Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/497863
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 19 APRIL 2015 8 News JAMES DEBONO A study by HV Wyatt, an academic from the University of Leeds who spent five years analysing records of polio epidemics before the records were destroyed by vandals concludes that the Maltese are ge- netically susceptible to the polio vi- rus which may re-occur in another form after the disease is eradicated and immunisation is stopped. This conclusion is based on the records of 1,072 Maltese cases of poliomyelitis between 1909 and 1964. Immunisation for polio is still compulsory for Maltese children, along with that for tetanus and diphtheria. But vaccination is usu- ally stopped after 10 years after a disease is totally eliminated. But according to Wyatt when po- lio cases no longer occur and im- munisation ceases, "there will still be a danger that a polio or polio- like virus may emerge". Wyatt warns that polio or similar viruses may escape from an unsus- pected source or may mutate from other enteroviruses, or may even re-emerge after being dormant in the environment. "Plans must be made for the pos- sibility that many with genetic sus- ceptibility and no immunity might be infected. It will be prudent to have stocks of vaccine available for an emergency," according to the study. He warns that when polio cases no longer occur and immunisation ceases, there will still be a dan- ger that a polio or polio-like virus may emerge. After that time, two per cent of children will be at risk should a virus reappear. But ten years later, there will be cohorts of young people of whom up to 24% will be at risk of paralysis. Wyatt analysed the 1,072 Maltese cases of poliomyelitis from 1909 to 1964 between 1982 and 1987. He took note of the name and date of birth of each child and from this information he subsequently traced the parents, grandparents and great grandparents of those af- fected by the disease. According to the British academ- ic, unknown intruders have since trashed the records. The study found 70 pairs of sib- lings affected by the disease. Of these, 13 pairs suffered poliomy- elitis in different epidemics even though the younger sibling was born after the elder was paralysed. 27 pairs of siblings affected by the disease were directly related to more than twice as many other po- lio victims through grandparents and great grandparents. The study also found that families of polio siblings contained more consan- guineous marriages. In an earlier study focusing on cases in Gozo, which was pub- lished last year, Wyatt had found evidence of consanguineous mar- riages among the parents of chil- dren affected by polio and even more among their grandparents. "Within Gozo, the attack rate was greater in some villages and this was caused by some extended, re- lated families with genetic suscep- tibility to polio," Wyatt concluded. In Nadur Wyatt had found that out of 29 cases of polio, 23 cases were found in a "tightly knit group of families linked by consanguin- ity." Both studies have been published in the Malta Medical Journal. MATTHEW VELLA THE president of the Malta Devel- opers Association has questioned data published by the EU's statisti- cal arm, which reports an 11% rise in property prices in the last quarter of 2014. According to the House Price In- dex house prices in Malta rose by 11 per cent in the fourth quarter last year, compared to the same period the previous year. The HPI measures the price chang- es of all residential properties pur- chased by households, independent- ly of their final use, and are compiled by the national statistical institutes. According to Eurostat, Malta had the second highest annual increase among the EU states, the highest being recorded in Ireland (16.3 per cent). Throughout 2014 – the year Mal- ta's Individual Investor Programme was launched, inviting new citizens to purchase houses of over €350,000 in value – prices compared to their previous quarters increased by 0.8% in the first three months, 3.5% in the second quarter, 3.9% in the third quarter, and 11% in the final quar- ter. "I question the data," association president Sandro Chetcuti told Mal- taToday, adding that the Eurostat re- port was the subject of talks between fellow developers. "I'd say the increase in prices would be more akin to 4%-6%, and nobody other than us developers is better placed to know at what price prop- erty is being sold." Chetcuti claimed that sales had in- creased thanks to a demand for high- ly-finished residences, but he doubt- ed that the scale of price increases was as high as 11%. "Customers want houses that are energy-efficient, of high standards and finishing, and are happy to pay a higher price for that quality… but I assure you that the 11% price increase is debatable," he said, playing down the extent of property price inflation. On the other hand, the head of Malta's federation of estate agents (FEA), Ian Casolani, was keener to acknowledge that foreign investment and incomes for highly-skilled for- eign workers had increased demand in the rental market. "In certain segments of the proper- ty market, the rise could perhaps be attributed to the IIP. But beyond the feel-good factor in the market, it is the letting segment that is perform- ing well," Casolani said. Casolani said investors were pur- chasing property to cash in on the letting business, sure to secure long lets for foreign workers looking for a house in Malta, or even for holiday- makers. "There is a strong buy-to-let de- mand, and apart from long lets for foreign workers, the internet has made it possible for homeowners to manage their own letting busi- ness," he said, with websites like AirBnb removing middlemen and leaving more cash in homeowners' hands. "You can get a 5% return on a €200,000 house," he said. But ultimately, Casolani credits the price surge to foreign direct invest- ment. "Companies are setting up base here because the island is an attrac- tive proposition for business – qual- ity of life, highly-skilled labour not as expensive as elsewhere in Europe, and English-speaking – so the de- mand for propery is there." Malta was followed in its prop- erty price surge by Sweden (10.4 per cent), Estonia (10.1 per cent) and the United Kingdom (10 per cent), and the largest fall was in Slovenia (-4.4 per cent), followed by Cyprus (-3.3 per cent), Latvia (-3.2 per cent) and Italy (-2.9 per cent). The highest quarter-on-quarter in- creases were recorded in Malta (4.6 per cent), Ireland (3.8 per cent), Slo- vakia (2.1 per cent) and Luxembourg (2 per cent), and the largest falls in Latvia (-10.2 per cent), Lithuania (-4.3 per cent) and Cyprus (-3 per cent). Over all, house prices in the fourth quarter rose by 1.1 per cent in the euro area and by 2.6 per cent in the EU compared with the same period the previous year. Compared with the previous quar- ter, house prices went down slightly in the euro area (-0.1 per cent) and remained stable in the EU in the fourth quarter of 2014. mvella@mediatoday.com.mt Maltese genetically susceptible to polio House price surge questioned by developers' president Academic warns of possible re-emergence of virus in new form, links susceptibility to disease in Gozo to consanguineous marriages in the past Jonas Salk discovered and developed the first successful inactivated polio vaccine Ian Casolani, head, Federation of Estate Agents Sandro Chetcuti – 'I question the data'