Good News ?

[thegooddr]

Have just been checking out the weekly infectious disease reports from the UK Health Protection Agency and it seems that the rate of Norovirus infections that have been reported are now in decline for 2006:-


Week 1: 123 reports


Week 2: 108 reports


Week 3: 34 reports


Week 4: 42 reports


Week 5: 13 reports


There have been 320 reported cases (to the HPA) so far this year, which is down on last years 810 to this point in the year. The pattern is also the same for Rotavirus, and again there are only half the number of reported cases this year compared to last. All of this is in the face of increased reporting this year, so it seems the epidemiological evidence is that in the UK it appears to be alight year so far.


Hope people find this useful,





Iain

[emetojackie]

thats great stuff to hear!fantastic! it just seems worse when that is what *EVERYONE* is talking about, even the newspapers, this is great information.. thank you!!

[trinity_13]

I know, it was on GMTV news again this morning, i live in London and thankfully have not heard of any cases close to me..........yet

[stella9]

YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!


Stella

[laneyb]

Fantastic, even though I know weve a while to go yet.


GMTV which I love first thing when I get ready for work (but not today!!! given their reports) said I think 97 reported outbreaks in the south east and suffolk, which seems alot but when you think of the number of schools in the area its probably not too bad. Well thats what Im trying to tell myself anyway, and the scary thing is I dont even have kids!!!


Laney

[trix vix]

That's fab news!


I also watched GMTV this morning and it made me panic even more. They make it sound really severe (i know it is) but it frightens me even more when i hear about how fast it's sprading and how contagious it is.


I also read in the Sun yesterday about it. hope it dies off soon, although you know by Autumn/winter, it will be back round again. Can't the medical profession do something to stop the outbreaks - and where do they come from originally????


Roll on the summer, and no yukky bugs [img]smileys/smilies_01.gif[/img]

[thegooddr]

trix vix,



The theory is that these bugs are around us all year but during the
summer we are generally healthier and don't spend so much time in close
confinement as we do during the winter. The main nasty bug,
norovirus is a strange fellow in that humans are the only species it
affects and so as a consequence humans have to be constantly getting
infected for it to carry on year after year. If the cycle of
infection could be broken then norovirus could be limited. The
medical profession don't seem to be that interested in a vaccine for
noro, but rather have focussed more on rotavirus as that has been shown
to be a major cause of childhood mortality in third world
countries. Noro tends to be reported on a lot in the western
world, but I have absolutely no idea of its incidence in the third
world countries.



However, the medical profession have got an answer to a lot of these
bugs, and it won't cost them very much money at all. It is
education. If people were educated on hand washing and its
necessity, or the importance of staying home when you are ill and
having minimal contact with other people then you would definately see
a drop off in norovirus induced illness (and other bugs too). i
know there are social arguments about impracticability of everyone
staying at home for 48 hours after last symptoms are evident with the
cost to business due to lost days etc, and to that I have no real
answer. The handwashing however is such a major player in disease
prevention that I can not understand how it is not promoted on a wider
scale. I would definately be behind any campaign that highlighted
the need to wash hands and its importance in disease prevention, but
again governments all over the world are not interested in this.
Stomach upsets do not get high priority because they are usually self
limiting and on the whole are not life threatening, I see this as a
VERY shortsighted view indeed, illness is illness and in the modern era
that we live in no illness should be overlooked.



In case you think I have a real downer on the medical profession, I am
in that profession, I am an immunologist and vaccinologist. I
have worked in hospitals for many years and one of the worst problems
with disease security is doctors themselves. There is minimal
handwashing between patients, and I am not even sure if they are ever
taught about hand hygiene ands its importance. BUT I have seen it
in practice where disease security is implemented and it works, and as
soon as it becomes routine then diseases can be stopped in
hosiptals. My son was in the neonatal intensive care unit for 11
days after he was born, every single doctor and nurse and ANYONE who
came onto the ward had to wash their hands and then apply alcohol rub,
after they finished with a patient they went through exactly the same
routine. If a member of staff was ill they were sent home, if
staff felt ill at home they did not come in, and do you know what, in
those 11 days I never heard of ANY kids getting sick from things bought
in from outside. It worked there, why can't it work
everywhere. The maternity ward has a matron who overseas disease
security implementation, and again ward infections are nearly never
heard of.



Thats my rant over and done with. As you say, roll on the summer.



Iain

[liz28]

can we contact anyone about this?
what you said was AMAZING and so well versed..
you should definitely send that in letter form somewhere!
illness IS illness...
if they've found ways to treat heavy diseases..
why not (seemingly small) things such as stomach bugs??
i would love to see them completely vanquished..
is it possible someday? i hope so.

[liz28]

by the way...
whoever started this thread..

by week ONE.. what does that mean?
when do the weeks start? when does the counting start?
january 1 06?

[thegooddr]

liz,



Sorry, thank you for pointing that out.



Week 1 is indeed the first week in january, and so week 5 is the first week in february.



I am unsure if there is a similar page for infection data in USA, possibly the CDC MMWR page, most go and investigate.



Iain

[liz28]

YES! please let me/us know!

[thegooddr]

liz,


I have just checked the CDC MMWR website and it appears they do not have norovirus or rotavirus as one of their notifiable diseases and as such they do not keep stats on them. I think the CDC are only interested in Noro when it hits cruise ships because of the CDC Vessel Sanitisation guidelines. I will keep on searching to see if anyone does keep the info, but I wouldn't be too hopeful.


Iain