Water-related diseases outbreaks reported in Italy

Water related disease outbreak (WRDO) statistics in Italy from 1998 to 2005 have been discussed in this paper. The true incidence of WRDO is not reflected in the National Surveillance System (NSS), although this study has provided information on pathogens associated to different water sources, incidence in Regions and inadequacy of regulations. 192 outbreaks and 2546 cases of WRD were reported to the NSS, an average of 318 cases per year. Cases were associated to shellfish (58.79%), drinking water (39.94%) and agricultural products (1.25%). WRDs have been detected in 76% of Regions: central and southern Regions showed lower percentage of cases (35.4%) due to under-reporting. Most of WRD cases in the North were related to drinking water; WRDs in marine coastal Regions were mostly related to shellfish. 49% of Districts (Province) notified WRDs, including only 101 Municipalities. Pathogenic microorganisms were identified in a few cases from clinical investigations. They included enteric viruses, Norwalk viruses, Salmonella, Shigella, Giardia and Campylobacter. There is the need to improve the existing NSS in relation to WRDs. An adequate WRDs Surveillance System should be based on connection between health and environmental authorities, priority pathogens and critical areas identification, response capability and contingency plans.     

Characterization of toxigenic Vibrio cholerae from Haiti, 2010-2011

In October 2010, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received reports of cases of severe watery diarrhea in Haiti. The cause was confirmed to be toxigenic Vibrio cholerae, serogroup O1, serotype Ogawa, biotype El Tor. We characterized 122 isolates from Haiti and compared them with isolates from other countries. Antimicrobial drug susceptibility was tested by disk diffusion and broth microdilution. Analyses included identification of rstR and VC2346 genes, sequencing of ctxAB and tcpA genes, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis with SfiI and NotI enzymes. All isolates were susceptible to doxycycline and azithromycin. One pulsed-field gel electrophoresis pattern predominated, and ctxB sequence of all isolates matched the B-7 allele. We identified the tcpETCIRS allele, which is also present in Bangladesh strain CIRS 101. These data show that the isolates from Haiti are clonally and genetically similar to isolates originating in Africa and southern Asia and that ctxB-7 and tcpET(CIRS) alleles are undergoing global dissemination.     

Syndromic surveillance during pandemic (H1N1) 2009 outbreak, New York, New York, USA

We compared emergency department and ambulatory care syndromic surveillance systems during the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 outbreak in New York City. Emergency departments likely experienced increases in influenza-like-illness significantly earlier than ambulatory care facilities because more patients sought care at emergency departments, differences in case definitions existed, or a combination thereof.     

鄂州市2005-2009年学校及托幼机构传染病流行特征分析

目的了解鄂州市2005-2009年托幼机构儿童、中小学校学生传染病流行特征,为学校传染病防控提供依据。方法采用描述流行病学方法,对鄂州市2005-2009年学校传染病流行特征进行分析。结果鄂州市2005-2009年共报告3～18岁托幼机构、中小学校学生传染病19种共4 668例,年平均发病率为517.73/10万。发病率较高的传染病病种为水痘(144.52/10万)、流行性腮腺炎(137.20/10万)、病毒性肝炎(72.20/10万)、风疹(32.94/10万)、肺结核(20.63/10万)。结论鄂州市托幼机构儿童、中小学校学生传染病发病率总体呈下降趋势,水痘、流行性腮腺炎、风疹、病毒性肝炎、肺结核为防控重点。     

Clinical and Multimodal Imaging Findings and Risk Factors for Ocular Involvement in a Presumed Waterborne Toxoplasmosis Outbreak,Brazil

In 2015, an outbreak of presumed waterborne toxoplasmosis occurred in Gouveia, Brazil. We conducted a 3-year prospective study on a cohort of 52 patients from this outbreak, collected clinical and multimodal imaging findings, and determined risk factors for ocular involvement. At baseline examination, 12 (23%) patients had retinochoroiditis; 4 patients had bilateral and 2 had macular lesions. Multimodal imaging revealed 2 distinct retinochoroiditis patterns: necrotizing focal retinochoroiditis and punctate retinochoroiditis. Older age, worse visual acuity, self-reported recent reduction of visual acuity, and presence of floaters were associated with retinochoroiditis. Among patients, persons >40 years of age had 5 times the risk for ocular involvement. Five patients had recurrences during follow-up, a rate of 22% per person-year. Recurrences were associated with binocular involvement. Two patients had late ocular involvement that occurred >34 months after initial diagnosis. Patients with acquired toxoplasmosis should have long-term ophthalmic follow-up, regardless of initial ocular involvement.     

YouTube as a source of medical information on the novel coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19) pandemic

ABSTRACT

Media coverage on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been extensive, yet large gaps remain in our understanding of the role of social media platforms during worldwide health crisis. The purpose of this study was to assess the most viewed YouTube videos on COVID-19 for medical content. We coded video characteristics, source, and medical content of the 113 most-widely viewed videos about COVID-19. Seventy-nine (69.9%) videos were classified as useful, and 10 (8.8%) videos were classified as misleading. Independent users were more likely to post misleading videos than useful videos (60.0% vs 21.5%, P?=?0.009). News agencies were more likely to post useful videos than misleading videos (72.2% vs 40.0%, P?=?0.039). Useful videos were more likely to present any information on prevalence or incidence (79.7% vs 20.0%, P?<?0.001), as well as information on outcomes or prognosis (84.8% vs 30.0%, P?<?0.001) compared to misleading videos. The World Health Organization contributed one useful video (1.3%), while no videos from the Center for Disease Control were included. Although YouTube generally is a useful source of medical information on the COVID-19 pandemic, increased efforts to disseminate accurate information from reputable sources is desired to help mitigate disease spread and decrease unnecessary panic in the general population.