ROTAVIRUS GASTROENTERITIS - MEXICO: (CHIAPAS)

Rotavirus also infects animals, and is a pathogen of livestock:

Be sure and read more about that by cutting & pasting the link below into your web browser. One opened, you will have o download a pdf file. Well woh the trouble as there is information in this report that all people should know; I would say the information in the link below is a very important read, IN ADDITION to the Pro-Med report beneath the link;

http://cmr.asm.org/cgi/reprint/3/4/345

> *********************************************
> A ProMED-mail post
>
> ProMED-mail is a program of the
> International Society for Infectious Diseases
>
>
> Date: Mon 8 Feb 2010
> Source: El Universal [in Spanish, trans. Sr.Tech.Ed.MJ, edited]
>
>
>
> Rotavirus outbreak in Chiapas: alert
> ---------------------------------------------
> According to state authorities, the Secretariat of Health in Chiapas
> has declared an alert as a result of an outbreak of rotavirus
> infection and deployed multidisciplinary teams to the communities
> where cases have been confirmed.
>
> The head of Sanitary Jurisdiction VII, Andres Gerardo Espinosa, said
> in an interview that the number of cases of acute diarrheal disease
> in 2010 had increased by 30 percent compared with the corresponding
> period last year [2009]. Cases have been reported in 16
> municipalities in the regions of Costa, Sierra, and Frontera Sur,
> which comprise that jurisdiction.
>
> "We are facing a rather severe outbreak of acute diarrheal disease
> that we believe is the result of a rotavirus infection for which
> unfortunately there is no specific treatment," he said and added that
> so far the [samples] sent to the laboratories of the National
> Institute of Public Health have confirmed 15 cases of rotavirus
> infection in the jurisdiction, most of them from the municipalities
> of Tapachula and Huixtla, with no deaths reported. "Rotavirus
> infection causes severe diarrhea that may lead to dehydration and
> even death," Espinosa said.
>
> He reported that the state health sector is were working to implement
> a series of strategies to combat the disease. Starting on Mon 8 Feb
> 2010, sampling of food and water including sewage, drinking, bottled,
> and river waters has been initiated to detect rotavirus and bacteria
> that may be affecting the inhabitants of the region.
>
> Espinosa explained that currently there is a rotavirus vaccine that
> is only administered to children under one year old, but that "the
> disease affects the entire population." For this reason he called on
> parents to have their newborns vaccinated and urged the rest of the
> population to take extreme precautions.
>
> --
> Communicated by:
> HealthMap Alerts via ProMED-mail
>
>
> [Rotaviruses are 70 nm icosahedral, non-enveloped, double-stranded
> RNA viruses that belong to the family _Reoviridae_. The virus is
> characterized by its 3-layer capsid, an outer and an inner capsid and
> an internal shell that surrounds the 11-segment double-stranded RNA genome.
>
> Rotavirus is currently by far the most common cause of severe
> diarrhoea in infants and young children worldwide and of diarrhoeal
> deaths in developing countries with a distinct winter seasonality in
> temperate climates and year-round exposure in tropical countries.
> Virtually all children are infected by the time they reach 2 to 3
> years of age. Most symptomatic episodes occur between 3 months and 2
> years of age with a peak incidence between 7 and 15 months. Symptoms
> include watery diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and
> dehydration. Outbreaks of rotavirus gastroenteritis in day-care
> centers and hospitals can spread rapidly among non-immune children,
> presumably through person-to-person contact, airborne droplets, or
> contact with contaminated toys. Children from low socioeconomic
> background and low birth weight infants have an increased risk for
> hospitalization.
>
> Rotavirus infection can also occur in adults, especially in
> institutionalized or hospitalized elderly patients. Both symptomatic
> and asymptomatic patients shed rotavirus in their stools for 7-10
> days, but shedding can last for several weeks. The virus is highly
> resistant in the environment and can survive for months in stools at
> room temperature.
>
> Three oral RV vaccines are currently licensed, a human monovalent
> live attenuated rotavirus strain, RotarixTM, a pentavalent live
> bovine-human reassortant vaccine, RotaTeqTM, and a lamb-derived
> monovalent live attenuated strain, LLR, which is only being used in China.
>
> Concerns remain regarding the potential effectiveness of any oral
> live vaccine in view of prevalence of competing intestinal flora in
> children, occurrence of mixed infections, high levels of maternally
> transmitted antibodies and micronutrient malnutrition. More detailed
> information on rotavirus disease and rotavirus vaccines can be found
> at the WHO Diarrhea Disease website
> ().
>
> Maps of Mexico are available at
> and the
> HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map at .
> A map of Chiapas, the southernmost state of the country, can be
> accessed at . - Mod.CP]
>
> [see also:
> Rotavirus gastroenteritis, holy water - Russia: (IK) 20100205.0397
> Rotavirus gastroenteritis, fruit - Russia (MG) ex China 20100203.0370
> 2008
> ----
> Rotavirus surveillance 2001-2008 - Worldwide 20081120.3667]
> ...................................mpp/cp/mj/mpp
>
> *##########################################################

Be sure to read these very interesting article in the links below.

You can access an Update on the Outbreak by clicking on to the title above,then page down look left for Rotavirus Update

But be sure to also check out the info in the link below;



http://www.who.int/vaccine_research/diseases/diarrhoeal/en/index5.html