UN Health Chief Warns of 'Very High' Risk of Ebola Spread(New York Times) The head of the UN health agency says the risk that the Ebola virus will spread remains "very high." Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was speaking Monday at the start of the World Health Organization's annual assembly, where issues like anti-microbial resistance, universal health care and WHO reform are among the topics up for discussion. Go to article
See also:Ebola Is Like a Fire. It Keeps Burning. (Washington Post) To understand why the Ebola virus disease is spreading in Congo, think of a fire. The virus burns in a fire pit and periodically leaps out. Health workers scramble to contain the outbreaks, which sometimes strike in locations by surprise. Thus, it is alarming to hear from the World Health Organization that responders are being forced to retreat on some days because of the dangerous security situation created by armed militias. Go to article
Global Health Security
UN Health Agency Struggles with Travel Abuses (New York Times) The World Health Organization spent nearly $192 million on travel expenses last year, with staffers sometimes breaking the agency's own rules by traveling in business class, booking expensive last-minute tickets and traveling without the required approvals, according to internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. Go to article
Fighting Ebola When Mourners Fight the Responders (New York Times) When Ebola came to this city in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Janvier Muhindo Mandefu quit farming and got work burying the highly contagious bodies of Ebola victims. But Mr. Muhindo is less afraid of Ebola than of the mourners he encounters at funerals. He and his burial team have been attacked by relatives of the dead, one swinging a hoe. Mourners have shouted at team members, accusing them of stealing the organs of corpses, and have threatened to throw them into the open graves. Last month a mourner brandished a hand grenade, he said, sending everyone scattering and leaving a 3-year-old Ebola victim unburied. Go to article
Medicine & Public Health
Do Stricter Immunization Laws Improve Coverage? Evidence from the Repeal of Non-medical Exemptions for School Mandated Vaccines (National Bureau of Economic Research) Nonmedical exemptions are widely shown to be associated with outbreaks of vaccine-preventable disease. In response to a recent measles outbreak in 2015, California acted to increase immunization coverage by removing all nonmedical exemptions effective in 2016. Employing a unique dataset of county-level vaccination and exemption rates at Kindergarten entry, we exploit the recent policy change in California to estimate the impact of the repeal of nonmedical exemptions on immunization coverage for school-mandated vaccines. Go to article
Provider and Public Health Adaptation to Changing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Guidance for Zika Virus, 2015-2017 (American Journal of Public Health) In 2015, Harris County (Texas) Public Health responded to the Zika virus threat by investigating every report of potential ZIKV infection, including those with negative laboratory results, through December 2017. Before investigations, 40.6% of patients who were indicated for testing received it in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. By investigating reports with negative ZIKV results, we increased the number of patients receiving correct and complete laboratory testing to 54.5%, and improved dissemination of evolving guidelines to partners across the health care spectrum. Go to article
Microbiome and Antimicrobial Resistance Gene Dynamics in International Travelers (Emerging Infectious Diseases) We used metagenomic next-generation sequencing to longitudinally assess the gut microbiota and antimicrobial resistomes of international travelers to clarify global exchange of resistant organisms. Travel resulted in an increase in antimicrobial resistance genes and a greater proportion of Escherichia species within gut microbial communities without impacting diversity. Go to article
Science & Technology
China Set to Introduce Gene-editing Regulation Following CRISPR-baby Furore (Nature) China is poised to introduce a new regulation on gene editing in humans. A draft of the country’s new civil code lists human genes and embryos in a section on personality rights to be protected. Experiments on genes in adults or embryos that endanger human health or violate ethical norms can accordingly be seen as a violation of a person’s fundamental rights. Go to article
A Lipid-encapsulated mRNA Encoding a Potently Neutralizing Human Monoclonal Antibody Protects Against Chikungunya Infection (Science - Immunology) Infection with chikungunya virus causes an acute illness characterized by fever, rash, and arthralgia. However, CHIKV infection can sometimes progress to chronic arthritis or even lethal disease. CHIKV continues to cause substantial morbidity worldwide as its vector mosquitoes expand and spread. There are currently no approved vaccines or antiviral drugs available for the prevention or treatment of CHIKV. Although antibody therapy has shown promise in the prevention or treatment of CHIKV disease in preclinical models, challenges remain for implementing such therapies. Go to article
