Immunization News this week

August 12, 2000

In a message dated 8/12/00 12:31:42 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Mom2Q@...

writes:

<< Tetanus Transmission Tracked in India "

Reuters Health Information Services (www.reutershealth.com) (08/07/00);

Vidyashankar, C.

Early childhood tetanus transmission in the Mumbai (Bombay) region of India

appears to be most common via the ear, according to a report by Dr. Milind

Tullu and members of Seth G.S. Medical College in the journal Indian

Pediatrics. A study of 40 cases of childhood tetanus revealed that the

otogenic route was more common in children ages two to six, and post-injury

tetanus was more common for children between the ages of six and 12. The

researchers found that 45 percent of the infections in the younger group

were through the ear, most likely the result of chronic middle ear

infection, placing oil in the ear, and putting dirty fingers or objects in

the ear. The study concluded that the death rate in young children with

otogenic tetanus was 35 percent, leading the authors to recommend tetanus

immunization checks for all youngsters with middle-ear infection. >>

does anyone know hoe this happens--i was under the impression that you could

not get tetanus thru any opening in the body--like the ear00i thought it had

to be more like a cut or deep puncture wound--directly into the blood...can

anyone educate me more on this????

brigit

August 12, 2000

Immunization Newsbriefs

August 09, 2000

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" Kids Prefer Chickenpox Shots to Disease "

" Clues to an Alien Virus "

" Advances in Antiviral Medications: Considerations for Viral Meningitis "

" Measles Outbreak Is Feared After Dublin Deaths "

" UNICEF Head to Promote Polio Vaccines in Africa "

" Tetanus Transmission Tracked in India "

" Meningitis Outbreaks Reported in Far East, Southern Russia "

" Meningitis Surface in Addis Ababa Remained Below Threshold "

" Ethiopia: Measles Immunization Campaign Being d Out in the Somali

Region "

" Kenya: Six Die as Cholera Strikes "

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" Kids Prefer Chickenpox Shots to Disease "

Detroit News (www.detnews.com) (08/08/00) P. 3; Boyd,

Kids and shots go together like oil and water. And when asked if they’d

rather have the chickenpox or a shot, a survey by the National Association

of Pediatric Nurse Associates and Practitioners reveals kids prefer the

needle. Seven out of 10 kids said chickenpox was worse than colds, fever,

earaches and sore throat, and that they would prefer the shot to the

illness. While some physicians say the vaccine is unnecessary, many day-care

facilities and schools require the vaccine for entry. For more information

about the survey or the vaccine, call (877) 662-7627 or visit www.napnap.org

on the Internet.

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" Clues to an Alien Virus "

New York Times (www.nytimes.com) (08/08/00) P. D1; Revkin, C.

West Nile virus has appeared again, after killing seven people last fall.

Widespread pesticide spraying may not prevent a few cases from occurring

every year. The disease is moving beyond northern Queens into Boston and

land, as birds carry the virus. Scientists have been studying how the

virus arrived from Africa or the Middle East, and if it poses a huge threat

to public health in America. The mosquito-borne virus is similar to Japanese

encephalitis virus and St. Louis encephalitis, but birds are killed by West

Nile. Many people who are bitten by mosquitoes never develop deadly

symptoms. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has offered money

for states to track dying birds and the virus, which has not yet reached

Texas and the southern states. Scientists are unsure what the virus is

capable of, but the conditions this year are not as agreeable for an

outbreak as last year, due to frequent rains that flush drains.

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" Advances in Antiviral Medications: Considerations for Viral Meningitis "

Infectious Diseases in Children--Advances in Antiviral Medications

(www.slackinc.com/idc.htm) (07/00) P. 4; Brien, H.

Viral meningitis is 10 times more common than bacterial meningitis. The high

incidence costs many lives and results in the hospitalization of hundreds of

thousands of patients. The chief cause of viral meningitis is enteroviruses,

which may not cause any symptoms at first besides headache. Children with

the virus should have cerebrospinal fluid testing, and treatment usually

involves empiric antibiotics, particularly for young children and babies.

There is no approved, specific treatment for enteroviral meningitis, but

pleconaril is a promising antiviral agent now being studied for the

treatment of enteroviral disease. An initial study of pleconaril shows that

it can reduce symptoms for children over age eight. Most patients could see

improvement in headache compared to those given a placebo. Few adverse

effects were associated with the antiviral, with some reporting nausea,

vomiting, and diarrhea. Pleconaril should become useful for treating

meningitis and could soon be approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

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" Measles Outbreak Is Feared After Dublin Deaths "

London Independent (www.independent.co.uk) (08/08/00) P. 9; nce,

An outbreak of measles in Dublin that killed two children could spread to

Britain, experts fear. In Wales, doctors are warning that low vaccination

rates could lead to an outbreak, while inner London is also at risk because

many foreign visitors have not been vaccinated. While the number of measles

cases in Britain has dropped from 800,000 a year during the 1960s to just a

few dozen in the late 1990s, there have been outbreaks in recent years among

unvaccinated individuals at Rudolf Steiner schools and religious groups that

oppose vaccination. Also, concerns about the measles, mumps, and rubella

vaccine have resulted in a significant drop in vaccination coverage, falling

from 92 percent in the mid-1990s to 88.4 percent in the past three years. In

some areas of London and Wales, only 75 percent of children have received

the MMR shot.

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" UNICEF Head to Promote Polio Vaccines in Africa "

Reuters (www.reuters.com) (08/08/00)

UNICEF head Carol Bellamy will promote polio immunization in central Africa

this week. Bellamy is set to visit the Democratic Republic of the Congo,

where she will assist a massive immunization effort that hopes to reach 11

million children, and then the Congo Republic a few days later.