In early 2003 a virulent new infectious disease caught the world off guard. The Chinese Ministry of Health reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) in mid-February that 305 people in Guangdong province had developed an acute pneumonia-like illness and that 5 of them had died. Laboratory tests had been negative for influenza viruses, anthrax, plague, and other infectious pathogens. By mid-March WHO realized that hundreds of people in Hong Kong, mainland China, Vietnam, and Canada had come down with the mysterious rapidly spreading disease, which was not responding to antibiotics or antiviral drugs, and for the first time in its history it issued a “global alert.” Three days later WHO issued emergency guidance for travelers and airlines. By that time it was known that a doctor who had attended patients with the unusual pneumonia in Guangdong was ill with the disease when he subsequently visited Hong Kong. There he spread the illness to fellow travelers, who took it to Hanoi, Singapore, and Toronto, seeding major outbreaks in all three metropolises.
WHO called the illness severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Over the next few months, SARS spread to more than two dozen countries on six continents. (See Map.) The last confirmed case of the outbreak occurred in Taiwan in mid-June, and by late July the SARS pandemic was considered over. The final count was 8,098 cases and 774 deaths, with health care workers accounting for 20% of cases. In fact, the first cases of SARS had occurred in Guangdong province in November 2002, but China failed to report the outbreak until three months later.
Determination of the cause—a coronavirus unlike any other known human or animal virus in its family—and sequencing of the virus’s genetic makeup occurred with impressive rapidity. Subsequent epidemiological investigations determined that Himalayan palm civets and raccoon dogs sold at food markets in Guangzhou, the provincial capital, were the likely source of SARS.
Ultimately, SARS illustrated the impact that a new disease could have in a highly mobile world. Every city with an international airport was regarded as a potential hot spot for an outbreak. Many observers noted that the public fears inspired by SARS spread faster than the virus itself. (See Special Report.)
In May WHO extolled the Americas for having gone six months without a case of measles, the leading vaccine-preventable childhood disease. In other parts of the world, however, measles continued to take a terrible toll, affecting over 30 million children and killing some 745,000 each year, more than half of that number in Africa.
WHO and UNICEF brought together key players in the fight against measles for a summit in Cape Town in October. These leaders mapped out a strategy for reducing the number of childhood measles deaths by 2,000 a day. Shortly thereafter, all of Uganda’s 12.7 million children were immunized against measles in about two weeks’ time. The hugely successful campaign was carried out with support of the government, churches, kings, and tribal leaders.
The WHO-led global campaign to eradicate polio by 2005 shifted its overall strategy during the year, owing to a resurgence of the viral disease in India, Pakistan, and Nigeria. In 2001 just 329 polio cases were reported worldwide, down from an estimated 350,000 cases in 1988, the year the global campaign began. In 2002, however, the number increased nearly sixfold to 1,919 cases, with 1,556 in India. Consequently, WHO cut back immunization activity in 93 countries and concentrated it in the 13 countries where cases were still occurring and where there was a high risk of polio’s return.
Although the outbreak in India was a setback, leaders of the eradication effort remained confident that their goal could be accomplished. In September WHO Director-General Lee Jong Wook (see Biographies), while attending the launch of a five-day immunization blitz that targeted tens of millions of Indian children, warned that even a single case of polio remaining in the world could allow the disease to spread. The scenario that Lee warned of was played out in late October when polio spread from Nigeria to neighbouring countries Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Niger, and Togo. A tragedy was averted when hundreds of thousands of volunteers and health workers participated in a three-day campaign to vaccinate every child in those countries.
Between mid-May and late June, the first outbreak in the Western Hemisphere of monkeypox in humans occurred in six states in the U.S. Midwest. Of 72 cases reported, 37 were confirmed by laboratory tests. Monkeypox, so named because it was first observed in monkeys, is a relative of smallpox and occurs mainly in rainforests of central and western Africa. Those affected in the U.S. typically experienced fever, headaches, dry cough, swollen lymph nodes, chills, and sweating, followed by blisterlike skin lesions. The source of infection was traced to Gambian giant pouched rats and dormice imported from Ghana and purchased by an exotic-pets dealer in Illinois, who housed them in the same facility as some 200 prairie dogs. People became infected through close contact with infected prairie dogs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Ga., recommended smallpox vaccines for persons who had been exposed to the virus. The CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned the importation of all rodents from Africa as well as the sale, transport, or release into the environment of prairie dogs.
The fifth annual outbreak of West Nile virus (WNV) in the U.S. started in early July. By the end of November, 8,567 cases had been reported in 46 states, with 199 deaths; Colorado, with 2,477 cases, was hardest hit. (In 2002 there were 4,156 cases and 284 deaths in 44 states.) For the first time, rural areas were sharply affected. The mosquito that spread WNV in western states was Culex tarsalis, a particularly hearty species found mainly on farmland but able to travel great distances. A CDC official called the species “the most efficient vector of West Nile virus ever discovered.”
During the 2002 WNV season, the virus had been found to be transmissible from person to person through blood transfusions and organ transplantation. Fortunately, by the start of the 2003 season, a new blood-screening test was available and detected WNV in more than 600 donors. Nevertheless, the screening process was not foolproof. At least two transfusion recipients developed severe West Nile illness with encephalitis (inflammation of the brain).
By mid-November Canada had experienced 1,314 probable or confirmed cases of human WNV and 10 deaths during its third annual outbreak. In 2002 the total number of laboratory-confirmed human cases had been under 100. Mexico reported having tested more than 500 people for WNV, 4 of whom were classified as WNV-positive.
Using improved epidemiological monitoring methods, UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS) and WHO revised the estimate of the number of people in the world living with HIV from 42 million to 40 million. The reduction was apparent rather than real and reflected a change in surveillance methods, not in the overall toll of the pandemic. A comprehensive report issued by the agencies in late November estimated that during the year HIV infected five million people, while AIDS killed three million—the highest numbers ever.
Although most people with HIV in developed countries were living a decade or more beyond diagnosis, thanks to life-sustaining drugs, the epidemic in those countries was far from over. In the U.S., public health officials were alarmed by a 17.7% surge in new cases among gay and bisexual men since 1999.
A mounting problem in developed countries was the appearance of strains of HIV that were resistant to available drugs. At a meeting of the International AIDS Society in Paris in July, results of the largest study ever conducted on antiretroviral drug resistance were presented. The study found that 10% of newly infected Europeans had viral strains resistant to at least one antiretroviral drug. That meant that HIV-infected people on antiretroviral therapy and carrying a virus that had developed resistance were passing on the virus by engaging in high-risk sex or needle sharing.
It had long been believed that drug-resistant strains of HIV were most likely to arise and thrive when patients took their drugs erratically. Investigators based in San Francisco found, however, that irregular drug use by individuals of low economic status, primarily the homeless, did not lead to the development of drug resistance. In fact, they found nearly twice as many drug-resistant mutations of HIV in blood samples of those who took their drugs conscientiously as in the blood of those who were noncompliant.
In March the FDA approved enfuvirtide (Fuzeon), the first in a new class of antiretroviral medications for HIV/AIDS called fusion inhibitors, which prevent HIV from entering host cells. Fuzeon had to be given by injection and was meant for those who had used other drugs but still had evidence of active disease.
While life-prolonging drugs were extending the lives of people who had access to therapy, the vast majority of those living with HIV were in sub-Saharan Africa, where only about 50,000 were receiving treatment. In September at a high-level UN meeting, representatives of WHO and UNAIDS announced their organizations’ commitment to providing drug treatment to three million people in the less-developed countries by the end of 2005—a plan dubbed the “3 by 5 Initiative.”
Many international public health professionals held that it would be impossible to provide AIDS drugs to people in Africa because too many were infected, the drugs were too costly, the regimens were too complicated, and there was no way to ensure compliance with therapy. Nevertheless, surveys carried out in 2002 and 2003 in Botswana, Uganda, Senegal, South Africa, and Zambia found that compliance with treatment among Africans was extremely high—higher, in fact, than among AIDS patients in developed countries. Jeffrey Stringer, working at the Center for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia, was quoted in the September 13 issue of The Lancet as saying: “High rates of antiretroviral adherence are clearly possible in African settings, and while the unique set of issues around adherence to medication in African populations should be considered carefully as we design antiretroviral treatment programs, it in no way should delay large-scale implementation.”
Availability of low-cost, high-quality antiretroviral drugs would be crucial to the success of the “3 by 5” program. Thus, it was welcome news when the drug company GlaxoSmithKline said it would further cut the prices of its AIDS drugs for the world’s poorest countries by as much as 47%. In addition, former U.S. president Bill Clinton announced that he had brokered a deal with four generic-drug companies to cut the cost of AIDS drugs for African and Caribbean countries by as much as one-half.
Providing medications to all who needed them was an undisputed necessity, yet most AIDS experts believed that the greatest hope for reversing the pandemic would be an effective vaccine. In 2003 more than 25 potential vaccines were being tested in some 12,000 volunteers worldwide.
In late February the California firm VaxGen Inc. announced the results of the first large-scale clinical trial of an AIDS vaccine to reach completion. The subjects were more than 5,000 North American and European volunteers; none were infected with HIV at the start of the trial, but all were at high risk for sexual exposure to the virus. Two-thirds received injections of the experimental vaccine over a period of three years, while one-third received a placebo. All participants were advised on safer sex practices.
In the study population as a whole, the vaccine did not provide protection against HIV infection. A surprising finding requiring further study, however, was that minorities other than Hispanics who received the vaccine had 67% fewer HIV infections than minorities who received the placebo. Black vaccine recipients had 78% fewer infections than black placebo recipients.
The results of a second large-scale VaxGen trial—conducted in Thailand—were released in November. Some 2,500 injection-drug users who were not infected with HIV at the start of the 36-week trial received either vaccine or placebo. This vaccine too failed to protect the recipients from becoming infected with HIV; furthermore, it did not slow the progression of AIDS in those who became infected. Although the overall results of these important trials were disappointing, vaccine proponents remained confident in the validity of an AIDS vaccine.
In December 2002 U.S. Pres. George W. Bush announced a smallpox vaccination program to protect Americans in the event of a terrorist attack with the deadly virus. The plan called for immunizing about 500,000 health care workers first, then as many as 10 million emergency responders—police, firefighters, and paramedics. The CDC had estimated that 1.2 million immunized health care workers would be needed to vaccinate the entire U.S. population within 10 days of a smallpox attack.
The program was highly controversial because there was no imminent threat of a smallpox outbreak and because the vaccine was known to carry significant risks of life-threatening complications and death. (About 450,000 members of the U.S. military were successfully vaccinated against smallpox between December 2002 and June 2003, with very few serious adverse events.) The program to vaccinate civilian health care workers got under way in January but was riddled with problems. The federal government had estimated that each vaccination would cost $13, but state and local health officials reported the actual cost to be $75–$265. Many hospital workers initially refused the vaccine because no provisions had been made to compensate people who suffered adverse reactions. By the end of March, the CDC had reports of 72 cases of heart problems among military and civilian vaccinees—notably inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis)—and three fatal heart attacks. (In April Congress finally approved a bill that would ensure compensation for those who experienced short-term or permanent disability or death from the vaccine.) Although the relationship between the vaccinations and the medical problems was not clear, the CDC said that persons with heart disease or major cardiac risk factors should no longer receive the vaccine. In the end, only about 38,000 civilian health care workers were immunized.
Meanwhile, a study of Americans previously vaccinated against smallpox (before 1972, when routine vaccination was discontinued in the U.S.) found that more than 90%—even people vaccinated as far back as 1928—still had the full range of antibodies to smallpox. The results suggested that a significant proportion of middle-aged and older Americans would be protected in the event of a smallpox attack.
For decades, anyone with blood pressure under 140/90 was considered to be in the healthy range. Recently acquired knowledge about the damage done to arteries when blood pressure was even slightly elevated, however, prompted the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to issue new guidelines, according to which adults with blood-pressure levels previously considered normal (some 45 million in the U.S.) would now be in a category called prehypertension. This group included people with systolic pressure (top number) of 120–139 or diastolic pressure (bottom number) of 80–89. Those in the new category were urged to make lifestyle changes such as losing excess weight, quitting smoking, and consuming less sodium. Those with systolic readings of 140–159 or diastolic readings of 90–99 were in a category called stage 1 hypertension and in most cases would require treatment with blood-pressure-lowering medication. For those with 160/100 and higher—stage 2 hypertension—aggressive treatment with medication to lower blood pressure to at least 140/90 was strongly advised.
Cardiologists had long believed that about half of all heart disease was unrelated to any of the best-known risk factors: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, and diabetes. Two reports published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in August, however, found that 80–90% of people with heart disease had at least one of the four risk factors.
By 2003 most medical scientists had come to appreciate that injury to the arteries resulting from factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and smoking triggered an inflammatory reaction. A number of biochemical markers of inflammation had been found, but the one for which the most accurate and sensitive test had been devised was C-reactive protein (CRP), a substance found in the blood and produced by the liver in response to inflammation in the body. One study of healthy women found CRP to be a better predictor of cardiovascular disease risk than low-density lipoprotein (the “bad” cholesterol).
In January the CDC and the American Heart Association issued guidelines for physicians on when to order the CRP test (called high sensitivity CRP, or hs-CRP). The guidelines specified that hs-CRP would be useful mainly when it was unclear whether an individual would benefit from preventive treatment (lifestyle changes, medication, or both). A good candidate for the test might be a healthy person with normal blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar but with a family history of heart disease. Most cardiovascular experts believed that considerable further investigation was needed before the implications of elevated CRP in the blood would be fully understood. Moreover, the guidelines emphasized that many things other than damaged arteries could cause inflammation—e.g., infection and autoimmune diseases.
Results of a huge American Cancer Society study found that excess body weight significantly increased the risk of death from cancer. The study followed more than 900,000 initially cancer-free American adults for 16 years, during which time slightly more than 57,000 died from cancer. The investigators correlated the volunteers’ body-mass index (weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in metres) at the time of entry into the study with the subsequent development of deadly cancers. On the basis of the findings, they estimated that “current patterns of overweight and obesity in the United States could account for 14% of all deaths from cancer in men and 20% of those in women.” The study identified several types of cancer that previously had not been associated with excess body weight: cancers of the stomach (in men), liver, pancreas, prostate, cervix, and ovary, as well as non-Hodgkin lymphoma and multiple myeloma.
Cancer treatment specialists were elated about a Canadian-led study’s finding that a drug in the class known as aromatase inhibitors significantly prolonged disease-free survival of women who had had breast cancer. The standard, highly effective regimen for women with breast cancer after tumour removal was to take the drug tamoxifen, an antiestrogen, for five years. Beyond that period, however, taking tamoxifen offered no benefit. The new study, which involved more than 5,000 women in Canada, the U.S., and Europe, was stopped early when it became clear that taking the aromatase inhibitor letrozole (Femara) following a five-year course of tamoxifen significantly reduced the likelihood of developing cancer in the other breast and of having the original cancer recur or spread to other sites in the body. Consequently, it was likely that letrozole would be offered to most postmenopausal women with estrogen-receptive breast cancer following tamoxifen treatment, although the optimal length of letrozole therapy was not yet known. (Estrogen stimulates the growth of cancer cells. In postmenopausal women, androgens produced by the adrenal glands are converted to estrogens by the enzyme aromatase. Letrozole works by blocking the action of aromatase and thereby inhibiting the conversion of androgens to estrogens.)
The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) was established by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in the early 1990s as a long-term research program to address the most common causes of death and disability in postmenopausal women. In 2002 a landmark WHI clinical trial was stopped several years early when it became clear that women receiving hormone replacement therapy (HRT) had an increased risk of developing breast cancer, heart disease, stroke, and blood clots and that the risk significantly outweighed any health benefits from HRT. After the study’s results were released, the number of women on HRT—i.e., taking estrogen plus progestin—plummeted from an estimated six million to three million in the U.S. alone.
During 2003 more bad news about HRT emerged from additional analyses of the data from the WHI trial. These in-depth studies found that HRT doubled the risk of Alzheimer disease and other dementias in women who began using hormones at age 65 or older. It increased the risk of cognitive decline by a slight but clinically significant amount and increased the risk of stroke. It caused changes in breast tissue that increased the likelihood of abnormal mammograms and impaired the early detection of tumours by mammography. It increased the risk of heart disease by 81% in the first year of therapy. Moreover, HRT failed to improve women’s quality of life.