Making a disease notifiable at a state level would mean every case would have to be reported to the secretary of NSW Health, and the information could be used to inform a public health response and medical research.
Rowe said silicosis traditionally occurred among people working in mining or construction, but data from disease notifications revealed a fresh outbreak among people installing stone kitchens in home renovations and that could be fixed by improving workplace safety.Rowe said MND was already notifiable in parts of France and the United States, and the information collected strengthened the hypothesis about links to blue-green algae.
However, Rowe said this was misleading because it didn’t adjust for survival rates. He explained similar numbers of people were diagnosed with multiple sclerosis every year, yet there were 10 times as many MS sufferers as MND patients. The NSW Health spokesperson said most MND cases occur without any apparent reason, and there was extensive and ongoing international research on the causes.
erinrileyau niltiac Oh Erin. This is fascinating but so heartbreaking... and scary if correct because so many people are living there with no idea.