Even as the department insisted that there had been a decline in the overall number of people who tested positive for the disease — from 17,000 in July to 15,000-odd in August — there was a nearly 37% rise in the number of admissions to public hospitals on account of the disease.
In August, 5,392 malaria patients were admitted to hospitals. The figure was 3,949 in July. "
" Malaria became deadlier in August, a lot deadlier. Despite the slew of measures taken by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and other civic agencies to counter the disease, a near three-fold jump in malaria deaths was recorded in August.
According to statistics provided by the public health department in the BMC, 47 people died of malaria in August this year. The toll was 18 in July.
Even as the department insisted that there had been a decline in the overall number of people who tested positive for the disease — from 17,000 in July to 15,000-odd in August — there was a nearly 37% rise in the number of admissions to public hospitals on account of the disease.
In August, 5,392 malaria patients were admitted to hospitals. The figure was 3,949 in July. "
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Crof : Thinking about Pakistan
An excellent piece from Crof at H5N1. It's a must read, I wish I could write even half like that, excerpt from the article but please visit Crof's site for more :
" Floods in a faraway country may seem a bit off topic for a blog created to cover influenza, but the last year and a half has been an education for me: Nothing happens in isolation. Epidemics and pandemics don't wait for a convenient time to break out. They just aggravate everything else that's going on, and everything else aggravates the epidemics.
Everything else is indeed going on. Mike Coston and Arkanoid Legent are reporting tonight on H3N2 flu in Hanoi, and Chen Qi is covering dengue and chikungunya in Karnataka. So bear with me while I think about what's happening to the 170,000,000 million men, women and children in Pakistan.
This is a new country, founded in 1947 in a ghastly act of near-genocidal ethnic cleansing when the British got out of South Asia. But it sits on some of the oldest civilized ground on earth, where people living in mud-brick villages have earned a living from the Indus River for eight or nine thousand years. They have survived untold disasters before, including Alexander the Great, the Mongols, Tamerlane, and the Moghuls.
Modern Pakistan may lack its ancestors' resilience. Its civilian politics seems to depend on two or three aristocratic families, who kill one another off with dreary frequency."
" Floods in a faraway country may seem a bit off topic for a blog created to cover influenza, but the last year and a half has been an education for me: Nothing happens in isolation. Epidemics and pandemics don't wait for a convenient time to break out. They just aggravate everything else that's going on, and everything else aggravates the epidemics.
Everything else is indeed going on. Mike Coston and Arkanoid Legent are reporting tonight on H3N2 flu in Hanoi, and Chen Qi is covering dengue and chikungunya in Karnataka. So bear with me while I think about what's happening to the 170,000,000 million men, women and children in Pakistan.
This is a new country, founded in 1947 in a ghastly act of near-genocidal ethnic cleansing when the British got out of South Asia. But it sits on some of the oldest civilized ground on earth, where people living in mud-brick villages have earned a living from the Indus River for eight or nine thousand years. They have survived untold disasters before, including Alexander the Great, the Mongols, Tamerlane, and the Moghuls.
Modern Pakistan may lack its ancestors' resilience. Its civilian politics seems to depend on two or three aristocratic families, who kill one another off with dreary frequency."
Saturday, August 28, 2010
India : 1 doc, 300 patients at H1N1 screening centre
Reading this article from Indian Express (posted below), just proves the fact that no doubt India is a country with a big population but the health care system is so fragile, its just waiting time to collapse.
That's why H1N1, dengue, malaria in India is more to cause fatalities compared to any other country which has a decent health care. Sometimes you just wonder when will this change?? The rich is getting richer and the poor is getting poorer.
" As many as 300 patients queued up on Thursday at the swine flu screening centre at Khinswara Hospital of Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), Thergaon. Two feet away, patients and relatives form a parallel queue for medicine from the pharmacist. There is yet another long queue of women waiting to meet the gynaecologist.
A lone doctor examines suspected swine flu cases in the serpentine queue extending outside the gates. From 9 am to 1.30 pm, she examines over 300 patients. The number is roughly the same on Mondays.
“On Mondays and Thursdays, we have over 300 patients undergoing checks for suspected swine flu. On other days, around 150-200 troop in,” says V D Sawant, hospital in-charge. The staff say there is so much rush the situation gets volatile if anybody tries to jump queue. “Waiting for long hours results in frayed tempers and heated exchanges,” they say."
That's why H1N1, dengue, malaria in India is more to cause fatalities compared to any other country which has a decent health care. Sometimes you just wonder when will this change?? The rich is getting richer and the poor is getting poorer.
" As many as 300 patients queued up on Thursday at the swine flu screening centre at Khinswara Hospital of Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), Thergaon. Two feet away, patients and relatives form a parallel queue for medicine from the pharmacist. There is yet another long queue of women waiting to meet the gynaecologist.
A lone doctor examines suspected swine flu cases in the serpentine queue extending outside the gates. From 9 am to 1.30 pm, she examines over 300 patients. The number is roughly the same on Mondays.
“On Mondays and Thursdays, we have over 300 patients undergoing checks for suspected swine flu. On other days, around 150-200 troop in,” says V D Sawant, hospital in-charge. The staff say there is so much rush the situation gets volatile if anybody tries to jump queue. “Waiting for long hours results in frayed tempers and heated exchanges,” they say."
Monday, August 16, 2010
ASEAN head says members need to coordinate pandemic response plans
From Earth Times, excerpt :
" Phnom Penh : The secretary general of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) said on Monday member nations must work more closely to ensure they can best combat the next pandemic.
Dr Surin Pitsuwan said a coordinated regional effort in combating pandemics such as SARS and bird flu was vital to ensure the bloc can recover from worst-case scenarios with minimal losses.
"If we are not careful, it will certainly undermine our own economic growth and our own resilience in the region," he said on the first day of the Phnom Penh-based meeting attended by delegates from the 10-member ASEAN block, the US, the European Union and organizations such as the United Nations.
"It's natural that all these countries should come together and make sure that each will not be affected more severely, and no-one wants to be that weak link in the chain of defence," Surin said.
During the five-day exercise, the first of its kind in the world, delegates are to manage a fictional six-nation bloc where a severe pandemic has broken out."
" Phnom Penh : The secretary general of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) said on Monday member nations must work more closely to ensure they can best combat the next pandemic.
Dr Surin Pitsuwan said a coordinated regional effort in combating pandemics such as SARS and bird flu was vital to ensure the bloc can recover from worst-case scenarios with minimal losses.
"If we are not careful, it will certainly undermine our own economic growth and our own resilience in the region," he said on the first day of the Phnom Penh-based meeting attended by delegates from the 10-member ASEAN block, the US, the European Union and organizations such as the United Nations.
"It's natural that all these countries should come together and make sure that each will not be affected more severely, and no-one wants to be that weak link in the chain of defence," Surin said.
During the five-day exercise, the first of its kind in the world, delegates are to manage a fictional six-nation bloc where a severe pandemic has broken out."
Thursday, August 12, 2010
UK doctors: New superbug gene could spread widely
Via AP, excerpt :
" LONDON : People traveling to India for medical procedures have brought back to Britain a new gene that allows any bacteria to become a superbug, and scientists are warning this type of drug resistance could soon appear worldwide.
Though already widespread in India, the new superbug gene is being increasingly spotted in Britain and elsewhere. Experts warn the booming medical tourism industries in India and Pakistan could fuel a surge in antibiotic resistance, as patients import dangerous bugs to their home countries.
The superbug gene, which can be swapped between different bacteria to make them resistant to most drugs, has so far been identified in 37 people who returned to the U.K. after undergoing surgery in India or Pakistan."
The study is in Lancet.
" LONDON : People traveling to India for medical procedures have brought back to Britain a new gene that allows any bacteria to become a superbug, and scientists are warning this type of drug resistance could soon appear worldwide.
Though already widespread in India, the new superbug gene is being increasingly spotted in Britain and elsewhere. Experts warn the booming medical tourism industries in India and Pakistan could fuel a surge in antibiotic resistance, as patients import dangerous bugs to their home countries.
The superbug gene, which can be swapped between different bacteria to make them resistant to most drugs, has so far been identified in 37 people who returned to the U.K. after undergoing surgery in India or Pakistan."
The study is in Lancet.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Flooded Pakistan battles to avoid disease
Via BBC News :
" Concerns are growing for survivors of flooding in north-west Pakistan after the heaviest rains in a generation killed at least 1,100 people.
There are reports of diarrhoea and cholera among the hundreds of thousands left homeless, and food and potable water are in short supply.
Pakistan's military is helping with the rescue effort, and the US has announced $10m (£6.4m) in emergency aid.
Floodwaters are receding in some areas, but more rain is now forecast.
Part of the main north-south motorway into the region was reopened on Sunday, before reportedly closing again. The brief opening allowed some aid supplies into the flooded area while also permitting people to flee.
The BBC's Aleem Maqbool, in the capital Islamabad, says officials there fear that once access to affected areas improves, the full picture will show that the situation is much worse than is so far known.
'Contaminated wells'
The information minister of Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa (formerly North West Frontier Province), one of the worst-hit provinces, said 1.5 million people had been affected by the floods and landslides.
"We are receiving information about the loss of life and property caused by the floods all over the province," Mian Iftikhar Hussain told the AFP news agency."
" Concerns are growing for survivors of flooding in north-west Pakistan after the heaviest rains in a generation killed at least 1,100 people.
There are reports of diarrhoea and cholera among the hundreds of thousands left homeless, and food and potable water are in short supply.
Pakistan's military is helping with the rescue effort, and the US has announced $10m (£6.4m) in emergency aid.
Floodwaters are receding in some areas, but more rain is now forecast.
Part of the main north-south motorway into the region was reopened on Sunday, before reportedly closing again. The brief opening allowed some aid supplies into the flooded area while also permitting people to flee.
The BBC's Aleem Maqbool, in the capital Islamabad, says officials there fear that once access to affected areas improves, the full picture will show that the situation is much worse than is so far known.
'Contaminated wells'
The information minister of Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa (formerly North West Frontier Province), one of the worst-hit provinces, said 1.5 million people had been affected by the floods and landslides.
"We are receiving information about the loss of life and property caused by the floods all over the province," Mian Iftikhar Hussain told the AFP news agency."
Thursday, July 15, 2010
China : Tiny mushrooms blamed for 400 deaths
Via AP :
" BEIJING : Every year during the height of the rainy season, villagers of all ages in a corner of southwestern China would suddenly die of cardiac arrest.
No one knew what caused Yunnan Sudden Death Syndrome, blamed for an estimated 400 deaths in the past three decades.
After a five-year study, an elite investigative unit from China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention believes it has pinpointed the cause: an innocuous-looking mushroom known as Little White.
The search for the culprit took investigators to remote villages spread over the rural highlands of Yunnan province, said Robert Fontaine, an epidemiologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There was "this very obvious clustering of deaths in villages in very short periods of time in the summer," said Fontaine, who helped in the investigation. "It appears that there was something a little different going on."
" BEIJING : Every year during the height of the rainy season, villagers of all ages in a corner of southwestern China would suddenly die of cardiac arrest.
No one knew what caused Yunnan Sudden Death Syndrome, blamed for an estimated 400 deaths in the past three decades.
After a five-year study, an elite investigative unit from China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention believes it has pinpointed the cause: an innocuous-looking mushroom known as Little White.
The search for the culprit took investigators to remote villages spread over the rural highlands of Yunnan province, said Robert Fontaine, an epidemiologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There was "this very obvious clustering of deaths in villages in very short periods of time in the summer," said Fontaine, who helped in the investigation. "It appears that there was something a little different going on."
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
New Zealand : Yuck: Few people correctly cover coughs, sneezes
An interesting from the Associated Press, exceprt :
" Alas, here's more proof that most people have habits that aren't very sanitary - and sometimes can be plain disgusting.
For a study, medical students secretly watched hundreds of people cough or sneeze at a train station, a shopping mall and a hospital in New Zealand. What they saw wasn't pretty, with most people failing to properly prevent an airborne explosion of infectious germs.
The work was done in the capital city of Wellington over two weeks last August, at the tail end of a worrisome but fairly mild wave of swine flu illnesses. It was a time when the pandemic was international news, and public health campaigns were telling children and adults to be careful about spreading the virus.
The good news is that about three of every four people tried to cover their cough or sneeze, in at least a token attempt to prevent germs from flying through the air.
The bad news is that most people - about two of three - used their hands to do it."
" Alas, here's more proof that most people have habits that aren't very sanitary - and sometimes can be plain disgusting.
For a study, medical students secretly watched hundreds of people cough or sneeze at a train station, a shopping mall and a hospital in New Zealand. What they saw wasn't pretty, with most people failing to properly prevent an airborne explosion of infectious germs.
The work was done in the capital city of Wellington over two weeks last August, at the tail end of a worrisome but fairly mild wave of swine flu illnesses. It was a time when the pandemic was international news, and public health campaigns were telling children and adults to be careful about spreading the virus.
The good news is that about three of every four people tried to cover their cough or sneeze, in at least a token attempt to prevent germs from flying through the air.
The bad news is that most people - about two of three - used their hands to do it."
Monday, July 12, 2010
India : It pays to be hygienic
Via The Hindu, an informative report on diseases spreading in India right now :
" TIRUPATI: The onset of monsoon brings not only cheers, but also flu-related illnesses. Be it urban or rural dwellings, mosquitoes and pigs ‘work overtime' to transmit the virus and we have to be doubly cautious to stay hygienic.
While the panic has subsided over swine flu, sporadic cases have indeed been spotted in parts of Vizag and a couple of suspected cases reported in Gandhi Hospital, Hyderabad.
While shoulder-to-shoulder contact is the typical platform for its spread, what is perplexing is that even in the height of the swine flu-mania witnessed all over, not many cases were reported in Tirupati, in spite of the heavy influx of devotees from across the world. That there is every chance of an occurrence of a pandemic in the temple city can still not be ruled out.
Brain fever
Japanese Encephalitis, commonly called ‘brain fever', occurs this part of the year especially in rural habitations and forest fringe villages. The virus is spread by Culex mosquitoes, while pigs, herons and cattle act as the ‘amplifying hosts' in retaining and transmitting the virus. As cattle-rearing has almost been banished from the city limits, the residents are more prone to dengue than JE.
“Stored rain water, be it on coconut shells or old tyres dumped around, half-open overhead tanks, watering plants dotting your balcony and even the water not drained out of air coolers, act as the breeding ground for the aedis mosquitoes,” warns Alladi Mohan, head of Medicine at SVIMS. His tip for staying away from the virus is by sticking to personal hygiene.
Meanwhile, the Central Council for Research in Homeopathy (CCRH) has decided to conduct camps to tackle possible outbreak of flu-like illnesses. According to R.V.R. Prasad, Additional Director in-charge of Tirupati-based Clinical Research Unit (Homeopathy), ‘Arsenic Album 30' has been found to be the right medicine for several such diseases. ‘A stall would be opened soon at our premises in Bhavani Nagar Circle to distribute preventive doses to the public', he added."
" TIRUPATI: The onset of monsoon brings not only cheers, but also flu-related illnesses. Be it urban or rural dwellings, mosquitoes and pigs ‘work overtime' to transmit the virus and we have to be doubly cautious to stay hygienic.
While the panic has subsided over swine flu, sporadic cases have indeed been spotted in parts of Vizag and a couple of suspected cases reported in Gandhi Hospital, Hyderabad.
While shoulder-to-shoulder contact is the typical platform for its spread, what is perplexing is that even in the height of the swine flu-mania witnessed all over, not many cases were reported in Tirupati, in spite of the heavy influx of devotees from across the world. That there is every chance of an occurrence of a pandemic in the temple city can still not be ruled out.
Brain fever
Japanese Encephalitis, commonly called ‘brain fever', occurs this part of the year especially in rural habitations and forest fringe villages. The virus is spread by Culex mosquitoes, while pigs, herons and cattle act as the ‘amplifying hosts' in retaining and transmitting the virus. As cattle-rearing has almost been banished from the city limits, the residents are more prone to dengue than JE.
“Stored rain water, be it on coconut shells or old tyres dumped around, half-open overhead tanks, watering plants dotting your balcony and even the water not drained out of air coolers, act as the breeding ground for the aedis mosquitoes,” warns Alladi Mohan, head of Medicine at SVIMS. His tip for staying away from the virus is by sticking to personal hygiene.
Meanwhile, the Central Council for Research in Homeopathy (CCRH) has decided to conduct camps to tackle possible outbreak of flu-like illnesses. According to R.V.R. Prasad, Additional Director in-charge of Tirupati-based Clinical Research Unit (Homeopathy), ‘Arsenic Album 30' has been found to be the right medicine for several such diseases. ‘A stall would be opened soon at our premises in Bhavani Nagar Circle to distribute preventive doses to the public', he added."
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Nepal : One-fourth of bottled water 'contaminated'
Via My Republica :
" KATHMANDU, July 10 : Bottled-water, which until a few years ago, was regarded a luxury is now a common sight in Nepali households, thanks to heightening shortage of potable water. However, the fast growing bottled-water industry is highly unregulated as studies have showed that one-fourth of the bottled water distributed in the market is contaminated.
Pramod Koirala, senior food research officer at Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DFTQC), said as much as 25 percent of bottled-water companies based in the Kathmandu Valley have been flouting the standards set by the department.
“We tested samples of bottled-waster distributed by 37 companies in the last four months and found that the products of 10 companies were contaminated,” Koirala said, adding, “This shows that the companies are flouting the standard set by the government.”
DFTQC has filed cases against the 10 companies at concerned district administration offices, Koirala said.
The mushrooming of bottled-water companies in every nook and corner of the Valley has not only made it difficult for consumers to differentiate between clean and contaminated bottled-water but also has created fertile ground for unhealthy competition."
" KATHMANDU, July 10 : Bottled-water, which until a few years ago, was regarded a luxury is now a common sight in Nepali households, thanks to heightening shortage of potable water. However, the fast growing bottled-water industry is highly unregulated as studies have showed that one-fourth of the bottled water distributed in the market is contaminated.
Pramod Koirala, senior food research officer at Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DFTQC), said as much as 25 percent of bottled-water companies based in the Kathmandu Valley have been flouting the standards set by the department.
“We tested samples of bottled-waster distributed by 37 companies in the last four months and found that the products of 10 companies were contaminated,” Koirala said, adding, “This shows that the companies are flouting the standard set by the government.”
DFTQC has filed cases against the 10 companies at concerned district administration offices, Koirala said.
The mushrooming of bottled-water companies in every nook and corner of the Valley has not only made it difficult for consumers to differentiate between clean and contaminated bottled-water but also has created fertile ground for unhealthy competition."
China : 1,623 people die of infectious diseases in June
A reported released by the Ministry of Health, via Xinhua :
" BEIJING, July 9 : A total of 806,110 cases of infectious diseases were reported from the Chinese mainland in June that left 1,623 people dead, according to a report published by China's Ministry of Health (MOH) on its website Friday.
Of these cases, two were Class A infectious diseases such as plague and cholera. And one man died of plague.
Altogether 342,649 Class B diseases were reported which left 1,436 dead. Tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, syphilis, dysentery and gonorrhea were five most frequently reported cases, accounting for 93.85 percent of all Class B cases, the report said."
" BEIJING, July 9 : A total of 806,110 cases of infectious diseases were reported from the Chinese mainland in June that left 1,623 people dead, according to a report published by China's Ministry of Health (MOH) on its website Friday.
Of these cases, two were Class A infectious diseases such as plague and cholera. And one man died of plague.
Altogether 342,649 Class B diseases were reported which left 1,436 dead. Tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, syphilis, dysentery and gonorrhea were five most frequently reported cases, accounting for 93.85 percent of all Class B cases, the report said."
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
China, US open disease study center in Shanghai
Via AP :
" SHANGHAI : American and Shanghai health authorities opened an epidemiology center in the Chinese city Tuesday to train experts in sleuthing out ways to prevent chronic and epidemic diseases.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is helping with training and technical assistance at the center that will be "driven by what are the major public health issues in this country," said CDC deputy director Stephen B. Thacker.
"We need more field epidemiologists in China and around the world and we need them better trained," Thacker told The Associated Press.
Outbreaks of SARS (sudden acute respiratory syndrome) and bird flu since 2003, and last year's swine flu epidemic have driven home the rising risks from new diseases or deadly mutations of epidemic ailments, especially in developing countries that may lack the infrastructure to cope with them before they get out of hand."
" SHANGHAI : American and Shanghai health authorities opened an epidemiology center in the Chinese city Tuesday to train experts in sleuthing out ways to prevent chronic and epidemic diseases.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is helping with training and technical assistance at the center that will be "driven by what are the major public health issues in this country," said CDC deputy director Stephen B. Thacker.
"We need more field epidemiologists in China and around the world and we need them better trained," Thacker told The Associated Press.
Outbreaks of SARS (sudden acute respiratory syndrome) and bird flu since 2003, and last year's swine flu epidemic have driven home the rising risks from new diseases or deadly mutations of epidemic ailments, especially in developing countries that may lack the infrastructure to cope with them before they get out of hand."
Monday, June 28, 2010
India : Five more admitted in hospital Malaria, diarrhoea claim two lives at Mungiakami
Via Tripura Times :
" Kanchanpur/Teliamura, Jun. 26: The mysterious disease continues to haunt the entire Khangrai village committee area as five more villagers were admitted to Kanchanpur subdivision with the same symptom today Worried Health Minister Tapan Chakraborty today visited Choto Khangrai and Bara Khangrai and faced the real dust of much-hyped development. Angry villagers handed over a memorandum containing of ten –point demands to the visiting Health Minister.
The demands include, road connectivity from Choto Khangrai to Shuknacherra, Choto Khangai to Vangmun, providing more teachers to Khangrai SB School, more teeth to Khangrai Sub-Centre, electricity and proper arrangement of drinking water.It has been learnt that an amount of Rs. 6.12 lakh was sanctioned for construction of road from Choto Khangrai to Vangmun in 2009 through work order- 963 (97), 2010-01-09. But the road remains as same it was before 2009. It has been alleged that the allocation was spent for other purpose.
Later, the Minister had a meeting with top officials of different departments at Kanchanpur Dak Bungalow and instructed them to do all necessary steps to meet the basic demands of the people.Even after the Minister’s visit, five villagers were admitted to Kanchanpur subdivision today. The condition of the admitted patients is stated to be critical.
The medical team, which had collected blood sample from the ailing villages, has not identified the actual cause of death. It may be noted that at least 50 villagers died of mysterious disease at Choto Khangrai and Bara Khangrai since June 13.
Panic gripped the entire Atharamura Hill range following death of two tribal villagers at Bilaihampara under Mungiakami block in Teliamura subdivision."
" Kanchanpur/Teliamura, Jun. 26: The mysterious disease continues to haunt the entire Khangrai village committee area as five more villagers were admitted to Kanchanpur subdivision with the same symptom today Worried Health Minister Tapan Chakraborty today visited Choto Khangrai and Bara Khangrai and faced the real dust of much-hyped development. Angry villagers handed over a memorandum containing of ten –point demands to the visiting Health Minister.
The demands include, road connectivity from Choto Khangrai to Shuknacherra, Choto Khangai to Vangmun, providing more teachers to Khangrai SB School, more teeth to Khangrai Sub-Centre, electricity and proper arrangement of drinking water.It has been learnt that an amount of Rs. 6.12 lakh was sanctioned for construction of road from Choto Khangrai to Vangmun in 2009 through work order- 963 (97), 2010-01-09. But the road remains as same it was before 2009. It has been alleged that the allocation was spent for other purpose.
Later, the Minister had a meeting with top officials of different departments at Kanchanpur Dak Bungalow and instructed them to do all necessary steps to meet the basic demands of the people.Even after the Minister’s visit, five villagers were admitted to Kanchanpur subdivision today. The condition of the admitted patients is stated to be critical.
The medical team, which had collected blood sample from the ailing villages, has not identified the actual cause of death. It may be noted that at least 50 villagers died of mysterious disease at Choto Khangrai and Bara Khangrai since June 13.
Panic gripped the entire Atharamura Hill range following death of two tribal villagers at Bilaihampara under Mungiakami block in Teliamura subdivision."
India : Fever kills 28 Reangs
Via The Telegraph :
" Agartala, June 26: The death of more than 28 people belonging to the Reang community, including 14 children, in remote Kangrai village of North Tripura district following an outbreak of fever accompanied by respiratory problem has shaken the state government out of its stupor.
The Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) and the Congress are blaming the state health department for its apathy.
Fearing more casualties, health minister Tapan Chakraborty today rushed to Kanchanpur subdivisional town, 12km from the village, with the director of health services, Satya Debbarma, and a team of specialist doctors.
Congress MLA Subal Bhowmik, who had visited Kangrai with a group of party workers on Thursday, has demanded Chakraborty’s resignation.
“I had to visit the village enveloped by a funerary silence after trekking 12km across the hills, but what I saw was beyond belief. After having reached the unconnected village around 11am, I found silent preparations being made by the parents for the burial of their children,” Bhowmik said on his return to Agartala this morning."
" Agartala, June 26: The death of more than 28 people belonging to the Reang community, including 14 children, in remote Kangrai village of North Tripura district following an outbreak of fever accompanied by respiratory problem has shaken the state government out of its stupor.
The Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) and the Congress are blaming the state health department for its apathy.
Fearing more casualties, health minister Tapan Chakraborty today rushed to Kanchanpur subdivisional town, 12km from the village, with the director of health services, Satya Debbarma, and a team of specialist doctors.
Congress MLA Subal Bhowmik, who had visited Kangrai with a group of party workers on Thursday, has demanded Chakraborty’s resignation.
“I had to visit the village enveloped by a funerary silence after trekking 12km across the hills, but what I saw was beyond belief. After having reached the unconnected village around 11am, I found silent preparations being made by the parents for the burial of their children,” Bhowmik said on his return to Agartala this morning."
Saturday, June 26, 2010
China : Spreading disease batters China's rural areas
Via Xinhua :
" BEIJING, June 25 : Nearly 71 percent of China's fatal hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) cases were reported in rural areas, giving a clear sign of the huge rural-urban medical gap, the Ministry of Health said on Thursday.
The ministry vowed to further enhance medical responses, particularly in vast countryside areas, to curb the raging epidemic.
As of June 22, the common viral epidemic among children has sickened nearly 987,779 on the Chinese mainland. Of that total, 537 died. The majority of those who have gotten ill are younger than 3, said Wang Zijun, deputy director of the emergency response office under the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, at a press conference.
The epidemic control situation is grave in the country as the number of deaths caused by the disease stood at only 186 in the same period last year, Wang said."
" BEIJING, June 25 : Nearly 71 percent of China's fatal hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) cases were reported in rural areas, giving a clear sign of the huge rural-urban medical gap, the Ministry of Health said on Thursday.
The ministry vowed to further enhance medical responses, particularly in vast countryside areas, to curb the raging epidemic.
As of June 22, the common viral epidemic among children has sickened nearly 987,779 on the Chinese mainland. Of that total, 537 died. The majority of those who have gotten ill are younger than 3, said Wang Zijun, deputy director of the emergency response office under the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, at a press conference.
The epidemic control situation is grave in the country as the number of deaths caused by the disease stood at only 186 in the same period last year, Wang said."
Friday, June 25, 2010
India : Now, it is also raining diseases in Mumbai
Via DNA India :
" Mumbai: It’s raining buckets in the city, and it’s raining diseases. Malaria had been worrying the civic authorities for quite some time. Now, cases of gastroenteritis, leptospirosis and dengue, too, are cropping up.
Physicians across the city said that malaria and dengue — both mosquito-borne illnesses — posed the greatest threat to the people.
“The mosquito menace is worsening with every passing year. The city is getting more and more densely populated, and the resultant increase construction activities is breeding more mosquitoes,” Dr Jawant Kini, a general physician from Malad (West), said. "
" Mumbai: It’s raining buckets in the city, and it’s raining diseases. Malaria had been worrying the civic authorities for quite some time. Now, cases of gastroenteritis, leptospirosis and dengue, too, are cropping up.
Physicians across the city said that malaria and dengue — both mosquito-borne illnesses — posed the greatest threat to the people.
“The mosquito menace is worsening with every passing year. The city is getting more and more densely populated, and the resultant increase construction activities is breeding more mosquitoes,” Dr Jawant Kini, a general physician from Malad (West), said. "
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Study shows pigeons are reservoirs of harmful bugs
Via Reuters, a report which we need to pay attention to :
" Scientists studying pigeons have found that the often reviled urban bids that dominate city squares around the world carry two disease-causing bugs that make them a public health hazard.
The findings of the study by a team of researchers in Spain show that although these bacteria can be harmful to humans, they appear to cause no harm to the birds themselves.
As a result, pigeons -- often dubbed "rats with wings" by those who suspect them of spreading disease -- can act as living "reservoirs" for some harmful bugs, the scientists said.
"Animals that live in close contact with humans can be dangerous reservoirs of human pathogens," wrote Fernando Esperon from the Animal Health Research Centre in Madrid, who led the study. "These birds may therefore pose a public health risk to the human population.
"Inhabitants of cities from London to Venice to New York to San Francisco tend to have a love-hate relationship with the millions of urban pigeons that dominate city plazas, street-side cafes and monuments. Their droppings plaster Trafalgar square in London, St Mark's square in Venice, and Times Square in New York, where they peck endlessly at crumbs or leftover food."
" Scientists studying pigeons have found that the often reviled urban bids that dominate city squares around the world carry two disease-causing bugs that make them a public health hazard.
The findings of the study by a team of researchers in Spain show that although these bacteria can be harmful to humans, they appear to cause no harm to the birds themselves.
As a result, pigeons -- often dubbed "rats with wings" by those who suspect them of spreading disease -- can act as living "reservoirs" for some harmful bugs, the scientists said.
"Animals that live in close contact with humans can be dangerous reservoirs of human pathogens," wrote Fernando Esperon from the Animal Health Research Centre in Madrid, who led the study. "These birds may therefore pose a public health risk to the human population.
"Inhabitants of cities from London to Venice to New York to San Francisco tend to have a love-hate relationship with the millions of urban pigeons that dominate city plazas, street-side cafes and monuments. Their droppings plaster Trafalgar square in London, St Mark's square in Venice, and Times Square in New York, where they peck endlessly at crumbs or leftover food."
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