Disease

Mumps Outbreak - Arkansas, USA - Update

The mumps outbreak in northwest Arkansas has eclipsed the 400 case mark as the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) puts the suspected and lab confirmed case tally at 427 as of Friday. The majority of cases are Marshallese (66 percent) and are believed to have common exposures within a local church and in school settings.

The index case appears to be an unvaccinated 27-year-old woman with no international travel but who was visited by an individual who traveled from an area in Iowa where mumps was spreading at that time.

Burkholderia cepacia outbreak in Venezuelan Hospital

An outbreak of the bacterium, Burkholderia cepacia, at Hospital Dr. Luis Felipe Guevara Rojas in El Tigre, Anzoátegui State, Venezuela has sickened 22 infants, according to the College of Physicians in the country.

Pediatric doctors suggest the outbreak is linked to water shortages, which have been going on for six months. “The water shortages have worsened in the past 30 days. The short supply is then stored and is likely the source of the outbreak”, the doctors note. To make matters worse, shortages of antibiotics are a major part of the outbreak problem as no antibiotics have been available in two days.

This follows reports of outbreaks of diphtheria and malaria in Venezuela. The number of malaria cases are set to break all records and the reemergence of diphtheria has medical professionals concerned about a nationwide outbreak.

Pneumonia in South Vietnam

Hospitals in southern Vietnam have recorded a surge in the number of children being admitted over respiratory diseases, most prominently pneumonia, in recent months.

According to statistics provided by Dong Nai Children’s Hospital in Dong Nai Province, there have been a rocketing number of new pneumonia admissions for the past two months. In August and September alone, the hospital treated over 5,000 outpatients and nearly 1,700 inpatients of pneumonia, an increase of 1,632 cases compared to the same period last year.