China records more cases of deadly chikungunya virus as country battles 'largest outbreak ever'
Another 1,387 cases of Chikungunya virus were confirmed last week, Chinese authorities said, with almost all in the southern manufacturing city of Foshan.
It takes the tally to more than 10,000 cases overall, with infections also reported in Taiwan and Hong Kong, as well as in Europe and travel-acquired cases in the US.
The reported figure for the latest week is, however, below that for the previous seven-day period at 2,892 cases, in a sign that the outbreak could now be slowing.
Chinese officials say there have been no cases of severe disease or death reported during the outbreak.
The spread of the mosquito-borne disease has triggered restrictions in China not seen since the Covid pandemic, with disinfectant sprayed in streets and patients quarantined in hospitals.
Officials have also deployed insecticide-spraying drones, 'cannibal' mosquitoes and killer fish to eliminate any insects that could be carrying the virus.
It has also triggered alarm in the US, with CDC officials saying they are 'assessing' the situation and warning Americans to take protective measures, such as wearing insect repellent or long-sleeved clothes if they travel to the area.
Experts in the US say the disease is just 'one plane ride' from reaching American shores.
China's record-breaking outbreak is in Guangdong province, on the southern coast, with almost all the infections reported in the city of Foshan.
In the latest update from the Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, revealed by the Yangcheng Evening News, officials reported that of the new cases, 1,212 were in Foshan.
Another 103 cases were reported in Guangzhou, the largest city in the province, while 39 cases were reported in Zhanjiang. It was not clear where the other 33 cases were within the province.
Officials heralded the figures as the lowest weekly count reported since the peak of the outbreak in the week to July 20 to 26, when they said they recorded 2,940 cases.
In a statement to DailyMail.com last week, a CDC spokesman said: 'CDC is aware of the reported chikungunya outbreak in Guangdong Province in China and is currently assessing the size and extent of the outbreak.'
The agency has already issued a level two warning for the area, advising Americans to take advanced precautions when traveling to the region.
On Friday, Hong Kong said it had detected another two cases linked to the outbreak, taking its chikungunya tally to five infections reported this year.
One was a 66-year-old woman who was reported to have traveled to Foshan alone from July 24 to August 5 to see family, before returning to Hong Kong. The patient began suffering from fever, rash and joint pain on August 6 and went to the hospital.
She has now been discharged.
It also reported another suspected case in a healthy 22-year-old woman who was suffering from joint pain and fever. She had recently traveled to Madagascar, Mauritius and Malaysia before returning to the territory, and reported having been bitten by mosquitoes during her trip.
Also on Friday, Taiwan reported its first case linked to the outbreak in China, in a woman in her 40s who had recently returned from Foshan and Shenzhen.
A day after returning to Taiwan she developed a fever, rash and pain in her limbs. Officials said she was admitted to the hospital. She also reported being bitten by mosquitoes.
Chikungunya virus can only be spread via the bites of mosquitoes and cannot be passed from human to human.
People infected with the virus suffer from a sudden high fever, normally around 103 Fahrenheit (39 Celsius), which happens within two to seven days of infection.
They may also suffer from a rash, headache, nausea, fatigue and joint pain.
In serious cases, patients may suffer from pain in the hands and feet that is so bad it leaves them struggling to carry out normal activities.
It is rarely fatal, but can leave people with lifelong complications including joint inflammation and pain that lasts for years.
Patients who are very young, elderly or have underlying conditions are most at risk because of their weakened immune systems.
There is no treatment for the virus, with doctors instead using over-the-counter painkillers, fluids and rest to ease symptoms. There are two vaccines available.
The US records more than 100 cases of chikungunya virus every year, with almost all normally linked to travelers returning from abroad before testing positive for the virus.
Experts are concerned, however, that an infected individual could be bitten by a mosquito, which would then become infected and pass the disease on to others.
A total of 45 chikungunya cases have been reported in the US this year, although none have been linked to the outbreak in China.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
26 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Off-the-shelf vaccine shows promise in preventing cancers returning, study finds
An off-the-shelf vaccine has shown promise in preventing the return of pancreatic and colorectal cancer, researchers have revealed. Cancer vaccines have been the subject of promising research in recent years. The NHS in England has been trialling various jabs in patients through the Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad (CVLP). Such vaccines train the body's immune system to recognise cancer cells so any that return after treatments such as surgery can be hunted down and killed, reducing the risk of the disease coming back. Many cancer vaccines, including some of those based on mRNA technology, are personalised to the patient's tumours. However, a study has suggested a non-personalised, experimental vaccine that is already being made at scale could help prevent the return of pancreatic and colorectal cancer. If borne out by further trials, experts say, the approach could be beneficial since the vaccine is likely to be cheaper and faster to access than mRNA jabs, as well as less toxic than some other therapies. 'After a long-term follow-up of this study, we were able to demonstrate that the group of patients who mounted an immune response have a greater likelihood of not having their cancer return and living longer compared to historical expectation of what that patient would do,' said Prof Zev Wainberg, an oncologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a co-author of the study. The authors noted 90% of people with pancreatic cancer and 50% of those with colorectal cancer had mutations in the Kras gene. These mutations result in the production of altered Kras proteins that cause cells to divide and proliferate. Writing in the journal Nature Medicine, Wainberg and colleagues reported how they gave a vaccine called ELI-002 2P to 20 patients who had had surgery for pancreatic cancer and five who had been operated on for colorectal cancer. The vaccine contains peptides – long chains of amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins. The vaccine works by training the T-cells of the body's immune system to recognise and kill cancer cells with mutations that result in them producing the altered Kras proteins. At a median follow-up of almost 20 months, the team found patients fell into two groups: 17 who had a strong immune response to the jab and eight who had a weaker response. The team found the former group experienced a longer period before their cancer returned and survived longer overall. Overall, four of those 17 patients died during follow-up, compared with seven of the eight who had a lower immune response. However, the study is early stage research designed primarily to assess safety, involved only 25 participants, had no controls, and looked at two very different types of cancer. Even so, experts said the results were worth noting. Siow Ming Lee, a professor of medical oncology at University College London, who was not involved with the work, suggested the ELI-002 2P vaccine could be combine with other kinds of immunotherapy, and might help a wider range of patients. 'With promising early results and potentially fewer side-effects than current oral inhibitors, this off-the-shelf cancer vaccine could expand treatment options for Kras-driven cancers and warrants further testing in larger trials, including exploring its potential use in lung cancers driven by mutations in Kras gene,' he said. Dr Shivan Sivakumar of the University of Birmingham, who works on mRNA-based pancreatic cancer vaccines, said it was fascinating so many of the patients in the study showed a clear immune response to the off-the-shelf vaccine. But Sivakumar noted that a key advantage of personalised mRNA vaccines was that they did not have to rely on mutations in the Kras gene. He said it was now important to carry out randomised control trials of the ELI-002 2P vaccine and follow patients over a longer period. 'How many times have we been down this garden path where we've got really excited about the science? But actually, ultimately, the real scientific experiment is in patients,' Sivakumar added.
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Countries with the most 100-year-olds REVEALED - find out where Britain ranks in our league table
Monaco is home to more centenarians per capita than anywhere else on the planet, the Daily Mail can reveal today. For every 100,000 residents living in the billionaire's playground, our analysis found almost 950 are at least 100 years olds. Hong Kong (124 per 100,000 people), Guadeloupe - a French territory in the Caribbean (100), Japan (98) and Uruguay (85) rounded out the top five. Britain ranked 32nd in our global league table, built using UN figures, with nearly 26 centenarians for every 100,000 people. The US, meanwhile, came 46th, with an equivalent figure of 20. Our research also revealed there were 27 nations with no centenarians at all in 2024, including parts of Africa and Oceania. It comes after a longevity researcher this week claimed people who reach their 100th birthday appear to have a 'superhuman' ability to avoid major illnesses. Writing in The Conversation, epidemiologist Professor Karin Modig, at the Karolinska Institutet, stated: 'The finding that centenarians manage to delay, and in some cases, avoid disease despite living longer is both intriguing and encouraging. 'It shows it's possible to age more slowly than is typical, and challenges the common belief that a longer life inevitably comes with more disease.' Her comments came on the back of two studies of older adults in Sweden. The first, involving more than 170,000 people born between 1912 and 1922, examined participants either from the age of 60 until death or until they turned 100. Centenarians not only had lower rates of disease in late-midlife, but they maintained this advantage throughout their lives, according to the results. For example, by age 85, only 4 per cent of those who reached 100 had experienced a stroke. Among those who died between the ages of 90 and 99, the figure was around 10 per cent. Researchers said this suggested they are not merely surviving serious illness better than others, they are avoiding it for much longer, and sometimes altogether. However, that project, published last August, focused on more serious diagnoses of major diseases. An even bigger follow-up study probed whether the key to longevity might also lie in avoiding less serious conditions. That analysis, published last week, included 40 different medical problems, ranging from mild to severe, such as hypertension, heart failure, diabetes and heart attacks. Academics followed nearly 275,000 people for around 30 years - either from age 70 until death, or until they turned 100. Only 4,330 participants - 1.5 per cent—reached the age of 100. Even when including a wider range of conditions, the findings showed centenarians developed fewer diseases overall, and their rate of disease accumulation was slower across their lifetime. At age 80, only 8 per cent of centenarians had been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, compared to more than 15 per cent of those who died at 85. Although most centenarians eventually developed multiple conditions, this typically occurred much later in life - around the age of 89. It also came without the sharp decline seen in non-centenarians during their final years. By contrast, non-centenarians typically experienced a steep increase in the number of health problems in the last years of their lives. This pattern was not observed in those who reached 100, whose health decline was slower and more gradual, even into their 90s. Across the UK, the Office for National Statistics estimates there are more than 16,000 centenarians. This figure has doubled over the last few decades. The UN figure for the UK differs slightly. According to that database, which the Daily Mail used for its analysis, there are almost 600,000 centenarians across the world. The overwhelming majority of these (120,000) are in Japan. Also ranking in the top 10 for having the most 100 year olds were Puerto Rico (82 for every 100,000 residents), Martinique - another French territory in the Caribbean (67), the Isle of Man (62), Guernsey (49) and France (47). Experts say the overall increase in number of reaching their 100th birthday is because of improvements in mortality stretching back decades. These include lifestyle factors, such as a reduction in smoking rates, as well as better working conditions and healthcare improvements like the treatment of heart disease. Ethel Caterham, 115, is believed to be the oldest living person in the world. Ethel was born on August 21, 1909, in Shipton Bellinger in Hampshire, before being raised in nearby Tidworth. Now in a care home, Ethel has lived in Surrey for over 50 years. The title of the oldest person to have ever lived belongs to French woman Jeanne Louise Calment whose life spanned 122 years and 164 days. Public figures who have lived to 100 include Hollywood star Kirk Douglas - father of actor Michael Douglas - who died in 2020, aged 103. Fellow silver screen legend Gloria Stewart - best remembered for playing the older Rose in James Cameron's 1997 film Titanic - died in 2010 aged 100.
The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
Is it true that … natural beauty products are always gentler on skin?
'Natural' has become a buzzword,' says Dr Rosalind Simpson, a consultant dermatologist and associate professor at the University of Nottingham. And when it's on the label of beauty products, sellers often charge more. 'There's a trend where people assume that synthetically derived ingredients are harmful, and that if something's labelled 'natural' it must be safer or better for your skin,' she says. But that's often a misconception. For starters, not everything labelled 'natural' is entirely sourced from nature. 'I came across a crude study that looked at 100 skincare products on Amazon marketed as natural. Only 42% truly were,' Simpson adds. In fact, most 'natural' skincare products contained at least two synthetic ingredients. Beyond this, just because something is sourced from natural ingredients doesn't mean it's gentle on every skin type. Though plant-based, ingredients including fragrances and essential oils such as cinnamon, tea tree, peppermint and linalool can cause irritation for some people. Lanolin, a moisturising agent derived from sheep's wool, is another common allergen. Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion Some synthetic ingredients, such as certain scents and colourings, can be just as irritating, but that isn't always the case. 'Some are scientifically developed to be more gentle on the skin and to have a reduced chance of causing potential reactions,' says Simpson. Her bottom line? Not all natural products are 'good', and not all synthetic ones are 'bad'. It's about finding what works for you. 'Go with what your skin tolerates and what fits your budget.' If you have sensitive skin, she recommends looking for products with the lowest number of ingredients. And if you suspect you have had a reaction to a product – even months after you started using it – it's always smart to take a break so you can see whether it is to blame.
