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Biomedical subjects

I Arita

Publications and source records attributed to I Arita.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

[Monkey pox virus infection in humans in the Central African Republic].

A human monkeypox outbreak is reported which occurred in January 1984 in the extreme south-west areas of the Central African Republic. Six persons were found to be affected in a Pygmy camp with an estimated population of 50 residents. In the two affected families, out of 11 members, only unvaccinated children and a 22 year old unvaccinated woman contracted the disease. The disease was of moderate severity in two patients and very mild in the other four. The clinical diagnosis was confirmed by virus isolation from skin lesions of 4 patients and by sero-immunologic tests in all of them. The clinically apparent monkeypox case reported in the Central African Republic in 1983, the presently described outbreak, as well as information on the disease obtained from Pygmies and missionary paramedical staff who are in frequent contact with them, suggest that monkeypox is enzootic in the tropical rain forest in the south-west areas of the Central African Republic.

Central African Republic↗
PubMed1983

Human monkeypox transmitted by a chimpanzee in a tropical rain-forest area of Zaire.

A case of monkeypox infection in a six-month-old baby girl who had been bitten by a wild chimpanzee in Kivu, Zaire, was investigated. The child had not been exposed to any monkeypox-like disease and no cases of such disease had occurred in the surrounding area during previous months. The time of onset of rash was consistent with the virus having been transmitted from the chimpanzee. However, it is still not known whether chimpanzees and other primates or lower mammals are the primary reservoir of monkeypox infection.

Accidents, Home↗
PubMed1982

Surveillance of orthopoxvirus infections, and associated research, in the period after smallpox eradication.

In 1980, the World Health Assembly declared the global eradication of smallpox and recommended the universal discontinuation of smallpox vaccination; nevertheless, it recommended that surveillance and research on orthopoxvirus infections should continue. By early 1982, all except 8 countries in the world had stopped routine vaccination programmes and all except 1 no longer required an international certificate of smallpox vaccination for travellers. Since 1978, as a result of continuing active surveillance, 176 smallpox rumours have been investigated in 60 countries. Two of these concerned the two laboratory-associated cases that occurred in the United Kingdom in 1978; all the others were false alarms. Special surveillance programmes for human monkeypox have been developed in West and Central Africa. The number of laboratories retaining variola virus stocks has been reduced to four. Investigations to determine the identity and origin of the six known isolates of "whitepox" virus have continued. Research on mapping of variola DNA and on monoclonal antibodies against certain orthopoxvirus antigens is continuing. All these measures are aimed at ensuring that the achievement of smallpox eradication is permanent.

DNA, Viral↗
PubMed1980

The confirmation and maintenance of smallpox eradication.

In December 1979, an independent scientific commission certified global eradication of smallpox. This conclusion was accepted at the 33d World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) in May 1980. After WHO's intensified eradication program began in 1967, special certification procedures were used in 35 countries where the disease had been endemic and in 44 others at special risk. Six laboratories are known to retain variola virus; efforts have been made to ensure strict containment of these strains. There is no evidence that smallpox will recur as an endemic disease. Nevertheless, WHO will promote surveillance of smallpox-like disease and selected laboratory research on certain orthopoxviruses. These efforts will maintain confidence that smallpox has been eradicated and confirm that there are no animal reservoirs of variola virus. A more complete understanding of the orthopoxviruses, including monkeypox virus, should also be obtained.

Child↗
PubMed1980

Human monkeypox, 1970-79.

Increasing attention has been given to human monkeypox since the achievement of global smallpox eradication. Monkeypox, which was first described in Central Africa in 1970, resembles smallpox clinically but differs from it epidemiologically. Forty-seven cases of human monkeypox have occurred since 1970 in 5 Central and West African countries; 38 of these cases have been reported from Zaire. The evolution of the illness and the sequelae of monkeypox and smallpox are the same; monkeypox has a case-fatality rate of about 17%. Children below 10 years of age comprise 83% of the cases. All cases have occurred in tropical rainforest areas and clustering of cases has been observed in certain zones within countries and within families. Person-to-person spread may have occurred in 4 cases; the secondary attack rate among susceptible, very close family members was 7.5% (3 cases/40 contacts) and among all susceptible contacts was 3.3% (4 cases/123 contacts)-much lower than the 25-40% secondary attack rate that occurs with smallpox. Although the low transmission rate and the low frequency of disease indicate that monkeypox is not a public health problem, more data are needed.Whilst many animals near human monkeypox cases have been demonstrated to have orthopoxvirus antibodies, the natural reservoir(s) and the vector(s) of monkeypox virus are unknown. Studies are in progress to identify the natural cycle of monkeypox virus and to define better the clinical and epidemiological features of this disease.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Evaluation of smallpox vaccination policy.

During 1978 and 1979 the Global Commission for the Certification of Smallpox Eradication will proceed with verification of smallpox eradication in 31 countries. If current surveillance activities do not discover any further cases before the end of 1979, the world will be declared smallpox free. However, the recent occurrence of two laboratory associated smallpox cases in Birmingham, England, revealed that the stocks of variola virus held in at least 12 laboratories in the world pose a real danger to the achievement of smallpox eradication and efforts are being made to reduce the number of laboratories retaining the virus to not more than 4-all WHO collaborating centres-by 1980. Scientific data indicate the unlikelihood of smallpox recurring once it has been eradicated from the human population, although further confirmatory studies are continuing. If the Global Commission verifies the eradication of smallpox, continuation of smallpox vaccination will be unjustifiable in view of its severe complications, however infrequent, and the expected global savings that would result from the termination of vaccination programmes.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Farewell to smallpox vaccination.

Man's first attempt to immunize susceptibles against smallpox infection was by variolation, a practice which could be traced back several thousand years. The attempt obviously failed to control the disease until Jenner discovered the effectiveness of cowpox vaccine during the late 18th century. However, it took an additional 180 years until the current smallpox vaccine--a modification of Jenner's vaccine--became fully effective, in terms of quality and usage during the global smallpox eradication campaign. The campaign appears to be on the threshold of success, which could well mean extinction of one of the most dangerous pathogens from the natural environment. If this is verified, we may say farewell to routine smallpox vaccination. The paper discusses different measures taken to ensure the quality and the use of smallpox vaccine in the best possible manner during the eradication campaign and, on its completion, the fate of smallpox vaccination.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

Monkeypox and whitepox viruses in West and Central Africa.

Prospects for the eradication of smallpox are now highly encouraging. With the cessation of man-to-man transmission, the question of possible animal reservoirs of smallpox becomes increasingly important. During the period 1970-1975, 20 cases of a smallpox-like disease were detected in smallpox-free areas of tropical rain forest in West and Central Africa. Epidemiological and virological investigations revealed that the disease was caused by an animal poxvirus termed monkeypox virus, a member of the orthopox virus group. The disease spread with difficulty even among susceptible close contacts and does not appear to be sufficiently transmissible to permit continuing infection to become established in man. During the investigations, four orthopox viruses termed whitepox viruses were isolated from rodents and monkeys. The isolates were not distinguishable from variola virus with currently available laboratory techniques, but there is no evidence so far that viruses of this group have infected man. Although there is now substantial and accumulating evidence that there is no animal reservoir for smallpox, continued surveillance and studies in West and Central Africa are warranted.

Africa, Central↗