ABSTRACT
The attempts to colonize the Strait of Magellan soon followed the discovery of this route. PeDro Sarmiento de Gamboa, a Spanish sailor, established human settlements to fortify those lands and control the transit of vessels, especially those of English corsairs, which devastated Chilean and Peruvian coasts. During the summer of 1584, approximately 500 soldiers, artisans, priests, women and children established two villages called Nombre de Jesús and Rey Don Felipe. From the beginning, these settlers had leadership and communication problems and difficulties to obtain food. After three winters only 17 to 18 people survived according to the testimony of one of the survivors, that was rescued by an English sailor named Cavendish, which renamed the village Rey Don Felipe as Port Famine. When he observed the scenes of abandonment and death, he supposed that the settlers died due to lack of food. Other factors that facilitated the desolation were hypothermia, execution, anthropophagy and lesions caused by natives. There is also a possibility that intoxication by red tide (harmful algal bloom) could explain in part the finding of unburied corpses in the strait beaches.
Subject(s)
History, 16th Century , Humans , Foodborne Diseases/history , Harmful Algal Bloom , Marine Toxins/poisoning , Chile , Foodborne Diseases/etiology , Foodborne Diseases/mortalityABSTRACT
There is interest in the paradigm that relates environmental sea changes to the emergence of diseases that affect both aquatic organisms in the sea and human beings. The emergence of Vibrio parahaemolyticus as an important cause of epidemic summer diarrhea in 2004 and 2005, confined mainly to the tenth region in Chile, could be a manifestation of this trend. This and other areas of the country have also experienced several outbreaks of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), diarrheal shellfish poisoning (DSP) and amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP) caused by harmful algal blooms (HAB) of Alexandrium catenella, Dinophysis acuta and Pseudonitzchia species, respectively. The short historical record of these pathological phenomena in Chile suggests that they are increasing in frequency and expanding their geographical range. The V parahaemolyticus isolates responsible for the Chilean outbreaks correspond mainly to the pandemic strain O3:K6. HAB found in Chile and the intoxications caused by them have similar biological characteristics to those described in other areas of the world. The tenth region, the area where these problems are emerging, produces approximately 80-90% of the shellfish consumed in Chile and a large proportion of the shellfish that is exported. Prevention of these public health problems can be attained by developing policies that increase environmental surveillance for Vibrios and toxic algae, improve the epidemiological surveillance of acute diarrhea and algal intoxications after the ingestion of raw bivalves, and educate the population on the mode of transmission of these diseases. Scientific capacity and laboratories need to be developed to widen the limited knowledge of the biology of Vibrio and toxic algae and the environmental factors that favor their emergence as public health and economic problems in Chile.
Subject(s)
Humans , Communicable Diseases, Emerging/epidemiology , Foodborne Diseases/epidemiology , Marine Toxins/poisoning , Vibrio Infections/epidemiology , Vibrio parahaemolyticus , Bacterial Toxins/poisoning , Chile/epidemiologyABSTRACT
Three cases of acute renal failure following consumption of raw grass gall bladder are reported here from NE State, Manipur.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Adult , Animals , Bile , Carps , Child , Fishes , Foodborne Diseases/complications , Fresh Water , Humans , India , Kidney Tubular Necrosis, Acute/etiology , Male , Marine Toxins/poisoningABSTRACT
El objetivo de este artículo es presentar la información biológica de los organismos marinos venenosos más comunes, el tratamiento médico de algunos de los investigadores más notables en el tema y las medidas más recientes de primeros auxilios para disminuir los efectos de estos venenos, ya que el hecho de que un médico haya empleado una dosis y un tipo de fármaco, no es indicación de que otro pueda emplearlo en una situación similar
Subject(s)
Humans , Child , Poisons/toxicity , Cnidarian Venoms/poisoning , Antidotes/administration & dosage , Antidotes/therapeutic use , First Aid , Marine Toxins/poisoningABSTRACT
Desde 1972 a 1995 se han producido en la XII región de Chile, a consecuencia de la intoxicación por veneno paralizante de mariscos, 315 casos, de ellos 20 personas han fallecido. Esta intoxicación es un síndrome caracterizado por síntomas neurológicos, gastrointestinales y cardiovasculares. De estos los más característicos son los neurológicos, que incluyen parestesias, alteraciones posturales y de la sensibilidad térmica, parálisis de las extremidades, alteraciones capilares y parálisis de la musculatura respiratoria a través del bloqueo de los sistemas nerviosos central y periférico. Las manifestaciones clínicas dependen de varios factores, siendo los más importantes la cantidad de bivalvos, la concentración de la toxina y la respuesta individual. Como la causa principal de muerte es el paro cardiorespiratorio y la parálisis respiratoria, los pacientes deben ser manejados con masaje cardíaco externo, drogas vasoactivas y apoyo ventilatorio ya en nivel básico, hasta la necesidad de utilización de ventilador mecánico en unidad de cuidados intensivos