AtifKamal.com Blog

ISLAMABAD:

With the number of people refusing to have their children inoculated against polio reducing and the reported cases themselves showing a sharp decline compared to 2011, the prognosis for polio in Pakistan looks good.

In 2011, 154 cases were reported in 48 districts, while in 2012 so far, 47 cases have been reported from 27 districts. The refusals have also fallen by about 60%, when compared to 2011, according to officials.

But the battle against polio is far from over as admitted by Prime Minister’s focal person on Polio Eradication, Shahnaz Wazir Ali. “Pakistan is one of the only three countries where polio still exists,” she said.

A senior official working closely with the polio eradication programme said the recent sharp decline in the number of refusals and polio cases in the country should not be considered as the only indicator to gauge the performance of the polio eradication programme. “The only correct indicator to gauge performance is a reduction in the number of children repeatedly missed.”

According to the Pakistan Polio Eradication Initiative and UNICEF, over 0.5 million of children were missed in the October polio campaign which included 45,000 refusals.

The official said the biggest challenge is the polio teams’ inability to gain access to hundreds of thousands of children in North Waziristan and South Waziristan due to a ban by the Taliban.

An official working for the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa said the inability of polio teams in the two tribal regions to reach 300,000 children during every polio campaign is one of the “biggest hurdles” in their way.

“This year, 11 polio cases were reported from Bara in Khyber Agency,” he said, while revealing that 157,000 children remained unvaccinated in Khyber Agency since September 2009. Only children that made it to Jalozai Camp near Peshawar were given polio drops. The 2009-2012 inaccessibility in Khyber Agency resulted in the outbreak, he added.

When contacted at the regional headquarters of WHO in Cairo, Chief of the Polio Section for Pakistan, Dr Elias Durry said Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is the biggest challenge in the fight against polio. “By mid-November, Karachi will have been polio-free for one complete year.”

Successes in Karachi and Quetta districts clearly demonstrate the capacity of the polio programme to knock out polio, he said. “[But] the outbreaks like the one in K-P stress the fragility of the success and the urgency to implement quality campaigns throughout the country.”

In 1994, about 23,000 children were either paralysed or killed by polio in Pakistan. Subsequent campaigns helped bring the number of polio victims down. But the downward spiral stopped in 2006, coinciding with rising militancy in the tribal region.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 2^nd, 2012.

Source: http://tribune.com.pk/story/459512/world-polio-day-number-of-polio-cases-falling-but-pakistan-still-far-from-green/

I wish to share the following information regarding Dengue Fever & Papaya Leaf Juice that I have gathered from the internet and a forwarded email.

Dengue fever is caused by a virus that is being transmitted through the bites of infective female Aedes mosquitoes. This virus is not contagious and cannot be spread directly from person to person. There must be a person-to-mosquito-to-another-person pathway. However, presently there is no specific medicine or antibiotic to treat dengue caused by the virus.

It seems that dengue strikes people with low levels of immunity. The body contains two types of blood cells: red and white. White blood cells help to fight off illnesses. Dengue fever decreases the amount of white blood cells, thus exposing the patient to illness.

Some of the symptoms of dengue fever are: very high fever, nausea, headache, rash and dangerously low blood platelets count.

Dengue starts with chills, headache, pain upon moving the eyes, and low backache. Painful aching in the legs and joints occurs during the first hours of illness. The temperature rises quickly as high as 104° F (40° C), with relative low heart rate (bradycardia) and low blood pressure (hypotension). The eyes become reddened. A flushing or pale pink rash comes over the face and then disappears. The glands (lymph nodes) in the neck and groin are often swollen.

Fever and other signs of dengue last for 2 - 4 days, followed by rapid drop in temperature (defervescence) with profuse sweating. This precedes a period with normal temperature and a sense of well-being that lasts about a day. A second rapid rise in temperature follows. A characteristic rash appears along with the fever and spreads from the extremities to cover the entire body except the face. The palms and soles may be bright red and swollen.

Appropriate medical care frequently saves the lives of patients with the more serious dengue hemorrhagic fever. There is no specific treatment for classic dengue fever, and most people recover within 2 weeks. To help with recovery, health care experts recommend:

1) Getting plenty of bed rest.

2) Drinking lots of fluids for adequate hydration.

3) Taking medicine to reduce fever/severe headache and joint/muscle pain but Aspirin and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs should be avoided as these drugs may worsen the bleeding tendency associated with some of these infections.

4) A platelet transfusion is indicated in rare cases if the platelets level drops significantly (below 20,000) or if there are significant bleeding.

The emails speculating the goodness of papaya leaf juice for curing dengue fever suggested to take 2 tablespoon papaya leaf juice per serving once a day, prepared from using 4 pieces papaya leaf (without stem or sap) after cleaning, pound and squeeze with filter cloth. Someone suggested to juice the leaves using a gear juicer or blend the leaves using a food processor/blender, and then put them in a filter cloth to squeeze out the juice. Do not boil or cook or rinse with hot water, otherwise it will loose its strength. Its taste is horribly bitter and may have to swallow it as if drinking 王老吉 'Won Low Kat'.

Although there may be no scientific proof of this recommendation, but papaya leaf is known to contain very high amounts of vitamins A, C, E, K, B Complex and especially high in B17 (laetrile, which is used for the treatment of cancer). Moreover, papaya leaf juice is believed to increase the number of white blood cells in the body

We have also come across online postings about the use of papaya leaf juice helping dengue patients to increase the platelets count dramatically and later overcome the fever.

Such discussions on internet or circulation through emails may not be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. However, there is no harm of taking papaya leaf juice after a dengue patient has seen a doctor, and has been advised to have adequate rest and drink lot of water and fluids, whether hospitalized or not.

It's great if such natural cure could help to ease the sufferings of dengue patients. Who knows this might make naturopathy a little more popular as currently it seems that there is no cure for the dreaded dengue reaching epidemic proportions.

But one thing is sure; the only way to prevent dengue virus transmission is to combat the disease-carrying Aedes mosquitoes, by eradicating all possible breeding sites.

 

May 31, 2011 -- The expert panel that evaluates cancer risks today said that cell phones might possibly cause brain cancer.

The announcement comes from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Like the World Health Organization, the American Cancer Society relies on IARC for evaluation of cancer risks.

"After reviewing all the evidence available, the IARC working group classified radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans," panel chairman Jonathan Samet, MD, chair of preventive medicine at the USC Keck School of Medicine, said at a news teleconference. "We reached this conclusion based on a review of human evidence showing increased risk of glioma, a malignant type of brain cancer, in association with wireless phone use."

In finding cell phones to be "possibly carcinogenic," the IARC means that heavy cell phone use might -- or might not -- cause a specific form of brain cancer called glioma. The finding means that research is urgently needed to find out whether cell phones actually cause cancer, and how they might do it.

The IARC estimates that some 5 billion people worldwide have mobile phones. Lifetime exposure to the magnetic fields created by the phones -- particularly when they are held tightly against the head -- rapidly is increasing.

Children are at particular risk, not only because their skulls are thinner but also because their lifetime exposure to cell phones likely will be greater than the exposure of current adults.

Putting Possible Cancer Risk in Perspective

It's important to put the possible risk into context. Kurt Straif, MD, PhD, MPH, head of the IARC Monographs Program, notes that the IARC currently lists some 240 agents as "possibly carcinogenic," including dry cleaning fluid and some commonly used pesticides.

While the IARC doesn't make recommendations to consumers, Straif noted that there are precautions people can take.

"Some of the highest exposures come from using mobile phones for voice calls. If you text, or use hands-free devices, you lower exposure by at least [10-fold]," Straif said at the news conference. "So this is left to consumers to consider whether this level of evidence is enough for them to take such precautions."

Otis W. Brawley, MD, chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society, notes that the IARC is a highly credible group. But Brawley echoes Straif's advice: People who are worried can reduce their risk.

"On the other hand, if someone is of the opinion that the absence of strong scientific evidence on the harms of cell phone use is reassuring, they may take different actions, and it would be hard to criticize that," Brawley says in a news release.

John Walls, vice president for public affairs at CTIA, the trade group representing the wireless communications industry, notes that the IARC findings do not mean cell phones cause cancer -- and that the limited evidence on which the findings are based are far from conclusive.

"Based on previous assessments of the scientific evidence, the Federal Communications Commission has concluded that '[t]here’s no scientific evidence that proves that wireless phone usage can lead to cancer.' The Food and Drug Administration has also stated that '[t]he weight of scientific evidence has not linked cell phones with any health problems,'" Walls notes in a news release.

Samet and colleagues will publish a summary of their findings in the July 1 issue of The Lancet, which is still in press.

 

Courtesy : http://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/20110531/expert-panel-cell-phones-might-cause-brain-cancer?ecd=wnl_nal_060111

Dengue Fever

 

What is dengue fever?

Dengue fever is a disease caused by a family of viruses that are transmitted by mosquitoes. It is an acute illness of sudden onset that usually follows a benign course with symptoms such as headache, fever, exhaustion, severe muscle and joint pain, swollen glands (lymphadenopathy), and rash. The presence (the "dengue triad") of fever, rash, and headache (and other pains) is particularly characteristic of dengue. Other signs of dengue fever include bleeding gums, severe pain behind the eyes, and red palms and soles.

Dengue (pronounced DENG-gay) strikes people with low levels of immunity. Because it is caused by one of four serotypes of virus, it is possible to get dengue fever multiple times. However, an attack of dengue produces immunity for a lifetime to that particular serotype to which the patient was exposed.

Dengue goes by other names, including "breakbone" or "dandy fever." Victims of dengue often have contortions due to the intense joint and muscle pain, hence the name breakbone fever. Slaves in the West Indies who contracted dengue were said to have dandy fever because of their postures and gait.

Dengue hemorrhagic fever is a more severe form of the viral illness. Manifestations include headache, fever, rash, and evidence of hemorrhage in the body. Petechiae (small red or purple blisters under the skin), bleeding in the nose or gums, black stools, or easy bruising are all possible signs of hemorrhage. This form of dengue fever can be life-threatening and can progress to the most severe form of the illness, dengue shock syndrome.

What areas are at high risk for contracting dengue fever?

Dengue is prevalent throughout the tropics and subtropics. Outbreaks have occurred recently in the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Cuba, and Central America. Cases have also been imported via tourists returning from areas with widespread dengue, including Tahiti, Singapore, the South Pacific, Southeast Asia, the West Indies, India, and the Middle East (similar in distribution to the areas of the world that harbor malaria and yellow fever). Dengue is now the leading cause of acute febrile illness in U.S. travelers returning from the Caribbean, South America, and Asia.

Dengue fever is common, and statistics show it may be increasing in Southeast Asia. Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, and Malaysia have all reported an increase in cases. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are an estimated 100 million cases of dengue fever with several hundred thousand cases of dengue hemorrhagic fever requiring hospitalization each year. Nearly 40% of the world's population lives in an area endemic with dengue.

How is dengue fever contracted?

The virus is contracted from the bite of a striped Aedes aegypti mosquito that has previously bitten an infected person. The mosquito flourishes during rainy seasons but can breed in water-filled flower pots, plastic bags, and cans year-round. One mosquito bite can inflict the disease.

The virus is not contagious and cannot be spread directly from person to person. There must be a person-to-mosquito-to-another-person pathway.

What are dengue fever symptoms and signs?

After being bitten by a mosquito carrying the virus, the incubation period ranges from three to 15 (usually five to eight) days before the signs and symptoms of dengue appear. Dengue starts with chills, headache, pain upon moving the eyes, and low backache. Painful aching in the legs and joints occurs during the first hours of illness. The temperature rises quickly as high as 104 F (40 C), with relative low heart rate (bradycardia) and low blood pressure (hypotension). The eyes become reddened. A flushing or pale pink rash comes over the face and then disappears. The glands (lymph nodes) in the neck and groin are often swollen.

Fever and other signs of dengue last for two to four days, followed by a rapid drop in body temperature (defervescence) with profuse sweating. This precedes a period with normal temperature and a sense of well-being that lasts about a day. A second rapid rise in temperature follows. A characteristic rash appears along with the fever and spreads from the extremities to cover the entire body except the face. The palms and soles may be bright red and swollen.

What is the treatment for dengue fever?

Because dengue fever is caused by a virus, there is no specific medicine or antibiotic to treat it. For typical dengue, the treatment is purely concerned with relief of the symptoms (symptomatic). Rest and fluid intake for adequate hydration is important. Aspirin and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs should only be taken under a doctor's supervision because of the possibility of worsening hemorrhagic complications. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) and codeine may be given for severe headache and for the joint and muscle pain (myalgia).

What is the prognosis for typical dengue fever?

Typical dengue is fatal in less than 1% of cases. The acute phase of the illness with fever and myalgias lasts about one to two weeks. Convalescence is accompanied by a feeling of weakness (asthenia), and full recovery often takes several weeks.

What is dengue hemorrhagic fever?

Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) is a specific syndrome that tends to affect children under 10 years of age. It causes abdominal pain, hemorrhage (bleeding), and circulatory collapse (shock). DHF is also called Philippine, Thai, or Southeast Asian hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome.

DHF starts abruptly with high continuous fever and headache. There are respiratory and intestinal symptoms with sore throat, cough, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Shock occurs two to six days after the start of symptoms with sudden collapse, cool, clammy extremities (the trunk is often warm), weak pulse, and blueness around the mouth (circumoral cyanosis).

In DHF, there is bleeding with easy bruising, blood spots in the skin (petechiae), spitting up blood (hematemesis), blood in the stool (melena), bleeding gums, and nosebleeds (epistaxis). Pneumonia is common, and inflammation of the heart (myocarditis) may be present.

Patients with DHF must be monitored closely for the first few days since shock may occur or recur precipitously (dengue shock syndrome). Cyanotic (bluish) patients are given oxygen. Vascular collapse (shock) requires immediate fluid replacement. Blood transfusions may be needed to control bleeding.

The mortality (death) rate with DHF is significant. It ranges from 6%-30%. Most deaths occur in children. Infants under a year of age are especially at risk of dying from DHF.

How can dengue fever be prevented?

The transmission of the virus to mosquitoes must be interrupted to prevent the illness. To this end, patients are kept under mosquito netting until the second bout of fever is over and they are no longer contagious.

The prevention of dengue requires control or eradication of the mosquitoes carrying the virus that causes dengue. In nations plagued by dengue fever, people are urged to empty stagnant water from old tires, trash cans, and flower pots. Governmental initiatives to decrease mosquitoes also help to keep the disease in check but have been poorly effective.

To prevent mosquito bites, wear long pants and long sleeves. For personal protection, use mosquito repellant sprays that contain DEET when visiting places where dengue is endemic. Limiting exposure to mosquitoes by avoiding standing water and staying indoors two hours after sunrise and before sunset will help. The Aedes aegypti mosquito is a daytime biter with peak periods of biting around sunrise and sunset. It may bite at any time of the day and is often hidden inside homes or other dwellings, especially in urban areas.

There is currently no vaccine available for dengue fever. There is a vaccine undergoing clinical trials, but it is too early to tell if it will be safe or effective. Early results of clinical trials show that a vaccine may be available by 2012.

Where can people get more information on dengue fever?

"Dengue," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
http://www.cdc.gov/Dengue/

Dengue Fever At A Glance

• Dengue fever is a disease caused by a family of viruses that are transmitted by mosquitoes.
• Symptoms such as headache, fever, exhaustion, severe joint and muscle pain, swollen glands (lymphadenopathy), and rash. The presence (the "dengue triad") of fever, rash, and headache (and other pains) is particularly characteristic of dengue fever.
• Dengue is prevalent throughout the tropics and subtropics. Outbreaks have occurred recently in the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Cuba, and Central America.
• Because dengue fever is caused by a virus, there is no specific medicine or antibiotic to treat it. For typical dengue fever, the treatment is purely concerned with relief of the symptoms (symptomatic).
• The acute phase of the illness with fever and myalgias lasts about one to two weeks.
• Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) is a specific syndrome that tends to affect children under 10 years of age. It causes abdominal pain, hemorrhage (bleeding), and circulatory collapse (shock).
• The prevention of dengue fever requires control or eradication of the mosquitoes carrying the virus that causes dengue.
• There is currently no vaccine available for dengue fever.

Medical Author: John P. Cunha, DO
Medical Editor: Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD

 

Source: http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=6243

ProvePakistan announces a to control the children from pornography over the internet and computer usage.

Features :
Just a few things Child Control lets you do:
*NEW: Blocking of file sharing programs and sites
*NEW: 1,000,000 undesirable sites can now be selected for restriction
*NEW: Adult-content filtering provided by main authorities
*NEW: Email reports of on- and off-times and daily statistics
*NEW: additional configuration options
*Works with all versions of Windows from 95 to Vista
*Limit time on the computer for each day of the week
*Limit use of the Internet for the day and the week
*Set PC off-limits times (e.g. after 11 p.m.)
*Set Internet off-limits times (e.g. after 11 p.m.)
*Easily extend time with passwords or TAN’s
Define “unwelcome” web content using keywords

Download it from here...

The 2009 Data Breach Investigation by Verizon is out, and I have to be honest, all I’ve had time to read so far has been pages 41-43. Why those pages? Because they’re the pages that specifically call out the statistics surrounding breaches affecting merchants who are (or should be) complying with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS). Not at all surprising, at least to me, is that the study found that PCI compliance is important and that 81% of the companies researched in this report weren’t PCI compliant at the time of the breach. Of course, that also means that 19% of the companies breached had either self-assessed or been assessed by a QSA and were thought to be compliant at the time of the breach.

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