Although 193 states have committed to the Chemical Weapons Convention and 98% of the declared chemical weapons stockpiles have been destroyed so far, nerve agent poisoning remains a lingering threat. The recent dissemination of sarin in Syria, the assassination of Kim Jong-Nam in Malaysia, and the assault on Sergei Skripal in the United Kingdom underline the need for effective treatment. The current therapeutic options of a muscarinic receptor antagonist, an oxime, and an anticonvulsant have been unchanged for decades. Therefore, new therapeutic strategies, for example, bioscavengers and receptor-active substances, are promising concepts that have to be examined for their benefits and limitations. In order to facilitate rapid diagnosis in challenging clinical situations, point-of-care diagnostics and detection are of importance. Therapeutic guidance concerning the duration and success of the current oxime therapy via determination of the cholinesterase status can contribute to an optimal use of resources. In summary, the challenges of current and future therapies for nerve agent poisoning and key diagnostic devices will be discussed.
François Sirois' influential paradigm for diagnosing episodes of epidemic hysteria is discussed. The part of his schema addressing the large diffuse outbreak should be eliminated as it does not possess characteristic features of mass hysteria and overlooks the potential social, cultural, political, ritualistic and institutional patterning of collective behavior. A case study involving the collective delusion of phantom rockets over Sweden during 1946 illustrates the complexities of such episodes.
During the Japanese Occupation of Singapore and Malaya (1941-1945), Singapore was renamed Syonan (or Syonanto) and Malaya was called Malai (or Marai; Marei). On 27 April 2603 (1943) the Japanese Military Administration established. The Marai Ika Daigaku (Syonan Medical College) at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital (Hakuai Byoin), Syonan. The Medical College shifted to the General Hospital, Malacca in February 2604 (1944) where it functioned till the end of the Japanese Occupation in September 2605 (1945).
During the Japanese Occupation of Singapore (1942-1945), Singapore was renamed Syonan (or Syonanto). The Japanese Military Administration established The Medical College on 27 April 2603 (1943) and it was known as The Marei Ika Daigaku or Syonan Medical College. It was sited at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital (Hakua Byoin). The Ika Daigaku relocated to the General Hospital, Malacca in February 2604 (1944) where it functioned till the end of the Japanese Occupation in September 1945. About 200 students from Singapore, Malaya, Sumatra and Java attended the Syonan Medical College; the students were taught mainly Japanese language and culture.
The invasion of Singapore and Malaya was delayed because of the reduction in the period of service in the Far East. The atom bombs were then dropped and plans for all services including medical ones had to be altered, their main aim becoming the treatment and repatriation of surviving prisoners of war. The ending of the war did not occur abruptly on V-J day; many Japanese troops had to be convinced that the war was over. Meantime the treatment of diseases in British and other service men continued; reference is made to some experiences in Rangoon. The morale of personnel who now were anxious to return to their homes was low and efforts were made to raise their spirits. In India it was accepted that the days of British rule were over.
Humans are constantly exposed to a wide range of reactive and toxic chemicals from the different sources in everyday life. Identification of the exposed chemical helps in the detection and understanding the exposure associated adverse health effects. Covalent adducts of proteins and DNA formed after xenobiotics exposure may serve as readily measurable indicators of these exposures. Measuring the exposed chemicals with focus on adducts resulting from the nucleophilic interactions with blood proteins is useful in the development of diagnostic markers. Particularly, the most abundant proteins such as albumin and hemoglobin acts as dominant scavengers for many reactive chemicals in blood and can serve as excellent diagnostic candidates to determine the type of chemical exposure. This review focuses on the potential application of an adductomics approach for the screening of bimolecular adducts of chemical warfare agents (CWAs). Recent incidents of CWAs use in Syria, Malaysia, and the UK illustrate the continuing threat of chemical warfare agents in the modern world. Detection of CWAs and their metabolites in blood or in other body fluids of victims depends on immediate access to victims. Concentrations of intact CWAs in body fluids of surviving victims may decline rapidly within a few days. Certain CWAs, particularly nerve agents and vesicants, form covalent bonds with certain amino acids to form CWA-protein adducts. Proteins that are abundant in the blood, including albumin and hemoglobin, may carry these adducts longer after the original exposure. We searched MEDLINE and ISI Web of Science databases using the key terms "adductomics" "adducts of CWAs," "CWAs adducts detection in the biological samples," "protein adducts of CWAs," alone and in combination with the keywords "detection" "intoxication" "exposure" "adverse effects" and "toxicity." We also included non-peer-reviewed sources such as text books, relevant newspaper reports, and applicable Internet resources. We screened bibliographies of identified articles for additional relevant studies including non-indexed reports. These searches produced 1931 citations of which only relevant and nonduplicate citations were considered for this review. The analysis of biomedical samples has several purposes including detecting and identifying the type of chemical agent exposed, understanding the biological mechanism, assists in giving adequate treatment, determining the cause of death and providing evidence in a court of justice for forensic investigations. Rapid advances in the mass spectrometry to acquire high-quality data with greater resolution enabled the analysis of protein and DNA adducts of xenobiotics including CWAs and place the rapidly advancing 'adductomics' next to the other "-omics" technologies. Adductomics can serve as a powerful bioanalytical tool for the verification of CWAs exposure. This review mostly describes the protein adducts for nerve agents and vesicants, outlines the procedures for measuring adducts, and suggests the evolving (or future) use of adducts in the detection and verification of CWAs.
Matched MeSH terms: Chemical Warfare*; Chemical Warfare Agents/toxicity*
The unstable living situation in Iraq in the last 10 years after 2003 war affected the daily life of most Iraqis, and especially the children. The objective of this study was to explore the effects of an unstable living environment on children’s health. A community-based qualitative study was done to collect data from 20 mothers of children (age 7 to 8years old) through in-depth interview (IDI). Data was recorded using tape recorders and was later transcribed and analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis techniques. The majority of mothers interviewed said the past nine years of unstable security in the capital had affected their daily life; some mothers also expressed concern about their child’s nutritional status, their eating habits during the school day, and the unhealthy food being sold at school canteens. As a conclusion, the unstable living situations in Baghdad city after the last war had affected the cognitive and nutritional development of children. More precautions should be taken by parents to ensure their children safety in the future.
Minamata disease is a well-known mercury contamination that happened in Japan in 1953. Due to demand during world war, second mercury disaster occurred in Niigata Prefecture in 1965. This is a review on the Niigata Minamata disease based on available documents and local expert opinions on the disaster. The aims of this paper are to record exposure history like the source of mercury in Agano River and specific fish that was associated with the disease. It is for an appraisal of the basic mercury exposure control, particularly to protect Japanese and world population during that time. There was indication that initial exposure limit for mercury was calculated incorrectly, and higher safe dose was applied. This epidemiological study is very useful and significant in comprehend the correct estimation of the human exposure to any hazardous substances.
The principal etiologic agent of human eosinophilic meningitis, Angiostrongylus cantonensis, was first detected in rats in Canton, China in 1933. The first human case was detected on Taiwan in 1944. Epidemic outbreaks were noted on Ponape (E. Caroline Is.) from 1944 to 1948. The disease may present as transient meningitis or a more severe disease involving the brain, spinal cord and nerve roots, with a characteristic eosinophilia of the peripheral blood and CSF. Since 1961 it has been known that human infections are usually acquired by purposeful or accidental ingestion of infective larvae in terrestrial mollusks, planaria and fresh-water crustacea. There is no effective specific treatment. The African land snail, Achatina fulica played an important role in the panpacific dispersal of the organism: it will be important in Africa in the future as well. Rats were, and will continue to be the principal agents of expansion of the parasite beyond the Indopacific area. During and just after WWII the parasite was introduced, and/or spread passively from South and Southeast Asia into the Western Pacific islands and eastward and southward through Micronesia, Melanesia, Australia and into Polynesia, sequestered in shipments of war material and facilitated by post-war commerce. In the 1950s numerous cases were identified for the first time on Sumatra, the Philippines, Taiwan, Saipan, New Caledonia, and as far east as Rarotonga and Tahiti. Then cases were detected in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Java, Sarawak, the New Hebrides, Guam and Hawaii during the 1960s. Subsequently in the Pacific Basin the disease has appeared on Okinawa, other Ryukyu islands, Honshu, Kyushu, New Britain, American Samoa and Western Samoa, Australia, Hong Kong, Bombay, India, Fiji and most recently in mainland China. The parasite in rats now occurs throughout the Indopacific Basin and littoral. Beyond the Indopacific region, the worm has been found in rodents in Madagascar (ca 1963), Cuba (1973), Egypt (1977), Puerto Rico (1984), New Orleans, Louisiana (1985) and Port Harcourt, Nigeria (1989). Human infections have now been detected in Cuba (1973), Réunion Island (1974) and Côte d'Ivoire (1979) and should be anticipated wherever infected rats of mollusks have been introduced. Caged primates became infected in zoos in Hong Kong (1978) and New Orleans and Nassau, Bahamas (1987). The use of mollusks and crustacea as famine foods, favored delicacies and medicines has resulted in numerous outbreaks and isolated infections. Economic and political instability, illicit trade, unsanitary peridomestic conditions and lack of health education promote the local occurrence and insidious global expansion of parasitic eosinophilic meningitis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)