Adventure Doc

The CDC released a statement a few days ago about some deaths associated with the yellow fever vaccine.

The immunization campaign was the country’s response in attempting to stop an epidemic, following their recent earthquake.

The Yellow Fever Vaccine is commonly given and well tolerated. There is an ongoing investigation with the CDC, WHO and PAHO to determine what the problem is. Theories include: a problem with the vaccine itself, a problem with the people who died (their bodies had a personal bad reaction to the vaccine) or a combination of the two.

The specific make of vaccine that is implicated is produced in Brazil and widely used in areas where YF is endemic. The Vaccine for YF, used in America, is from a different manufacturer. The batch of vaccines that is linked to the deaths has already been removed from use.

ProMed just released some news of a potential outbreak of Capillaria Philippinensis in the town of Zamboanga del Norte, Phillipines. I guess if there was going to be an outbreak of this intestinal parasite, it would be here.

81 people are already positive for the disease and 40 deaths have been recorded, including 9 children. Death from this parasite is generally through malnutrition and “starvation” or the host’s lungs filling with fluid. The parasites live in the intestines and “steal” all the nutrients from it’s host, causing malnutrition. Severe cases have such large amounts of parasites that the abdomen fills with fluid (ascites) and pleural transudates occur (lungs fill with fluid).

Once a person becomes infected, the parasite sheds its eggs in the feces of the host. The eggs look like trichuris eggs. If the feces contaminate water supply or lakes/rivers, the eggs hatch and begin to infect fish and water animals. Humans get infected when they eat the fish, raw or undercooked.

Capillariasis is an intestinal parasite that people get from eating raw or poorly cooked fish or crabs that are already infected. There are two types of this disease: Capillaria Philippinesis and Capillaria Hepatica. C. Philippinesis was first discovered in the 1960’s, in Luzon, Phillipines.

If you liked this stuff, you have to see more at AdventureDoc.org Helminth Page

The original article can be found here.

Caution should be used when traveling in Fiji, especially in the capital of Suva. According to the UK Foreign/Common Wealth Office, there are some reports of military checkpoints that are detaining any person deemed to be a threat to the newly formed interim government.

The “State of Emergency” has been lifted, since early October, but caution should be used due to potential political instability.

There is a predition of the worst meningitis outbreak in 10 years, coming to Africa.
Prediction of the worst meningitis outbreak in 10 years is not by loonies who think the sky is falling. Reasons for this potential outbreak are due to the rainy season ending early, in central Africa.

There is a region of Africa known as the “meningitis belt” that can be seen here on Adventure Doc Meningitis. There is also some information about meningitis and the vaccine there, too.

Travelers going to Africa or any other gathering of people who could be carrying meningitis, such as the Hajj, in December, need to be prepared.

The meningitis vaccine covers 4 types of Nisseria Meningitis (A, C, Y, W-135). These are the most common strains you will run into in Africa. Unfortunately there is a “B” type that is not covered by the vaccine. The “B” type happens to be one of the most common strains in North America and Europe.

The north-eastern area of Italy has recently been dealing with an outbreak of Chikungunya virus, for the last 2-3 months. The villages of Castiglione di Ravenna and Castiglione di Cervia in the province of Ravenna appear to be the center of the outbreak. There have been approximately 131 suspected cases, since July of 2007. More cases are under investigation, and testing results are still pending.

The center of the outbreak is believed to be traced back to a visitor, to the area, from Kerala, India. The mosquito Aedes albopictus is a new immigrant to Italy and is a know vector for this viral disease and mosquito “season” in the area is expected to run through mid-November. The chance of more transmissions in the area is likely.

Chikungunya Virus is a self-limiting (it goes away on its own) disease that is characterized by fevers, arthritis and a rash, mainly on the chest and back. The arthritis can persist for months, after the infection subsides and fevers generally last 10 days. The illness has been known to progress into hemorrhagic (bleeding) complications, similiar to Dengue Fever. More about hemorrhagic viruses can be found on the Adventure Doc page: Adventure Doc Hemorrhagic Viruses

To avoid this illness, protect yourself from mosquito bites! The diagnosis is made by serology from a blood sample.

You can view the Promed update here

A few more cases of malaria have been confirmed in Kingston, Jamaica, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 370. The outbreak started in fall of 2006 and involves Plasmodium Falciparum, the most severe type.

Malaria is not normally found on Jamaica and the CDC is advising chloroquine, as prophylaxis, for those staying overnight in Kingston. The other areas of Jamaica are not considered at risk.

The Jamaican government is working to control vectors (mosquitoes) by spraying and destroying possible breeding grounds.

This is believed to be a temporary problem, but the advice is still to take prophylaxis for people sleeping in Kingston, for now.

Here is a CDC link for more information:
CDC Malaria in Kingston, Jamaica

Hope this helps!