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waltky
11-10-2012, 02:20 PM
Rotavirus vaccine to be deployed for infants...
:cool2:
Babies to get 'gut bug vaccine'
10 November 2012 - Prof David Salisbury, Director of Immunisation, DoH: "We expect this will save around £20m"


Babies in the UK are to be vaccinated against a tummy bug which causes tens of thousands of cases of vomiting and diarrhoea each year. Rotavirus infection is rarely fatal in the UK. Using the vaccine has cut cases and reduced hospital admissions in other countries, including the US. The Department of Health said the vaccine would be offered from September 2013 and would be given in two doses after two and three months. The bug is very infectious and causes about 140,000 cases every year in the under-fives. About 14,000 will need hospital treatment. Experts believe that vaccination would cut the number of cases in half and lead to 70% fewer hospital visits.

Distress

Prof David Salisbury, the director of immunisation at the Department of Health, said the virus "spreads very easily" and causes distress for children and families. "Many people think of diarrhoea as something that all children get and that you have to put up with. But there is a way to protect children from this. I'd encourage all parents of young children to accept this vaccine when the programme begins next year." He added the vaccine - which is administered in drops - had been "used very extensively" with "huge trials demonstrating both its safety and its effectiveness". It is expected to cost £25m a year to vaccinate 840,000 children a year. However, the government believes cutting the number of cases will save the NHS £20m.

Prof Adam Finn, from the University of Bristol, said: "Rotavirus causes large epidemics of diarrhoea and vomiting in babies and young children every winter and with it, misery for thousands of families across the country. "I'm pleased that another unpleasant illness that affects most children is going to be brought under control. It will also help hospitals cope in the busy winter months by reducing pressure on beds and front-line staff."

Dr David Elliman, from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said the vaccine would prevent a "huge amount of suffering" and save the NHS money. "This vaccine will mean less pressure both on distressed parents who have to care for their children and of course the GPs and hospital services who are treating them," he said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20268350

Calypso Jones
11-10-2012, 02:51 PM
It is expected to cost 25 million pounds but will save them 20million pounds. Good planning. wot?

Carygrant
11-10-2012, 04:53 PM
It is expected to cost 25 million pounds but will save them 20million pounds. Good planning. wot?


Thereby proving how complete ignorance of Maths makes someone instantly forgettable .
Ever heard of hidden costs and qualitative benefits ?
Obviously not .

Captain Obvious
11-10-2012, 07:09 PM
It is expected to cost 25 million pounds but will save them 20million pounds. Good planning. wot?

If it provides a significant health benefit, having 4/5 of the costs in savings might make it a good thing.

Calypso Jones
11-10-2012, 08:45 PM
Wonder why they're seeing that increase in those previously nearly non-existent childhood diseases. Care to take a shot at that?

Captain Obvious
11-10-2012, 09:00 PM
Wonder why they're seeing that increase in those previously nearly non-existent childhood diseases. Care to take a shot at that?

I have no idea, enlighten me.

Calypso Jones
11-10-2012, 09:19 PM
The dirty little secret of immigrants and refugees. If you use your search engine you'll get very PC articles by the US health department...and it's the same for UK and any western nation as it is here....but way down in the bowels of the article...they'll mention, un-vaccinated third worlders moving into western nations. They don't just affect us in jobs and the economy.

Captain Obvious
11-10-2012, 09:25 PM
So innocent people should suffer over political differences?

waltky
09-27-2016, 06:43 PM
Until some infected refugee kid reintroduces it...
http://www.politicalforum.com/images/smilies/icon_rolleyes.gif
Americas region is world's first to be free of measles
Wednesday 28th September, 2016: Measles has been eradicated from the Americas due to decades of vaccination efforts, making it the first region of the world to rid itself of the disease, global health authorities said Tuesday (Sep 27).


"Endemic transmission of measles has been eliminated from the region," said World Health Organisation director Margaret Chan. "The Americas region has shown that with strong national immunisation programs... dedicated financing and strong political commitment and partner support, measles can be stopped," she added, describing it as "an outstanding achievement."

Measles is now the fifth vaccine-preventable disease to be eliminated in the Americas, after smallpox, polio, rubella and congenital rubella syndrome, according to a statement from the Pan American Health Organization. The end of endemic transmission means the virus is no longer commonly spread locally, although imported cases may still lead to isolated outbreaks. The region of the Americas reported its last endemic case in 2002. "However, since measles continues to circulate worldwide, some countries continued to report imported cases," said the PAHO statement.

Over the past year, from August 2015 to August 2016, all countries in the Americas showed documentation that endemic measles had been wiped out to the International Committee of Experts for Documentation and Verification of Measles, Rubella and Congenital Rubella Syndrome Elimination in the Americas. Measles is a highly contagious virus that lives in the nose and throat of an infected person, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Severe complications can occur, particularly in children, and lead to death by pneumonia or brain swelling.

A vaccine became widely available in 1963, but the virus has proven difficult to eradicate. In recent years, measles outbreaks have risen in some parts of the United States and Europe where parents have refused to vaccinate their children. "It is my hope that other regions of the world are encouraged by the success of the Americas," said Chan. "And that the lessons learned here serve them as they move forward toward their own elimination goals."

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/americas-region-is-world-s-first-to-be-free-of-measles/3161042.html

waltky
03-24-2017, 05:12 PM
A diarrheal disease that kills about 600 children a day...


Researcher: Efficacy of New Rotavirus Vaccine Promising
March 23, 2017 - A new vaccine against rotavirus, a diarrheal disease that kills about 600 children a day, has been shown to have almost 67 percent efficacy in preventing the illness.


"This efficacy of about 70 percent is higher than any other vaccine in similar settings," said Dr. Emmanuel Baron, director of Epicentre, the research arm of Doctors Without Borders, which conducted the trial. A clinical trial of 3,500 infants in the African country of Niger showed the efficacy of the new vaccine, known as BRV-PV, to be 66.7 percent. Thirty-one cases of rotavirus were reported among children who got the vaccine, compared with 87 cases among those who received a placebo. Details of the study and the vaccine's effectiveness were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. "We saw actually three things," Baron said. "The first is that this vaccine is efficient. The second is that this vaccine is safe. And we also saw a good acceptability by the care providers and the families."



https://gdb.voanews.com/5321BBDA-4D41-4147-B9CE-C33E843D1E0C_w1023_r1_s.jpg
An infant infected with rotavirus sleeps at the San Rafael hospital in Santa Tecla, El Salvador



An estimated 450,000 young children and babies die each year of diarrheal diseases. One of them is rotavirus, which causes a severe infection of the gastrointestinal tract. Experts say rotavirus is responsible for about 37 percent of deaths among children younger than 5 who succumb to diarrheal diseases each year, or about 215,000 deaths annually. There are two existing vaccines, but Baron said they are not widely used, as they are relatively expensive and must be refrigerated. Refrigeration is an obstacle in many African countries where rotavirus is most pronounced because electricity there is unreliable. Even when children are immunized with the older vaccines, Baron says, hundreds die each day around the world.


The new vaccine does not need refrigeration for up to six months, because it is mixed or reconstituted with liquid before it is given to children in a three-dose schedule, at 6, 10 and 14 weeks of age. Initially, the BRV-PV is expected to cost $6 dollars for the three shots, a price that is expected to drop as the vaccine gains traction. Baron said clinicians in countries where rotavirus is a serious health threat are waiting for the green light from the World Health Organization to begin immunizing children with the new vaccine.


http://www.voanews.com/a/efficacy-new-rotavirus-vaccine-promising-researcher-says/3779338.html

waltky
08-10-2018, 10:55 PM
Measles outbreak in Brazil...
:shocked:
Brazil blames Venezuelan negligence for return of measles to remote region (http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2018/08/11/2003698351)
9 Aug.`18 - Brazil on Thursday said that Venezuela is doing nothing to stop the spread of an outbreak of measles in Brazil and neighboring countries that has been sparked by an exodus of Venezuelans fleeing economic collapse.


Since February, four people — three of them Venezuelan — have died of measles in the remote Brazilian border state of Roraima, where health authorities have confirmed 281 cases of the disease, mostly among children. The outbreak has prompted the Brazilian government to launch a nationwide campaign to vaccinate 11 million children, as well as adults who request it. Although many Brazilian children are already vaccinated against the disease, the vaccination rate has dropped since Brazil was declared free of measles in 2016.


Brazilian Minister of Health Gilberto Occhi said that Venezuela had ignored Brazilian offers of assistance and vaccines and had not replied to requests for information to assess the extent of the epidemic. “We need to know what Venezuela’s policy is and what it has done to vaccinate its population, and so do other countries,” Occhi said in a conference call with foreign media. The Venezuelan Ministry of Popular Power for Communication and Information did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Occhi said that Brazil is considering vaccinating all Venezuelans entering the country — about 2,000 people a day, about half of whom are in transit or on a short-term visit.



Currently, only those that ask to stay as refugees or residents are vaccinated. Along with Colombia and other neighbors, Brazil has been discussing the need for Venezuela to provide up-to-date information with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), an official said. “All we have is preliminary data from 2017. They are not updating the information and we can’t see the magnitude of the problem,” Brazilian National Immunization Program Coordinator Carla Domingues said. PAHO last month said that nearly 2,500 confirmed cases of measles had been reported in the Americas this year, with more than 1,600 of those occurring in Venezuela and nearly 700 in Brazil.



Since Venezuelans fleeing economic and political turmoil started entering Roraima at the only land crossing three years ago, Brazil has vaccinated 45,000 arrivals. A decree by the Roraima State Government ordering the compulsory blanket vaccination of Venezuelans was struck down by the Brazilian Supreme Court this week. Measles vaccination in Brazil fell to about 70 percent coverage last year, a health ministry official said.


http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2018/08/11/2003698351