News Scan for Mar 17, 2014

News brief

BC measles outbreak sparks Vancouver college alert

A measles outbreak that started at a Christian school in Chilliwack, British Columbia, has now spread to a college campus near Vancouver, according to reports from Fraser Valley Health, the area's public health department, and British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT).

Fraser Health said in a Mar 15 statement that an outbreak case has been confirmed at the BCIT campus in Burnaby, about 57 miles west of Chilliwack. The student was on campus on Mar 6 and Mar 7.

The statement said that health officials are working with BCIT to alert students who may have been in contact with the sick student about possible measles exposure. Officials said students who attended class in the building on those 2 days can return to class today if they have had two documented doses of measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, if they were born before 1970, or have had measles in the past.

So far about 100 measles cases have been reported in the outbreak. Last week officials noted that the outbreak had spread to communities beyond the Chilliwack area.
Mar 15 Fraser Health statement
Mar 16 BCIT statement

Niger, Nigeria certified as free of guinea worm disease

Two of five African nations declared free of guinea worm disease in December have received certificates indicating their new status, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today.

Nigeria and Niger were certified by the WHO on Dec 13 as being free of the disease, whose scientific name is dracunculiasis, but did not receive their certificates from the agency until this year, the WHO said in a news release. The other three countries are Cote d'Ivoire, Somalia, and South Africa. Nigeria received its certificate on Jan 15 and Niger on Feb 17, the agency said.

Now only four countries in the world have endemic guinea worm disease, the WHO said: South Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia, and Mali.
Mar 17 WHO press release

Avian Flu Scan for Mar 17, 2014

News brief

Cambodian toddler dies from H5N1

A 2-year-old Cambodian girl has died from H5N1 avian flu, the country's ninth case this year, according to a joint statement today from Cambodia's Ministry of Health (MoH) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

The girl, from Kandal village in Kampot province, which borders Vietnam in southern Cambodia, developed a fever on Mar 8. She was admitted to a private clinic on Mar 10 and to Kantha Bopha Children's Hospital in Phnom Penh on Mar 13.

On hospital admission she had fever, cough, and difficulty breathing. She received oseltamivir (Tamiflu) at Kantha Bopha but died on Mar 14. Her samples tested positive for H5N1 that same day at Institut Pasteur du Cambodge.

Chickens had starting dying in her village in early February, and by early March 90% of the village poultry had died, the two agencies said. "The girl had direct contact with dead chickens while her relatives prepared them for food and the girl ate them," the statement said.

Since 2005, Cambodia has had 56 H5N1 case, 38 of them fatal. Of the 56 cases, 44 were in children under 14 years, and 30 were in girls and women. Of the nine cases this year, four have been fatal. Last year the country had 26 H5N1 cases, 14 of which were fatal.
Mar 17 Cambodia MoH/WHO statement

Phase 3 trial shows strong antibody response to H5N1 booster

An adjuvanted booster dose of H5N1 vaccine given to adults 6, 12, or 36 months after they had received the first of two doses of the vaccine produced strong antibody responses, according to a new study in BMC Infectious Diseases.

Researchers from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) tested the company's split-virion recombinant H5N1 vaccine with its AS03 oil-in-water-based adjuvant, which boosts immune response, in adult volunteers from Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Of 945 patients who had received two doses of the adjuvanted GSK vaccine in an earlier study, 265 were randomly selected to receive a booster dose 6 months after the first dose. The remaining 578 received the booster at month 12 or 36.

The researchers reported a robust hemagglutination inhibition (HI) antibody response against the primary and booster vaccine strains 21 days after boosting at month 12 or 36. And they noted that, at month 48, HI antibody titers of 1:40 or greater against the booster strain persisted in 39.2%, 61.2%, and 95.6% of subjects boosted at month 6, 12, or 36, respectively.

The authors conclude, "Although immunogenicity decreased with time, vaccinated populations could potentially be protected for up to three years after vaccination, which is likely to far exceed the peak of a pandemic."
Mar 15 BMC Infect Dis abstract