Recent reports of La Crosse encephalitis in North Carolina remind us that a number of severe arthropod-borne infections continue to appear each year in the United States. For almost four decades, California encephalitis has been the most commonly-reported disease in this group ; however, since 2000, Read the rest of this entry »

An ongoing outbreak in Denmark belies the fact that salmonellosis rates in Scandinavia have remained fairly constant during the past decade. In the attached graph rates for the United States are added for comparison. Some additional background data on salmonellosis in Denmark – source www.GideonOnline.com Read the rest of this entry »

A recent outbreak of suspected salmonellosis among British travelers at a hotel in Italy highlights the risk for such infections among tourists, expatriates and similar groups in transit through foreign countries. The following chronology of similar episodes is abstracted from GIDEON:

1976 - An outbreak (550 cases) of Salmonella typhimurium infection affecting 4 international air flights (Las Palmas-Helsinki, Las Palmas-Honover) was caused by contaminated mayonnaise prepared in Spain.
1985 - An outbreak (168 cases) of Salmonella minnesota infection was reported at a Filipino workers’ camp in Saudi Arabia. Read the rest of this entry »

Rickettsial spotted fever was first reported in Brazil in 1920.

The disease is known locally as ‘Brazilian spotted fever’ and ‘Febre maculosa brasileira’

Cases are reported in Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Goias, Rio Grande do Sul and Espirito Santo.

Seroprevalence surveys:
10.6% of healthy students and 4.11% of dogs in the endemic areas of Minas Gerais (1998)
77.3% of horses and 31.3% of dogs in Pedreira Municipality, Sao Paulo State (2001)
1.6% of healthy persons in Minas Gerais (2005 publication)
Read the rest of this entry »

LOS ANGELES, CA–(June 12, 2008) - More than one million cases of foodborne salmonella are reported each year, accounting for 9.7 percent of all foodborne illnesses and 30.6 percent of all food-related deaths, according to GIDEON Online, an online database of infectious disease information for medical professionals.

Specifically, foodborne salmonella resulted in 15,600 hospitalizations and 550 deaths, over the last year.

For more information on salmonella, Dr. Stephen Berger, MD, infectious disease expert, is available for interviews. Dr. Berger, cofounder and Medical Advisor for GIDEON, has published more than 180 articles and books, including “Introduction to Infectious Diseases” and “The Healthy Tourist.” He is currently affiliated with the Tel Aviv Medical Center as Director of both Geographic Medicine and of Clinical Microbiology.

For more media information, contact:
Lisa Hendrickson
LCH Communications
516-643-1642
lisa@lchcommunications.com

The following background information on Trypanosomiasis in Angola is abstracted from GIDEON:

Trypanosomiasis was first identified in Angola in 1871, in the Quixama region (Kwanza River area, south of Luanda).

A resurgence of disease rates during the 1980’s does not represent a general phenomenon for Africa, and appears to be related to civil unrest in the country. See graph

Trypanosomiasis is endemic to 7 of the country’s 18 provinces.
- Risk areas include the northern provinces of Bengo, Kwanza north and Kwanza south, Luanda, Malange, Uige, and Zaire.
- Widespread disease in the southern provinces of Kunene, Huambo, Namibe, and Huila was first reported in 2003.
- 2.5 to 4 million persons are considered at risk in 6,000 villages north of the Kuanza River.

Trypanosoma brucei gambiense predominates (mostly in the northwestern region - Zaire, Uige, Luanda and Cuenza Norte).
- Sporadic disease due to Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense is also reported.

Tsetse flies are present in 14 of Angola’s 18 provinces.
- The local vectors are Glossina palpalis (found in Zaire, Bengo, Kwanza Norte, Kwanza Sul and Cuando Cubango), G. fuscipes ssp. quanzensis and martinii (found in Uige, Malanje, Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul), and G. morsitans (found in Malanje, Kwanza Sul, Bia, Moxico and Cuando Cubango).

Quoted in ProMED

Steve will be presenting at the University of Chicago Medical Center this coming Monday. This would be a terrific opportunity to see a live demonstration of GIDEON. If you can’t make it, then you can always watch the online videos.

Title: GIDEON: A Global Web-based Program for Decision Support and Informatics in Infectious Diseases
Presenter: Dr. Steve Berger, Chief Medical Advisor, GIDEON Informatics
Date: Monday, May 19, 2008
Time: 2pm to 3pm
Location: Room W-632, University of Chicago Medical Center (6th floor)
5812 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637
Enter from the Surgery - Brain Research Pavilion
Maps are available near each elevator
Host: Dr. Younghee Lee

Dr. Steve Berger, GIDEON’s Chief Medical Advisor, is quoted in the article “Is Your Keyboard Making You Sick?” in the US News and World Report:

“The bottom line is it’s actually nothing to worry about,” says Steve Berger, director of microbiology and tropical medicine at the Tel Aviv Medical Center. “We’re living in a sea of bacteria. The germs that you’re dealing with are normal bacteria, and nobody’s going to catch anthrax or Ebola or anything from a keyboard.”

As America once again enters the “Lyme disease season” information regarding this major infectious disease continues to evolve rapidly. The following material has been generated using GIDEON, an interactive on line program that can be used to diagnose or explore the status of all infectious diseases: signs and symptoms, status in every country, ongoing epidemics, antibiotics, vaccines, parasites, virus … in real time. So, let’s test your knowledge about Lyme disease:

1. True or false: Lyme disease is a relatively new infection that is primarily limited to the United States.
2. You have probably heard that Lyme disease is transmitted by ticks. How many tick-borne diseases occur in the world ? In the United States ?
3. Many other infectious diseases are characterized by severe illness, involving many body systems. Are there any truly unique features to Lyme disease ?
4. How many antibiotic agents are available ? How many are effective against the bacterium that causes Lyme disease ?

I put these four questions to GIDEON … Read the rest of this entry »

Recent outbreaks highlight the fact that Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFM) is the second most commonly reported viral disease in Singapore. In fact, since 2001 rates of HFM have approached those of varicella. See graph.

The following data regarding Enteroviral infection in Singapore are extracted from GIDEON [primary reference available on request]

Enteroviruses are responsible for 0.2% of lower respiratory infection in the age group 0 to 20 years (1990 to 1994).

During 1996 to 1997, 44% of school children ages 5 to 12, and 50% of their mothers were found to be seropositive toward Enterovirus 71.
- Enterovirus 71 accounted for 71% of enteroviral isolates in 2000; 44.3% in 2001; 3.5% in 2002.

Epidemics of hemorrhagic conjunctivitis due to Read the rest of this entry »

As quoted by Steve in ProMED:

Travel-related episodes of endemic typhus are relatively uncommon.
The following chronology is abstracted from GIDEON

1997 (publication year) - Three Norwegian tourists acquired endemic typhus - in Guinea-Bissau, Crete and Thailand
1998 (publication year) - Three European travelers acquired endemic typhus in Indonesia.
1998 - Two Norwegians acquired endemic typhus - in China and Crete.
1999 - A Norwegian acquired endemic typhus in Malta
2001 (publication year) - A German tourist acquired murine typhus in Thailand.
2002 (publication year) - A traveler from Hong Kong acquired endemic typhus in China.
2003 - A Czech tourist acquired endemic typhus in Egypt.
2003 - A Japanese national developed endemic typhus in Vietnam.
2008 - Two Japanese nationals acquired endemic typhus overseas - one in Indonesia.

A recent outbreak highlights the fact that New Caledonia has one of the highest rates of leptospirosis in the Pacific region (see graph). In fact, in these islands, Leptospirosis is more common than Salmonellosis, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Gonorrhea and Tuberculosis (see graph).

The following background information regarding Leptospirosis in New Caledonia is abstracted from GIDEON:

Leptospirosis is most common in west coast cattle-farming areas and rural Melanesian settings

• Disease rates are highest in the Bourail area.
• Disease rates peak during March to May.

Notes:

1. An average of 4 fatal cases are reported yearly.
2. 57 cases were diagnosed during 1983 to 1985.
3. 239 cases were reported during 2001 to 2005. The principal serogroups were Icterohaemorrhagiae (69%), Australis (8%), Pyrogenes (6%)

58% of cattle are seropositive.

The principal reservoirs in this country are rodents, pigs, horses and cattle.

The principal species are Leptospira serovars. Icterohaemorrhagiae, tarassovi, pyrogenes, canicola, australis and pomona.

• Serovar tarassovi accounts for 22% of cases, icterohaemorrhagiae 18% and pyrogenes 17%.

Notable outbreaks:
1989 - An outbreak (144 cases, 6 fatal) was reported, with 41% of the cases caused by serovar icterohaemorrhagiae.

Update: Also mentioned in ProMED