CLIMATE CHANGE

EBOLA

YEMEN:  “……the starvation deaths of an estimated 85,000 children, and a 2-wave outbreak that led to more than 1 million cases of cholera.
….”

ROHINGYA

OPIOID CRISIS

GUN VIOLENCE

TUBERCULOSIS:  “…..TB kills more than any other infectious disease—1.6 million by the WHO’s count….”

NONCOMMUNICABLE DISEASES:  “….As 2018 draws to a close, so have the lives of 41 million people claimed this year by noncommunicable diseases…..”

MEASLES

#METOO

REFUGEES

RAND

Williams, Heather J., Nathan Chandler, and Eric Robinson, Trends in the Draw of Americans to Foreign Terrorist Organizations from 9/11 to Today. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2018. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2545.html. Also available in print form.

“……..Key Findings

Recommendations

AAP

The reports, Pediatric Considerations Before, During, and After Radiological/Nuclear Emergencies, are available at

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2018/11/21/peds.2018-3000 and

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2018/11/21/peds.2018-3001

and will be published in the December issue of Pediatrics.

CNN

CDC

Influenza activity in the United States is increasing. Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09, influenza A(H3N2), and influenza B viruses continue to co-circulate. Below is a summary of the key influenza indicators for the week ending December 15, 2018:

• Viral Surveillance: Influenza A viruses have predominated in the United States since the beginning of October. Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses are predominating in most areas of the country. However, in the most recent three weeks, influenza A(H3) viruses were most commonly reported in the southeastern United States (HHS Region 4). The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for influenza in clinical laboratories is increasing.
  • Virus Characterization: The majority of influenza viruses characterized antigenically and genetically are similar to the cell-grown reference viruses representing the 2018–2019 Northern Hemisphere influenza vaccine viruses.
  • Antiviral Resistance: All viruses tested show susceptibility to the neuraminidase inhibitors (oseltamivir, zanamivir, and peramivir).
• Influenza-like Illness Surveillance: The proportion of outpatient visits for influenza-like illness (ILI) increased to 2.7%, which is above the national baseline of 2.2%. Eight of 10 regions reported ILI at or above their region-specific baseline level.
  • ILI State Activity Indictor Map: Two states experienced high ILI activity; New York City and nine states experienced moderate ILI activity; Puerto Rico and 11 states experienced low ILI activity; the District of Columbia and 28 states experienced minimal ILI activity.
• Geographic Spread of Influenza: The geographic spread of influenza in Guam and six states was reported as widespread; 18 states reported regional activity; 19 states reported local activity; and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and seven states reported sporadic activity.
• Influenza-associated Hospitalizations A cumulative rate of 2.9 laboratory-confirmed influenza-associated hospitalizations per 100,000 population was reported. The highest hospitalization rate is among children younger than 5 years (7.7 hospitalizations per 100,000 population).
• Pneumonia and Influenza Mortality: The proportion of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza (P&I) was below the system-specific epidemic threshold in the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) Mortality Surveillance System.
• Influenza-associated Pediatric Deaths: One influenza-associated pediatric death was reported to CDC during week 50.

Bulfone TC, Samuel SP, Bickler PE, Lewin MR.

Developing Small Molecule Therapeutics for the Initial and Adjunctive Treatment of Snakebite.

J Trop Med. 2018;2018:4320175. Published 2018 Jul 30. doi:10.1155/2018/4320175

• Snakebite envenomation is a neglected tropical disease that causes more than 100,000 deaths every year
• SMTs represent a potentially useful adjunctive therapy to antivenoms, the current mainstay of care for symptomatic snakebite.

Engineered nanoparticles bind elapid snake venom toxins and inhibit venom-induced dermonecrosis

• Jeffrey O’Brien,
• Shih-Hui Lee,
• José María Gutiérrez,
• Kenneth J. Shea

• Published: October 4, 2018
• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0006736

“…..The work describes hope for treatment of snakebite, a broad-spectrum antivenom comprised polymer nanoparticles (NPs) engineered to sequester the major protein toxins in elapid snakes. The stable, low-cost NPs can be administered subcutaneously immediately after the bite at the site of envenoming to halt or reduce the extent of local tissue damage and mitigate the systemic distribution of toxins post-envenoming…..”

It was a BIG year for eliminating neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) as a public health problem in three USAID-supported countries.

Ghana (link is external) and Nepal (link is external) said goodbye to trachoma, the leading infectious cause of blindness.

Lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis) got kicked to the curb by Vietnam.

History

NYT

“…..with support from Unicef, the Australian government and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, began its drone program on Monday. It will initially serve three islands but may be expanded to

many more..…”

…”

Hercules Y, Bryant NJ, Wallace RM, et al. Rabies in a Dog Imported from Egypt — Connecticut, 2017. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2018;67:1388–1391. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6750a3.

“……Since 2007, three cases of canine rabies virus variant were reported in dogs imported into the United States, one each from India (2007), Iraq (2008), and Egypt (2015) (1–3). On December 20, 2017, a dog imported into the United States from Egypt was identified with rabies, representing the second case from Egypt in 3 years. An Egyptian-based animal rescue organization delivered four dogs from Cairo, Egypt, to a flight parent (a person solicited through social media, often not affiliated with the rescue organization, and usually compensated with an airline ticket), who transported the dogs to the United States. The flight parent arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York City and, via transporters (persons who shuttle dogs from one state to another), transferred the dogs to foster families; the dogs ultimately were adopted in three states. The Connecticut Department of Public Health Laboratory (CDPHL) confirmed the presence of a canine rabies virus variant in one of the dogs, a male aged 6 months that was adopted by a Connecticut family. An investigation revealed the possibility of falsified rabies vaccination documentation presented on entry at JFK, allowing the unvaccinated dog entry to the United States. This report highlights the continuing risk posed by the importation of dogs inadequately vaccinated against rabies from high-risk countries and the difficulties in verifying any imported dog’s health status and rabies vaccination history.….”