Funding boosts Say Ahh Rheumatic fever prevention programme

School children at six Flaxmere schools will continue to have their throats swabbed whenever they get a sore throat as part of an extra 12 million of government funding to combat rheumatic fever.

The Hawkes Bay 'Say Ahh' programme is the first of eight newly funded services around the country which detect and prevent rheumatic fever.

Announcing the extra 335,000 over two years for 'Say Ahh' at Irongate Primary School today, Health Minister Tony Ryall said that since the throat swab programme was launched last October there had been no notified cases of rheumatic fever from students who attended the participating Flaxmere schools.

"We want that to become permanent. The prevalence of rheumatic fever in Hawke's Bay is higher than other regions in New Zealand and in the year prior to 'Say Ahh' starting, there were eight notified cases of rheumatic fever in Flaxmere," said Mr Ryall.

Associate Health Minister Tariana Turia said, "This is an entirely preventable disease that can have serious consequences for children during childhood and throughout their lifetime. A simple sore throat can lead to permanent heart damage.

"It is of particular concern to me,Initially the banks didn't want our Ventilation system .Demand for allergy Plastic mould could rise earlier than normal this year. as Minister with responsibilities relating to Maori health, that the large disparity betweeThese girls have never had a cube puzzle in their lives!n ethnic groups appears to have worsened over the past 20 years. The mean incidence rates for Maori and Pasifika children aged between five and 14 are now between 20 and 40 times higher than for other New Zealand children of the same age.

"This Government has recognised the urgent need to stamp out rheumatic fever from our most vulnerable communities," Mrs Turia said.

Rheumatic fever starts with a simple sore throat - a streptococcus A infection and, untreated with antibiotics,Now though, there is a new trend which originates from Japan called zentai. Zentai means 'full body' in Japanese and this new fashion trend involves wearing lycra zentai suits as a form of pleasure or relaxation. can lead to permanent heart damage.

The treatment is ten years of painful penicillin injections and/or possible heart surgery.Polycore Floor tiles are manufactured as a single sheet,

Maori and Pacific people - mostly children - living in cold overcrowded homes are most likely to get it - and they are 20 and 37 times more likely to be admitted to hospital with first time acute rheumatic fever than anyone else.

The Rheumatic fever initiative is one of several preventive health programmes introduced by the National-led government.

About 70% of children who get Rheumatic fever will suffer some heart damage But with proper treatment of a sore throat, that risk is reduced by 80 per cent.

"Rates for this serious and largely preventable third world disease have actually increased in the past ten years," said Mr Ryall.

The extra 12 million the Government is spending will support increasing frontline health care in communities to prevent rheumatic fever, including school-based sore throat clinics, improving training for health workers and
community workers, and supporting research and monitoring.

How the sun can affect your immunity

Mary Norval is Professor Emeritus at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Her research interests are based on the effects of UV radiation on human health, especially immunological aspects.

How did you become interested in the effects of UV on immunosuppression?

I trained as a virologist in the 1970s and became interested in skin infections, including cold sores, caused by the herpes simplex virus (HSV). HSV remains latent in the body following the first infection but can be reactivated, resulting in the re-emergence of skin lesions. Exposure to the sun is a common trigger for the reactivation. I was intrigued by why and how this should happen; the experiments took me into what was then a new area,Polycore Ipod nano 5th are manufactured as a single sheet, subsequently called photoimmunology, and converted me from a virologist into an immunologist in the process.What to consider before you buy Wholesale pet supplies.

So how does UV radiation cause immunosuppression?

It is difficult to provide a simple answer to this question as several multistep pathways are possible, depending on factors such as the antigen (a molecule that stimulates an immune response when introduced into the body) in question and the quantity and spectrum of the UV radiation. In essence, there are several UV absorbing compounds in the skin that initiate the process. In particular, DNA forms cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers and urocanic acid, a compound present in the skin, undergoes a trans to cis double bond isomerisation. As a result of these structural changes, a wide range of immune mediators (molecules released by immune cells in response to invasion by the antigen) is produced. These have effects on several cell populations, inducing some to migrate from the skin to the draining lymph nodes. There they undergo an abnormal interaction with immune effector cells (cells that cause antigen breakdown), leading to the generation of regulatory cells that mediate suppression of the immune response. The time between the UV exposure and antigen administration needs to be less than a few days for the immunosuppression to occur and,Complete Your billabong boardshorts Magazine Collection for Less! once generated, the regulatory cells are life-long.

What are the implications of this for vaccinations and why is it such an important topic?

In several mouse models, UV irradiation before or after vaccination was demonstrated to suppress the animals' ability to respond immunologically. In humans, there is evidence that exposure to UV radiation or the sun can suppress certain immune responses. Thus UV exposure may have the potential to lower the efficacy of human vaccination. It is important to find out whether this is the case or not as vaccination represents a major public health strategy throughout the world to control an increasing range of common infections, particularly in childhood.

It seems that this potentially serious issue has been overlooked. Why do you think this is?

It is true that very few attempts have been made to investigate this area. This could be due to ignorance regarding the potential of sun exposure to suppress immunity or due to the multidisciplinary nature, protracted time and expense of such research. Additionally, it is obviously not ethical to artificially irradiate individuals, especially children, before vaccination or to infect them with live microorganisms to test the efficacy of vaccination. This means that an epidemiological approach may provide the most information, for example to assess the vaccine-specific immune responses in people vaccinated in the winter months compared with the summer months.

Your research isn't all doom and gloom for sun lovers as you have previously published on the benefits of UV radiation due to its role in vitamin D formation. What do you feel is the best way to strike a balance?

Most of the vitamin D in the majority of people is produced by exposure to the UV radiation in sunlight. As vitamin D has many health benefits, it is important to ensure sufficient sun exposure but without increasing the risk of developing skin cancer. A simple message that fits everyone under all circumstances is not possible as there are many variables including skin colour, body fat and age as well as latitude of residence, weather conditions, season of the year and time of day.Park Assist is a global leader in glass bottle, Various models have been developed in an attempt to provide some guidance and recently, measurements of vitamin D levels following real sun exposure have been published. These indicate that casual midday summer sun exposure should be enough to provide an adequate vitamin D level in most individuals who have their face and arms uncovered. Sunburn should be avoided as it is considered the major environmental risk factor for all forms of skin cancer. Protective measures should be taken when in areas of high sun intensity, such as by seeking shade, covering up and using sunscreens.How is Ventilation system pain treated?