Biological Agents & Infectious Diseases
Epidemic Establishment and Cryptic Transmission of Zika Virus in Brazil and the Americas (
bioRxiv) Following the initial detection of ZIKV in Brazil, 47 countries and territories in the Americas have reported local ZIKV transmission, with 24 of these reporting ZIKV-associated severe disease. Yet the origin and epidemic history of ZIKV in Brazil and the Americas remain poorly understood, despite the value of such information for interpreting past and future trends in reported microcephaly.
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Reemergence of African Swine Fever in Zimbabwe, 2015 (
Emerging Infectious Diseases) Zimbabwe is the only country in southern Africa with no reported African swine fever outbreaks during 1993-2014. However, the 2015 discovery of genotype II ASF virus in Zimbabwe indicates the reemergence of ASF in this country and suggests that this viral genotype may be spreading through eastern and southern Africa.
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Domestic Preparedness & Response
Hospital Emergency Care as a Public Good and Community Health Benefit (
Annals of Emergency Medicine) The community benefit that nonprofit hospitals are required to demonstrate represents an enormous financial resource. Although these funds have historically been allocated in the form of charity care or other direct patient care, an increasing proportion of the US population with health insurance coverage has resulted in decreased need for uncompensated care. Furthermore, both a legal mandate and public demand for transparency and accountability have led to critique of the existing structure of nonprofit community benefit efforts.
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Trends in US Antibiotic Use (
The PEW Charitable Trusts) Antibiotic resistance is a pressing global public health problem. This first report on trends in antibiotic use in the US brings together diverse sources of information in both human health care and animal agriculture settings. It complements and informs efforts to set evidence-based goals aimed at reducing unnecessary antibiotic use.
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Predictors of Influenza Vaccination in the US Among Children 9-13 Years of Age (
Vaccine) US estimates of seasonal influenza (flu) vaccine uptake in 2014-2015 were 62% for 5-12 year olds, dropping to 47% for 13-17 year olds. The Healthy People 2020 goal for these age groups is 80%. It is important to understand factors associated with influenza vaccination, especially for those ages where rates begin to decline. The objective of this study was to identify factors associated with influenza vaccination acceptance in 9-13 year old children.
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Government Affairs & National Security
CBRN Security for High Visibility Events (
CBRNe) Large public events, being high population density venues with significant politico-social importance, are highly vulnerable to CBRN terrorism. A terrorist attack involving the use of CBRN materials, could inflict large numbers of casualties and would represent a major incident for the emergency services. Administration and response forces could get overwhelmed unless proper planning and preparations are made.
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Nine Bipartisan Homeland Security-related Bills Passed by House (
Homeland Security Today.us) What the House Committee on Homeland security described as an "unprecedented number of bipartisan (bills) aimed at keeping Americans safe," were passed this last week by the House which deal with a variety of aspects of homeland Security. The nine pieces of legislation, the committee said, are designed "to ... also save taxpayer dollars by improving the acquisition process at the Department of Homeland Security and make important reforms to the operations of the Transportation Security Administration.
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Global Health Security
Ex CDC Director: History Proves the Dangers of Underfunded Health Programs (
Time) There's momentous debate about healthcare going in the US--but little attention is being paid to protecting Americans from preventable threats. Unfortunately, as Rep. Tom Cole, a Republican from Oklahoma and chairman of the subcommittee that oversees CDC's budget, says, "You're much more likely to die in a pandemic than in a terrorist attack, and so that's part of the defense of the country as well. The CDC ... protects you."
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Managed Retreat as a Response to Natural Hazard Risk (
Nature: Climate Change) Changing climatic hazards are already driving migration and community relocation globally, and by 2100, sea level rise alone threatens to displace 72-187 million people1. Risk management approaches are needed to support the millions of people exposed to potential displacement. Accommodating such risks has limits, and structural protective measures (for example, levees) involve high maintenance costs, environmental damage, and increased development in hazardous locations.
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The Findings of Medical Research Are Disseminated Too Slowly (
Economist) On January 1st the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation did something that may help to change the practice of science. It brought into force a policy, foreshadowed two years earlier, that research it supports (it is the world's biggest source of charitable money for scientific endeavours, to the tune of some $4bn a year) must, when published, be freely available to all.
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Medicine & Public Health
Antibiotic Research Priorities: Ready, Set, Now Go (
Lancet: Infectious Diseases) When faced with a medical emergency and limited resources, triage is essential. Deciding where needs are greatest helps to focus attention and provoke action, in line with a utilitarian aim of maximising gains and minimising harms for the greatest number of people. The importance of setting priorities applies equally to a global emergency as to a local one. With the threat of antimicrobial resistance now recognised at the highest political levels, WHO has compiled a list of pathogens on which research and development of new antimicrobials should be focused.
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Long-term Impact of Zika Virus in Puerto Rico Unknown (
H5N1) Dr. Alberto de la Vega has seen one-fifth of the pregnant women on the island who tested positive for Zika. "Among those patients we've had at least 14 or 15 confirmed cases in which severe brain damage, caused by the Zika virus, has occurred," he says. Some of those cases included microcephaly.
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Tuberculosis Is Changing (
Lancet: Infectious Diseases) This March, Public Health England will officially launch a routine whole-genome sequencing service for mycobacterial infections, becoming the first national administration in the world to do so. The implications are profound with many of the methods that have become commonplace around the world being replaced.
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What's to Blame for the Surge in Lyme Disease? (
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) If you become infected with Lyme disease this year, blame the acorn--the bitter-tasting nut that falls from oak trees and looks to be wearing a knitted beret. Don't blame deer. They now may be off the hook as the main vectors of the infectious disease.
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Science & Technology
Platform Technologies for Modern Vaccine Manufacturing (
Vaccine) Improved understanding of antigenic components and their interaction with the immune system, as supported by computational tools, permits a sophisticated approach to modern vaccine design. Vaccine platforms provide an effective tool by which strategically designed peptide and protein antigens are modularized to enhance their immunogenicity.
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Other 21st Century Threats
Banning Nuclear Weapons (
CSIS) This week, members of the UN will meet to begin negotiations on a treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons. The effort was endorsed by the UN General Assembly (see Resolution L. 41) in October 2016, following several years of increased focus on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons.
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This Is How Russian Hackers Will Attack the US Next (
Defense One) Russia has been the subject of much American press speculation this spring, as questions and suspicions swirl regarding its involvement in alleged hacks during the US presidential election. While the details of these specific attacks remain unclear, what is clear is the danger posed by the superpower's well-established hacking prowess. The question is not if Russia will conduct another major cyberattack on the US, but when.
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Europe Says University of California Deserves Broad Patent for CRISPR (
Science) The European Patent Office announced on 23 March its "intention to grant a patent" to the University of California for its broad-based claims about the genome-editing tool popularly known as CRISPR. UC, on behalf of several parties, has been in a pitched battle with the Broad Institute of Cambridge, Massachusetts, over CRISPR patents, and the new decision marks a sharp departure from the position of the US Patent and Trademark Office.
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