Knowledge Exchange Newsletter, July/August 2016

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​Stories of Typhoid: Meet Nishita

Meet Nishita. A nine-year-old who wants to go to school so badly that she reads her textbook, by herself, by the light of the window in her family’s house. But this Bangladeshi third-grader hasn’t been able to go to class since she contracted a severe case of typhoid.

Nishita spent more than a week burning with a fever of between 102° and 104° Fahrenheit. Instead of taking her school tests, she has been struggling to hold down food and water despite her sore throat, stomach pains, constipation, and bouts of vomiting. Read more about her story.

Save the Date

The 10th International Conference on Typhoid and Other Invasive Salmonelloses will be held in Kampala, Uganda, from April 4-6, 2017. Abstract and symposium submissions open on August 22 and close October 28. Head to our website for submission guidelines and more conference information.

Outbreak Watch: Monsoon Season Begins​

  • Bangladesh – Receding floodwaters in the northern region have left typhoid in its wake as residents have no choice but to drink polluted water.
  • Cambodia – Children in rural communes face a “substantial burden” of typhoid fever.
  • El Salvador – 477 cases of typhoid fever were recorded in the first six months of the year.
  • India – Mumbai witnessed a 25% increase in typhoid cases from last year, with 712 cases from January-June. Infectious diseases of the monsoon season are spreading at a faster rate in other parts of India as well. Waterbourne diseases in Shamli district have killed five and are sending 700 fever patients each day to the hospitals. In Khammam district, polluted drinking water has led to 250 cases of typhoid. Typhoid cases are rising in Indore each month, doubling in Thane, and rising in Pune. Ahmedabad has seen 81 typhoid cases in the first six days of August. The village of Chongkhow has seen 19 deaths in two months of an unidentified, typhoid-like illness.
  • Liberia – Health care centers in Grand Gedeh County report a “sharp increase” in typhoid cases.
  • Malawi – More than 200 nursing students have been sent home after a typhoid outbreak of 348 cases at their college. The outbreak has now spread to the rural population of Zomba. Residents believe that the Likwena Dam, which supplies drinking water, is responsible for the outbreak.
  • Nepal – Hospitals struggling to handle the influx of typhoid patients due to the monsoon season are running out of medicine. Tanahun has seen a massive surge in seasonal patients with typhoid and other fevers. Waterborne diseases are spreading in Saptari district after flooding.
  • Pakistan – Hot and humid weather during Ramadan has sparked well over 15,000 cases of gastroenteritis. Health departments are asked to take pre-emptive measures for the monsoon season.
  • Sudan – Refugees in the South Sudanese Yousef Batel camp have seen the rapid spread of diseases including malaria and typhoid.
  • Zimbabwe – Drug shortages in Marondera, Zimbabwe have contributed to the death of a girl with typhoid.

​The Dirt on Water

  • India – Water samples from the Ludhiana railway station contaminated with pathogenic bacteria.
  • Iraq – An “epic” Middle Eastern heat wave is causing water sources to become crowded and contaminated.
  • Uganda – A free-flowing well in Kampala, littered with rubbish and fecal matter, saves families money but exposes them to diseases.
  • Pakistan – Most residents in Sindh province don’t have access to clean drinking water. Seven bottled water factories in Islamabad were closed down after authorities found unsafe levels of microbiological contamination.​

Waste Not

  • A Kenyan social enterprise has begun providing toilets to over 400 people that lack proper sanitation in order to prevent diseases like typhoid.

From the Blog

Publications

Antimicrobial Resistance

Diagnostics and Treatments

Genomics and Host Susceptibility

  • Composition of Gut Microbiota Influences Resistance of Newly Hatched Chickens to Salmonella Enteritidis Infection – Frontiers in Microbiology
  • Salmonella L-forms: formation in human bile in vitro and isolation culture from patients’ gallbladder samples by a non-high osmotic isolation technique – Clinical Microbiology and Infection
  • RpoE promotes invasion and intracellular survival by regulating SPI-1 and SPI-2 in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi – Future Microbiology
  • Invasive Non-typhoidal Salmonella Infections in Asia: Clinical Observations, Disease Outcome and Dominant Serovars from an Infectious Disease Hospital in Vietnam – PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases

Literature reviews

Vaccines

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