[Health] The Infectious Diseases Thread

[Blackhawk]

This is why we do the studies!

“It all started with an enquiry from a nurse,” Dr Karl Kruszelnicki told listeners to his science phone-in show on the Triple J radio station in Brisbane. “She wanted to know whether she was contaminating the operating theatre she worked in by quietly farting in the sterile environment during operations, and I realised that I didn't know. But I was determined to find out.”

You forgot the results:

“Our deduction is that the enteric zone in the second Petri dish was caused by the flatus itself, and the splatter ring around that was caused by the sheer velocity of the fart, which blew skin bacteria from the cheeks and blasted it onto the dish. It seems, therefore, that flatus can cause infection if the emitter is naked, but not if he or she is clothed..."

...splatter ring...

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Take-away: never have surgery at a nudist colony.

[Smoove_B]

Not great. Not great at all.

https://twitter.com/paimadhu/status/1438144824402530310

I had always assumed child immunization was one of the most robust programs, even in fragile health systems

This is devastating

Global Routine Childhood Vaccination Rates in 2020 Fell to 2005 Levels

[stessier]

Recent Ebola outbreak emerged from someone infected 5 years earlier

A large international research group released a paper today suggesting that Ebola viruses can emerge from five years of dormancy to trigger a new outbreak of infections. While this isn't the first instance in which Ebola re-emerged from a previously infected individual, the new results extend the timeframe of risk substantially.

At present, we have little idea how and where the virus persists in the human body. But there are now tens of thousands of people who have survived previous infections, so it's an area where more research is urgently needed.

[Alefroth]

...splatter ring...

Stay tuned for a new forensic crime series.

[Victoria Raverna]

Not great. Not great at all.

https://twitter.com/paimadhu/status/1438144824402530310

I had always assumed child immunization was one of the most robust programs, even in fragile health systems

This is devastating

Global Routine Childhood Vaccination Rates in 2020 Fell to 2005 Levels

Because of COVID-19 situation, my daughter missed some of the vaccine schedule. Now the COVID-19 situation is getting better at Jakarta, we're catching up with the vaccination.

[Jeff V]

My daughter has to go to the pediatrician next week, because physical is required for pre-k. She will get the flu vaccine while there. She has asked more than once when kids will get vaccinated against Covid. It breaks my heart I can't answer that question, but I'm also proud that at her young age she realizes the importance of it.

[Isgrimnur]

Fort Worth

A child died Sept. 11 from a rare infection caused by a waterborne amoeba they likely ingested at the Don Misenhimer Park splash pad in Arlington, according to a press release Monday from Tarrant County Public Health. The department did not provide further details about the child to protect their identity.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the amoeba’s presence at the splash pad Friday.

The City of Arlington had closed the splash pad — along with all other public splash pads — in early September after learning about the child’s illness.

The splash pad’s inspection records were missing how much chlorine, a disinfectant, the water contained on two of the three days the child visited, according to the release. The day after the child’s visit, however, the records indicated the chlorine level had fallen below what’s acceptable.
...
Naegleria fowleri is a parasite. Specifically, it’s a species of amoeba, or single-celled organism, that lives in warm freshwater and can infect people.

The death rate for the infection is high — about 97%. However, the infection is incredibly rare. Fewer than 150 people were known to be infected in the U.S. between 1962 and 2019, according to the CDC.
...
People are more likely to be killed by lightning than this amoeba.
...
Very rarely, a person could get infected after using tap water to rinse their sinuses, according to the Mayo Clinic. A safe alternative is to use distilled or boiled water instead.

[Isgrimnur]

Rabies

A Illinois man had the unfortunate distinction of becoming the first case of human rabies seen in the state in almost 70 years, health officials reported this week. Unfortunately, like most sick victims of rabies, the man did not survive. He had turned down preventive treatment a month earlier.
...
In mid-August, a Lake County resident in his 80s woke up with a bat at his neck. The bat was captured, and an entire colony was later discovered to be living in his home. Once the bat was known to have rabies, the man was advised to seek post-exposure treatment. But for whatever reason, he declined.

[Jeff V]

Of course, everyone knows Bill Gates is putting microchips in rabies vaccines. At least the tin-foil hat set does, and I bet this doofus was among them.

[Paingod]

...splatter ring...

Somewhere out there, a log of the experiment has a video record of the angle and velocity used to induce the spatter ring.

[Smoove_B]

WHO is recommending broad rollout of first malaria vaccination:

The decision, which was announced by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, marks a landmark moment in the fight against malaria, for which no other vaccines exist. The disease killed roughly 400,000 people in 2019 — the most recent year for which statistics are available — mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. The biggest toll is on young children; an estimated 279,000 children under the age of 5 died from malaria in 2019.

“As some of you may know, I started my career as a malaria researcher, and I longed for the day that we would have an effective vaccine against this ancient and terrible disease,” Tedros said during a news conference from Geneva. “Today is that day, an historic day.”

He said he believed the vaccine — the first for a human parasite — would save tens of thousands of lives.

This would be an unbelievable development. Mosquitoes are responsible for more deaths each year than anything else on earth.

[Jeff V]

This would be an unbelievable development. Mosquitoes are responsible for more deaths each year than anything else on earth.

Agreed, but another mosquito-borne illness, dengue fever, also kills a lot of kids. There is a treatment for it that's pretty effective if administered right away...but apparently cost something along the lines of $35. Numerous friends of my wife have lost children because dengue is not a priority diagnosis when kids come in with extreme fevers. Every time that happens, I'm just speechless.

[Alefroth]

WHO is recommending broad rollout of first malaria vaccination:

The decision, which was announced by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, marks a landmark moment in the fight against malaria, for which no other vaccines exist. The disease killed roughly 400,000 people in 2019 — the most recent year for which statistics are available — mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. The biggest toll is on young children; an estimated 279,000 children under the age of 5 died from malaria in 2019.

“As some of you may know, I started my career as a malaria researcher, and I longed for the day that we would have an effective vaccine against this ancient and terrible disease,” Tedros said during a news conference from Geneva. “Today is that day, an historic day.”

He said he believed the vaccine — the first for a human parasite — would save tens of thousands of lives.

This would be an unbelievable development. Mosquitoes are responsible for more deaths each year than anything else on earth.

The first parasitic vaccine if understand correctly. It's a 4 dose vaccine that takes a year to administer and is only 40% effective, but way better than nothing.

[Smoove_B]

This would be an unbelievable development. Mosquitoes are responsible for more deaths each year than anything else on earth.

Agreed, but another mosquito-borne illness, dengue fever, also kills a lot of kids. There is a treatment for it that's pretty effective if administered right away...but apparently cost something along the lines of $35. Numerous friends of my wife have lost children because dengue is not a priority diagnosis when kids come in with extreme fevers. Every time that happens, I'm just speechless.

Ugh, yeah Dengue is listed as one of the "Neglected Tropical Diseases" according to the CDC. It's not a problem for like 99% of Americans, so it gets very little attention here. There are rare locally-acquired cases in Florida each year (reinforcing how important it is to stay out of Florida), but it's mainly an imported disease related to travel.

When you really start to look at all the NTDs, it really does get a bit depressing because they're absolutely disproportionately affecting the poor and children.

[Smoove_B]

The first parasitic vaccine if understand correctly. It's a 4 dose vaccine that takes a year to administer and is only 40% effective, but way better than nothing.

Indeed it is. And yes, anything is better than what's happening now. I'm not sure when (5 years? 10 years?) we'll really know how effective it is. But totally a game changer if it's successful.

[Jeff V]

When you really start to look at all the NTDs, it really does get a bit depressing because they're absolutely disproportionately affecting the poor and children.

I've told my wife before that if anyone she knows has kids suspected of getting dengue, we can pay for the treatment. I really hate that healthcare there is a matter of privilege...if you can pay, then you get proper treatment. If not? Kindly remove yourself from the premises and please do not die on our doorstep...that just upsets the paying customers.

[Victoria Raverna]

Is the treatment something new?

I guess Indonesians are lucky that the government finally decided to provide healthcare program a few years ago that is kinda like government run health insurance that cover almost everything that don't care about pre-existing condition.

It is still not as good as private insurance but cheaper and everyone can get it. For those that can't afford the monthly payment (around 10 USD per month) to join the program, the government gives them free membership.

The program has been running deficit since it started so the government has to cover that too.

[Smoove_B]

For those that love spray air fresheners:

Four cases of a serious, sometimes fatal infection called melioidosis that have bedeviled public health investigators for months appear to have been linked to an aromatherapy room spray sold at Walmart, a product recall notice issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission revealed Friday.

The product, Better Homes and Gardens Lavender and Chamomile Essential Oil Infused Aromatherapy Room Spray with Gemstones, was sold at 55 Walmart locations and on the company’s website from February to Oct. 21.

...

The CDC statement also suggests that people who have used the product in the past 21 days who have symptoms consistent with melioidosis should seek medical care and tell the attending doctor about the aromatherapy spray exposure. People who have no symptoms but have used the spray in the past seven days should also see a doctor, who may prescribe antibiotics to prevent infection, the CDC said.

But how did they figure this out?

Testing of a bottle found in the home of an individual from Georgia who died from the infection showed it was contaminated with Burkholderia pseudomallei, the bacterium that causes melioidosis, a statement posted on the commission’s website said.

The CDC has been investigating the four cases for months, trying to determine the source of the infections. Two of the four people infected have died, one of whom was a child. The first case was reported in Kansas in March. Cases in Minnesota and Texas followed in May. The contaminated bottle was found in the home of the most recent case in this outbreak, which was reported from Georgia in late July.

Science. Oh and Epidemiology.

[LordMortis]

For those that love spray air fresheners:

As an asthmatic with "an intolerance" (redefined from allergy for reasons I don't get) to citric acid, I find many spray air fresheners to be a source of chemical warfare. They had these timed bombs full of air cleansing citrus in our bathrooms that gave me minor attacks at work, so I had to leave to use the bathroom. They eventually got rid of them just because of me. (I did not ask for that accommodation, but they provided it anyway)

Edit: And not CNBC is reporting this. You scooped 'em

[Isgrimnur]

[Daehawk]

I only ever used stick incense. Me and my wife loved Nag Champa . I haven't burned any in years.

[Blackhawk]

I occasionally used candles, and occasionally burned incense (natural plant materials only, not the oily, perfumed retail crap - although Nag Champa isn't awful.) Both ended when I got a bird. Too dangerous.

I've always hated pefumey scents and sprays. I despise heavily perfumed people, scented sprays, scented cleaners, etc, but they're everywhere. Hell, I can't even get unscented trash bags anymore! What's wrong with smelling like nothing instead of choking on that nose-burning chemical scents?

[Smoove_B]

This kinda disappeared under all the COVID vaccination news, but apparently [Mugatu]vaccinations are so hot right now[/Mugatu] as it's been recommended that all adults under 60 get a Hepatitis B vaccination.

A government advisory committee on Wednesday recommended that all U.S. adults younger than 60 be vaccinated against hepatitis B, because progress against the liver-damaging disease has stalled.

The decision means that tens of millions of U.S. adults — mostly between the ages of 30 and 59 — would be advised to get shots. Hepatitis B vaccinations became standard for children in 1991, meaning most adults younger that 30 already are protected.

“We’re losing ground. We cannot eliminate hepatitis B in the U.S. without a new approach,” said Dr. Mark Weng of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For those that don't keep up, HepB is one of the vaccines infants are recommended to receive right after being born. However, for the last 20+ years anti-vaccination parents have increasingly declined HepB for babies because as we all know, only strung-out drug users get HepB. Babies are clean! So yeah, here we are.

Of note:

Health officials estimate about 20,000 new infections occur each year. The rate has been generally flat, though it has been rising in Americans in their 40s and 50s, officials said.

Ask your doctor if a HepB vaccination is right for you!

[Isgrimnur]

"Valley Fever" sounds like too much time at the indoor mall or a porn addiction or something.

Try telling people to worry about coccidioidomycosis.

Spoiler:

In the 1930s, researchers identified the culprit as a soil fungus during a severe outbreak of coccidioidomycosis in the San Joaquin Valley of California, which also gave the disease its nickname of Valley Fever

Wired

AN EXPERIMENTAL VACCINE that could protect millions of people living in the American Southwest from valley fever—an infection caused by a soil-dwelling fungus that is difficult to treat and can cause disability and death—has passed its first test of efficacy and is moving toward federal approval, possibly within two years.

The catch: The vaccine was tested in, and will be developed for, dogs. A formula that could be given to humans, if it can be achieved, lies many years and millions of dollars down the road. But researchers say even this first step is notable, a significant milestone on the way to preventing potentially hundreds of thousands of human cases a year.

To be clear, this vaccine is needed for dogs, too. They aren’t just a model system for lab work; for reasons that are not well understood, they develop the disease and its most severe manifestations at higher rates than humans do. Possibly 30 million dogs live in the area endemic for valley fever, which centers on Arizona, stretches from California to West Texas, and reaches into Nevada and Utah. In some Arizona counties, 1 in 10 dogs develops the disease each year, and it is the No. 1 cause of dogs being surrendered to animal control. A vaccine that could protect them would save loved pets from suffering and reduce the costs borne by owners and shelters.

[Smoove_B]

Good addition. I'd seen the headline earlier, it's pretty impressive stuff. I didn't realize that dogs were suffering from Valley Fever at such high levels so it's extra good news.

[Daehawk]

In a serious note though Im glad they are helping the doggies.

EDIT: Whoops edited my post because I posted a political jab. I sometimes think all disease threads are in the R&P area.

[coopasonic]

In a serious note though Im glad they are helping the doggies.

EDIT: Whoops edited my post because I posted a political jab. I sometimes think all disease threads are in the R&P area.

How the heck would a disease be politi... uhhh... yeah, never mind.

[Isgrimnur]

NPR

About a year after the emergency was declared, researchers found that in the U.S., about 94% of babies born to women infected with Zika appeared to be normal at birth with no signs of microcephaly.

Then last year, Dr. Sarah Mulkey, a child neurologist in the Prenatal Pediatrics Institute at Children's National, published a study that found even among these babies that appeared normal at birth, there did seem to be some developmental differences.
...
"The complicated part now is that we're studying children with an in-utero exposure to Zika, but also in the face of a pandemic that is affecting child exposures and development," Mulkey says.
...
Although their analysis hasn't been completed or peer reviewed, it does seem as though Yariel isn't alone — that the difficulty with fine motor skills seems to be a common issue among children exposed to Zika.
...
Mulkey's research on Zika and development — which includes Yariel — will continue for a few more years. "We're going to be getting MRIs in the children once they get to age 7," she says. She'll be looking for any brain structural differences between the children who had Zika exposure and those who didn't — both in the U.S. and in Colombia. She believes it may be some of the longest-term follow-up for Zika-exposed children in the world.

[Isgrimnur]

The Hill

Researchers have found evidence that suggests the Epstein-Barr virus, which causes a number of illnesses including mononucleosis, might also trigger Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
...
In order to come to this conclusion, researchers conducted a study on more than 10 million adults on active duty in the United States military and found 955 that had been diagnosed with MS during service.

The team analyzed serum samples by the military to determine whether each solider had been infected with the Epstein-Barr virus, which is present in about 95 percent of all adults, and then compared those findings to the whether they had been diagnosed with MS during their time of active duty.

Researchers found that the risk of MS increased 32-fold if a soldier had been infected with the Epstein-Barr virus and remained unchanged if they had been infected with another virus.

[Isgrimnur]

Newsweek

Adeadly disease fatal to rabbits in around 80 percent of cases is spreading across the U.S., with new cases now confirmed in Florida.

Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease does not affect human health but is highly infectious and frequently fatal to both wild and domestic rabbits, with a fatality rate of between 80 and 100 percent.

The strain of Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease currently affecting the U.S. is known as RHDV2. This is a virus that affects rabbits over a three to nine-day incubation period.
...
It said concerned pet owners should contact their vets about the use of a vaccine that has been approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA.)
...
Advice published by the USDA in 2020 said the disease can spread rapidly and was highly resistant to extreme temperatures: "It can be spread through direct contact or exposure to an infected rabbit's excretions or blood. The virus can also survive and spread from carcasses, food, water, and any contaminated materials. People can spread the virus indirectly by carrying it on their clothing and shoes."

[Isgrimnur]

Reuters

A flock of about 240,000 chickens owned by Tyson Foods Inc (TSN.N) in Kentucky tested positive for a highly lethal form of bird flu, government officials and the company said on Monday, widening an outbreak that threatens the U.S. poultry industry.

Infections in the chickens being raised for meat triggered more restrictions on U.S. exports, with China blocking poultry products from Kentucky. Last week, buyers like China and Korea limited poultry purchases from Indiana due to an outbreak at a commercial turkey farm there.

[Max Peck]

Discovery of New HIV Variant Sends Warning for COVID Pandemic

As SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, has spread throughout the world, many observers have failed to take note of the millions of illnesses and deaths caused by HIV—another virus that has approached pandemic status during its history. Now an HIV variant that is more virulent and transmissible has been discovered in the Netherlands, where it apparently has been circulating for decades, according to new research. Luckily, none of the variant’s new mutations make it resistant to widely used therapies. But the finding may offer a warning for how the COVID pandemic could proceed in the coming months: viruses do not necessarily evolve to become milder.

Without treatment, people infected with the newly identified HIV variant have more than three to more than five times higher levels of the virus in their blood, making them more infectious. Plus, their immune system deteriorates twice as fast, setting them on a course to potentially develop AIDS years earlier than people with other versions of HIV. These findings, published this month in Science, indicate the newfound variant carries more than 500 mutations scattered across its genome—though it is unclear how they enable the virus to cause more-severe disease.

William A. Haseltine, an infectious disease researcher who founded Harvard University’s cancer and HIV/AIDS research departments and now chairs the think tank ACCESS Health International, has written extensively about the potential of SARS-CoV-2 assume a more dangerous form. Haseltine spoke with Scientific American about why a more virulent variant of HIV—a virus that has been known for nearly half a century—is just coming into focus now, whereas the new coronavirus has spawned several “variants of concern” in a matter of months.

[Smoove_B]

Green clovers, yellow stars, blue diamonds and....gastrointestinal distress:

The Food and Drug Administration is investigating reports of illnesses possibly linked to Lucky Charms cereal, but little information is available yet.

...

Consumers are also urged to visit their health care providers if they become ill after eating the cereal and tell their doctors about possible foodborne connections.

[Jeff V]

The Food and Drug Administration is investigating reports of illnesses possibly linked to Lucky Charms cereal, but little information is available yet.

The thought of eating that stuff makes me queasy...shall I call it in?

[Kraken]

Wife and I are getting our second boosters on Friday. I wanted to put that off until I saw cases start rising significantly again. Welp, guess what? It's time.

[Kraken]

Yesterday was Passover. Today was Easter. Tomorrow is Marathon Monday. This weekend also saw the Red Sox season opener and a Celtics championship game (or playoff or something). The weather's been cold with intermittent rain, so apart from the Marathon itself it's mostly indoor celebrations. I've mentioned that the virus was already stirring again in MA. We'll find out quite soon if it's got another surge in it, as well as whether anybody cares if it does.

On the plus side, 82% of Massholes are vaccinated -- one of the highest percentages in the US. Experts are cautiously optimistic that hospitals won't get slammed. On the minus side, only 40% of us are boosted, and there are tens of thousands of outsiders in town this weekend. We'll see if everyone's still talking about "post-pandemic" a week or two from now.

[Isgrimnur]

Mysterious liver disease in children

Last week, British officials reported 74 cases of hepatitis, or liver inflammation, found in children since January. The usual viruses that cause infectious hepatitis were not seen in the cases, and scientists and doctors are considering other possible sources.

Additional cases of hepatitis had been identified in Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said in a statement Tuesday without specifying exactly how many cases were found.

U.S. officials have spotted nine cases in Alabama in children aged 1 to 6.
...
While it's unclear what's causing the illnesses, a leading suspect is an adenovirus. Only some of the children tested positive for coronavirus, but the World Health Organization said genetic analysis of the virus was needed to determine if there were any connections among the cases.
...
Public health officials ruled out any links to COVID-19 vaccines, saying none of the affected children was vaccinated.

[Max Peck]

Finally, a feel-good ivermectin story.

Army of worm larvae hatch from man’s bum, visibly slither under his skin

Doctors in Spain diagnosed a man with an unusual roundworm infection after watching an army of larvae writhe and slither under his skin, blanketing his whole body in an ever-shifting rash.

Doctors reported the man's rare hyperinfection this week in the New England Journal of Medicine, highlighting the unusual sight of a wriggling, sliding skin rash that tracked the movements of individual parasitic prowlers. The official diagnosis was larva currens from Strongyloides.

The shifting rash—and the identification of Strongyloides stercoralis larvae in a stool exam—clenched the diagnosis. Doctors prescribed the man the anti-parasitic ivermectin, and the rash and diarrhea improved.

[The Meal]

For fear of some sort of visible or audible media, that is one link I shall not be clicking.

And you shall not convince me otherwise.