w w w. e u ro s u rve i ll an c e . o rg 1 S u r v e i ll a n c e a n d o u t b r e a k r e p o r t s E a r ly t r a n s m i s s i o n c h a r a c t E r i s t i c s o f i n f l u E n z a a ( h 1 n 1 ) v i n a u s t r a l i a : v i c t o r i a n s tat E , 1 6 m ay -3 J u n E 2 0 0 9
Aims-To investigate the associations between the Rsa I, Dra I, and Taq I genetic polymorphisms of cytochrome p4502E1 and susceptibility to alcoholic liver disease or to hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods-DNA samples isolated from 61 patients with alcoholic liver disease, 46 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, and 375 healthy controls were subjected to polymerase chain reaction amplification followed by digestion with the endonucleases Rsa I, Dra I, or Taq I. Meta-analysis was performed using data from previous studies of Rsa I polymorphism and the risk of alcoholic liver disease. Results-No association was found between any of the three polymorphisms and susceptibility to hepatocellular carcinoma. The distributions of Rsa I and Dra I alleles among the patients with alcoholic liver disease were not significantly diVerent from those among the control group. Meta-analysis of this data and previous data concerning Rsa I polymorphism and alcoholic liver disease risk failed to demonstrate any significant association between the two. However, the alcoholic liver disease group in this study showed a significantly lower frequency of the less common Taq I allele compared with the healthy control group (odds ratio, 0.33; 95% confidence interval, 0.12 to 0.78). Conclusions-Possession of the less common Taq I cytochrome p4502E1 allele is associated with reduced susceptibility to alcoholic liver disease. There is no existing evidence that the Taq I polymorphism is directly associated with altered alcohol metabolism, but it might be in linkage disequilibrium with as yet unidentified protective factors. (J Clin Pathol: Mol Pathol 2000;53:88-93)
Smallpox eradication, coordinated by the WHO and certified 40 years ago, led to the cessation of routine smallpox vaccination in most countries. It is estimated that over 70% of the world's population is no longer protected against smallpox, and through cross-immunity, to closely related orthopox viruses such as monkeypox. Monkeypox is now a re-emerging disease.Monkeypox is endemic in as yet unconfirmed animal reservoirs in sub-Saharan Africa, while its human epidemiology appears to be changing. Monkeypox in small animals imported from Ghana as exotic pets was at the origin of an outbreak of human monkeypox in the USA in 2003. Travellers infected in Nigeria were at the origin of monkeypox cases in the UK in 2018 and 2019, Israel in 2018 and Singapore in2019. Together with sporadic reports of human infections with other orthopox viruses, these facts invite speculation that emergent or re-emergent human monkeypox might fill the epidemiological niche vacated by smallpox.An ad-hoc and unofficial group of interested experts met to consider these issues at Chatham House, London in June 2019, in order to review available data and identify monkeypox-related research gaps.
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