JAPAN  – Cases of a dangerous and highly fatal bacterial infection have reached record levels in Japan, official figures show, with experts so far unable to pinpoint the reason for the rise.

As of June 2, Japan’s Health Ministry had recorded 977 cases of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS), which has a mortality rate of up to 30%. Some 77 people have died from the infection between January and March, the latest figures available. The ongoing outbreak in Japan has already surpassed last year’s previous record of 941 preliminary infections – the highest since statistics began in 1999. Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases reported 97 deaths due to STSS last year, the second-highest number of fatalities in the past six years.

STSS is a rare but serious bacterial infection that can develop when bacteria spread into deep tissues and the bloodstream. Patients initially suffer from fever, muscle pain and vomiting but symptoms can quickly turn life threatening with low blood pressure, swelling, and multiple organ failure as the body goes into shock.  “Even with treatment, STSS can be deadly. Out of 10 people with STSS, as many as three people will die from the infection,” according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Most STSS cases are caused by the group A streptococcus (GAS) bacteria, which mainly produces fever and throat infections in children. In rare circumstances, strep A can become invasive when bacterium produces a toxin that enables it to gain access to the bloodstream, causing serious illnesses such as toxic shock. Strep A can also cause “flesh-eating” necrotizing fasciitis, which can lead to loss of limbs. However, most patients who contract that disease have other health factors that may lower their body’s ability to fight infections, such as cancer or diabetes, according to the CDC.  Invasive group A strep infections were largely curbed by COVID-19 controls, such as masking and social distancing, but after those measures were relaxed many countries reported a rise in cases. (CNN)…[+]

PARAMARIBO – Joel Martinus alias Bordo who is currently in a Brazilian jail reportedly does not want to be extradited to France. His attorney, Irvin Kanhai, told Times of Suriname that a procedure aimed at informing the Brazilian officials that Bordo wants to remain in Brazil has been initiated. “He does not want to go to France,” said Kanhai who has already contacted the Brazilian attorney who represents Bordo. There is an extradition  agreement between Brazil and France.

This agreement was inked on May 28th, 1996. Bordo was sentenced in absentia for his involvement in the recruitment of drug mules. He was sentenced to prison in 2019. Bordo had previously made it clear to the Brazilian authorities that he does not want to be extradited to Suriname where he is the prime suspect in a drug trafficking case. Clifton J., Ramesh P., Prashant P. and Albert G who are labelled as his accomplices are currently on trial. Bordo is also a suspect in a missing person’s case. Ramrag Ramnauth who worked as an excavator operator went missing after he had worked for Bordo. There is no extradition agreement between Suriname and Brazil. Both countries have signed an agreement aimed at handing over convicted people…[+]

USA – The United States surgeon general has called on Congress to require social media platforms to carry warning labels on their effects on young people’s lives, similar to those now mandatory on cigarette boxes.

In a Monday opinion piece in The New York Times, Dr Vivek Murthy said that social media is a contributing factor in the mental health crisis among young people. “It is time to require a surgeon general’s warning label on social media platforms, stating that social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents. A surgeon general’s warning label, which requires congressional action, would regularly remind parents and adolescents that social media has not been proved safe,” Murthy said. “Evidence from tobacco studies show that warning labels can increase awareness and change behavior.”

Murthy, who acts as the top government spokesperson on public health and is known as the nation’s doctor, said that the use of just a warning label would not make social media safe for young people, but would be a part of the steps needed. Social media use is prevalent among young people, with up to 95 percent of those aged 13 to 17 saying that they use a social media platform, and more than a third saying that they use social media “almost constantly,” according to 2022 data from the Pew Research Center.

“Social media today is like tobacco decades ago: It’s a product whose business model depends on addicting kids. And as with cigarettes, a surgeon general’s warning label is a critical step toward mitigating the threat to children,” Josh Golin, executive director of Fairplay, an organisation dedicated to ending marketing to children, said in a statement…[+]

GREECE – Greece’s main opposition party is demanding an investigation after a BBC report which found the coastguard had caused dozens of migrant deaths over three years, according to witnesses.

Nine migrants were said to have been thrown into the water deliberately. Syriza’s immigration policy chief said: “We demand in-depth investigation, we demand answers, we demand accountability, and the reason we do it is this. “We care about all human life, and we cannot get used to the loss of human life.”

Giorgos Psychogios told the BBC his centre-left party had called for accountability over coastguard incidents for years, after many reports from international institutions and organisations. He accused the government of calling his party “anti-Greek”, “Erdogan agents” and “provocateurs” for asking those questions.

A government spokesperson insisted the BBC’s claims had not been proven, but stressed that every complaint would be checked and conclusions drawn. The coastguard “saves dozens of human lives every day”, Pavlos Marinakis told reporters, adding it was “wrong to target them”. “Reality… has consistently refuted these claims for too many years. “And, in fact, too many times in the past we have seen Greeks being the ones behind the attempt to slander the country.”

A BBC team showed footage previously published by the New York Times of 12 people being loaded into a Greek coastguard boat, and then abandoned on a dinghy, to a former senior Greek coastguard officer. When he got up from his chair, and with his mic still on, he said it was “obviously illegal” and “an international crime”. The Greek government has long been accused of forced returns – pushing people back towards Turkey, where they have crossed from, which is illegal under international law.

But this is the first time the BBC has calculated the number of incidents which allege that fatalities occurred as a result of the Greek coastguard’s actions. The 15 incidents analysed – dated May 2020-23 – resulted in 43 deaths. The initial sources were primarily local media, NGOs and the Turkish coastguard. (BBC)…[+]