China Monthly Infectious Diseases Bulletin February 2010

Tuesday, 09 March 2010; Submitted By: China Communication Focal Point (1), China

No. of Type A, B and C Notifiable Communicable Disease Cases & Deaths, February 2010, Mainland China   Disease No. of Cases No. of Deaths　 No. of Deaths Total No. of Class I, II & III NCD 301081 691  Total No. of Class I & II 228642 674 Plague ...Read More

China Monthly Infectious Diseases Bulletin February 2010

Tuesday, 09 March 2010; Submitted By: China Communication Focal Point (1), China

No. of Type A, B and C Notifiable Communicable Disease Cases & Deaths, February 2010, Mainland China   Disease No. of Cases No. of Deaths　 No. of Deaths Total No. of Class I, II & III NCD 301081 691  Total No. of Class I & II 228642 674 Plague ...Read More

Quality Management in Public Health Laboratories

Tuesday, 09 March 2010; Submitted By: Administrator

The quality of laboratory results is of critical importance in the investigation of epidemics. Objective The introduction of quality systems in public health laboratories is a key activity of the WHO Lyon Office. External Quality Assessment (EQA) is a valuable tool to help countries evaluate the accuracy of diagnostic practices and for identifying areas for improvement.       File Attachment : http://www.who.int/ihr/lyon/quality/en/index.html ...Read More

Laboratory Biosafety Manual - Third Edition

Tuesday, 09 March 2010; Submitted By: Administrator

For more than 20 years, since it was first published in 1983, the Laboratory Biosafety Manual has provided practical guidance on biosafety techniques for use in laboratories at all levels. For this new edition, the manual has been extensively revised and expanded. The manual now covers risk assessment and safe use of recombinant DNA technology, and provides guidelines for the comissioning and cetification of laboratories. Laboratory biosecurity concepts are introduced, and the latest regulations for the transport of infectious substances are reflected. Material on safety in health-care laboratories, previously published elsewhere by WHO, has also been incorporated.   File Attachment : http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/biosafety/WHO_CDS_CSR_LYO_2004_11/en/ ...Read More

AIDS virus can hide in bone marrow

Monday, 08 March 2010; Submitted By: Administrator

BEIJING -- Medications can reduce the level of the AIDS virus in the blood, but HIV doesn't disappear, a new research shows as quoted by AP Monday. The virus that causes AIDS can hide in the bone marrow, avoiding drugs and later awakening to cause illness. According to the Associated Press, Dr. Kathleen Collins of the University of Michigan and her colleagues report in this week's edition of the journal Nature Medicine that the HIV virus can infect long-lived bone marrow cells that eventually convert into blood cells. The virus is dormant in the bone marrow cells, she said, but when those progenitor cells develop into blood cells, it can be reactivated and cause renewed infection. The virus kills the new blood cells and then moves on to infect other cells, she said. So why not use a medication to kill all those parent cells, thereby perhaps ridding the body of HIV, the researchers suggested. It sounds simple, but killing all of these blood-producing marrow cells would be lethal to humans, Collins said. However, "maybe we could find ways of targeting only the latently infected bone marrow cells," she added.   Source : XINHUA News ...Read More

Bird flu outbreak strikes Khanh Hoa

Thursday, 04 March 2010; Submitted By: Administrator

Bird flu epidemic returns Affected areas have been decontaminated and poultry incinerated, said a spokesperson from the provincial Animal Health Unit. The latest outbreak has brought the number of provinces affected by the flu to six: Dien Bien, Nam Dinh, Nghe An, Khanh Hoa, Soc Trang and Ca Mau, said Hoang Van Nam from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The bird flu epidemic has continued to spread in these provinces, killing thousands of poultry since it re-emerged last December despite efforts to prevent contagion. LINK     Source : VIET NAM News ...Read More

Vietnam reports another H5N1 infection

Wednesday, 03 March 2010; Submitted By: Administrator

Mar 2, 2010 – Vietnam's health ministry yesterday announced that a 17-year-girl has been hospitalized with an H5N1 avian influenza infection, the country's third case so far this year, according to a media report. The woman is from Tuyen Quang province in northern Vietnam, Saigon Giai Phong, a communist party newspaper based in Ho Chi Minh City, reported today. She got sick on Feb 19 and was hospitalized on Feb 24, where she began receiving oseltamivir (Tamiflu). An investigation into the source of her infection revealed that chickens at the girl's home had died suddenly and that she had culled the whole flock. If the World Health Organization (WHO) confirms the girl's infection, as well as the Feb 23 death of a 38-year-old woman and the recently reported infection of a 3-year-old girl, she will be listed Vietnam's 115th case, of which 58 have been fatal, including the recent death. The recent steady rise in human cases follows increased reports of H5N1 outbreaks in Vietnamese poultry over the past few months. The most recent outbreak hit birds at two locations in Khanh Hoa province, Voice of Vietnam news reported today. The virus has also recently struck birds in ...Read More

Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 - update 89

Tuesday, 02 March 2010; Submitted By: Administrator

Weekly update 26 February 2010 -- As of 21 February 2010, worldwide more than 213 countries and overseas territories or communities have reported laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009, including at least 16226 deaths. WHO is actively monitoring the progress of the pandemic through frequent consultations with the WHO Regional Offices and member states and through monitoring of multiple sources of information. http://www.who.int/csr/don/2010_02_26/en/index.html ...Read More