Also check out GIDEON’s free ebook: Infectious Diseases of Haiti

Leptospirosis rates in nearby New Caledonia are even more striking, and exceed those of salmonellosis, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, gonorrhea, and tuberculosis.

Don’t forget to check out GIDEON’s free e-book: Infectious Diseases of Haiti

There are 347 forms of human infectious disease in the world today – and 198 of these (more than half) are known to occur in Haiti. Sadly, one of the “side effects” of living in a poor and disaster-ridden economy is a lack of useful facts regarding the local status of individual diseases. GIDEON (Global Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology Online Network) is a Web-based application which follows diseases – both on a global level and within each country. Data are updated daily and are derived from all relevant journals, websites, Health Ministry reports and publications of the World Health Organization. The electronic book (E-book) is generated from information in the GIDEON database, and will serve as the first comprehensive review of Infectious Diseases in Haiti. Similar E-books for any other country – or disease – will be available from GIDEON in the near future.

To download for free, click on the following link:
Infectious Diseases of Haiti by GIDEON (313 pages, 3.3MB, updated Mar 6, 2010)

Also available on Amazon Kindle for $1: Kindle version

Graph Notes:
1. 2,183 laboratory-confirmed cases were reported during 1981 to 1996 (average rate 2.7 per 100,000 per year).
Individual years:
1995 – Cases were distributed throughout the country, with highest incidence in central Finland, Savo and North Karelia.
2003 – Included 105 cases in Lansi-Suomi and 50 in Ita-Suomi.

Seroprevalence surveys:
1.7% of ’suspected rubella’ in Finland (1973 to 1989)
11% of persons suspected of having viral infection – 17% in western Finland, 9% in northern and southern Finland
0.6% of women of childbearing age (1992)
5.2% of humans (Sindbis virus, 1999 to 2003)
27.4% of resident grouse (Tetrao urgallus, T. tetrix, Bonasa bonasia, Lagopus lagopus) in 2003, 1.4% in 2004

The principal vectors are mosquitoes (Culex and Culiseta species), and the presumed reservoirs are tetranoid and migratory birds.
- During an epidemic in 1981, 65% of black grouse and capercaillie were found to be seropositive.

Update: Published in ProMED

Since the 1970’s, rates of Hepatitis A in Australia have been strikingly similar to those of the United States (see graph):

Graph notes:
1.3. During 1991 to 1997, highest rates (52 per 100,000) were reported in the Northern Territory.
2. During 1991 to 2006, rates in New South Wales declined from 18.9 per 100,000 to 1.4 per 100,000.
Individual years:
1991 – 46.7% from New South Wales.
1994 – 39.7% from Northern Territory and 25.1% from Queensland.
1996 – 45.6% from New South Wales.
1997 – 47.3% from New South Wales.
1998 – 44.9% from Queensland and 37.8% from New South Wales.
2005 – 15.4% from Queensland and 25.5% from New South Wales.
2009 – Increasing rates in Victoria and South Australia appear to have been associated with ingestion of contaminated semi-dried tomatoes.

No fatal cases were reported during 1991 to 1997; 8 during 1998 to 2000.

570 cases were reported from eastern Sydney during 1991 to 1992, of which 58% were men who have sex with men.
– 236 cases were reported from south-eastern Sydney during June 1997 to May 1998 – over 60% of male cases acquired through homosexual contact; 118 during June 1998 to May 1999 – 29% through homosexual contact.

Seroprevalence surveys:
41.1% of Australians, 68.8% in the Northern Territory (1998)
75% of HIV-posititive MSM (2007 publication)
48% of homeless persons in Sydney (2003 to 2005)
3.0% of STD clinic patients (Canberra, 2000 to 2002)
37% of prisoners in New South Wales (1994)

Since 1993, hepatitis A has been the most common cause of infectious disease death among indigenous children in northern Queensland.
– Clinically apparent and severe hepatitis A are more common among indigenous children than their non-indigenous counterparts
– A vaccination program for this population was introduced in 1999.
– During 2003 to 2006, disease rates were 8.1 per 100,000 among indigenous people vs. 1.7 per 100,000 in other populations.

Notable outbreaks:
1970 (publication year) – An outbreak of Infectious hepatitis was reported in an institution.
1980 (publication year) – An outbreak (15 cases) was reported in a home for mentally-retarded children in Sydney. {p 6929674}
1991 – An outbreak (495 cases) in Melbourne involved men who have sex with men.
1993 – An outbreak (11 cases) was reported at a center for young people with developmental disabilities.
1996 (publication year) – An outbreak (7 cases) at a hospital in North Queensland may have been related to handling of contaminated bile.
1997 – An outbreak (7 cases) occurred among boys using a domestic spa in Melbourne.
1997 – An outbreak (270 cases or more) in New South Wales was traced to raw oysters.
1998 – An outbreak (45 cases) in Sydney was ascribed to illicit drug use.
2003 – An outbreak (10 cases) in Tasmania, Victoria and Queensland occurred among people who had been on tour in the Northern Territory.
2003 – An outbreak (21 cases) at a youth camp in central Australia was associated with ingestion of contaminated coleslaw.
2008 – An outbreak (15 cases) was associated with a cafe in Melbourne, Victoria.
2009 – An outbreak (200 cases) in Victoria was associated with consumption of semi-dried tomatoes.

Historical background

• Malaria was eradicated from Sardinia during 1946 to 1950, through massive application (267 metric tons) of DDT.
• A single endemic case (Plasmodium vivax in Palma di Montechiaro, Sicily) was reported in 1956; with sporadic cases in the area of Palermo during 1962.
• The country was declared ‘malaria-free’ in 1970.
• A single case of autochthonous malaria (P. vivax) was reported in Maremma (Tuscany) in 1997 – Anopheles labranchiae was implicated as the vector.

Although disease rates have increased in recent years, imported malaria continues to be less common than in neighboring France and Switzerland.

Additional notes:
1. 411,000 cases of malaria were reported in 1949.
2. 74,641 cases were reported on Sardinia in 1946; 39,303 in 1947; 15,121 in 1948; 1,314 in 1949; 0 in 1950; 9 in 1951; 0 in 1952.
3. 1,087 cases of malaria were reported during 1973 to 1982; 5,843 during 1986 to 1996 (including 7 transfusion-related, 2 ‘airport malaria’ and 7 cryptic); 3,354 during 2002 to 2006 – 71.0% among foreigners.
4. 97.9% of cases reported during 1989 to 1997 were imported, 106 characterized as relapses and 19 acquired in Italy.
5. 407 cases of imported malaria among children ages 0 to 18 were reported during 1992 to 2002 – 82.3% due to Plasmodium falciparum.
6. 86% to 92% of cases are acquired in Africa (1995 to 2006)
7. 73.3% of malaria cases reported during 1986 to 1997 were caused by P. falciparum and 20% P. vivax.
8. P. falciparum accounted for 73.8% of cases during 1989 to 1997; 84% during 1999 to 2000; 84.6% during 2002 to 2006.
Individual years:
1998 – The rate of malaria among Italian tourists to Africa was 100 per 100,000, 10 per 100,000 to Asia, and 0.9 to Latin America.
2000 – The rate of malaria among Italian tourists to Africa was 70 per 100,000, 5 per 100,000 Asia and 2 per 100,000 Latin America.
2000 – A cluster of 22 Chinese immigrants with malaria was reported. 4 5
2001 – Included one case of nosocomial transmission.

No cases of ‘airport malaria’ were reported during 1994 to 1995.

17 cases of cryptic infection (all due to P. falciparum) were reported during 1986 to 1996.

Fatal cases:
1. One to seven fatal cases are reported most years (1971 to 2007) ; with a peak of 12 fatal cases in 1997.
2. During 1890 to 1900, 2,000 to 2,200 persons on Sardinia died each year of malaria.
3. Death rates for Italy / Sardinia per 100,000 population: 58 / 300 during 1887 to 1889; 59 / 298 during 1900 to 1902; 6 / 43 during 1912 to 1914.
4. 138 fatal cases were reported on Sardinia in 1939; 88 in 1940; 169 in 1946.

Vectors:
The potential vectors for Italy are Anopheles superpictus and An. labranchiae.
- An. atoparvus was once active in transmission, and is still present in Tuscany (Fucecchio and Cerbaie woodlands, Grosseto and Siena)
- An. sacharovi was previously found in Puglia and Sardina, but was absent as of 1994. – An. labranchiae is found in Tuscany (Grosseto Province and areas of intensive rice cultivation), Apulia (coastal plains of the Adriatic from Lesina lake to the Candelaro River), Calabria (Coastal plains of the Tirrenian and Ionian sides and the close hiterland) , Puglia, Sicily (rural coastal and hilly areas); and Sardinia (rural coastal and hilly areas).
- An superpictus is found in Calabria (Coastal plains of the Tirrenian and Ionian sides and the close hiterland), and Sicily (rural coastal and hilly areas).