# DOE -- Medical and Infectious Disease Update -- Wednesday, April 21, 2004

DOE weekly updates on Bird Flu, Human Influenza, West Nile Virus, or
other illnesses and medical issues will continue as appropriate or as
requested. The following information is current as of Thursday, April
22, 2004, 0700 hours, EST. Information presented is routinely taken from
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
<http://www.cdc.gov/>, The World Health Organization (WHO),
<http://www.who.int/en/>, the Department of Defense Global Emerging
Infections Surveillance and Response System site, (DoD-GEIS) -
<http://www.geis.ha.osd.mil/>, and other creditable sources.

**Recent News**

**[ALLERGY]{.underline}**-**[The Accuweather
page](http://wwwa.accuweather.com/adcbin/public/maps_index.asp?type=airq)**
provides current air quality information with specific charts for
[**Grass
Pollen**](http://wwwa.accuweather.com/adcbin/public/maps_index.asp?type=grass),
[**Overall
Pollen**](http://wwwa.accuweather.com/adcbin/public/maps_index.asp?type=overall),
[**Ragweed
Pollen**](http://wwwa.accuweather.com/adcbin/public/maps_index.asp?type=ragweed),
and [**Tree
Pollen**](http://wwwa.accuweather.com/adcbin/public/maps_index.asp?type=tree)
\...
<http://wwwa.accuweather.com/adcbin/public/maps_index.asp?type=airq>**.**

**Australian scientists find quicker way to heal wounds** -- 20 April
2004, CANBERRA, (Xinhuanet) \-- Australian scientists have been able to
make flesh wounds heal faster by using a newly-created speedy
cell-growth mixture. The mixture, called VitroGro, uses a \"sticky\"
blood protein called vitranectin and a human growth hormone known as
type one insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), the Australian Associated
Press reported Tuesday. \"We\'ve found skin cells in particular respond
really, really well to these complexes,\" Zee Upton, the tissue
bioregeneration program leader at Queensland University of Technology,
was quoted as saying. \"They grow faster and they move faster and in
particular they migrate \-- if you\'ve got a wound on your skin the
thing you want the cells to do around the edges of the wound is to
migrate over it and close the gap.\" The team is working with the
Australian Red Cross to grow cells for spray-on skin to treat burns
patients \...

<http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-04/20/content_1430008.htm>.

**Tea Slows Prostate Cancer** - 20April2004, By *Jeanie Lerche Davis*,
WebMD \--Green tea, black tea, seems it doesn\'t matter. Drinking tea
may slow prostate cancer growth, a new study shows. Recent studies show
that tea drinking can help cholesterol levels and reduce cell damage
caused by smoking, possibly preventing cancer and heart disease. The
newest findings on prostate cancer were presented at the annual
Experimental Biology 2004 meeting held this week in Washington. For
their study, researchers recruited 20 men being treated for prostate
cancer. They were randomly assigned to drink five cups of green tea,
black tea, or soda each day before surgery to remove the tumor and
prostate. Their blood was analyzed before the study for levels of
phenols \-- an antioxidant that may have antitumor effects. After their
surgery, the men\'s blood was analyzed again \-- as was their prostate
tissue. While phenols were also found in the men\'s blood samples, there
were no significant differences between the groups, reports researcher
Susanne Henning, PhD, with the Center for Human Nutrition at UCLA.
**However, the men\'s prostate tissue samples revealed a different
story:**

-   Those drinking the most tea had the most tea phenols in their
    prostate tissue samples.

-   They also had lower levels of polyamines, a chemical associated with
    malignancy (cancer cells)

\...
<http://dailynews.att.net/cgi-bin/health?e=pub&dt=040420&cat=diet&st=diet98808&src=webmd>.

**Another West Nile Virus Summer?** -- 15April2004, *By Daniel DeNoon*,
WebMD \--It\'s back \-- and it can be very bad. But just how bad will
the 2004 return of West Nile virus be? In 2002, West Nile virus caused
the largest encephalitis epidemic in history. Last years\' epidemic was
arguably twice as large \-- possibly because new tests made it possible
to diagnose mild cases of West Nile fever \... For reasons nobody can
entirely explain, there tends to be a lot more West Nile disease when
the virus finds its feet in a new area \-- usually the second year after
it first appears. It never, ever, goes away. But the number of cases
tends to drop off. New York, for example, was where West Nile virus
first landed in the U.S. But last year, that state reported only 71
human infections. Colorado, on the other hand, zoomed from 14 cases in
2002 to 2,326 cases in 2003. \"Nobody really understands the flattening
out. We\'ve seen it with St. Louis encephalitis virus in years before,\"
Campbell says. \"Part of it is bird immunity.\" {**If you want a good
understanding of West Nile, this is a great article with which to
start - Editor**} \...
<http://dailynews.att.net/cgi-bin/health?e=pub&dt=040415&cat=men&st=men98709&src=webmd>.

**Researchers Go Fishing, Pull Out Antigens** - 15April2004,
ScienceDaily \--Researchers at **National Jewish Medical and Research
Center** have developed a method for finding the molecular targets of
the immune system, known as antigens. The method extends a widely used
technique, called library display, to more complex proteins. It could
have broad applications in biological and medical research. The research
team, led by National Jewish and Howard Hughes Medical Institute
immunologist John W. Kappler, Ph.D., is already collaborating with teams
looking for causes of the autoimmune disease rheumatoid arthritis,
developing cancer vaccines, **and understanding the molecular triggers
of [chronic beryllium disease]{.underline}**. The technique is described
in the April 2004 issue of PloS Biology
(<http://www.plosbiology.org/plosonline/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.0020090>),
a publication of the Public Library of Science. \"Our technique allows
us to fish in a vast library of protein fragments for the specific ones
that bind to T cells and trigger an immune-system attack,\" said Dr.
Kappler. \"We believe that researchers using this technique will extend
its usefulness beyond T-cells and antigens to interactions involving a
wide variety of biologically important proteins.\" \...
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/04/040414004312.htm>.

**A New Hypothesis About Autoimmunity. Is It Possible To Be Too
Clean?** - 12April2004, La Jolla, CA. - A group of scientists at The
Scripps Research Institute have found a connection between poor T cell
survival in the body and the development of autoimmunity. On the basis
of this connection, the scientists are proposing a new hypothesis about
the cause of autoimmunity, in which components of a person\'s immune
system attack his/her own tissues leading to diseases such as Type 1
diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. \"Autoimmunity has \[traditionally\]
been considered a condition of too much stimulation,\" says Scripps
Research Immunology Professor Nora Sarvetnick, Ph.D. \"What we are
seeing is that it is a condition of too little stimulation.\" \...
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/04/040416014249.htm>.

**Bird Flu 2003-2004: Doe Special Medical Update** -- With information
from WHO and the CDC, this update also explains the concepts of viral
infection, viral replication, antigenic "drift", and antigenic "shift"
...
<http://www.eh.doe.gov/health/news/BIRDFLU2003-2004_DOESPECIALUPDATE_B200402091.pdf>
(PDF) or for a choice of PDF or Word format,
<http://www.eh.doe.gov/health/index.html>**,** and scroll down under
\"News and Features\".

**WHO: Avian influenza-fact sheet** -- 5January2004-Avian influenza
("bird flu") and the significance of its transmission to humans ...
<http://www.who.int/csr/don/2004_01_15/en/>.

**[2004 West Nile Virus Activity in the United States, reported to
CDC.](http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/index.htm)**
[Maps](http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/surv&control04Maps.htm)
reporting WNV avian and veterinary activity occurring during 2004 are
updated regularly. Human disease cases have been reported in Ohio.

**2004 West Nile Virus Activity in the United States,\
reported to CDC as of April 14, 2004. \***\
\
![](media/image1.png){width="6.719444444444444in"
height="4.010416666666667in"}

<http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/index.htm>

George R. Gebus, MD, MPH, Editor

US Department of Energy

Office of Occupational Health, EH-53/270CC

19901 Germantown Road

Germantown, MD 20874-1290

Phone: 301-903-2876

Fax: 301-903-5072

Email: <george.gebus@eh.doe.gov>

<http://www.eh.doe.gov/index.html>