Scarlet Fever Outbreak In England Leaves Researchers Confused: ‘We’re Concerned’

Scarlet fever cases are now at 50-year-high sparking concerns for researchers, as they are baffled as to how “Victorian-era” diseases are making a comeback. The disease has been on the rise since 2014, and researchers are failing to find the cause.

Scarlet fever hit its highest level in England for 50 years, with more than 17,000 cases reported in 2016 according to research in the Lancet. The infection is most common in children under the age of 10 and although highly contagious (being spread easily with a cough) is easily cured with a round of antibiotics. But that, in and of itself, raises concerns of the disease becoming resistant to antibiotics, creating a global pandemic.

Doctors are urging the public to be aware of symptoms, which include a rosy rash, and seek help from their doctor. Data for 2017 suggests the rate of infection may be falling, but experts remain cautious, saying it is “too early to tell.” Normally, first world nations have a better chance of handling an outbreak such as this, but England is on the verge of losing control over this scarlet fever outbreak.

A joint investigation by public health authorities from across England and Wales found that the incidence of scarlet fever tripled between 2013 and 2014, rising from 4,700 cases to 15,637 cases. In 2016, there were 19,206 reported cases, the highest level since 1967. The majority of the outbreaks were in England.

“We are concerned – it’s quite a dramatic rise,” said Dr. Theresa Lamagni, head of streptococcal surveillance at Public Health England, who led the study. “We’ve always seen cases of scarlet fever – it’s just the scale in the past has been much lower than the last few years.” Dr. Lamagni described the soaring number of cases of scarlet fever as “baffling”, adding that no underlying causes had been identified. She stressed that the individual cases of the disease are “not any more serious than previously – it’s just a question of scale.”

Scarlet fever was a common cause of death in the Victorian era but had largely been in decline since the introduction of antibiotics. As with any bacterial infection, prompt treatment remains essential to prevent both the spread of the disease and the risk of further complications such as pneumonia and liver damage. Anyone diagnosed with scarlet fever is advised to stay at home until at least 24 hours after the start of treatment to avoid passing on the infection.

There is no vaccine against the disease and all cases must be reported by doctors to the local health authority. Molecular genetic testing has ruled out a newly emerged strain of the infection. Additionally, there has not been any suggestion that the disease has become resistant to the penicillin normally used to treat it – yet.

Vitamin C Infusions Could Be Essential for Treatment of Sepsi

Earlier this year, a Virginia doctor claimed to have found that vitamin C could be an essential part of treatment for sepsis, a life-threatening complication of infection in which the pathogenic load and immune response are too great. As sepsis kills thousands every year, including over 44,000 in the U.K., it’s time to take notice of the power of vitamin C. [1]

Dr. Paul Marik, a critical care specialist, says he came up with the treatment as a last resort when a 48-year-old woman arrived with a case of sepsis that would have otherwise killed her. Her kidneys and lungs were failing; but after his “outside the box” treatment, she left the hospital after two days.

The treatment? An injected infusion of vitamin C, a low dose of steroids, and vitamin B1, also known as thiamin. [1]

While other experts believe that this is “too good to be true,” Dr. Marik has already published some results of his own research showing that this was not a once-off miracle. In his team’s retrospective, before-after clinical study, 47 consecutive patients were treated with this infusion over a seven-month time frame and were compared with 47 control (no infusion) patients from the previous seven months. [2]

Study Results

The treated group had a mortality rate of only 4 out of 47 patients (8.5%), compared to 19 out of 47 (40.4%) in the control group. This is about an 80% reduction! No patients in the treated group developed progressive organ failure. All treated patients also stopped needing vasopressors after an average of 18 hours, whereas the control patients used them for an average of 54 hours, a bit over two days.

Although these findings were described as preliminary and in need of larger follow-up studies, they were clinically significant and seen as a way to prevent organ failure and death from sepsis. [2]

The dismissal of this case as “too good to be true” is also frustrating because of just how far research on vitamin C and infections goes back. In an article from over 60 years ago, a doctor describes studies and cases of vitamin C injections resolving a range of infections.

One case, which was similar to prior research, saw a young girl’s chickenpox disappear in a day or 2 as opposed to the typical “7 to 9 days.” Children with polio and encephalitis from severe cases of infections were also described as having rapid, uneventful recoveries after beginning vitamin C injections. Even a baby recovered from measles in 60 hours, without developing a rash or having to deal with a fever for long.

Many studies and case reports on vitamin C and infections came in the decades after, including three controlled studies analyzed in a review showing an 80% drop in pneumonia incidence. In another study of several hundred young adults, vitamin C administration cut cold and flu symptoms by 85%.

Even a report on New Zealand’s 60 Minutes of a man saved from viral pneumonia by vitamin C after doctors initially refused to administer it seems to have failed to change opinion on using the vitamin as a mainstream medical treatment.

However, despite censorship and narrow-mindedness, there’s real hope for the future when it comes to using natural medicines in the fight against infections, whether they be deadly or just inconvenient.

Sources:

[1] Independent

[2] ScienceDirect

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A New Antibiotic is Nearing Approval, but Major Concerns Linger

A panel of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) experts has recommended that an experimental antibiotic made by Cempra Inc. be approved, but just barely. [1]

The panel voted 7-6 in favor of the drug, saying the effectiveness of the new antibiotic outweighed risks of liver toxicity seen in many studies. The FDA does not have to follow the panel’s recommendation, but it typically does.

A handful of drug companies are developing new medications in a race against the looming threat of antibiotic resistance. 

Source: The Chronicle

Cempra’s drug, solithromycin has been proven effective in treating community-acquired pneumonia, which develops in people with minimal or limited contact with medical institutions or settings. It is the same type of pneumonia that sickened Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail earlier this fall. Panelists voted unanimously that solithromycin works as well as moxifloxacin, but agreed that Cempra had not fully characterized the potential risk of liver damage. [2]

Clinical trials showed many more participants developed elevated liver enzymes while taking solithromycin than those taking moxifloxacin. Elevated liver enzymes can be a sign of underlying liver damage.

The panelists recommended that Cempra conduct further studies in order to determine the extent of the risk of liver toxicity after the antibiotic is approved.

At least 1 panel member said votes may have been swayed in favor of solithromycin because of the urgent need for new antibiotics to fight superbugs. Public health experts and scientists have warned that antibiotic-resistant superbugs could claim 10 million lives by the year 2050.

Ellen Andrews, executive director of the Connecticut Health Policy Project, said:

“I feel we could wait if the bugs would just slow down.”

Solithromycin is descended from the Sanofi-made drug Ketek, or telithromycin, which was discontinued after dozens of cases of serious or fatal liver problems were reported. The episode triggered allegations that the FDA downplayed concerns over the drug, which were articulated by its own reviewers.

On November 4, agency reviewers stated that “there is a very clear signature of hepatic injury” in the solithromycin clinical trial data.

If the FDA opts to approve solithromycin, the agency will likely place severe restrictions on its use, potentially making the antibiotic commercially unavailable. [3]

The agency is expected to decide on whether to approve solithromycin by December 27, but due to a manufacturing issue on Cempra’s end, that decision could be delayed.

Sources:

[1] Associated Press

[2] Reuters

[3] The Street

The Chronicle

(Featured image not actual picture of solithromycin.)

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About Julie Fidler:
	Julie Fidler is a freelance writer, legal blogger, and the author of Adventures in Holy Matrimony: For Better or the Absolute Worst. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and two ridiculously spoiled cats. She occasionally pontificates on her blog.

UNICEF: 300 Million Kids are Breathing Toxic Air

New research from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) shows that 300 million children – 1 in 7 globally – live in areas with “toxic” levels of air pollution. [1] [2]

 

The poorer a child is, the more likely he or she is to be surrounded by filthy air, and the greater the likelihood that he or she will suffer health problems as a result.

The report, which uses satellite imagery to determine the impacted areas, comes as international leaders prepare to gather in November in Morocco to continue the work of cutting carbon dioxide emissions and staving off the worst effects of global warming. [1]

No Escape

According to the report, the effected children live in places “where outdoor air pollution exceeds international guidelines by at least 6 times.” Altogether, it states, some 2 billion children are breathing air that has been deemed a “long-term hazard,” exceeding minimum standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

In a statement, UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said:

“Air pollution is a major contributing factor in the deaths of around 600,000 children under five every year — and it threatens the lives and futures of millions more every day.

Pollutants don’t only harm children’s developing lungs — they can actually cross the blood-brain barrier and permanently damage their developing brains — and, thus, their futures. No society can afford to ignore air pollution.”

Children are especially vulnerable to the effects of air pollution, UNICEF writes. Their lungs are still developing; their respiratory airways are more susceptible to blockages; and youngsters “breathe twice as fast, taking in more air per unit of body weight, compared to adults.”

Read: Toxic Nanoparticle Air Pollution Found in Human Brain Tissue

And while adult bodies also struggle to compensate from the damage caused by air pollution, kids’ immune systems are weaker. All of this, combined, puts children at risk for a lifetime of health problems. [2]

Study author Nicholas Rees says:

“That physiological difference essentially makes them even more vulnerable. It’s also that the poorest children are the most affected. If we look at the burden of mortality associated with air pollution, we find that the vast majority – about 90% of outdoor air pollution deaths – are in low- and middle-income countries.”

According to the authors of the research, “studies have shown that the lung capacity of children living in polluted environments can be reduced by 20% – similar to the effect of growing up in a home with secondhand cigarette smoke.” [1]

The report goes on to say:

“The combination of respiratory, cardiovascular, cognitive, morbidity and reproductive health effects of air pollution have biological as well as social and economic effects that last a lifetime. These include health conditions, school attendance, school performance, health costs and productivity, which affect income, poverty and inequalities.

Air pollution, through its massive and cumulative impact on the overall health and well-being of children and parents, can perpetuate intergenerational cycles of inequality.”

Kids’ health is negatively impacted by both outdoor air pollution (such as pollution from a factory) and indoor air pollution (such as smoke from solid fuels used in cooking). However, outdoor air pollution is worse in “lower-income, urban communities.” 

Air pollution also puts unborn children at risk. According to past studies, chronic exposure to high levels of particulate matter is linked to high rates of fetal loss (miscarriages), premature births, and lower birthrates. [3]

The report notes that it is difficult to separate the impact of the 2 because people are constantly moving between the 2 environments.

Additionally, the report states that current projections show that industrialization is making the problem even worse. Unless world leaders take action to cut outdoor air pollution, “studies show that outdoor air pollution will become the leading cause of environment-related child death by 2050.” [1]

UNICEF says:

“South Asia has the largest number of children living in these areas, at 620 million, with Africa following at 520 million children,” according to UNICEF. “The East Asia and Pacific region has 450 million children living in areas that exceed guideline limits.”

Air pollution has been linked to more than a half-million deaths each year in kids younger than 5, which is nearly double the death toll caused by malaria. For many children, the cost of breathing toxic air is a lifetime of battling pneumonia, asthma, and bronchitis. [2]

Championing Change

13858346 – playing little boy on the river coast near industrial plant

But it’s not a hopeless cause, if countries commit to changes and follow through on them. UNICEF is calling on world leaders to do the following:

• Reduce pollution by decreasing fossil fuel combustion and investing in energy efficiency.

• Increase access to children’s healthcare.

• Minimize kids’ exposure to air pollution by keeping schools away from factories and other known polluters and using cleaner cookstoves in homes.

• Improve monitoring of air pollution. [3]

Sources:

[1] NPR

[2] The Washington Post

[3] CNN

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About Julie Fidler:
	Julie Fidler is a freelance writer, legal blogger, and the author of Adventures in Holy Matrimony: For Better or the Absolute Worst. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and two ridiculously spoiled cats. She occasionally pontificates on her blog.