WHO: Updated Ebola Outbreak Information

The latest WHO Ebola situation report can be found here. Key points:

1) As of 10/19 there have been 9,936 cases and 4,877 deaths
2) The outbreak in Senegal was declared over on 10/17
3) The outbreak in Nigeria was declared over on 10/19

Up until 10/19 there had been only 3 cases in the US (now 4 given the physician who has developed Ebola after returning from Guinea-not on the latest WHO document). For the 3 reported on in the WHO document there were 172 possible contacts of these patients 60 of who were past the 21 day incubation period and therefore deemed non-infected.

Neglected Tropical Diseases: An Update From the WHO

Distribution of soil-transmitted helminths (STHs) and proportion
of children requiring preventive chemotherapy; where we practice
in Honduras STHs are a major problem (www.who.int)

The World Health Organization (WHO) just released its second report on Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs); this is a 152 page document outlining the global response to combatting NTDs. The WHO also released a one page summary of this report's findings which can be found here.

As I have previously noted, NTDs include a group of seventeen tropical infections, mostly worms, that are associated with high morbidity (things such as poor growth and mental development in children, pregnancy complications) but low mortality. Despite their major negative effects on health they do not receive much "press" (as opposed to better known diseases such as malaria, HIV and tuberculosis). It is estimated that 1 in 6 people in the world currently suffer from an NTD. 

Global improvements in access to STH therapy have occurred over
the past few years (www.who.int)

In our work in Honduras we focus on decreasing the burden of NTDs, specifically, soil-transmitted helminths (intestinal worms). We estimate that somewhere between 30-70% of the patients we see are infected with one or more of these worms. We provide anti-helminthic therapy according to WHO guidelines, with the hopes of decreasing the overall burden of these infections in the population at large. According to the WHO, "deworming school-aged children is probably the most economically efficient public health activity that can be implemented in any low-income country."

Overall the WHO document is positive, noting recent improvements in combatting NTDs globally. Two diseases have been targeted for elimination, including guinea worm disease in 2015 and yaws in 2020. Global coverage for many other NTDs has improved in recent years, as well. Although there have been significant advances over the past few years, there is still a great deal of work to be done. 

The report also highlights the global dengue problem; the incidence of this disease has increased 30-fold in the past 50 years, and sustainable preventive measures need to be adopted globally to prevent continued spread of this mosquito-borne illness. 

More Global Health Data! The WHO Global Health Observatory

WHO Global Health Observatory (www.who.int)

More great news for people who love detailed global health data! Christmas really did come early this year.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is making improvements to their Global Health Observatory (GHO), a repository that is billed as "the world's largest and most comprehensive collection of up-to-date health data." Their goal is to provide access to a huge amount of health data (via a single web portal) that is easy to navigate and meaningful.

www.who.int

The site really is terrific; I briefly explored the site this morning to look at updated health data on Honduras (where our public health/ medical program is). The GHO site is easy to navigate and depicts data in an easy to understand, compelling way. The graphics appearing throughout this post were pulled from the site/ linked partner sites.

Rural sanitation
trends, Honduras
(www.who.int)

Under-five mortality rate, Honduras
(www.childmortality.org)

Proportional mortality, Honduras (www.who.int)

Principle causes of death in Guatemala (Honduras data not available) 

Neglected Tropical Diseases: Becoming Less Neglected?

Ascaris lumbricoides (the "large common roundworm"),
a soil-transmitted helminth; cdc.gov

Here is a nice article outlining the global problem of neglected tropical diseases, or "NTDs." These are a group of seventeen tropical infections, mostly worms, that are associated with high morbidity (things such as poor growth and mental development in children, pregnancy complications) but low mortality. Despite their major negative effects on health they do not receive much "press" (as opposed to better known diseases such as malaria, HIV and tuberculosis).

It is estimated that 1 in 6 people in the world currently suffer from an NTD. 

The article links to the "END7" campaign that has some great resources about NTDs, including a two minute long YouTube video that is worth checking out. Some nice general information about the seven most common NTDs can be found here.

In our work in Honduras we focus on decreasing the burden of NTDs, specifically, soil-transmitted helminths (intestinal worms). We estimate that somewhere between 30-70% of the patients we see are infected with one or more of these worms. We provide anti-helminthic therapy according to WHO guidelines, with the hopes of decreasing the overall burden of these infections in the population at large. According to the WHO, "deworming school-aged children is probably the most economically efficient public health activity that can be implemented in any low-income country."

The overall tone of the Guardian article is hopeful, noting that the movement to combat NTDs has gained momentum. However, as emphasized in the article, efforts to combat these diseases should be inter-disciplinary and address both environmental health issues in addition to eradicating disease at the individual level.