Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/01/news-scan-jan-06-2020
News Scan for Jan 06, 2020
More Ebola in the DRC; Saudi MERS cases; Flu vaccine and death rate
Filed Under:
Ebola; VHF; MERS-CoV; Influenza Vaccines
[h=3]Ebola detected again in Mambasa, DRC[/h] With two new cases, the total number of Ebola infections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) now stands at 3,586, according to the World Health Organization's (WHO) Ebola dashboard. There is one more fatality, raising the death total to 2,233, with 464 suspected cases still under investigation.
The total may be as high as 3,588, as reported by the DRC's Ebola technical committee (CMRE), yesterday. The CMRE's fatalities and suspected case counts are the same as the WHO's.
The CMRE said the two most recent cases come from Mambasa, which had not reported an Ebola case in 66 days. The CMRE also posted daily reports for cases recorded last week, which came from Butembo.
The CMRE said Ebola screening devices had been burned in Biakato Mines on Jan 2. Last week the WHO reported several threats had been made in Biakato Mines over the New Year holiday.
WHO Ebola dashboard
Jan 5 CMRE report
Jan 2 CIDRAP News story "Five more Ebola cases confirmed in past 2 days"
[h=3]MERS infects 2 more in Saudi Arabia, in Medina and Riyadh[/h] Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) has reported two new MERS-CoV cases, neither of whom had any contact with camels.
One of the MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) cases involves a 48-year-old man from Medina who died from his illness, and the other is in a 72-year-old man from Riyadh. Exposure for both men is listed as primary, meaning they weren't likely exposed to another known patient.
In a December update on the disease, the WHO said there have been 2,484 confirmed cases from 2012 through the end of November, at least 858 of them fatal. The vast majority are from Saudi Arabia.
Saudi MOH report for epidemiologic week 1
[h=3]Multi-season Australian study finds flu vaccine tied to 31% drop in deaths[/h] Data from eight influenza seasons in Australia reveal an overall flu vaccine effectiveness of 31% against mortality for hospital-related flu—but with a wide confidence interval—and no evidence of reduced flu symptoms tied to vaccination, according to a study published today in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Researchers collected data from 2010 through 2017 from a national Australian hospital-based sentinel surveillance system and used a case-control design for the study. Over those seasons, 14,038 patients were admitted to a hospital with lab-confirmed flu.
The primary analysis, which included 9,298 cases and 6,451 controls (those without lab-confirmed flu) found that overall vaccine protection against mortality was 31%, with a 95% confidence interval ranging from 3% to 51%. The authors found no evidence, however, that the flu vaccine reduced the severity of influenza illness. They report that 84% of the patients in the study were at increased risk of severe outcomes.
The authors conclude, "This study reinforces the public health benefit of the influenza immunisation program in protecting against mortality, as well as reducing the risk of hospitalization." They say the findings are similar to the results of a 2015 longitudinal study involving elderly patients in France.
Jan 6 Clin Infect Dis study
News Scan for Jan 06, 2020
More Ebola in the DRC; Saudi MERS cases; Flu vaccine and death rate
Filed Under:
Ebola; VHF; MERS-CoV; Influenza Vaccines
[h=3]Ebola detected again in Mambasa, DRC[/h] With two new cases, the total number of Ebola infections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) now stands at 3,586, according to the World Health Organization's (WHO) Ebola dashboard. There is one more fatality, raising the death total to 2,233, with 464 suspected cases still under investigation.
The total may be as high as 3,588, as reported by the DRC's Ebola technical committee (CMRE), yesterday. The CMRE's fatalities and suspected case counts are the same as the WHO's.
The CMRE said the two most recent cases come from Mambasa, which had not reported an Ebola case in 66 days. The CMRE also posted daily reports for cases recorded last week, which came from Butembo.
The CMRE said Ebola screening devices had been burned in Biakato Mines on Jan 2. Last week the WHO reported several threats had been made in Biakato Mines over the New Year holiday.
WHO Ebola dashboard
Jan 5 CMRE report
Jan 2 CIDRAP News story "Five more Ebola cases confirmed in past 2 days"
[h=3]MERS infects 2 more in Saudi Arabia, in Medina and Riyadh[/h] Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) has reported two new MERS-CoV cases, neither of whom had any contact with camels.
One of the MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) cases involves a 48-year-old man from Medina who died from his illness, and the other is in a 72-year-old man from Riyadh. Exposure for both men is listed as primary, meaning they weren't likely exposed to another known patient.
In a December update on the disease, the WHO said there have been 2,484 confirmed cases from 2012 through the end of November, at least 858 of them fatal. The vast majority are from Saudi Arabia.
Saudi MOH report for epidemiologic week 1
[h=3]Multi-season Australian study finds flu vaccine tied to 31% drop in deaths[/h] Data from eight influenza seasons in Australia reveal an overall flu vaccine effectiveness of 31% against mortality for hospital-related flu—but with a wide confidence interval—and no evidence of reduced flu symptoms tied to vaccination, according to a study published today in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Researchers collected data from 2010 through 2017 from a national Australian hospital-based sentinel surveillance system and used a case-control design for the study. Over those seasons, 14,038 patients were admitted to a hospital with lab-confirmed flu.
The primary analysis, which included 9,298 cases and 6,451 controls (those without lab-confirmed flu) found that overall vaccine protection against mortality was 31%, with a 95% confidence interval ranging from 3% to 51%. The authors found no evidence, however, that the flu vaccine reduced the severity of influenza illness. They report that 84% of the patients in the study were at increased risk of severe outcomes.
The authors conclude, "This study reinforces the public health benefit of the influenza immunisation program in protecting against mortality, as well as reducing the risk of hospitalization." They say the findings are similar to the results of a 2015 longitudinal study involving elderly patients in France.
Jan 6 Clin Infect Dis study