Unidentified Illness in Colombia on Friday, 29 August, 2014 Description A mystery illness has overwhelmed a small town in northern Colombia as scores of teenage girls have been hospitalized with symptoms that parents fear could be an adverse reaction to a popular vaccine against cervical cancer. Authorities say they still dont know what caused more than 200 girls in El Carmen de Bolivar to come down with symptoms ranging from fainting to numbness in the hands and headaches. Some have hinted that the town of 95,000 near Colombias Caribbean coast could be experiencing a rare case of mass hysteria. Parents are on edge, however, because all the girls, ranging in ages from 9 to 16, were injected in recent months with the vaccine Gardasil. On Wednesday, residents marched peacefully to demand a thorough investigation. Francisco Vega, the towns mayor and a trained physician, told The Associated Press that illnesses first appeared at the end of May and have been steadily increasing since. Over the weekend, 120 girls were rushed to hospitals, collapsing the towns limited medical facilities. None of their symptoms were life-threatening and all have since been released, he said. Echoing the assurances of national health and toxicology experts, who have traveled to the town to collect blood samples and investigate possible environmental hazards, he said theres no evidence the vaccine, which has undergone extensive testing and regulation globally, is to blame. Meanwhile, Health Minister Alejandro Gaviria is criticizing hyped coverage by the media for stirring panic, saying concerns about their vaccine, which has been applied to 2.9 million women in Colombia, are baseless. On one side we have the weight of scientific evidence and on the other are opinions and moral prejudices, he told W Radio on Wednesday, adding the cervical cancer claims the lives of more than 3,000 women every year in Colombia. Veronica Trulin, head of communications in Latin America for Merck, said all lots of the vaccine, including the ones sent to Colombia, meet all required quality and safety standards. We dont comment on speculation about our products, she said in an email. Biohazard name: Unidentified Illness Biohazard level: 2/4 Medium Biohazard desc.: Bacteria and viruses that cause only mild disease to humans, or are difficult to contract via aerosol in a lab setting, such as hepatitis A, B, and C, influenza A, Lyme disease, salmonella, mumps, measles, scrapie, dengue fever, and HIV. Routine diagnostic work with clinical specimens can be done safely at Biosafety Level 2, using Biosafety Level 2 practices and procedures. Research work (including co-cultivation, virus replication studies, or manipulations involving concentrated virus) can be done in a BSL-2 (P2) facility, using BSL-3 practices and procedures. Virus production activities, including virus concentrations, require a BSL-3 (P3) facility and use of BSL-3 practices and procedures, see Recommended Biosafety Levels for Infectious Agents. Symptoms: fainting, numbness in the hands, headaches Status: suspected
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 06:38:25 +0000
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