Pharaoh's Revenge

[DandyDon]

Worms may yield salmonella vaccine | floridatoday.com | FLORIDA TODAY

CAPE CANAVERAL -- As the salmonella scare worsens and Florida's tomato industry suffers, SPACEHAB Inc. and its partners are preparing to ask the Food and Drug Administration's permission to conduct human tests of a salmonella vaccine developed partly in space.

On the past two shuttle missions, several strains of salmonella were used to attack microscopic worms. The bacteria becomes more virulent in space, and the experiment helped researchers shorten the process of deciding which salmonella strain was right to make the vaccine.

continued at link above

 

[Bubbletrubble]

And be careful of street sales bottle water. Sometime they fill the bottle from wherever and superglue the cap back on. :11:

Glad you mentioned this.

Hep A & B are for life, aren't they? I don't know when they started requiring them for school kids but I opted for both late in life - still good idea. My usual exposure on Hep B is none, but things happen...

When I mentioned keeping vaccinations up-to-date, I was mainly thinking about those individuals who didn't get the full recommended course of vaccinations for a particular disease. As you know, Hep A and B require a series of inoculations at recommended time intervals.

These vaccines are still relatively new, so health experts continually monitor titers of protective anti-Hep antibodies in vaccinated individuals. The link I provided is for a study done for Hep B vaccine only. Persistent long-term immunity is not guaranteed.

FWIW, the World Health Organization reports that vaccine manufacturers recommend a 10 year booster for Hep A and Hep B. Clinical studies suggest that immunity is probably conferred longer than a decade.

More importantly I'd be keeping an eye out for the awaited Hep C vaccine. Hep C is the #1 cause of liver failure in the US. It's particularly insidious because infected individuals are typically asymptomatic, yet the infection can give rise to cancer and/or cirrhosis. I believe that the US military has been inoculating its personnel with an experimental Hep C vaccine for over a decade now.

Enjoy the light reading.

 

[dleffert]

I was (am) current with all the available vaccines, work has me traveling to Central/South America reasonably often so I make a regular practice of adhering to all of the prevention techniques (I should mention that I am in the Food Services industry, so food safety and good hygiene practices are always top of mind), and yet I got dosed severely. This was my first trip to the Sinai and I felt under attack every time I turned around - particularly in the restaurant of this supposedly 4 Star resort!

As I mentioned earlier, the local birds were having a field day on the uncovered bread table at the buffet. More disturbing were the feral cats that immediately jumped up on the trolleys of dirty dishes cleared from the tables.

Add to that, that the staff wheeling the trolleys of dirty dishes (that the cats had crawled all over) were the same staff setting the tables and serving you drinks (can't imagine there was any handwashing going on), or that these same trolleys were going back into the same kitchen that was preparing the food, and I have to believe there was a lot of cross-contamination going on.

 

[DandyDon]

Dleffert you sure make a case for taking one's own dehydrated foods - if you could find sterile water? I used to carry a small amount of liquid laundry bleach to treat water but that's no long allowed on the planes.

 

[fisherdvm]

Bubbletrubble, thanks for the post. I sure hope they'll have the Hep C vaccine soon. I've friends and immediate family members affected by Hep C, and the treatment is tougher on the body than you'd imagine.

 

[DocVikingo]

Hi fisherdvm.

Based on a recommendation you made earlier in this thread (see post #3), I asked you a question, to wit: "...would you be so kind as to Google up what you can find on commercially available salmonella vaccines for humans?"

May I take it from your reply that you were unable to find any?

Thanks,

DocVikingo

 

[fisherdvm]

Oral typhoid vaccine (Ty21a)

I received it while I was in the service.

 

[DocVikingo]

Oral typhoid vaccine (Ty21a)I received it while I was in the service

Hi fisherdvm,

Yes, that would have been for Salmonella typhi (which causes typhoid fever) and would not confer protection from non-typhiodal Salmonella which primarily colonize in the intestines and cause salmonella food poisoning (salmonellosis), a more common and routine basis for traveler's diarrhea.

I appreciate your response.

Regards,

DocVikingo

 

[fisherdvm]

Salmonella typhi is the virulent strain of Salmonella enteritidis, which can cause systemic illnesses. I would not say that it only causes typhoid fever - otherwise typhoid Mary would not have shed it so efficiently. It might not prevent salmonella enteritis, but certainly can minimize fatality and morbidity.

The CDC recommends only the serotype used in the name, that's why we don't see it as Salmonella enteritidis serotype typhi.

I think most physicians would consider salmonella enteritis to encompass illnesses caused by S. typhi. But for non physicians, perhaps it is a little more difficult to think that way.

Ignoring the benefit of the vaccines to traveler because it does not prevent all serovars of salmonella is like throwing the baby out with the bath water.