Palestinian refugee camp in Syria hit by typhoid outbreak

[Sally]

Not only are they hungry, but now typhoid too!!!


Palestinian refugee camp in Syria hit by typhoid outbreak

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© Youssef Karwashan, AFP | Palestinian women who fled the Yarmouk refugee camp at a school in Damascus in April 2015.

Text by NEWS WIRES

Latest update : 2015-08-19

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Tuesday that there is a typhoid outbreak among civilians from the besieged Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of the Syrian capital, with at least six confirmed cases.

Christopher Gunness, spokesman for the agency known as UNRWA, said its staff gained access to Yalda, an area east of the Yarmouk camp hosting displaced Palestinian refugees and Syrian civilians, for the first time since June 8 and established a mobile health point.

UNRWA said in a situation report that its medical personnel provided 211 consultations over the course of Tuesday in Yalda, including confirming six cases of typhoid.

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Middle East - Palestinian refugee camp in Syria hit by typhoid outbreak - France 24?

 

[aris2chat]

to be expected under those conditions.

 

[aris2chat]

Typhoid, yellow fever, cholera, dysentery and various parasites are common in the area periodically. I used to hate getting vaccines and routine testing.

 

[waltky]

New typhoid vaccine...

Typhoid vaccine set to have 'huge impact'
Tue, 24 Oct 2017 - Around 22 million people get typhoid fever each year and 220,000 die.

A new vaccine that could prevent up to nine-in-10 cases of typhoid fever has been recommended by the World Health Organization. Experts say it could have a "huge impact" on the 22 million cases, and 220,000 deaths, from typhoid each year. Crucially it works in children, who are at high-risk of the infection, unlike other typhoid vaccines. It is hoped the vaccine could eventually help countries eliminate typhoid.

Typhoid fever is caused by Salmonella Typhi bacteria and patients have:

* prolonged fever
* headache
* nausea
* loss of appetite
* constipation
* in one-in-100 cases it causes fatal complications

Typhoid is spread through dirty water and contaminated food.​

The bacteria are highly contagious and spread through contaminated food or water. The infection is most common in countries with poor sanitation and a lack of clean water, particularly in south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Two typhoid vaccines already approved to help reduce the number of cases, but none are licensed for children under the age of two. The decision to recommend the new conjugate typhoid vaccine was made by the WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (Sage).

Prof Alejandro Cravioto, the chairman of Sage, said: "For the first time I think we do have a very effective vaccine." Sage recommended the vaccine should be given to children aged six-months old and said catch-up campaigns focusing on children up to 15 years old should also take place. Prof Cravioto said the vaccine was vital as the world was "reaching the limit" of current treatments due to the "crazy amount" of antibiotic resistance the typhoid bacterium had acquired.

'A valuable weapon'

See also:

Every childhood vaccine may go into a single jab
15 September 2017 - A technology that could eventually see every childhood vaccine delivered in a single injection has been developed by US researchers.

Their one-shot solution stores the vaccine in microscopic capsules that release the initial dose and then boosters at specific times. The approach has been shown to work in mouse studies, described in the journal Science. The researchers say the technology could help patients around the world.

Childhood immunisations come with tears and screams. And there are a lot of them.

* Diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, Hib and hepatitis B at eight, 12 and 16 weeks.
* Pneumococcal jab at eight weeks, 16 weeks and one year
* Men B vaccine at eight weeks, 16 weeks and one year
* Hib/Men C vaccine at one year
* Measles, mumps and rubella at one year and three years and four months

Source: NHS Choices

A team at Massachusetts Institute of Technology has designed a new type of micro-particle that could combine everything into a single jab. The particles look like miniature coffee cups that are filled with vaccine and then sealed with a lid. Crucially, the design of the cups can be altered so they break down and spill their contents at just the right time. One set of tests showed the contents could be released at exactly nine, 20 and 41 days after they were injected into mice. Other particles that last for hundreds of days have also been developed, the researchers say. The approach has not yet been tested on patients.

'Significant impact'

Prof Robert Langer, from MIT, said: "We are very excited about this work. "For the first time, we can create a library of tiny, encased vaccine particles, each programmed to release at a precise, predictable time, so that people could potentially receive a single injection that, in effect, would have multiple boosters already built into it. "This could have a significant impact on patients everywhere, especially in the developing world." The work differs from previous attempts, which slowly released medicines over a long period of time. The idea is the short, sharp bursts of vaccine more closely mimic routine immunisation programmes. Fellow researcher Dr Kevin McHugh said: "In the developing world, that might be the difference between not getting vaccinated and receiving all of your vaccines in one shot."

Every childhood vaccine in a single jab