N. meningitidis

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Status Brief
History/Origins:

Developmental Milestones/Developments to Date:

Current Assessment/State of the Field:

Problems/Challenges:

Proposals:

2009

Byers, Karen, B., “Biosafety and Biosecurity: Past and Present,” Address, 2009 APHL Annual Meeting, May 5-8, 2009. http://www.aphl.org/profdev/conferences/proceedings/Documents/2009/2009_APHL_Annual_Meeting/032Byers.pdf

  1. Laboratory Acquired Infections.
  2. “There is no national reporting system; no statistical epidemiological data,” (for Laboratory acquired infections.)
  3. “Reports in the scientific literature tell us that laboratory-acquired infections can and do occur. Insight, but not statistics, are available from literature surveys.”
  4. “Clinical laboratories: 471 bacterial LAI between 1979-2004.”
  5. “Fatalities: 11 N. meningitidis, two Salmonella (1 one was secondary); four fetuses were fatally infected by B. melitensis.”
  6. Citing: “Biological Safety Principles and Practices, 4th edition.2006.Fleming, Hunt Ed. ASM Press.”

Lab Safety, N. meningitidis, Salmonella

2012

Cohen, Ronnie, “Researcher believed killed by lab bacteria,” Reuters, May 3, 2012, available at http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/04/us-usa-scientist-death-idUSBRE84305A20120504
last checked May 5, 2012.

  1. ”A young research associate killed by a highly virulent strain of meningococcal disease is believed to have contracted the bacteria from the San Francisco lab where he was working on a vaccine against it, public health officials said on Thursday.”
  2. ”Tom Skinner, a CDC spokesman in Atlanta, said in a telephone interview the CDC in Atlanta would test a biopsy sample from Din and a sample of the laboratory pathogen he was working with to create fingerprints for each.”
  3. ”Meanwhile, dozens of people, including relatives, close friends, medical personnel who treated Din and some of his co-workers at the research department of the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center were being given antibiotics as a precaution.”
  4. ”Harry Lampiris, chief of infectious disease at the San Francisco VA, said it is likely Din died as a result of his work with Neisseria meningitidis, a strain of bacteria that causes meningococcal disease, which leads to meningitis and bloodstream infections.”
  5. ”Since the 1960s, vaccines have been available for some strains of meningococcal disease. But scientists in the San Francisco lab have spent more than 20 years trying unsuccessfully to develop a vaccine against serogroup B, the strain that killed Din.”
  6. ”The disease can come on quickly with symptoms including high fever, headache, stiff neck, vomiting, rash, confusion and fatigue.
  7. ”Meningitis, an inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, commonly strikes infants and college students living in dormitories, Lampiris said. He said Din had not had contact with either group.”
  8. ”Since the 1960s, vaccines have been available for some strains of meningococcal disease. But scientists in the San Francisco lab have spent more than 20 years trying unsuccessfully to develop a vaccine against serogroup B, the strain that killed Din.”
  9. “It’s been like the Holy Grail to develop the vaccine against B,” Lampiris said.”
  10. ”About 1,000 Americans each year suffer from meningococcal disease, and an estimated 10 to 15 percent die from it, Skinner said. He could not say how many of the cases resulted from serogroup B.”
  11. ”The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health is investigating the circumstances of Din’s death, along with its federal counterpart and the CDC, the city Public Health Department and the San Francisco VA.”

N. meningitidis, Lab Safety, Biosafety, Vaccination, CDC, Scientist