[e-drug] Re: Origins of AIDS (cont'd)

[Kirsten Myhr <myhr@online.no>]

E-drug: Re: Origins of AIDS (cont'd)
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Beverley, that was a nice posting and I agree very much with what you say,
the modes of transmission are likely to be multiple and probably vary
between regions. Reuse of syringes would also result in an increase in rates
of Hepatitis B. I know those rates are high in Eastern Europe, but I am not
so familiar with the situation in Africa. The posting below is to me
discouraging, in a country like Botswana with so high rates of
hiv-positives, fairly well off economically and having received so much
donor assistance to the health sector for a number of years reuse of
injection equipment can happen. Botswana is currently a target country for
MSD and Gates Foundation for a comprehensive hiv/aids programme. They say
that if the programme will not succeed in Botswana, it is unlikely to
succeed in other African countries......

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/2830453.stm
Published: 2003/03/07 16:58:13

Aids panic at Botswana school
A senior nurse has been suspended after using a single needle to vaccinate
83 schoolchildren in north-western Botswana. This sparked panic among the
parents, in a country where about 39% of adults in the population have HIV,
the virus which leads to Aids. Sharing needles is one of the most common
ways in which HIV is spread. The nurse, who has not been named, was
vaccinating the children, aged between seven and 13, against hepatitis and
tetanus.

'Forgotten'
The BBC's Bola Olufunwa in Botswana says that when teachers in the village
of Gumare saw that he was using the same needle, they asked him what he was
doing. He said he had forgotten and began using different needles. But after
a while, he reverted to using the same needles on different children. When
confronted, he again said he had forgotten. When the authorities were
alerted, the children were immediately given HIV tests. They will be tested
again in three months, to establish whether any children contracted HIV
during the incident. "We shall in the meantime do supportive counselling to
the affected parents and children," the government said in a statement. A
commission of inquiry has been set up to investigate what happened. Our
correspondent says that people across the country are shocked and alarmed.
Most say that the nurse must be deranged, as no-one in their right minds
would do this in the Aids era.

Kirsten Myhr, MScPharm, MPH
Head, RELIS Ost Drug Information Centre
Ulleval University Hospital
0407 OSLO, Norway
Tel: +47 23 01 64 11  Fax: +47 23 01 64 10
myhr@online.no (h)



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