Second human case of rat hepatitis in the world reported

Ebola in Congo now infecting newborn babies, says UN. The World Health Organization says a worrying number of the newest Ebola cases amid Congo’s ongoing outbreak are in patients not usually known to catch the disease: babies. In an update published this week, the U.N. health agency reported 36 new confirmed cases of Ebola, including seven in newborn babies and infants younger than 2 years old. Six cases were reported in children aged between 2 and 17 and one case was in a pregnant woman. While Ebola typically infects adults, as they are most likely to be exposed to the lethal virus, children have been known in some instances to catch the disease when they act as caregivers… (Nov. 23, 2018, Stat news)

CDC Director’s Statement: E. coli. “CDC continues to investigate a multistate outbreak of E. coli O157 infections linked to romaine lettuce. We understand this outbreak is of concern to many Americans – especially with so many gathering for meals this Thanksgiving week. CDC’s disease detectives are working with federal regulatory partners to investigate and determine the source of contamination as quickly as possible. We will continue to provide more information as it becomes available. The good news is we were able to detect and identify the outbreak quickly through our disease surveillance system, which can prevent further illness.

However, until we know more, it’s crucial that Americans continue to follow the guidance that CDC issued. There are no exceptions – all romaine lettuce must be discarded, regardless of brand, type, or if it is in a mixture. We also continue to urge people to follow our tips to help prevent E. coli illness. In addition, we remind clinicians that antibiotics are not recommended for patients in whom E. coli O157 is suspected until diagnostic testing rules out this infection.” – Robert R. Redfield, M.D., CDC Director

A second human case of rat hepatitis discovered, making it also the second recorded globally. A 70-year-old woman from the Wong Tai Sin district of Hong Kong was diagnosed with the disease this month, according to Hong Kong’s Department of Health. She does not recall having direct contact with rodents or their excreta (feces and bodily fluids) and didn’t notice any rodents in her residence, the Department of Health said in a statement. The woman was admitted to a public hospital on May 4, 2017, for headache, anorexia, malaise, abdominal pain and palpitations, which she had developed since May 1, 2017. She soon recovered and was discharged four days later, on May 8. The woman had underlying illnesses, according to the Department of Health.

In September, the first case was reported, involving a 56-year old man. Before this, it was not known that the disease could be passed from rats to humans… (CNN)

Top News from ESMO 2018: Chemo-free therapy for head and cancer a step closer: Patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer with relatively high expression of the PD-L1 could eventually be treated first line with the immunotherapy pembrolizumab rather than traditional chemotherapy. This was the conclusion from experts discussing the results of KEYNOTE-048, the first study to assess immunotherapy used first line in this patient population. The new results show an improvement in overall survival over initial use of standard of care chemotherapy – the first time such a benefit has been seen in a decade. Immunotherapy is already used second line in advanced head and neck cancer; pembrolizumab and nivolumab are already approved for this indication. The KEYNOTE-048 results show that “patients with PD-L1 expression liver longer when they have initial treatment with pembrolizumab” said lead author Barbara Burtness, MD Yale School of Medicine and Yale Cancer Center, New Haven, Connecticut (Medscape)

Video to watch: TEDx Video: Doctor :

patient relationship www.youtube(dot)com/ watch?v=i9ml1vKK2DQ

Dr KK Aggarwal
Padma Shri Awardee
President Elect CMAAO
President Heart Care Foundation of India