Journal of IiME Volume 3 Issue 1 www.investinme.org P PRROOFFIILLEESS ooff PPRREESSEENNTTEERRSS aatt tthhee IINNVVEESSTT iinn MMEE I INNTTEERRNNAATTIIOONNAALL MMEE//CCFFSS CCOONNFFEERREENNCCEE P Prrooffeessssoorr HHaarraalldd NNyyllaanndd MMDD,, PPhhDD Institute of Clinical Medicine, Department of Neurology, Haukeland University Hospital, 5021 Bergen, Norway On 20 July 2006 Professor Nyland was knighted by the King of Norway for his services for MS research and treatment of MS patients. Since the 1970s he has built up a large multidisciplinary research team at Haukeland University Hospital which has worked with immunological diseases in the brain and other parts of the nervous system. Professor Nyland has published over 100 scientific papers in international publications, either as the main author or as a senior co author. He has also taught neurology students for more than 20 years. Thanks to Professor Nyland’s considerable input the Neurology Department at Haukeland University Hospital is at present a national centre of excellence for MS in Norway. Dr Nyland graduated in 1968 and took his medical PhD in 1982. He has also been strongly involved with ME patients for more than 10 years and during this time he has examined over 1500 patients with suspected ME. P Prreesseenn ttaatt iioonn:: Epidemics & ME: Lessons from the Giardia epidemic in Norway Background In 2004 a few thousand people contracted a gastrointestinal infection due to consumption of contaminated public drinking water (1). According to Nygard et al. (2), approximately 48,000 people were exposed to the contaminated tap water during the outbreak. People affected had been drinking tap water from the public waterworks supplying the inner city of Bergen, a coastal city of western Norway, during the outbreak. Leaking sewage pipes combined with insufficient water treatment were the likely causes of the epidemic (1). The outbreak probably began in August and peaked in early October (2). A total of 1300 laboratory-confirmed cases of Giardia duodenalis were reported (1). In addition one could expect a number of asymptomatic carriers as well (3). It took about six to eight weeks before the medical community and local health authorities acknowledged the epidemic and identified the parasite, G. lamblia, as the cause of the gastrointestinal infection (4). One reason for the late detection of the cause is probably that G. lamblia is non-endemic in Norway and therefore not normally tested for (2). The people infected were mostly women and younger people (2, 4) who had been drinking larger amounts of tap water, often more than five glasses per day (2). The municipality of Bergen city accepted responsibility for the insufficient quality of the water supply and their insurance carrier is expected to pay compensation. Most cases are still being arbitrated, and some may end up in court. G. lamblia is one of the most common causes of protozoally-induced diarrhoea in humans globally (1, 5), but in Norway before 2005, this infection was mainly associated with people travelling to “exotic” places, as more than 90 % of yearly confirmed cases are imported by foreign travellers (5). This outbreak of giardiasis is the largest waterborne outbreak in recent time (5), and the first reported giardiasis outbreak of epidemic proportion in Norway (6). An outbreak of this size is unusual in the Nordic countries, and even in Europe. Information from the Norwegian Prescription Database revealed that probably more than 2,500 cases were Invest in ME (Charity Nr. 1114035) Page 63/76
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