Philippines - DOH intensifies fight against HIV AIDS

MANILA PHILIPPINES — The Department of Health (DOH) is intensifying its campaign against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) due to the increasing incidence of infection in the country.

The infection rate is alarming although it is small in percentage, according to Health Secretary Enrique Ona. He said that since 1983, the total number of people infected with HIV/AIDS is 6,000.

"Tumaas nang konti?pero in percentage nakakatakot," Ona said in a Cabinet Forum of the Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cluster on Friday broadcast live over NBN4 and dzRB Radyo ng Bayan.

Despite the current infection incidents, Ona assured that his department is prepared to handle those cases.

"We can manage these cases meron na po tayong nailunsad na information campaign lalo na sa mga tinatawag nating mga vulnerable populations, yung mga nagtatrabaho ngayon sa mga call centers," he said.

He said that based on the Department of Health (DOH) studies, more people working in the call center industry are vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infection.

"Hindi po sa sinasabi kong marami, in the sense na based on maliit na simula. Kaya it is something na dapat nating bigyan ng tingin eh ginagawa po natin ang lahat ng paraan para po hindi kumalat itong sakit na ito," Ona said.

The campaign to inform the public is national in scope, and Ona said they were particularly focusing on young adults who were more and more becoming sexually active even at an early age. The DOH also pays attention to drug addicts that share needles in using drugs that quickly spread the virus.

Ona said that the Health department monitored two or three barangays in Cebu that posted a rising number of infected individuals, especially among drug users.

"Mayroong pong lumalabas ngayon na mukha hong lumalaganap ang HIV/AIDS in this particular two or three barangays in Cebu at bibigyan natin ng atensyon iyon," he said. (PNA/Zambotimes)

Africa - Inventor uses stinky socks to fight malaria

Africa - The odour of stinky socks is repulsive to humans, but an African inventor has discovered it's as sweet and seductive as roses to mosquitoes.

Canadian tax dollars are helping a young Tanzanian scientist build a sophisticated mosquito trap that is poised to play a major role in the global war on malaria.

Fredros Okumu received a $775,000 US grant Wednesday from Grand Challenges Canada and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

“This project is a bold idea, one that's creative, innovative and counterintuitive,” says Grand Challenges Canada CEO Dr. Peter Singer. “Who could have thought a lifesaving technology could be lurking in your laundry basket?”

The trap uses chemicals that mimic human foot odour to draw mosquitoes inside a shuttered box, about the size of a garbage can. Once inside, the mosquitoes are poisoned by a powerful insecticide.

“We use a synthetic attractant to mimic a real human being,” Okumu told Postmedia News from Tanzania. “Mosquitoes go in thinking it's a human being, but they don't find any blood. Instead they get contaminated and die.”

Okumu's research found that mosquitoes are drawn to humans by the scent of ammonia, lactic acid, carbon dioxide and other substances released by skin, sweat and breath.

The synthetic attractant, Okumu's research has found, attracts four times more mosquitoes than real humans.The trap kills between 74 and 95 per cent of mosquitoes that enter it.

Before developing a synthetic compound to lure mosquitoes, Okumu baited his traps with dirty old socks collected from locals in Isakara, in Southeast Tanzania.

Malaria kills some 800,000 people per year, affecting Africans -- and African children -- in particular.

“This is an outdoor mosquito control strategy,” he said. “The primary focus is to develop something to complement the current primary malaria controls tools: the nets and insecticide sprays used inside houses.”

Okumu said the trap -- called the odour-baited mosquito landing box -- works best when there are 20 or more per population of 1,000. The traps are built by local carpenters using local materials, and can be produced for between $4 and $27.

Grand Challenges Canada was founded with $225 million from the federal government's 2008 budget, taken from Canada's international aid envelope.

Singer says the 29-year-old PhD student is exactly the type of innovator they are looking to support.

“Fredros Okumu is a young, innovating, dedicated person who is trying to solve African problems with African innovation,” he said. “We strongly believe that innovators in low- and middle-income countries are best suited to solve their own problems.”

Okumu said he will use the grant money to improve his prototype, train additional carpenters, and study where the traps should be placed to be most effective. (monterealgazette)

Gallatin - West Nile virus found in Gallatin Country mosquitoes

GALLATIN COUNTY, IL (KFVS) -

Health officials in Illinois say a batch of mosquitos caught in Old Shawneetown tested positive for West Nile virus.

It's the first case reported in Gallatin County.

The infected mosquitoes were collected from a trap in Old Shawneetown on July 7, 2011, according to the Egyptian Public and Mental Health Department.

Surveillance for West Nile virus began in May and includes trapping and testing adult mosquitoes throughout Saline, Gallatin, and White counties.

A limited number of sick or dying birds are also being collected for West Nile virus testing.

The state public health director says it is important to take precautions to protect yourself from mosquito bites.

Recommended West Nile virus precautions include:
* Emptying or changing all standing water in container such as birdbaths or buckets on your property to reduce areas in which mosquitoes may breed.
* Making sure your windows and door screens are in good condition.
* Using insect repellent when outdoors –particularly in the evening.
* Limiting outdoor activity at dawn and dusk, when mosquitoes are most active.
* Wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants when outdoors. (kfvs12)

Philippines - UP-DOST telemedicine project discovers rare skin disease in Mindanao tribe

“A dermatologist may not see this disease in his/her lifetime.” This is how Dr. Belen Dofitas, dermatologist of the University of the Philippines – Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH), describes Tinea imbricata, a disease found infecting a tribe in Kiamba, Sarangani Province in Mindanao through the telemedicine project of the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (PCHRD-DOST) and the University of the Philippines National Telehealth Center (UP-NThC).

Tinea imbricata, also known as Tokelau ringworm, is an uncommon superficial fungal infection caused by Trichophyton concentricum. The disease is characterized by the formation of patches that are concentrically arranged, imbricated and known for its scaly rings and skin exfoliation.

“The disease is relatively rare. There are reports in scientific journals but only few around the world,” said Dr. Dofitas in an interview. In the history of dermatology in the Philippines, only three cases were reported - one in 1789 in Mindanao, another in 1962 in Mindoro and another in 1990, also in Mindanao. In all three cases, the disease occurred in ethnic and tribal groups.

“It was my first encounter with the disease and I have no idea about it,” said Dr. Lemuel Non, Municipal Health Officer and Doctor-to-the-Barrio (DTTB) of Kiamba, Sarangani Province, who found the disease on a walk-in patient in Kiamba Municipal Health Center. “What I did was, I photographed the infected part of the body of the patient, together with my initial assessment and forwarded it to the NThC via text messaging (SMS) and multimedia message (MMS) for evaluation and verification of the disease. It so happens that the municipality of Kiamba is one of the pilot sites of the UP-DOST telemedicine program.”



Telemedicine is an interactive audiovisual media that uses telecommunication and information technologies for the delivery of clinical care. It can be used for consultations, examinations and other remote medical procedures specifically designed to provide better health care services in the far-flung communities or the geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDA), where specialized medical experts are unavailable.

According to Mr. Sid Cardenas, technical staff from NThC, “when the assigned doctor does not know or is not sure what to do with the encountered disease/s in the field (particularly on specialist-specific diseases), this is where telemedicine helps.” The doctor forwards its initial assessment to the NThC servers through SMS, MMS or email. The report will be channeled to the telemedicine domain experts for diagnosis or management, and findings will be sent back to the doctor in remote site.

With the help of the UP-DOST telemedicine project, Dr. Non in Kiamba, Sarangani Province received relevant information from Dr. Dofitas in UP-PGH to properly handle the Tinea imbricata disease.

Beyond telemedicine

Since Tinea imbricata is a special case, the NThC technical staff together with the UP-PGH experts visited the municipality of Kiamba to conduct a follow-up health mission. “There may be other cases existing in the community. That is why we really need to go up there to find out the real situation of the tribe,” said Dr. Dofitas. “It is possible that some of their family members are also infected with the disease. Aside from that, we need to know how the community treats the disease and their perception about it.”

In cooperation with the local government of Kiamba, members of the tribe were invited for free medical consultations. “Because the tribe perceived that the disease is incurable, they were initially reluctant to be examined by the medical team. However, after learning that some of their members were successfully treated, the tribe was, eventually convinced,” said Dr. Dofitas. There were twenty eight individuals found infected with the rare disease.

“We also introduced “akapulko” for the treatment of the disease.” Akapulko is an indigenous herbal medicine abundant in the community that is found effective in curing skin diseases including Tinea imbricata.

Aside from medical consultations, the team also conducted information dissemination campaigns to increase the community’s awareness on the disease. “This is very important to change their mindset, to make them realize that the disease is curable,” said Dr. Dofitas.

Telemedicine project defies distance and lack of medical experts

According to the UP Manila - National Institutes of Health, 60 percent of Filipinos die without seeing a doctor. This may be due to the fact that being an archipelagic country, distribution of health care services could be a quite challenge.

“In an archipelagic country like the Philippines, telemedicine is an advantage to bring health care services in isolated and poor, underserved communities. It is a medical option that bridges “doctor-patient” geographical separation. Aside from that, it addresses the problem of lack of deployed experts in areas with high risks of diseases like Sarangani Province. That is why telemedicine is very important and should be incorporated in our health system,” said Dr. Dofitas.

She also emphasized that telemedicine has an important role in the continuing education of doctors, caregivers, and patients, and cuts the often high cost of travel and stay in nursing homes or hospitals through the efficient referral system among hospital experts anywhere in the country. (Edmon B. Agron/PCHRD-DOST)

United States - Mosquitoes are expected to bite but not to transmit virus

Murphysboro, Ill. — Missouri residents in areas impacted by flooding this spring and summer can expect pest mosquitoes that will chase and bite but likely will not transmit virus, according to a mosquito borne virus expert at Southeast Missouri State University.

Dr. Christina Frazier, professor of biology and director of the Southeast Missouri Arbovirus Lab, says this area can expect a bumper crop of Aedes vexans this summer, a type of pest mosquito which has already shown up in significant numbers in Mississippi County. Aedes vexans eggs are laid on drying ground and hatch during reflooding.

“Aedes vexans lay their eggs on the edge of water, and they dry out,” Frazier said. “But when water then covers them, they hatch out. There will be hoards after a flood. There will be a big boom of these this summer. If we are getting lots of mosquitoes, these are the type we will get.

“Right after a flood, we can expect to see an increase in pest mosquitoes,” she said.





At this point in the summer, Frazier said the St. Louis County Health Department normally would be collecting 200 mosquitoes a night in a trap. Recently, they have collected more than 1,000 per night.

Frazier says Missouri residents should be especially cautious about puddles left behind by recent flooding as they attract vector mosquitoes – the type that transmit virus.

“Everybody should be responsible for their own yards to make sure they don’t have spots holding water,” she said, adding that old paint cans, old swimming pools that are semi-dried up and old tires are likely culprits. “If you have a lot of these items around, you are generally a breeding ground right in your own yard. We are better off if everyone cleans up their yards so we have fewer mosquitoes.”

Frazier and Karen Yates, vector borne disease coordinator with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Office of Veterinary Public Health, train local health departments in Missouri to trap mosquitoes. County health departments in Butler, Jasper, Cole, Nodaway, Boone, Henry, St. Louis, Clay and Taney counties participate in the program. The departments trap and send mosquitoes each week from May to September to Southeast’s Arbovirus Lab. The lab determines if they are vector mosquitoes – those carrying either West Nile Virus or St. Louis Encephalitis.
St. Louis County recently sent 30,000 Culex pipiens complex mosquitoes – a type which can transmit virus -- to the lab. Six were determined to be carrying the West Nile Virus, Frazier said, however no mosquitoes carrying St. Louis Encephalitis have been identified yet this summer.

Fortunately, she says, no vectors have been found among the mosquitoes collected recently from the Birds Point levee area in Mississippi County.

“Culex mosquitoes need organic rich spots to survive,” Frazier said. “Lots of little puddles have created lots of breeding sites,” though.

Frazier says hot, dry summer days will initially shrink these to be better more nutrient rich breeding places, but if the conditions continue long enough they will eliminate these spots. Wet weather, she added, will continue to keep these numbers elevated.

Southeast’s Arbovirus Lab maintains a password protected website, courtesy of Southeast Missouri State University’s Center for Scholarship in Teaching and Learning, that allows it to communicate information with local health departments and the state health department in Missouri. The state in turn provides data to the Centers for Disease Control. County health departments also use the data to inform the public about the number of mosquitoes collected and tested from their county and the number of positive tests for vector mosquitoes, Frazier said.

She said counties use the information to guide their spraying practices and also to educate the public with tips on avoiding mosquitoes, such as:

• Wear mosquito repellent when outdoors
• Avoid going out from dusk to dawn
• Wear long sleeved shirts if you are outdoors

Frazier holds a doctoral degree in virology/epidemiology/immunology and arbovirus epidemiology with an emphasis on West Nile from Yale University. She has been researching mosquitoes in Missouri for 30 years. She also serves as associate to the provost for data analysis and assessment at Southeast. (murphys boroamerican)