Thursday 26th January 2017- UNICEF UK: 4.7 Million Children In Vaccination Campaign Against Measles In Northeast Nigeria

‘In a major vaccination campaign concluding this week, 4.7 million children are being vaccinated in response to a measles outbreak in northeast Nigeria. The campaign is covering the three states most affected by the Boko Haram conflict – Adamawa, Borno and Yobe – where insecurity has limited vaccination efforts. In 2016, there were approximately 25,000 cases of measles among children in Nigeria; 97 per cent of the cases were in children under the age of ten and at least a hundred children died.

“Security has improved in some areas so we have acted quickly to access places we could not previously reach and protect children from the spread of a very dangerous disease”, said Mohamed Fall, Unicef Representative in Nigeria. “We are still extremely concerned about children living in large areas of Borno state that are not yet accessible.”

Measles infections tend to increase during the first half of the year because of higher temperatures. Measles vaccination coverage across Nigeria remains low, with a little over 50 per cent of children reached, but in areas affected by conflict, children are particularly vulnerable. The risks for malnourished children who have weakened immunity are further heightened. The conflict and resulting displacement have left more than 4.4 million children in Nigeria in need of humanitarian assistance, with an estimated 450,000 children likely to suffer from Severe Acute Malnutrition in 2017.

The vaccination campaign, conducted in partnership with the Nigerian government, WHO, and several non-governmental organizations, also includes a vitamin A supplement for children under five to boost their immunity as well as de-worming tablets. Most of the funding for the campaign was provided by the Measles and Rubella Initiative.’

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4.7 MILLION CHILDREN IN VACCINATION CAMPAIGN AGAINST MEASLES IN NORTHEAST NIGERIA

Millions of children to receive measles vaccine in north-eastern Nigeria- World Health Organisation

Tuesday 24th January 2017- World Health Organisation: 10 things you should know about the Syrian crisis

‘More than 10 million medical treatments were delivered throughout Syria in 2016, through both cross-line deliveries from Damascus and cross-border deliveries from Gaziantep (Turkey) and Amman (Jordan). More than one third of the supplies required for these treatments were delivered to hard-to-reach, opposition-controlled, and besieged areas.

Wounded and critically ill patients were successfully evacuated from besieged areas including east Aleppo, Foah and Madaya. WHO played a key role in the negotiations and in planning and overseeing the evacuations to parts of Syria and Turkey. During evacuations from east Aleppo, for example, the Organization ensured that 811 people safely reached hospitals. A further 31 500 health care consultations were provided to people fleeing east Aleppo through WHO-supported mobile clinics.

More than 16 000 health workers received training on a range of topics including health assessments, trauma care, case management for specific diseases, mental health, nutrition, immunization and other topics. When WHO could not enter besieged east Aleppo to provide training to first responders (eg. nurses and paramedics), the Organization instead delivered training via telephone and video conferencing. More than 300 Syrian doctors and nurses were also trained in Turkey to provide health care to Syrian refugees in Turkish camps.

Life-saving care was provided to people suffering from non-communicable diseases – like diabetes, kidney failure and mental illness. Thirteen-year- old Luma, for example, received haemodialysis treatment at a WHO-supported health centre in northern Aleppo. In just the third quarter of 2016 alone, WHO supported more than 11 500 dialysis sessions.

Millions of children across the country were vaccinated against deadly diseases including hepatitis B, measles, rubella and the flu. WHO trained over 6 000 people on immunization and, together with UNICEF, worked to vaccinate 2.6 million children against polio.’

See:

10 Things You Should Know About the Syrian Crisis

Friday 23rd December 2016- The World Health Organisation: Final trial results confirm Ebola vaccine provides high protection against disease

‘An experimental Ebola vaccine was highly protective against the deadly virus in a major trial in Guinea, according to results published today in The Lancet[*]. The vaccine is the first to prevent infection from one of the most lethal known pathogens, and the findings add weight to early trial results published last year.

The vaccine, called rVSV-ZEBOV, was studied in a trial involving 11 841 people in Guinea during 2015. Among the 5837 people who received the vaccine, no Ebola cases were recorded 10 days or more after vaccination. In comparison, there were 23 cases 10 days or more after vaccination among those who did not receive the vaccine.

The trial was led by WHO, together with Guinea’s Ministry of Health, Medecins sans Frontieres and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, in collaboration with other international partners.

“While these compelling results come too late for those who lost their lives during West Africa’s Ebola epidemic, they show that when the next Ebola outbreak hits, we will not be defenceless,” said Dr Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Health Systems and Innovation, and the study’s lead author.’

*The final interpretation from the referenced Lancet article:

‘The results add weight to the interim assessment that rVSV-ZEBOV offers substantial protection against Ebola virus disease, with no cases among vaccinated individuals from day 10 after vaccination in both randomised and non-randomised clusters.’

Related Articles:

Final trial results confirm Ebola vaccine provides high protection against disease

Efficacy and effectiveness of an rVSV-vectored vaccine in preventing Ebola virus disease: final results from the Guinea ring vaccination, open-label, cluster-randomised trial (Ebola Ça Suffit!)- The Lancet

Ebola vaccine is safe and effective, scientists declare after trials- The Guardian

Successful Ebola vaccine will be fast-tracked for use- BBC News

The new ‘100% effective’ Ebola vaccine owes a debt to the scientists who beat smallpox- The Independent

Thursday 12th May 2016- The World Health Organisation:Rapid diagnostic test and shorter, cheaper treatment signal new hope for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients

‘New WHO recommendations aim to speed up detection and improve treatment outcomes for multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) through use of a novel rapid diagnostic test and a shorter, cheaper treatment regimen.

“This is a critical step forward in tackling the MDR-TB public health crisis,” said Dr Mario Raviglione, Director of WHO’s Global TB Programme. “The new WHO recommendations offer hope to hundreds of thousands of MDR-TB patients who can now benefit from a test that quickly identifies eligibility for the shorter regimen, and then complete treatment in half the time and at nearly half the cost.”’

‘At less than US$ 1000 per patient, the new treatment regimen can be completed in 9–12 months. Not only is it less expensive than current regimens, but it is also expected to improve outcomes and potentially decrease deaths due to better adherence to treatment and reduced loss to follow-up.

The conventional treatment regimens, which take 18–24 months to complete, yield low cure rates: just 50% on average globally. This is largely because patients find it very hard to keep taking second-line drugs, which can be quite toxic, for prolonged periods of time. They therefore often interrupt treatment or are lost to follow-up in health services.’

‘WHO’s recommendations on the shorter regimens are based on initial programmatic studies involving 1200 patients with uncomplicated MDR-TB in 10 countries . WHO is urging researchers to complete ongoing randomised controlled clinical trials in order to strengthen the evidence base for use of this regimen.’

‘The most reliable way to rule out resistance to second-line drugs is a newly recommended diagnostic test for use in national TB reference laboratories. The novel diagnostic test – called MTBDRsl – is a DNA-based test that identifies genetic mutations in MDR-TB strains, making them resistant to fluoroquinolones and injectable second-line TB drugs.’

‘This test yields results in just 24-48 hours, down from the 3 months or longer currently required. The much faster turnaround time means that MDR-TB patients with additional resistance are not only diagnosed more quickly, but can quickly be placed on appropriate second-line regimens. WHO reports that fewer than 20% of the estimated 480 000 MDR-TB patients globally are currently being properly treated.’

See:

Rapid diagnostic test and shorter, cheaper treatment signal new hope for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients

Tuesday 10th May 2016- World Health Organisation: Human infection with avian influenza A(H5N6) virus – China

‘On 4 May 2016, the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) of China notified WHO of an additional laboratory-confirmed case of human infection with avian influenza A(H5N6) virus.’

’65-year-old female living in Xuancheng City, Anhui province developed symptoms on 24 April. On 27 April, her condition worsened and she was admitted to a local hospital for treatment and is currently in critical condition. The patient’s clinical sample was confirmed to be A(H5N6) virus nucleic acid positive by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) on 2 May. She had exposure to live poultry before symptom onset. This is the first A(H5N6) case reported from Anhui province, China.’

This makes 20 cases of avian influenze A in China reported by the World Health Organisation in May 2016, 5 of which are now deceased.

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The following details are regarding the first 17 cases (which includes 5 deaths):

‘Onset dates range from 21 February to 20 March. Cases range in age from 26 to 86 years, with a median age of 60 years. Of these 17 cases, 11 (65%) are male. The majority (15 cases, 88%) reported exposure to live poultry, slaughtered poultry, or live poultry markets. The exposure history of one (1) case is unknown. One (1) case is linked to a cluster of two (2) cases reported earlier to WHO (see below).

Cases were reported from 6 provinces and municipalities: Anhui (4), Jiangsu (4), Fujian (3), Guangdong (3), Zhejiang (2) and Hubei (1).’

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The following details are regarding 2 additional cases discovered in April 2016:

‘Between 21 and 26 April 2016, the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) of China notified WHO of 2 additional laboratory-confirmed cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H5N6) virus.’

• ‘A 35-year-old male living in [the]… Hubei Province… was admitted to hospital for treatment on 12 April and is currently in critical condition. The patient’s clinical sample was confirmed to be A(H5N6) virus nucleic acid positive by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) on 21 April. He had exposure to a live poultry market before symptom onset.’
• ‘An 11-year-old female living in Zhuzhou City, Hunan Province developed fever and cough on 11 April. As her symptoms worsened on 12 April, the patient was admitted to hospital for treatment. She is currently in stable condition. The patient’s clinical sample was confirmed to be A(H5N6) virus nucleic acid positive by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) on 24 April. She was exposed to live poultry before onset of the disease.’

Related Articles:

Human infection with avian influenza A(H5N6) virus – China

Human infection with avian influenza A(H5N6) virus – China [6th May 2016]

Human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus – China [3rd May 2016]