CHIK-V in Italy (notice the rhyme)

Italy's coastal regions are facing an all to well-known challenge at the moment. Since mid-2007, Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) has occupied Europe; more specifically, it has caused repeated, noticeable epidemics in Italy over the past decade. Italy's northeastern Emilia-Romagna region experienced the first autochthonous epidemic (See article here). Indeed, in the past, imported cases of CHIKV into Italy from sub-equatorial locations have been identified as potential causes of epidemics, generating a demand for caution in travel and rapid diagnosis (Article here).

What is CHIKV? Chikungunya virus is a arthopod (mosquito)-borne and transmitted virus, infecting Aedes aegypti and albopictus via priorly infected humans (who got it from other infected mosquitoes). Unexpectedly, it's not a flavivvirus, but instead, an alphavirus in the Togaviridae. CHIKV is prominent in southeastern Asia, Latin America (including the Carribean), tropical regions of Africa, and heavily coasted areas of Europe and the Arabian peninsula. Infection causes debilitating illness (usually 3-7 days after being bitten) marked by fever, join pain and swelling (very common), body aches, headaches, nausea, and other symptoms.

Hop to modern day and modern news: the CDC has issued a travel warning for U.S. citizens traveling to certain regions of Italy. (Ah, how the page has turned). Italy has reported more than 180 locally acquired cases of CHIKV in the coastal regions of Anzio, Latina, and Rome. This local transmission implies that the mosquito population there is infected and can continue to sustain the virus for some time. Italian government officials have combatted the spread of disease by spraying, disseminating information, and educating people about mosquito bite prevention, especially noting at risk populations (pregnant women, old people, people with arthritis, etc).

So, before you go check out Rome this season, check out the CDC's warning advisory!


I'll Chikigun-see-ya later ;)

Javarcia Ivory

MERS-CoV - Going after the camels

      Just over 6 years ago, in the mountains of Saudi Arabia a 60 year old man came into Dr. Zaki's clinic complaining presenting symptoms of pneumonia and rectal failure. He first tested the virus as possibly as influenza of an adenovirus, but it after farther analysis, was found to be a new type of corona virus- now known as Middle-East respiratory syndrome coronavirus MERS-CoV.

     Since this disease was first detected there have been over 2000 confirmed cases with a morbidity rate of over 35% and is far more deadly than any other acute respiratory infection. Unlike other emerging infectious diseases, like Ebola or Zika, MERS has not received the same amount of media attention or is as commonly known. Possibly because 80% of its cases occur in Saudi Arabia, or that its main resevoir is the single(not double) humped camel. 

   While MERS has not adapted to have human to human transmission, but outbreaks have now been observed in 27 countries, even in Korea, showing that the disease has the potential of soon spreading far around the world. In order to stop the transmission of MERS the Saudi Government has started hosting drive through checks for the disease at hospitals, and also has started field trials with the Jenner institute of a camel vaccine to stop the transmission between humans and their domesticated and wild camel counterparts.
- Chris

What’s New and Hot? It’s time to get your flu shot!

Last Thursday the New York Times published an article from the Associated Press explaining how important it is to receive a flu shot this season. Scientists look to the Southern Hemisphere to speculate our flu season’s outcomes, and Australia has already experienced a severe flu season. This year we are bracing for strains including H3N2, which has already been seen in the United States. Often, the particular influenza strains that propagate in the Southern Hemisphere will spread to North America, however this is not a certain prediction of our season’s trajectory.

WHO flu advisers met on Thursday, recommending updates to future vaccines for the Southern Hemisphere to strengthen H3N2 protection by changing two of three components for trivalent vaccines for the Southern Hemisphere's 2018 flu season. (more) Currently, H3N2 and influenza B are the predominant seasonal flu strains. Australia is still reporting high flu levels, led by H3N2 and significant number of deaths in the elderly population. Australia's Department of Health says that while overall the 2017 vaccines were a "relatively good" match, they were less effective than usual, especially for protecting seniors against H3N2 infection. (more)

             In the New York Times article, public health officials reminded us that even if someone is infected despite vaccination, they usually have a milder symptoms than if they did not receive a flu shot. The former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price held the annual flu awareness event on Thursday, where he received his flu shot in the news conference, urging everyone to receive their influenza vaccine. (video) I found it very concerning that last year only about 47% of the population received a flu vaccine. According to the CDC, everybody starting at 6 months of age needs to receive their vaccine, especially people over age 65, young children, pregnant women and people with certain health conditions who are more at risk. People who receive flu shots have a 40-60% lower chance of getting seriously ill than the unvaccinated- so please, don’t forget to get your flu shot!

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/09/28/us/politics/ap-us-flu-vaccine.html?_r=0

- Hannah Hales

Is Zika ramping up for a comeback?

Jerome Groopman of the New Yorker admonishes that "even though the spectre of Zika is fading, it's wise to stay vigilant." It is without a doubt that Zika was on the minds of people the world just over a year ago, the confusion and uncertainty surrounding its spread making it all the more terrifying. Pregnant women cancelled travel plans to foreign countries with documented outbreaks of the virus and the numerous cases of babies being born with microencephaly. Even Olympic athletes refused to participate in the summer games because of the virus' prevalence in Brazil. However, the world was seemingly abuzz for a relatively short amount of time and the virus never fully penetrated the continental United States and Europe. This may have been due to the rather timely destruction of mosquito communities around the world, but even that wouldn't explain the rapid decline in the spread of the virus and number of documented complications from it.

So, what happened to Zika? The question has left many epidemiologists baffled and others worried. The concerns mainly come from the fact that Zika does not exist in a vacuum, meaning that the suppression of Zika in a host could potentially worsen the infection of another virus. The director of the N.I.H. vaccine program,  Anthony Fauci, says that  his team is "poised to increase the number of participants in the [vaccine] trial, or to shift the location of testing to new hot spots." This plan comes with a sense of foreboding in light of the World Health Organization's recent statement that Zika no longer is a global emergency. The development of an efficient and economical vaccine is becoming all the more important in the face of what could be a crisis now dormant. 

Source: https://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/is-zika-gone-for-good 

-Andrew Moreno

Chickens To the Rescue: Will they be the key to stopping the spread of West Nile Virus?

Over the past year, six deaths in Los Angeles have been reported to be related to West Nile Virus and three were confirmed within just the last week. The virus has been present in the area for many years but has recently seemed to spiked in its prevalence. Officials over the past couple of days have tried to brainstorm ways to better educate the population about mosquito control. Possible outreach programs include door-to-door education about wearing long sleeved clothing, using bug spray, and removing standing water. Even a rap video has been made! (See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3hh1Yyyuhw).

Despite all of these efforts, it appears that the people of California do not seem to be very concerned about West Nile Virus because they believe it isn't deadly. For, it has been reported that about 8 of 10 infected people will experience no symptoms. Additionally, with the recent focus on Zika virus, Dr. Benjamin Schwartz, the deputy chief of the Los Angeles count's program for acute communicable disease control, explains how "Certainly we all care about infants and birth defects, so Zika gets a lot of attention. But West Nile causes more deaths than Zika does -- and it causes them every year."

In an effort to try and target populations that are at heightened risk of mosquitoes carrying West Nile virus, officials have started to test chickens for signs of the virus' antibodies. Because chickens don't get sick from the virus, they are a great sample population to track the spread over a long time period. The goal of this program is to better understand which areas of Los Angeles contain high concentrations of mosquitoes carrying West Nile Virus and then target these populations extensively to control the spread of the virus and prevent it from being transmitted to humans. Let's hope the chickens pull through!

Source: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/deadly-west-nile-virus-cases-spiking-la-first-line-defense-chickens/

-Alexandra Ulmer

ZIka Outbreak- The effects of a single mutation

It has been two years since the Zika crisis has occurred, when it finally reached South America after originated from Uganda. The outbreak caused abnormal birth defects on infants such as microcephaly (abnormally small heads) and scared many citizens worldwide. However, Zika has been known for more than half a century (1947)  to be a relatively harmless virus, so many scientists have been mystified by why it had come to pose such a dangerous threat these past two years.

The answer was found by a group of Chinese scientists who discovered that a small mutation in Zika’s genetic makeup made the virus more dangerous. This small mutation change was due to a single amino acid change from asparagine to serine, which created a more lethal strain of Zika. This discovery could possibly lead in aiding the development of a vaccine for the Zika virus. This is extremely important because experts say that the virus could return in the future and cause another big outbreak. Currently, five to six vaccines are already in human trials but because Zika has become less active this past year, it has been difficult to find an effective vaccine. According to Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, one of the biggest priorities is to develop a vaccine because viruses like Zika don’t usually disappear, but cause another outbreak in a few years.

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/09/28/zika-was-a-mild-bug-a-new-discovery-shows-how-it-turned-monstrous/?utm_term=.c26819f501c1 

-       Jessica Ngo

The HPV Vaccine Gains Ground Among U.S. Teenagers

For over a decade, scientists have been trying to raise rates of uptake for the HPV vaccine. About a decade ago, rates of getting one or more HPV shots among adolescents were as low as 30%. This is due to a variety of reasons that range from differences in doctor recommendation to the unfounded parental fear that vaccinating their children would encourage them to lead more active sex lives.
However, a recent release form the CDC has shown that uptake rates of the HPV vaccine among adolescents has doubled to 60% and is continuing to grow.

In the past there was also a gender gap between HPV vaccination rates, with girls being much more likely to be vaccinated than boys. This was due to the previous recommendation for the vaccine being primarily for girls, the thought being that they were the ones most likely to experience the cervical cancer complications that come along with certain HPV infections. However, it has since been realized that vaccinating both genders would be the most effective way to control the virus in the population as well as prevent some more rare penile and anal cancers. Recent releases have also shown the gap between female and male HPV vaccination rates closing compared to a decade ago.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/22/health/hpv-vaccine-teenagers.html

<3 nbsp="" p="" scarlett="">