A public health management model for acute chemical incidents in Wales

The price of industrial progress is the potential for exposure of an increasingly informed public to chemical hazards in the environment. Of particular concern are acute exposures to chemical incidents, where problematic health risk assessments have highlighted the lack of expertise and resources available to support public health professionals in Wales responsible for protecting the health of populations. A systematic literature review of chemical incident databases, public health surveillance systems and major chemical incidents worldwide was used to guide the development of the first active, multi-agency community-based public health surveillance system for acute chemical incidents to be undertaken in Europe. A total of 642 acute chemical incidents were reported in Wales from all sources over a three year period. Of the 270 incidents reported by the primary source, chemical spills were the most frequently reported type of incident (28%) and operational industrial sites the most common location (25%). Of the estimated 238,000 people exposed, 528 reported symptoms in a total of 57 incidents. A single chemical was implicated in 86% of the incidents. Shortfalls were identified in the current expertise and resources available to public health professionals in Wales, leading to the development of a public health management model for acute chemical incidents. Model development took place in the context of United Kingdom - wide initiatives and involved the conduct of structured interviews with 41 organisations with interests in the field. The model selected for Wales was implemented on 1 February 1997 and comprised three levels of operation: (a) accountability for the protection of public health vested in health authorities at the local level; (b) a subscription-based front-line advisory and support unit to those authorities; (c) and a centrally funded national co-ordinating centre to provide the necessary evidence-base through programmes of surveillance, training, and emergency planning

The immune response of the mouse to Diplostomum phoxini and certain cestodes in the intestinal lumen

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Identification of Circulating Bacterial Antigens by In Vivo Microbial Antigen Discovery

Detection of microbial antigens in clinical samples can lead to rapid diagnosis of an infection and administration of appropriate therapeutics. A major barrier in diagnostics development is determining which of the potentially hundreds or thousands of antigens produced by a microbe are actually present in patient samples in detectable amounts against a background of innumerable host proteins. In this report, we describe a strategy, termed in vivo microbial antigen discovery (InMAD), that we used to identify circulating bacterial antigens. This technique starts with “InMAD serum,” which is filtered serum that has been harvested from BALB/c mice infected with a bacterial pathogen. The InMAD serum, which is free of whole bacterial cells, is used to immunize syngeneic BALB/c mice. The resulting “InMAD immune serum” contains antibodies specific for the soluble microbial antigens present in sera from the infected mice. The InMAD immune serum is then used to probe blots of bacterial lysates or bacterial proteome arrays. Bacterial antigens that are reactive with the InMAD immune serum are precisely the antigens to target in an antigen immunoassay. By employing InMAD, we identified multiple circulating antigens that are secreted or shed during infection using Burkholderia pseudomallei and Francisella tularensis as model organisms. Potential diagnostic targets identified by the InMAD approach included bacterial proteins, capsular polysaccharide, and lipopolysaccharide. The InMAD technique makes no assumptions other than immunogenicity and has the potential to be a broad discovery platform to identify diagnostic targets from microbial pathogens

What’s in a price? the American raw cotton market in Liverpool and the Anglo-American war

This article argues that an embryonic futures market was present in Liverpool during the Anglo-American war. The analysis of a previously unseen dataset of printed Prices Currents has facilitated not only a price series of raw cotton prices, but an in-depth analysis of the ‘construction’ of those raw cotton prices. By positing a definition of.an embryonic futures market and then analysing each of the features of a such a market in turn, this study demonstrates the existence of an embryonic futures market in early nineteenth-century Liverpool

The East India Company and the island of Johanna (Anjouan) during the long eighteenth century

Los enterovirus (EV) son la causa más común de infecciones de las vías respiratorias en humanos y se clasifican en siete especies (EV A-D y rhinovirus [RHV] A-C) con más de 200 serotipos diferentes. Poco se sabe acerca del rol de EV en las infecciones respiratorias en América del Sur. El objetivo principal de este estudio fue determinar la prevalencia de los EV en niños ≤ 15 años con enfermedad tipo influenza incluidos en un estudio de vigilancia pasiva de Influenza y otros virus respiratorios en el distrito de Piura durante el año 2011. Se obtuvo de cada participante una muestra de hisopado faríngeo y datos epidemiológicos. El aislamiento viral se realizó mediante cultivo celular utilizando cuatro líneas celulares (LLCMK2, Vero E6, RD y A549). La identificación y determinación del serotipo de EV se realizaron mediante el ensayo de inmunofluorescencia utilizando anticuerpos monoclonales. Los aislamientos no serotipificables por inmunofluorescencia, fueron seleccionados para su análisis mediante RT-PCR, seguido por secuenciamiento. En total se analizaron 424 muestras, aislándose EV en 47 muestras (11,1%). 46.8% de estos EV se encontraron en niños ≤ 1 año de edad. Nuestros resultados revelaron un predominio de especies EVB (62,5%). No se aislaron especies EVD. Se identificaron quince serotipos, 4 EVA, 8 EVB, y 2 EVC. Por otra parte, siete muestras no pudieron ser correctamente clasificadas con nuestra metodología. Los serotipos más frecuentes fueron coxsackievirus B2, coxsackievirus A2, y echovirus 9. El uso de células RD y A549 incrementó el aislamiento de EV. Este estudio proporciona datos sobre los serotipos de EV que circulan en el distrito de Piura y establece la necesidad de realizar más estudios.Enteroviruses (EVs) are the most common cause of respiratory tract infections in humans and are classified into seven species (EVA-D and rhinovirus [RHV] A-C) with more than 200 different serotypes. Little is known about the role of EVs in respiratory infections in South America. The main objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of EVs in children aged ≤ 15 years with influenza-like illness enrolled in an Influenza and other respiratory viruses’ passive surveillance network in the district of Piura during 2011. Throat swabs and epidemiological data were collected from each participant. Virus isolation was performed by cell culture using four cell lines (LLCMK2, Vero, RD and A549). The identification and serotyping of EV were performed by immunofluorescence assay using monoclonal antibodies. Isolates non-serotypeable by immunofluorescence were selected for analysis by RT-PCR, followed by sequencing. A total of 424 samples were analyzed, and EVs were found in 47 samples (11.1%). 46.8% of these EVs were found in children aged ≤ 1 year. Our results revealed a predominance of EVB species, 62.5%. No EVD isolates were isolated. Fifteen serotypes were identified, 4 EVA, 8 EVB, and 2 EVC species. Moreover, seven samples could not be correctly classified with our methodology. The most common serotypes were coxsackievirus B2, coxsackievirus A2, and echovirus 9. The use of cells RD and A549 increase the isolation of EVs. This study provides data about the serotypes of EVs circulating in the district of Piura and sets the need for further studies. Keywords: Enterovirus, respiratory infections, PiuraTesi