UNDIAGNOSED DEATHS - ZAMBIA (03): APOLOGY
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A ProMED-mail post
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ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
Date: Fri 30 Nov 2007
From: Marjorie P. Pollack, MD
<pollack@promedmail.org>
In the 29 Nov 2007 ProMED-mail posting Undiagnosed deaths - Zambia:
RFI 20071129.3853, the moderator comment used the word "fun" as a
tool to convey the challenges posed in attempting to create a
differential diagnosis listing from a newswire that contained sparse
information on the reported outbreak vis-a-vis clinical symptoms and
relevant descriptive epidemiological data surrounding the outbreak.
Unfortunately the the use of this word could be misinterpreted to
convey a sense of flippancy on the part of the ProMED-mail moderator
and editorial staff. Several of our subscribers have pointed this out
to us following this posting. We deeply apologize for this error. We
at ProMED-mail take our mandate seriously, and strive to maintain
high professional standards.
The intent of the moderator comment was to point out that in the
absence of more precise information, the differential diagnostic list
for a severe clinical syndrome with vomiting and backache is very
large and encompasses viral, bacterial, and parasitic etiologies. The
use of the Global Infectious Disease Epidemiology Network (GIDEON,
available at <http://www.gideononline.com>) to assist in identifying
infectious agents known to produce such a clinical syndrome further
supported a conclusion that more information was necessary to better
narrow down the list of possible etiologic agents. In addition, the
presentation of all prior ProMED-mail postings on outbreaks of human
and zoonotic diseases in Zambia identified numerous prior outbreaks
of infectious diseases mentioned in the differential diagnosis list
generated using the GIDEON database that could be associated with the
clinical syndrome reported in the newswire. All of this contributed
to our "Request for Information" (RFI), hoping that knowledgeable
sources in the affected region would respond and assist in
identifying the etiologic agent responsible for the reported
morbidity and mortality in this outbreak.
Again, we deeply apologize for the poor choice of wording in the
moderator comment.
--
Marjorie P. Pollack, MD
Associate Editor/Epidemiology & Surveillance Moderator
ProMED-mail
<pollack@promedmail.org>