New MERS case confirmed in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia today announced a new, severe MERS-CoV case in a 93-year-old man in Mecca after the country went 4 days without confirming a case.
The Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) said the Saudi man is hospitalized in critical condition. He is not a health worker and had no recent contact with MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) cases.
The MOH also reported today that two patients have recovered from the disease, a 65-year-old Saudi man in Taif and a 24-year-old Saudi woman in Riyadh. Neither is a health worker, and both had preexisting disease.
Today's report brings the total number of MERS cases in the country to 978 since 2012, including 427 deaths. The number of recoveries has reached 545, while 6 patients remain in treatment. So far Saudi Arabia has confirmed only 5 cases this month, compared with 53 in March and 75 in February. April 2014, in contrast, saw 151 MOH-confirmed MERS-CoV cases.
Apr 14 MOH update
WHO calls for disclosure of all trial results, regardless of outcomes
Noting that the results of many clinical trials never see publication, the World Health Organization (WHO) today called for disclosure of the results of all trials of medical products, regardless of the findings.
The WHO said full disclosure is necessary to ensure that decisions related to the safety and efficacy of drugs, vaccines, and other products are based on the best available evidence.
"Failure to publicly disclose trial results engenders misinformation, leading to skewed priorities for both R&D [research and development] and public health interventions," said Marie-Paule Kieny, PhD, WHO assistant director-general for health systems and innovation, in a statement. "It creates indirect costs for public and private entities, including patients themselves, who pay for suboptimal or harmful treatments."
The WHO said that a study of reporting of large clinical trials registered on clinicaltrials.gov and completed by 2009 showed that 23% had no results published. The trials included nearly 300,000 participants.
Among clinical trials of vaccines against five diseases registered in a variety of databases between 2006 and 2012, only 29% had been published in a peer-reviewed journal by the WHO-recommended deadline of 24 months after study completion, the agency added.
The WHO said older unreported clinical trials should also be reported, since the results may still have important implications for scientific research. In addition, the agency urged that all clinical trials be registered on a WHO primary clinical trial registry so that they can be accessible through the International Clinical Trials Registry platform. "This will ensure transparency as to which clinical trials have occurred, and allow verification of compliance with public disclosure requirements," the statement said.
Apr 14 WHO statement
Egg execs face jail time for roles in 2010 Salmonella outbreak
In the latest food outbreak ruling, a US District Court judge sentenced two former Quality Egg company executives to 3-month jail sentences yesterday for their roles in a 1,900-case Salmonella outbreak in 2010, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
Judge Mark Bennett of the Northern District Court in Iowa said the extent of harm caused and the patterns of problems and deception by the company led to the decision for jail time, which is unusual with foodborne disease cases. "There's a litany of shameful conduct, in my view, that happened under their watch," he said.
Austin "Jack" DeCoster, 80, and his son, Peter DeCoster, 51, each faced up to a year in prison on misdemeanor charges of shipping adulterated food. They will remain free while appealing their sentences, the AP story said.
Prosecutors said the jail sentences send a strong message about food safety. As part of a plea agreement, Quality Egg paid a $6.8 million fine for infractions, and the DeCosters each paid $100,000 fines.
In the past 18 months, two Colorado cantaloupe farmers were convicted and received probation in connection with a large 2011 Listeria outbreak, and the former head of Peanut Corporation of America, Stewart Parnell, was convicted in a 2008 Salmonella outbreak, the AP reported. He could also face prison time.
Apr 13 AP story
CDC issues travel notices for Egypt, Singapore
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued travel watches for Egypt because of H5N1 avian flu and to Singapore because of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD). Both are low-level notices.
The travel watch for Egypt was precipitated by the high load of cases there since November (see today's CIDRAP News story)—a level of human H5N1 not seen before. "CDC recommends that travelers to Egypt protect themselves from H5N1 by avoiding contact with wild birds, live or uncooked poultry, and body fluids from birds and poultry," the agency said.
Citing WHO data, the CDC said that Singapore has reported more than 4,000 cases of HFMD in the first two months of 2015. The agency recommended that travelers practice thorough hand washing and other hygiene measures, and disinfect dirty surfaces and soiled items to avoid the disease.
The notices are level 1, which the agency calls a "watch," meaning travelers should practice "usual precautions." Level 2, an "alert," calls for enhanced precautions, and level 3, a "warning," recommends that people avoid nonessential travel to the region.
Apr 10 CDC alert for Egypt
Apr 13 CDC alert for Singapore
