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Researchers find superbug gene in New Delhi water
By MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer
LONDON – A gene that can turn many types of bacteria into deadly superbugs was found in about a quarter of water samples taken from drinking supplies and puddles on the streets of New Delhi, according to a new study.
Experts say it’s the latest proof that the new drug-resistance gene, known as NDM-1, named for New Delhi, is widely circulating in the environment — and could potentially spread to the rest of the world.
Bacteria armed with this gene can only be treated with a couple of highly toxic and expensive antibiotics. Since it was first identified in 2008, it has popped up in a number of countries, including the United States, Australia, Britain, Canada and Sweden.
Most of those infections were in people who had recently traveled to or had medical Read more…
“Unknown disease” outbreak detected in China HIV/ AIDS
By March 28, 2011 Reuters (Associated Press Chen Yilian report) is a special disease spread in China, doctors detected the virus, the patient has a serious condition. Of these, the majority of people in high risk sexual behavior after the onset of symptoms, some experts that they are “fear of love disease”, but the patient does not recognize. With the increasing number of patients, causing widespread concern in society and the media. Ministry of Health has started investigations six provinces and cities, the basic rule of AIDS experts, but remained open.
“Unknown virus” troubled experts
“Express” reported on March 24, a group of special “patients” – they have suspect are infected with HIV, and some even dozens of times in a few months to detect HIV, all test results are shown to be negative, a lot of people So claiming the “negative infections”; then, they suspect are infected with a knowledge of modern medicine is still not, there are infectious, “unknown virus”, but clinical reports have shown that they are “no organic disease” .
February 23 night, in Beijing, China Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) across a small hotel, wearing sterile clothing, “Express” 10 journalists from across the country with a special “patient” interviews for three hours. They had suspected their HIV infection, HIV testing several times but had shown negative results; then, they consider themselves infected with a “unknown virus”, but clinical reports have shown “no organic disease”; because of the disease fear, guilt of relatives and friends, the despair of the future, live in deep Read more…
Deaths and thousands infected with dengue in Paraguay and Bolivia
“We have 18 dengue deaths confirmed in Paraguay and 2.500 infected of which 1.300 are hospitalized” said Ivan Allende head of the Sanitary Vigilance Department in Asuncion. He also called on the population to immediately report to a clinic or hospital on suspicion of having contracted the disease, which again reappeared with extreme force in late December with the rainy season.
“In previous years we never had so many people hospitalized” added Allende who indicated that only zero temperatures can help eliminate the mosquito larvae. “Until then we must insist people must collaborate watching out for stagnant water in bottles, old tyres, and flower pots and obviously in toilets and sewage”.
In Bolivia the death toll has climbed to 20 and the number of infected totals 1,670. Read more…
Four Develop Vaccinia Infections Stemming From Smallpox Shot
Four individuals became infected with the vaccinia virus through direct or second-hand exposure to a U.S. service member who had been vaccinated against smallpox, the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy reported on Monday (see GSN, Feb. 3).
The service member received his smallpox shot on February 23, 2010. Four days later he participated in wrestling matches, during which the covering over the injection spot fell off. The two men he wrestled against developed skin lesions within several days. One of the men on March 5 wrestled another man, who later Read more…
Superbug spreading to Southern California hospitals
A dangerous drug-resistant bacteria has spread to patients in Southern California, according to a study by Los Angeles County public health officials.
More than 350 cases of the Carbapenem-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, or CRKP, have been reported at healthcare facilities in Los Angeles County, mostly among elderly patients at skilled-nursing and long-term care facilities, according to a study by Dr. Dawn Terashita, an epidemiologist with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
It was not clear from the study how many of the infections proved fatal, but other studies in the U.S. and Israel have shown that about 40% of patients with the infection die. Tereshita was Read more…
Report warns flu pandemic could kill 200,000 in Britain
50 percent of the British population could develop symptoms of the flu pandemic and may cost the British economy $42 million (GBP 28 billion).
A report released Tuesday identifies the outbreak of a new influenza pandemic as one of the greatest threats facing Britain. The U.K. Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Strategy 2011 estimates the number of potential deaths because of a new flu pandemic could be as high as 200,000.
Aside from the anticipated deaths, the report by the Department of Health said 50 percent of the British population could develop symptoms of the flu pandemic and may cost the British economy Read more…
Haiti’s cholera epidemic twice as bad as predicted, say researchers
Haiti’s cholera epidemic may be twice as bad as health officials originally thought.
The number of people affected with the disease may be nearly 800,000, double what U.N. officials predicted, BBC reports.
The bacterial disease causes severe diarrhea and vomiting and can be life-threatening if left untreated as it can lead to severe dehydration. It is spread from person-to-person through contaminated food and water.
About 150,000 people contracted cholera and 3,500 died in Haiti between October and December 2010. U.N. health officials expected the number of infected at this time to be about 400,000. But researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, say the number is likely to be double that.
The new calculations take into consideration factors such as Read more…
Scientists deliberately create 127 hybrid viruses from H1N1, then warn they are dangerous
(NaturalNews) Chinese researchers recently warned the world in a study that the H1N1 virus is capable of combining with various other viruses to create “novel pandemic strains.” Published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, the paper states that with the proper mixing host in place, viruses can swap genes and mutate into new strains — and researchers discovered this by deliberately creating 127 of them in a laboratory.
After concocting these 127 hybrid viruses, researchers found that eight of them were more harmful than their parent viruses when tested in mice, according to a Reuters report. And researchers warn that these deadly mutant strains may one day be a serious threat to public health because they cause pneumonia, edema, and hemorrhaging.
“The main message is that the H1N1 can combine in certain ways with the H9N2 to create reassortants and some of the viruses had an increased Read more…
Avian influenza continues to spread across Asian countries
Across Japan a total of 22 cases of avian flu have been reported as the infection continues to spread. On Sunday, 33,000 more chickens were culled in the Miyazaki Prefecture, bringing the total chickens culled to around 990,000 birds since the first infection was reported on Jan 22, 2011.
In India, further cases have been confirmed on a Tripura farm where the culling process has started to take place. This is the second time bird flu has been detected in the state following an outbreak in February this year. Health and veterinary workers had then culled more than 4,000 chickens.
South Korea has also had 12,400 birds test positive for avian flu last week, marking the 49th outbreak since December 29. The latest outbreak is a poultry farm in Cheonan, 92 km south of Seoul, the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service (NVRQS) said. All ducks on the farm will be culled with quarantine authorities asking nearby farms to be vigilant and protect their birds.
This is the second case of the highly pathogenic avian influenza reported in the country this month although the number of AI cases has started to fall off in recent weeks. The government has culled more than 6.04 million birds in six provinces across the country.
Dolphin deaths in Alabama, Mississippi may be caused by measles-related illness
http://blog.al.com/live/2011/03/dead_dolphins_measles_related.html
MOBILE, Ala. — With six new dolphin carcasses discovered in Mississippi and Alabama since Saturday, a review of the scientific literature associated with similar mass die-offs of marine mammals around the world suggests a common culprit: a morbillivirus.
In the same family as the viruses that cause measles in humans and canine distemper in dogs, there are well-documented outbreaks of fatal morbillivirus infections in dolphins, whales and seals around the world since the 1980s.
Jerry Saliki, a University of Georgia researcher and veterinarian who has published a number of scientific papers on morbillivirus infections in dolphins, said the virus could be responsible for the current mass die off.
“It is certainly possible. In the past, there have been significant die offs in the Gulf with dolphins that were attributed to morbillivirus,” Saliki said Monday. “But, there are Read more…
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