Scientists have vital role to play in swine flu outbreak

Scientists' role in swine flu outbreak control

Scientists can help communicate the risks and uncertainties of a swine flu pandemic, says an editorial in Nature — and the greatest danger posed by the emerging disease is not hyping the threat, but underplaying it.

Communicating the risks of a pandemic is a delicate business, says the editorial, especially because influenza viruses evolve quickly and it is extremely difficult to predict what will happen just a few months from now.

Peter Sandman, a risk communication consultant in Princeton, United States, says that health agencies such as the WHO and the US Centers for Disease Control have done a good job of highlighting this uncertainty and emphasising what it means — that advice may change, local strategies will vary and there may be inconsistencies.

But the importance of local communities taking action for themselves has been absent from current communication by governments and health authorities, says the editorial. Many governments have some plans in place to cope with a pandemic if it comes but many of these will rely on local action. Scientists can help make these plans work by informing their communities of the risks and uncertainties, and pointing people to credible pandemic-planning resources.

Reported by Scidev.net from Nature
Link to full article in Nature

Experts highlight lack of swine flu diagnostics

Developing countries lack capacity to fight swine flu

Many developing countries have "extremely limited capacity" to diagnose diseases such as swine flu and are likely to remain this way for decades, according to a public health expert specialising in pandemic preparedness.

There has been substantial investment in developing countries to support animal and human health surveillance, says Richard Coker, professor of public health at the UK-based London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). But they still lack resources and face logistical issues.

"Thus new emerging infectious diseases may be extremely challenging to identify," he told SciDev.Net. "And existing diseases that pose a pandemic threat may not be identified in a timely manner to support containment efforts."

He predicts that it could be "decades, if ever" before every country has diagnostic capacity, especially as donors reduce funding in light of the global financial crisis.
His comments come as the WHO rushes kit to diagnose swine flu — officially known as influenza A (H1N1) — around the world.

The WHO has both National Influenza Centres (NICs) reference laboratories in over 60 countries. Those equipped to carry out a procedure called reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) will receive the reagents they need to detect swine flu in the next few days, Nikki Shindo, a medical officer in the WHO's Epidemic and Pandemic Alert and Response Department, told SciDev.Net.

These reagents, or 'primers', are short stretches of genetic material that help identify the virus. Without them, laboratories cannot detect the virus, says Shindo. But with them, RT-PCR should confirm the virus' presence in about two hours.

The NICs monitor seasonal influenza circulation for the WHO through the Global Influenza Surveillance Network. Not all have the capacity to do RT-PCR, but those that do not have been linked to those who do so they can send their samples to them, says Shindo.

Similarly, entire countries that lack RT-PCR capacity will send their samples to other countries for analysis using the WHO courier system.

Enrique Paris, a member of Chile's medical expert advisory committee dealing with the swine flu situation, says that the lack of diagnostic capacity in developing countries is hindering the detection of cases.

In Mexico itself, a lack of RT-PCR equipment could be behind the confusion over the number of cases and deaths caused by the virus. Authorities had been reporting around 150 deaths but only 29 have been confirmed so far to be from swine flu.

The country received 15 machines to carry out RT-PCR only last week (30 April). Until then scientists had been relying on more basic tests that distinguish between influenza subtypes but do not definitively diagnose the specific virus, according to Celia Alpuche, adjunct director general of the Institute of Epidemiological Diagnosis and Reference.

Shindo agrees that there are legitimate concerns about delayed diagnosis and says that the WHO is constantly communicating through the Global Influenza Surveillance Network to prepare for the potential spread of the H1N1 virus.

Diagnostic capacity in developing countries has nevertheless increased in recent years, particularly after the 2003 SARS outbreak and emergence of H5N1 bird flu.

Some developing countries — particularly in Asia — have developed some influenza laboratory capacity either independently or with the support of organisations such as the US Centers for Disease Control or the France-based Pasteur Institute, Sandra Mounier-Jack, lecturer in health policy and expert in pandemic preparedness at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine told SciDev.Net.

And the WHO has a long-term strategy to strengthen surveillance and diagnostic capacity in developing countries as part of the International Health Regulations, which were formulated in 2005 and require that countries strengthen capacity to report newly emerging infections. The WHO strategy will be "strengthened" in light of the current emergency, says Shindo.

Reported by: Katherine Nightingale, Paula Leighton and Aleida Rueda for scidev.net

Intel International Science and Engineering Fair Kicks off

Young scientists descend on Reno in hopes of winning scholarships and other prizes

More than 1,500 high school students are trying their luck in Reno, Nev., this week at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. While some students will hit the jackpot, they all have already won big — previously taking top prizes at 500 or so science fairs for ninth- through 12th-graders held across the country and globe. Now the young scientists will present their projects in Reno, competing for nearly $4 million in scholarships, tuition grants and scientific trips and equipment.

Some of the students have been working on their projects for months, others for years. Categories include energy and transportation, cellular and molecular biology, physics and astronomy, medicine and health, microbiology, engineering and mathematics. After a week of showcasing their projects, interviewing with judges and attending talks and events, three of the students will be awarded $50,000 scholarships.

Society for Science & the Public, publisher of Science News, partners with Intel, which — along with dozens of other corporate, academic, government and science-focused sponsors — provides support and awards for the Intel ISEF each year.

Tune in all week for updates from Reno, and visit the Intel ISEF site for more information: http://www.intelisef2009.org/

Credit: The article was produced by Rachel Ehrenberg for sciencenews.org

Technology Sharing Forum Launched for OIC Countries

COMSTECH Technology Sharing Forum for OIC Countries

Organization of the Islamic Conference Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) has launched a Technology Forum through which all OIC member states can offer their endogenously developed technologies to other countries of the OIC. The countries seeking some specific technology can also contact COMSTECH Secretariat for routing of their demand to other member states.

“There are a number of technologies which have been developed within the OIC member states and have been commercialized. These are available in various fields of engineering, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, biotechnology, medicine, agriculture, agro-food, energy etc. There may be many companies within the OIC member states who are willing to offer such technologies to other OIC countries on mutually acceptable terms of sharing of royalties or as joint venture partnerships. COMSTECH has therefore launched the “COMSTECH Technology Forum” which will allow member states having suitable technologies to offer to other OIC member states through this forum.” said the Program in-charge.

“Similarly OIC Member States which are interested in acquiring specific technologies can place their requirements on the COMSTECH website so that they can benefit through the expertise available in other Member States”, he added.

It is expected that COMSTECH Technology Forum will serve as an important open tool for the promotion of industrial and technological collaboration and cooperation among OIC member states through sharing of useful technologies for industrial production. Further information regarding how to share technology is available at COMSTECH website www.comstech.org.

Report by: Ameen Amjad
Islamabad, Pakistan