Death toll in Yemen cholera outbreak hits nearly 700
WHO ranks antibiotics in bid to counter drug resistance
GENEVA/DUBAI, June 7, (Agencies): A cholera epidemic in Yemen has killed at least 681 people and the outbreak has yet to peak, according to World Health Organization (WHO) figures showing an increase in the death toll of nearly 50 percent since its last update on May 27.
WHO figures taken between April 27 and June 4 show 86,422 suspected cholera cases were recorded in 19 of Yemen’s 23 governorates, although the WHO said the increase was partly due to “better completeness of reporting”.
On May 29, the WHO reported 471 people had died in the period to May 27 and there were 51,832 suspected cases.
“Nationwide, this outbreak ‘second wave’ doesn’t seem to have yet reached its peak,” the WHO said in its bulletin.
The epidemic began in October, spread until December and then dwindled but was never brought fully under control. In April, a new surge in cases began.
Yemen has been hit hard by civil war, with 19 million of its 28 million people needing humanitarian aid and many of them on the verge of famine. Fewer than half of the country’s health facilities are fully functional.
The most affected governorates were Amanat al-Asimah, around the capital Sanaa, Hajjah, Amran and Hodeidah, all in north and western Yemen, with more than 53 percent of the cases reported since April 27.
Caused by ingesting bacteria from water or food contaminated with faeces, cholera usually manifests itself with sudden acute diarrhoea and can kill within hours, although three-quarters of infected people show no symptoms. The short incubation period means outbreaks can spread quickly, especially in places without safe water or sanitation.
GENEVA:
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The World Health Organization published a new classification of antibiotics on Tuesday that aims to fight drug resistance, with penicillintype drugs recommended as the first line of defence and others only for use when absolutely necessary.
The new “essential medicines list” includes 39 antibiotics for 21 common syndromes, categorised into three groups: “Access”, “Watch” and “Reserve”.
Drugs on the “Access” list have lower resistance potential and include the widely-used amoxicillin.
The “Watch” list includes ciprofloxacin, which is commonly prescribed for cystitis and strep throat but “not that effective”, WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Systems and Innovation Marie-Paule Kieny told reporters.
Its use should be “dramatically reduced”, the WHO said.
“We think that the political will is there but this needs to be followed by strong policies,” Kieny said.
CHICAGO:
A major clinical trial using a new anti-cancer medicine cocktail by the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche produced only a modest gain in survival, researchers said Monday. The study added pertuzumab (Perjeta) to the standard therapy, trastuzumab (Herceptin), in 4,805 women with HER2 positive breast cancer, an aggressive illness.
“At an early follow up of three years, 93.2 percent of women who received trastuzumab alone had not developed invasive disease compared with 94.1 percent of those who received pertuzumab and trastuzumab, a difference of one percent,” said the report, released at the American Society for Clinical Oncology conference, the world’s largest gathering of cancer professionals.