LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

LETTERS/COLUMNS: SEND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR FOR PUBLISHING TO FRONTPAGENEWS1@YAHOO.COM. PLEASE INCLUDE DAY/EVENING/ CELL NUMBER, HOME NUMBER, AND EMAIL. CONTACT VAN STONE: FRONTPAGENEWS1@YAHOO.COM OR (215) 821-9147 TO SUBMIT A REQUEST FOR ANY WRITER. PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE WRITER DIRECTLY! ALL APPEARANCE REQUEST WILL GO THROUGH THE MANAGING EDITOR'S OFFICE. COPYRIGHT: THE USE OF ANY SUBMISSIONS APPEARING ON THIS SITE FOR MONETARY GAINS IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. TO LEARN MORE: PHILADELPHIA FRONT PAGE NEWS WWW.FPNNEWS.ORG. YOUR TOP STORIES OF THE DAY (215) 821-9147.

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

APNewsbreak: Few Zika samples being shared by Brazil

APNewsbreak: Few Zika samples being shared by Brazil
 
AP Photo
Brazil's Health Minister Marcelo Castro speaks to the press before attending the Mercosur Health Ministers summit to address the spread of Zika virus in the region, at the Mercosur building in Montevideo, Uruguay, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016. The ministers of 13 countries are meeting to coordinate actions to try and fight the spread of the mosquito born virus. Castro said that efforts are being made to create a vaccine against it.
  
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- U.N. and U.S. health officials tell The Associated Press that Brazil has yet to share enough samples and disease data needed to answer the most worrying question about the Zika outbreak: whether the virus is actually responsible for the increase in the number of babies born with abnormally small heads in Brazil.

The lack of data is frustrating efforts to develop diagnostic tests, drugs and vaccines. Laboratories in the United States and Europe are relying on samples from previous outbreaks. Scientists say having so little to work with is hampering their ability to track the virus' evolution.

One major problem appears to be Brazilian law. At the moment, it is technically illegal for Brazilian researchers and institutes to share genetic material, including blood samples containing Zika and other viruses.

"It's a very delicate issue, this sharing of samples. Lawyers have to be involved," said Dr. Marcos Espinal, director of communicable diseases in the World Health Organization's regional office in Washington.

Espinal said he hoped the issue might be resolved after discussions between the U.S. and Brazilian presidents. He said WHO's role was mainly to be a broker to encourage countries to share. When asked whether the estimate of other scientists that Brazil had provided fewer than 20 samples was true, he agreed it probably was.

"There is no way this should not be solved in the foreseeable future," he said. "Waiting is always risky during an emergency."

Last May, as the first cases of Zika in Brazil were emerging, President Dilma Rousseff signed a new law to regulate how researchers use the country's genetic resources. But the regulatory framework hasn't yet been drafted, leaving scientists in legal limbo.

"Until the law is implemented, we're legally prohibited from sending samples abroad," said Paulo Gadelha, president of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Brazil's premier state-run research institute for tropical diseases. 

"Even if we wanted to send this material abroad, we can't because it's considered a crime."

The ban does not necessarily mean foreign researchers can't access samples. Some were shared with the 
United States, including tissue samples from two newborns who died and two fetuses recently examined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But a U.S. official said that wasn't enough to develop accurate tests for the virus or help determine whether Zika is in fact behind the recent jump in the number of congenital defects. The spike in cases prompted WHO to declare an international emergency Monday.

Given the drought of Brazilian samples, public health officials across the world are falling back on older viruses - or discreetly taking them from private patients.

The U.S. official, who shared the information on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak publicly, said the CDC was relying on a strain taken from a 2013 outbreak in French Polynesia to perfect its Zika tests. U.S. researchers trying to sequence Zika's genetic code have been forced to rely on virus samples from Puerto Rico for the same reason, he said.

In England, researchers are using samples drawn from Micronesia, the site of an outbreak in 2007. The French are relying on samples from Polynesia and Martinique. In Spain, scientists have a Ugandan strain of Zika supplied by the United States. Even Portugal, Brazil's former colonial master, doesn't have the Brazilian strain; the National Health Institute in Lisbon said its tests relied on a U.S. sample from the 1980s, among others.

Some researchers are bypassing Brazil's bureaucracy by getting samples sent to them for testing by a private lab, said Dr. Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit, an expert on mosquito-borne diseases at the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg.

"It's almost impossible to get samples from the country," Schmidt-Chanasit told AP, referring to Brazil. "It's not going via official government channels. Our source is simply the rich people who want a diagnosis."

In public, health leaders have been eager to boast about their excellent collaboration. WHO's chief, Dr. Margaret Chan, said after Monday's meeting that Brazil and the United States were working "very closely" on studies. When asked about sample sharing, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told AP: "I don't think it's an issue."
Behind-the-scenes, it was another story.

Four officials at the World Health Organization told AP the Brazilians were starving international partners of up-to-date information.

"WHO has gotten zero from them, no clinical or lab findings," one of the officials said.

All four spoke on condition of anonymity because they were talking without authorization.

Ben Neuman, a virologist at Reading University in England, said thousands of samples - or hundreds at a minimum - were needed to track the virus and determine how it's changing. "Science only works when we share," he said.

The virus sharing problems aren't limited to Brazil, said Gadelha of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation.

"This isn't a unilateral issue; it's a global problem," he said, adding he hoped the current crisis would speed efforts at international cooperation, which has long been an issue in outbreak response efforts.

More than a decade ago, WHO faced a similar problem when Indonesia refused to hand over bird flu samples, arguing that Western scientists would use them to make drugs and vaccines the country couldn't afford. At the time, Brazil had a leading role in ending the impasse, helping to broker an agreement ensuring developing countries were guaranteed access to products developed from shared viruses.

Lawrence Gostin, director of WHO's Collaborating Center on Public Health Law and Human Rights at Georgetown University, said there are no rules that force governments to hand over viruses, tissue samples or other information.

"If countries don't share, the only repercussions they face are public condemnation," he said.


Van Stone Productions Inc. 501C3 Nonprofit Organization Informatioin (EIN) / Tax ID

Van Stone Productions Inc. 501C3 Nonprofit Organization Informatioin (EIN) / Tax ID
Click on the logo to learn about the non-profit status

BECOME OUR VLOGGER OF THE MONTH: VIDEO NEWS CONTENT PUBLISHED ON ANY TOPIC BELOW

Latest edition of Talk Live Philly With Van Stone

VAN STONE PERFORMANCE PROMOTION VIDEO AT WEST PHILADELPHIA HS 1999 - BELOW

FPN NEWS “TAKE TIME FOR WINNERS IN ANY COMMUNITY!”

Van Stones' Beautiful World Images -Latinamerica, South Asia, and USA Fashion and Beauty Collection

Van Stones' Beautiful World Images -Latinamerica, South Asia, and USA Fashion and Beauty Collection
Family Modeling -modelado de la familia

Van Stones' Beautiful World Images -Hermosas World Images Van Stones

Van Stones' Beautiful World Images -Hermosas World Images Van Stones
Family Modeling -modelado de la familia

WE'RE #1

WE'RE #1

Van Stones' Beautiful World Images -Hermosas World Images Van Stones

Van Stones' Beautiful World Images -Hermosas World Images Van Stones
Family Modeling -modelado de la familia

Van Stones' Beautiful Tween Images-Hermosas Imágenes Tween Van Stones

Van Stones' Beautiful Tween Images-Hermosas Imágenes Tween Van Stones
Family Modeling -modelado de la familia

WE'RE NO 1

WE'RE NO 1

Van Stones' Beautiful Youth Images -Van Stones imágenes hermosas de la Juventud

Van Stones' Beautiful Youth Images -Van Stones imágenes hermosas de la Juventud
Family Modeling -Modelado de la familia

WE'RE NO 1

WE'RE NO 1

Van Stones' Beautiful Child Images -Van Stones Niño hermoso Imágenes

WE'RE #1

Van Stones’ Beautiful Children Images - Van Stones imágenes hermosas Madre

Van Stones’ Beautiful Children Images - Van Stones imágenes hermosas Madre
Family Modeling -modelado de la familia

Like Us On Facebook

We"re Looking For Volunteers

News, and more about youth, education, political analyst, schools, anti-violence, social justice, grass roots democracy, ecological protection, seniors, Historic Preservation & Restoration, (Black, Latinos, Asian, Pakistani, Italian, and other)Arts, Books, Super Heroes, Trading Cards, Youth, College, and Pro Sports, Nonprofits and Real-estate.

Blog Archive

About Us

  • FPN can reach out to Representatives from your side of: The Village, The Township, or The City
  • FPN features
    Sports
    Cars
    Family Entertainment
    Neighborhood News
    Scholastic News
    Regional News
    National News
    Citywide News
    Legal News
    Alternative Green Energy Education News
    Superhero & Comic Strip News
  • Teen Stars
  • Humanitarian/Ministers/Political
  • Community Services
  • Women & Men & Kids

  • You acknowledge and agree that you may not copy, distribute, sell, resell or exploit for any commercial purposes, any portion of the Newspaper or Services. Unless otherwise expressly provided in our Newspaper, you may not copy, display or use any trademark without prior written permission of the trademark owner.

    FPN/VSP® is in no way responsible for the content of any site owned by a third party that may be listed on our Website and/or linked to our Website via hyperlink. VSP/FPN® makes no judgment or warranty with respect to the accuracy, timeliness or suitability of the content of any site to which the Website may refer and/or link, and FPN/VSP® takes no responsibility therefor. By providing access to other websites, FPN/VSP® is not endorsing the goods or services provided by any such websites or their sponsoring organizations, nor does such reference or link mean that any third party websites or their owners are endorsing FPN/VSP® or any of the Services. Such references and links are for informational purposes only and as a convenience to you.

    FPN/VSP® reserves the right at any time to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the Website and/or Services (or any part thereof) with or without notice to you. You agree that neither FPN/VSP® nor its affiliates shall be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of the Website and/or Services.

    You agree to indemnify and hold harmless FPN/VSP®, its subsidiaries, and affiliates, and their respective officers, directors, employees, shareholders, legal representatives, agents, successors and assigns, from and against any and all claims, actions, demands, causes of action and other proceedings arising from or concerning your use of the Services (collectively, "Claims") and to reimburse them on demand for any losses, costs, judgments, fees, fines and other expenses they incur (including attorneys' fees and litigation costs) as a result of any Claims.

    The Website is © 2009 by VSP®, or its designers. All rights reserved. Your rights with respect to use of the Website and Services are governed by the Terms and all applicable laws, including but not limited to intellectual property laws.

    Any contact information for troops overseas and/or soldiers at home provided to you by FPN/VSP® is specifically and solely for your individual use in connection with the services provide by Van Stone Productions Foundation VSP.

    FPN/VSP® soldiers contact information for any other purpose whatsoever, including, but not limited to, copying and/or storing by any means (manually, electronically, mechanically, or otherwise) not expressly authorized by FPN/VSP is strictly prohibited. Additionally, use of FPN/VSP® contact information for any solicitation or recruiting purpose, or any other private, commercial, political, or religious mailing, or any other form of communication not expressly authorized by FPN/VSP® is strictly prohibited.