TIG Post

Tag: World Health Organization (WHO)

  • WHO dismisses doctor after discovering sexual misbehavior

    WHO dismisses doctor after discovering sexual misbehavior

    According to the World Health Organization, one of its doctors was removed after charges of sexual misconduct surfaced, which were first reported by The Associated Press.

    Following the allegations against the doctor, Temo Waqanivalu, a citizen of Fiji, the United States and other nations put pressure on the U.N. health agency to take action in the battle against sexual misconduct.

    WHO spokeswoman Marcia Poole informed the AP in an email sent early on Tuesday that “Dr. Temo Waqanivalu has been dismissed from WHO following findings of sexual misconduct against him and corresponding disciplinary process.”

    “Sexual misconduct of any kind by anyone working for WHO — be it as staff, consultant, partner — is unacceptable,” she added.

    In January, the AP reported that Waqanivalu had been accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a Berlin conference in October and was flagged to senior WHO directors years ago for allegedly harassing another staffer.

    The earlier allegation didn’t result in any significant consequences for Waqanivalu, who headed a small team in WHO’s noncommunicable diseases department and had been preparing to run for regional director of the Western Pacific.

    According to confidential documents obtained by the AP, senior WHO directors were informed of a sexual harassment allegation made against Waqanivalu in 2018. The accuser was later informed that pursuing a formal investigation might not be the best option for her.

    Waqanivalu was later given an informal warning that didn’t cite the woman who made the claim or his specific behavior.

    In interviews with WHO investigators, Waqanivalu “categorically” denied he had ever sexually assaulted anyone. He declined to comment to the AP.

    In recent years, WHO has been plagued by numerous reports of misconduct. In May 2021, the AP reported that senior managers were informed of sex abuse allegations during an Ebola outbreak in Congo but did little to stop it. A WHO-appointed panel later found that some 21 staff members had been accused of sexually abusing people during that outbreak, among a total of 83 alleged perpetrators connected to the 2018-2020 mission.

    The Western Pacific regional director that Waqanivalu was seeking to replace at WHO was put on leave in August, months after the AP reported that numerous staffers had accused him of racist and abusive behavior that compromised the U.N. agency’s response to COVID-19.

    Last month, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in an email to employees that the appointment of the regional director, Dr. Takeshi Kasai, had been terminated after an internal investigation resulted in “findings of misconduct.”

  • China records the world’s first human death from a rare kind of bird flu

    China records the world’s first human death from a rare kind of bird flu

    According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a particular strain of avian flu has claimed its first human victim in China.

    The third person to have contracted the avian influenza H3N8 strain was a woman from the southern province of Guangdong.

    The 56-year-old became unwell on February 22, was admitted to the hospital on March 3 for acute pneumonia, and passed away on March 16—nearly two weeks later.

    The public health agency said in a statement the other two cases were reported in China in 2022.

    (FILES) In this file photo taken on February 24, 2023 A worker carries chickens at a market in Phnom Penh on February 24, 2023. - Cambodian health authorities have said there was no human-to-human transmission of bird flu in the case of a father and daughter who caught the virus. (Photo by TANG CHHIN SOTHY / AFP) (Photo by TANG CHHIN SOTHY/AFP via Getty Images)
    A worker carries chickens at a market (Picture: AFP)

    But there is nothing to suggest any of them were connected, and that this could cause a spillover.

    The Guangdong Provincial Centre for Disease Control and Prevention reported the third infection late last month but did not provide details of the woman’s death.

    WHO confirmed she had multiple underlying conditions and a history of exposure to live poultry.

    Samples collected from a wet market visited by the woman before she became ill were positive for influenza A(H3), suggesting this may have been the source of infection.

    There were no other cases found among close contacts of the infected patient, and the strain does not appear to spread easily between people.

    H3N8 was first detected in wild birds in the 1960s. Though rare in humans, it has since been found in other animals like horses.

    ‘Based on available information, it appears that this virus does not have the ability to spread easily from person to person,’ the statement from WHO added.

    ‘Therefore the risk of it spreading among humans at the national, regional, and international levels is considered to be low.’

  • 53-year-old woman tests positive for bird flu in China

    53-year-old woman tests positive for bird flu in China

    A new strain of avian flu that has been spreading over the world was discovered in a lady in China.

    A 53-year-old lady from the eastern province of Jiangsu is the most recent verified instance of the H5N1 virus.

    After being exposed to poultry on January 31, it is believed that she started to experience symptoms.

    She later tested positive sometime in February, although it is still unclear what is wrong with her right now.

    Her case comes to light a week after a girl and her dad from Cambodia were also infected with a similar variant.

    The 11-year-old became the first person in the country to die from bird flu since 2014.

    She was from the rural province of Prey Veng, and became ill on February 16 after ducks and chickens at her home died suddenly.

    She was transferred to a children’s hospital in Phnom Penh but died a week ago.

    Her 49-year-old dad tested positive a few days later but has not become seriously ill.

    As a result, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said it is ‘worried’ about the spread of bird flu.

    Director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, Dr Sylvie Briand confirmed last week that the UN agency is working with Cambodian authorities amid the outbreak.

    She said: ‘The global H5N1 situation is worrying given the wide spread of the virus in birds around the world and the increasing reports of cases in mammals including humans.

    ‘WHO takes the risk from this virus seriously and urges heightened vigilance from all countries.’

    Meanwhile, Argentina confirmed its first case of bird flu in industrial poultry this Tuesday.

    Secretary Juan Jose Bahillo said on Twitter the avian product exports will be axed as a result.

    The case was detected in the southern province of Rio Negro, and now there are concerns the disease could spread and hurt exports from the South American nation.

    ‘Our poultry products continue to be safe for Argentines. The suspension of exports responds to the requirements of international regulations,’ Mr Bahillo said.

    Her case comes to light a week after a girl and her dad from Cambodia were also infected with a similar variant.

    The 11-year-old became the first person in the country to die from bird flu since 2014.

    She was from the rural province of Prey Veng, and became ill on February 16 after ducks and chickens at her home died suddenly.

    She was transferred to a children’s hospital in Phnom Penh but died a week ago.

    Her 49-year-old dad tested positive a few days later but has not become seriously ill.

    As a result, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said it is ‘worried’ about the spread of bird flu.

    Director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, Dr Sylvie Briand confirmed last week that the UN agency is working with Cambodian authorities amid the outbreak.

    She said: ‘The global H5N1 situation is worrying given the wide spread of the virus in birds around the world and the increasing reports of cases in mammals including humans.

    ‘WHO takes the risk from this virus seriously and urges heightened vigilance from all countries.’

    Meanwhile, Argentina confirmed its first case of bird flu in industrial poultry this Tuesday.

    Secretary Juan Jose Bahillo said on Twitter the avian product exports will be axed as a result.

    The case was detected in the southern province of Rio Negro, and now there are concerns the disease could spread and hurt exports from the South American nation.

    ‘Our poultry products continue to be safe for Argentines. The suspension of exports responds to the requirements of international regulations,’ Mr Bahillo said.

  • Turkey-Syria earthquake kills over 19,000

    Turkey-Syria earthquake kills over 19,000

    It is reported that about 19,300 people have died after Monday’s earthquakes in southern Turkey and northern Syria.

    According to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, 16,170 people have died in Turkey alone. In Syria, 3,162 deaths have been reported.

    The World Health Organization (WHO) says humanitarian organisations now have the challenge of ensuring those who survived the earthquakes continue to survive. 

    WHO’s incident response manager says there are thousands of people now surviving “out in the open, in worsening and horrific conditions”, with disrupted access to water, fuel, electricity and communications, amid sub-zero temperatures

    Relief efforts in Syria have been complicated by years of conflict, but the first convoy of aid for opposition-held north-western Syria reportedly crossed into the territory from Turkey. Deliveries of life-saving aid had been halted for four days due to damage to roads and logistical issues

    There has been anger in Turkey over claims that emergency services responded too slowly to the incident, with some people waiting days for help to reach them

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday accepted the government had encountered some problems, but said the situation was now “under control”.

    The ratings agency Fitch suggests the disaster could cause economic losses exceeding $4bn (£3.3bn).

    “Economic losses are hard to estimate as the situation is evolving, but they appear likely to exceed” $2 billion and could reach $4 billion “or more”, Fitch Ratings said.

    Insured losses will be much lower, possibly around $1 billion, due to low insurance coverage in the area, it added.

  • WHO chief: They killed my uncle – Tedros Adhanom on Eritrean troops in Tigray

    The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stated that Eritrean troops in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region “murdered” his uncle.

    Tedros revealed he was about to postpone the event after learning that his uncle had been “murdered by the Eritrean army” during a press conference with the UN correspondents association on Wednesday.

    Tedros said: “I spoke to my mother and she was really devastated, because he was the youngest from their family and he was almost the same age as me, a young uncle.”

    The WHO chief added that his uncle “was not alone. In the village, when they killed him in his home, from the same village more than 50 people were killed. Just arbitrary.

    “I hope the peace agreement will hold and this madness would stop,” he said.

    Ceasefire deal

    Ethiopia’s government and Tigrayan rebels signed a ceasefire deal on 2 November, after two years of fighting that has brought widespread human misery.

    The conflict has caused an untold number of deaths, forced more than two million people from their homes and drove hundreds of thousands to the brink of famine.

    But the ceasefire makes no mention of the presence on Ethiopian soil or any possible withdrawal of Eritrean troops, who have backed Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s forces and been accused of atrocities.

    Tedros hails from Tigray, and the former Ethiopian health and foreign minister has repeatedly called for peace and for unfettered aid access to the region.

    At a press conference on 2 December, Tedros raised concerns for areas still under the control of troops from neighbouring Eritrea.

    Source: rfi.fr.com 

  • Gambia cough syrup scandal: Police investigate deaths linked to medicine

    Police in The Gambia have started an investigation into the deaths of 66 children, which have been linked to four brands of imported cough syrup.

    Senior officials from the Medicine Control Agency and the importers have been called for questioning, the president’s office said.

    President Adama Barrow said that the authorities would “leave no stone unturned” in the investigation.

    Gambians, angry about what happened, are wondering who is to blame.

    On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a global alert over the four cough syrups – warning they could be linked to acute kidney injuries and the children’s deaths in July, August and September.

    Bereaved parents have told the BBC how their children stopped being able to pass urine after being given the syrups. As their condition worsened, efforts to save their lives were fruitless.

    The products – Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup and Magrip N Cold Syrup – were manufactured by an Indian company, Maiden Pharmaceuticals, which had failed to provide guarantees about their safety, the WHO said.

    The Indian government is also investigating the situation. The firm has not responded to a BBC request for comment.

    Gambian health officials and Red Cross workers are now going door-to-door, as well as to pharmacies and markets, searching for the syrups as well as other medicines.

    More than 16,000 products have been located so far and have been taken away for destruction, a Red Cross official told the BBC.

    On Friday, President Barrow addressed the nation, expressing his regret for the loss of life saying that “the source of the contaminated drugs” would be investigated.

    He announced plans to open a laboratory capable of testing whether medicines are safe and a review of relevant laws and guidelines for imported drugs.

    He also said that “the child mortality figure of 66 is not at much variance with the recorded data for similar periods in the past”, which left some wondering whether the authorities thought that these deaths were unusual.

    The president followed this up on Saturday evening with a more robust statement, suspending the licence of the suspected importer and announcing the police investigation.

    Some of the parents who lost their children have told the BBC that they are considering taking legal action of their own against the authorities.

    Source: BBC

  • Ghana’s Second Lady to attend WHO meeting on energy

    The Second Lady, Mrs. Samira Bawumia, is scheduled to participate in the second meeting of the High-level Coalition on Health and Energy under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO).

    The programme would take place on Friday, October 7, in Geneva to offer a platform for Coalition members to devise ways of accelerating clean cooking and electrification of healthcare facilities in different countries.

    The Second Lady replicated her impactful leadership under her Empowerment and Humanitarian Projects (SEHP) with significant contributions towards the adoption of the Strategic Roadmap at the Coalition’s first meeting, earning her plaudits from the Director-General of WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

    In 2019, Hajia Samira was acknowledged as the first of seven individuals honoured by the Sustainable Energy for All in conjunction with Ashden.

    It highlighted her efforts toward the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 7) to ensure access to modern, reliable, renewable and affordable energy for all by 2030.

    Again, Mrs. Bawumia was made an Ambassador for the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves and joined other imminent leaders such as the late former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to work with the Alliance and its partners to raise awareness of household air pollution and encourage broader adoption of clean cooking solutions in developing countries in a bid to create cleaner environments and eradicate deaths caused by pollution from the burning of solid fuels for cooking.

    The WHO estimates that over 2.4 billion people worldwide, about a third of the global population, cook using open fires or inefficient stoves fueled by kerosene, biomass (wood, animal dung and crop waste) and coal, which generates harmful household air pollution.

    Household air pollution was responsible for an estimated 3.2 million deaths per year in 2020, including over 237, 000 deaths of children under the age of five.

    To put it into perspective, household air pollution resulting from the inefficient use of clean fuels and technologies claims lives more than the total number of deaths from HIV/AIDs, malaria, and tuberculosis combined.

    Most of these people are poor and live in low- and middle-income countries with highly skewed access to cleaner cooking alternatives.

    It is in this vain that Second Lady, Hajia Samira has stepped up efforts with her not-for-profit organisation, SEHP, to address the situation.

    The WHO Director-General convened the High-Level Coalition on Health and Energy in 2019 to strengthen the cooperation between health and energy sectors, increase political momentum, spur investments, mobilise public support and drive practical solutions.

    Presently, the Coalition includes 12 Ministers of Health and Energy, 14 heads of international organisations (including UNICEF, GAVI, UNHCR and UNDP), and two Health and Energy Champions.

    The Coalition hopes to expand its membership to execute its mandate for maximum global impact.

    Source: GNA

  • After a monkeypox incidence, Chinese official issues a warning against touching foreigners

    A day after China reported its first case of monkeypox, a senior health official in the country issued a warning against Chinese citizens touching foreigners.

    Wu Zunyou, the head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) epidemiology department, issued a warning against “skin-to-skin contact with foreigners” in a post on Weibo.

    The message sparked debate, with some calling it racist.

    Comments on the original post have since been disabled from the platform.

    “In order to prevent possible monkeypox infection and as part of our healthy lifestyle, it is recommended that 1) you do not have direct skin-to-skin contact with foreigners,” said Mr Wu on his Weibo page on Saturday.

    In addition, Mr Wu also called for locals to avoid skin-to-skin contact with recent travelers who had returned from abroad in the last three weeks, and with strangers.

    He posted the comments a day after the southwestern city of Chongqing reported its first case of monkeypox in an individual who arrived from abroad. It is not clear if the individual was a Chinese citizen or a foreigner.

    The post, which was widely shared on social media during the weekend, drew largely critical comments on Weibo.

    “This is very inappropriate [to say]. At the start of the pandemic, some foreigners stood up and [defended us] by saying that Chinese people are not viruses,” wrote one commenter.

    “How racist is this? What about the ones like me who have been living in China for almost ten years? We haven’t seen our families in like 3-4 years due to borders being closed,” wrote another user on Weibo, who appeared to be a foreigner.

    China has imposed some of the world’s toughest Covid measures since the start of the pandemic, which have included snap lockdowns, border closures, mandatory testing, and travel restrictions.

    The monkeypox virus, which is transmitted through close contact with infected people, animals, or contaminated materials, usually causes symptoms such as fever, headache, and rashes.

    Around 90 countries where monkeypox is not considered endemic have reported outbreaks of the viral disease, which the World Health Organization has declared a global health emergency.

    There have been more than 60,000 confirmed cases and some non-endemic countries have reported their first related deaths.

  • Zimbabwe: Anti-vaxxers hinder the fight against measles

    Over 150 children have died in Zimbabwe due to a measles outbreak. To stop the spread, the government has started a widespread vaccination drive, but unvaccinated households are fiercely resisting because of their religious convictions.

    Zimbabwe has reported at least 2,056 cases of measles as of mid-August. Virtually all of the 157 recorded deaths were in children who had not been vaccinated, Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said last week.

    The outbreak began in the eastern Manicaland province at the beginning of August, spreading rapidly across the country. Health authorities are scrambling to contain the spread.

    The government has announced a mass vaccination campaign targeting children between the ages of six months and 15 years. Authorities are also trying to engage traditional and faith leaders to support the drive.

    Zimbabwe has continued vaccinating children against measles during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the drive has been hampered by religious groups preaching against vaccines.

    Rejection of modern medicine

    The Christian sects in question are against modern medicine and have told their members to rely on self-proclaimed prophets for healing.

    DW caught up with one of the religious groups on an annual pilgrimage in Manicaland, where thousands of members of the Johane Marange Apostolic sect had gathered to listen to an oracle. The church doctrine does not allow its members to be vaccinated or seek medical treatment when they fall sick.

    A preventable fatal disease

    Measles is among the most infectious diseases in the world. Childhood infection is caused by a virus that can be fatal for small children. It primarily spreads in the air by coughing, sneezing, or through close contact. Symptoms include coughing, fever, and a skin rash. However, a vaccine can easily prevent the disease.

    But 56-year-old sect member Kuziva Kudzanai told DW it was a sin to seek medical treatment. “If anyone gets sick, they will go to the church elders for prayers,” he insisted.

    Church gatherings that have resumed following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions have themselves “led to the spread of measles to previously unaffected areas,” the Health Ministry said in a statement last week.

    Added pregnancy risks

    The prohibition on medical care also applies to pregnant women, sect member Janet Hanyanisi told DW. “We are not allowed to be vaccinated or even to go to a hospital for treatment. Instead, we go to our church midwives for delivery,” she said.

    Health authorities have struggled to break down some religious communities’ resistance to vaccinating their children, who they believe are speeding up the spread of the disease.

    “So far what we have seen is that almost all the dead are unvaccinated children,” said Cephas Hote, a medical officer in Mutasa District, one of the worst-affected regions. He added that there were a few infections among vaccinated children, but only with mild symptoms.

    Scramble to contain measles

    The government has reacted to the outbreak by launching a national measles vaccination blitz. July Moyo, a minister in the local government, said several government departments and the police are enforcing the vaccination to “tackle the emergency.”

    Moyo hopes the involvement of the entire government will ensure that “people, especially children, get vaccinated.”

    Before the current outbreak, Zimbabwe had not recorded a single measles case for more than 10 years. Public health authorities are hoping the current outbreak can be contained before it becomes an epidemic.

    Scientists estimate more than 90% of the population needs to be immunized to prevent measles outbreaks.

    In April, the World Health Organization warned of an increase in measles cases in vulnerable countries as a result of a disruption of services due to COVID-19.

    UNICEF has said about 25 million children worldwide have missed out on routine immunizations against common childhood diseases, calling it a “red alert” for child health.

  • Photos: Flood-hit Pakistan now fights waterborne diseases

    Diarrhea, skin conditions, and eye infections are on the rise in areas affected by the most recent record-breaking floods.

    In areas affected by recent record-breaking floods, Pakistani health officials have reported an outbreak of waterborne infections. Authorities are stepping up efforts to ensure that hundreds of thousands of people who lost their houses in the tragedy have access to clean drinking water.

    Diarrhoea, skin diseases, and eye infections are spreading at relief camps set up by the government across the country. More than 90,000 diarrhoea cases were reported from one of the worst-hit provinces, Sindh, in the past 24 hours, according to a report released by the health officials on Thursday.

    The latest development comes a day after the government and the World Health Organization raised concerns over the spread of waterborne diseases among flood victims.

    Pakistan blames climate change for unusually early and heavy monsoon rains, which since June have caused flash floods that have killed nearly 1,200 people and affected 33 million people. About a million homes have also been damaged or destroyed.

    Flood waters continued to recede in most parts of the country, but many districts in southern Sindh province remained underwater.

    Nearly half a million flood-displaced people are living in relief camps. In Sindh, thousands of medical camps have been set up in flood-stricken areas to treat victims, said Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, the provincial health minister. Mobile medical units have also been deployed.

    WHO says it is increasing surveillance for acute diarrhoea, cholera, and other communicable diseases and providing medical supplies to health facilities.

    Doctors say initially they were seeing mostly patients traumatised by the flooding, but they are now treating thousands of people suffering from diarrhoea, skin infections, and other waterborne ailments. Many pregnant women living in flood-affected areas were also exposed to risks.

    According to the UN Population Fund, 6.4 million flood victims need humanitarian assistance. It said about 650,000 pregnant women in flood-affected areas, including 73,000 expected to deliver in the next month, need maternal health services.

    A man carries his son as he wades through floodwaters in Charsadda in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. [Mohammad Sajjad/AP Photo]
    Pakistani health officials report an outbreak of waterborne diseases in areas hit by recent record-breaking flooding. [Mohammad Sajjad/AP Photo]
    Flood waters continue to recede in most parts of the country, but many districts remain underwater. [Mohammad Sajjad/AP Photo]
    A family takes some rest after salvaging belongings from their flood-hit home in Charsadda. [Mohammad Sajjad/AP Photo]
    Flood victims use an inflatable tube as they travel in flood waters in Dera Allah Yar. [Amer Hussain/Reuters]
    Flood victims wade through water in Dera Allah Yar. [Amer Hussain/Reuters]
    General view of the submerged houses in Dera Allah Yar, Jafferabad. [Stringer/Reuters]

  • North Korea announces complete victory against Covid-19

    On Thursday, North Korea’s media reported that North Korean President Kim Jong Un has declared victory in the battle against the novel coronavirus, ordering a lifting of maximum anti-epidemic measures imposed in May.

    North Korea has not revealed how many confirmed infections of the virus it has found, but since July 29 it has reported no new suspected cases with what international aid organizations say are limited testing capabilities.
    While lifting the maximum anti-pandemic measures, Kim said that North Korea must maintain a “steel-strong anti-epidemic barrier and intensify the anti-epidemic work until the end of the global health crisis,” according to a report by the state news agency KCNA.
    Analysts said that although the authoritarian North has used the pandemic to tighten social controls, its victory declaration could be a prelude to restoring trade hampered by border lockdowns and other restrictions.

    Kim Yo Jong blamed blamed leaflets from South Korea for causing North Korea's Covid outbreak.

    Kim Yo Jong blamed leaflets from South Korea for causing North Korea’s Covid outbreak.
    Observers have also said it may clear the way for the North to conduct a nuclear weapon test for the first time since 2017.
    North Korea’s official death rate of 74 people is an “unprecedented miracle” compared to other countries, KCNA reported, citing another official.
    Instead of confirmed cases, North Korea reported a number of people with fever symptoms. Those daily cases peaked at more than 392,000 on May 15, prompting health experts to warn of an inevitable crisis.
    The World Health Organization has cast doubts on North Korea’s claims, saying last month it believed the situation was getting worse, not better, amid an absence of independent data.
    Pyongyang’s declaration of victory comes despite rolling out no known vaccine program. Instead, the country says it relied on lockdowns, homegrown medicine treatments, and what Kim called the “advantageous Korean-style socialist system.”
    Is North Korea hiding a bigger problem behind its Covid-19 outbreak?
    The North has said it was running intensive medical checks nationwide, with daily PCR tests on water collected in borderline areas among the measures.
    It also said it has been developing new methods to better detect the virus and its variants, as well as other infectious diseases, such as monkeypox.
    Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, said the North Korean leader himself had suffered from fever symptoms, and blamed leaflets from South Korea for causing the outbreak, KCNA reported.
    “Even though he was seriously ill with a high fever, he could not lie down for a moment thinking about the people he had to take care of until the end in the face of the anti-epidemic war,” she said in a speech praising his efforts.
    On Thursday, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said in a statement it had “strong regrets” over North Korea “repeatedly making groundless claims” about how Covid-19 had arrived in the country.

  • Polio virus in sewage : Booster vaccines recommended for children

    In response to the poliovirus being found in sewage in the British capital, health officials on Wednesday announced that children residing in London will be given an additional dosage of the polio vaccine.

    A targeted inactivated polio vaccine booster dose should be given to all kids in all London boroughs between the ages of 1 and 9, according to the UK Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization.

    “This will ensure a high level of protection from paralysis and help reduce further spread of the virus,” the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said in a statement announcing the move.
    Around 1 million children of that age live in the London region, according to the most recent data from the UK Office for National Statistics.
    The UKHSA said a total of 116 virus isolates were identified in 19 sewage samples collected in London between February and July.
    While most of the samples contained a vaccine-like virus, some showed “sufficient mutations to be classified as vaccine-derived poliovirus.” The UKHSA said this was more concerning as such virus behaves more similarly to “wild polio and may, on rare occasions, lead to cases of paralysis in unvaccinated individuals.”
    The authorities stressed the vaccination drive is a precautionary measure.
    “No cases of polio have been reported and for the majority of the population, who are fully vaccinated, the risk is low. But we know the areas in London where the poliovirus is being transmitted have some of the lowest vaccination rates,” Dr. Vanessa Saliba, a consultant epidemiologist at UKHSA said.

    Vaccines are key as there’s no cure for polio

    Polio is caused by an enterovirus called the poliovirus. It was one of the world’s most feared diseases until Dr. Jonas Salk invented the polio vaccine and tested its safety in 1954.
    By 1988, reported cases of polio worldwide reached a peak of 350,000, according to the World Health Organization.
    About 1 in 4 infected people have flu-like symptoms including sore throat, fever, tiredness, nausea, headache, and stomach pain. As many as 1 in 200 will develop more serious symptoms that include tingling and numbness in the legs, an infection of the brain or spinal cord, and paralysis, according to the US
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
    There is no cure for polio. Treatment to address symptoms may include medication to relax muscles and heat and physical therapy to stimulate muscles.
    However, any paralysis caused by polio is permanent.

    New York adult diagnosed with polio, first US case in nearly a decade

    New York adult diagnosed with polio, first US case in nearly a decade
    The last case of polio in the UK was in 1984, according to the UKHSA statement.
    “Decades ago before we introduced the polio vaccination program around 8,000 people would develop paralysis every year,” Saliba added.
    There are three strains of the virus, two of which have been eliminated in the world, according to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, a WHO program. One type of wild poliovirus still circulates in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Transmission can also occur when not enough children are vaccinated in an area.
    Last month, a person from Rockland County, New York, was been diagnosed with polio, the first case identified in the United States in nearly a decade. The unvaccinated young adult began experiencing weakness and paralysis, county Health Commissioner Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert said at the time.

    (more…)

  • New studies agree that animals sold at Wuhan market are most likely what started Covid-19 pandemic

    In June, the World Health Organization recommended that scientists continue to research all possible origins of the Covid-19 pandemic, including a lab leak. Two newly published studies take totally different approaches but arrive at the same conclusion: The Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, China, was most likely the epicenter for the coronavirus.

    The studies were posted online as preprints in February but have now undergone peer review and were published Tuesday in the journal Science.
    In one, scientists from around the world used mapping tools and social media reports to do spatial and environmental analysis. They suggest that although the “exact circumstances remain obscure,” the virus was probably present in live animals sold at the market in late 2019. The animals were held close together and could easily have exchanged germs. However, the study does not determine which animals may have been sick.
    The researchers determined that the earliest Covid-19 cases were centered at the market among vendors who sold these live animals or people who shopped there. They believe that there were two separate viruses circulating in the animals that spilled over into people.
    “All eight COVID-19 cases detected prior to 20 December were from the western side of the market, where mammal species were also sold,” the study says. The proximity to five stalls that sold life or recently butchered animals were predictive of human cases.
    “The clustering is very, very specific,” study co-author Kristian Andersen, a professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbiology at Scripps Research, said Tuesday.
    The “extraordinary” pattern that emerged from mapping these cases was very clear, said another co-author, Michael Worobey, department head of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona.
    The researchers mapped the earliest cases that had no connection to the market, Worobey noted, and those people lived or worked in close proximity to the market.
    “This is an indication that the virus started spreading in people who worked at the market but then started that spread … into the surrounding local community as vendors went into local shops, infected people who worked in those shops,” Worobey said.
    The other study takes a molecular approach and seems to determine when the first coronavirus infections crossed from animals to humans.
    The earliest version of the coronavirus, this research shows, probably came in different forms that the scientists call A and B. The lineages were the result of at least two cross-species transmission events into humans.
    The researchers suggest that the first animal-to-human transmission probably happened around November 18, 2019, and it came from lineage B. They found the lineage B type only in people who had a direct connection to the Huanan market.
    The authors believe that lineage A was introduced into humans from an animal within weeks or even days of the infection from lineage B. Lineage A was found in samples from humans who lived or stayed close to the market.
    “These findings indicate that it is unlikely that SARS-CoV-2 circulated widely in humans prior to November 2019 and define the narrow window between when SARS-CoV-2 first jumped into humans and when the first cases of COVID-19 were reported,” the study says. “As with other coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2 emergence likely resulted from multiple zoonotic events.”
    The likelihood that such a virus would emerge from two different events is low, acknowledged co-author Joel Wertheim, an associate adjunct professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego.
    “Now, I realize it sounds like I just said that a once-in-a-generation event happened twice in short succession, and pandemics are indeed rare, but once all the conditions are in place — that is a zoonotic virus capable of both human infection and human transmission that is in close proximity to humans — the barriers to spillover have been lowered such that multiple introductions, we believe, should actually be expected,” Wertheim said.
    Andersen said the studies don’t definitively disprove the lab leak theory but are extremely persuasive, so much so that he changed his mind about the virus’ origins.
    “I was quite convinced of the lab leak myself until we dove into this very carefully and looked at it much closer,” Andersen said. “Based on data and analysis I’ve done over the last decade on many other viruses, I’ve convinced myself that actually, the data points to this particular market.”
    Worobey said he too thought the lab leak was possible, but the epidemiological preponderance of cases linked to the market is “not a mirage.”
    “It’s a real thing,” he said. “It’s just not plausible that this virus was introduced any other way than through the wildlife trade.”
    To reduce the chances of future pandemics, the researchers hope they can determine exactly what animal may have first become infected and how.
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    “The raw ingredients for a zoonotic virus with pandemic potential are still lurking in the wild,” Wertheim said.
    He believes the world needs to do a much better job doing surveillance and monitoring animals and other potential threats to human health.
    Andersen said that although we can’t prevent outbreaks, a collaboration between the world’s scientists could be key to the difference between a disease with a small impact and one that kills millions.
    “The big question we need to ask ourselves is — the next time this happens because it will happen — how do we go from detecting that outbreak early and preventing that outbreak so it doesn’t become a pandemic?”

  • Health alert! Marburg virus kills 2 in Ashanti region

    The Ghana Health Service has asked all health workers, especially Regional and Teaching Hospitals to be on the lookout for the outbreak of the Marburg virus disease following two fatal cases in the Ashanti Region.

    Health workers are to “exercise a high index of suspicion for persons who may present with bleeding tendencies”, a statement issued by the GHS, signed by its Director-General, Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye counseled.

    The cases were said to have been recorded in the Adansi North District of Ashanti, and while preliminary investigations have yet to establish a link between the two cases, 34 contacts have been identified and are under quarantine being monitored for the maximum incubation period of 21 days.

    The statement said no new cases have been reported since the two samples were taken two weeks ago.

    The World Health Organization categorises the Marburg virus disease as a highly virulent disease that causes haemorrhagic fever, with a fatality ratio of up to 88%, and is in the same family as the virus that causes the Ebola virus disease.

    “Human infection with Marburg virus disease initially results from prolonged exposure to mines or caves inhabited by Rousettus bat colonies. Once an individual is infected with the virus, Marburg can spread through human-to-human transmission via direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials (e.g. bedding, clothing) contaminated with these fluids,” according to the WHO.

    Below is the statement by the Ghana Health Service.

    Source:graphic.com.gh