All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

MERS in KSA: Updated Charts

Mens et Manus

As many of y’all know, my pre-doctoral thesis (which will likely comprise the first several chapters of my dissertation) is on the epidemiology and transmission dynamics of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in Saudi Arabia. I’ve been following MERS pretty closely for the past year, and with the help of my colleagues at HealthMap (including two incredible interns!) and my wonderful thesis advisor, I’ve been able to curate a pretty incredible data set using publicly available data streams in both Arabic and English. We’re working on a few pretty awesome studies right now, but for the time being I wanted to share some high-resolution versions of our most up-to-date exploratory data visualizations.
age_distribution_2.25.15monthly_epicurve_2.25.15demographics_2.25.15A couple of notes:
1) February 2015 cases have already surpassed counts from March 2014. Given that March 2014 signaled the start of last year’s outbreak, this current uptick in cases might indicate a larger surge in the…

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CDC puts C difficile burden at 453,000 cases, 29,000 deaths | CIDRAP

The CDC found that about two thirds of the 453,000 cases were related to a stay in a hospital or nursing home and the other third were community-associated cases, involving people with no recent hospital or nursing home exposure. Most of those who died were elderly.

“Eighty percent of deaths from C difficile infections happened in people 65 and older,” said Michael Bell, MD, deputy director of the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion in the CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, at a press conference today.

“One of nine patients over 65 with C difficile dies within 30 days of diagnosis,” he added. “That’s a frightening statistic.”

via CDC puts C difficile burden at 453,000 cases, 29,000 deaths | CIDRAP.

Mexican man dies during violent police response to teachers protest in Acapulco | World news | The Guardian

Juan Angulo, director of the respected local newspaper El Sur, said retired teacher Claudio Castillo, who died in hospital early on Wednesday, was singled out by police as he sat in a truck from where he had been chanting slogans through a microphone.

“The police pulled him out and hit him, before letting him go. Then he was beaten up again by other officers,” Angulo told Radio Fórmula.

The newspaper director added that one of El Sur’s photographers was also beaten by police and his camera was smashed. “The police acted with a lot of violence, but there are not many images of what happened,” Angulo said.

Photographs of the incident were widely shared on social media – including an image of a man covered in blood being marched away by police and another of dozens of detainees lying facedown in the road.

The authorities reported that 106 people were arrested during the operation, of whom 99 were released on Wednesday morning.

via Mexican man dies during violent police response to teachers protest in Acapulco | World news | The Guardian.

Anti-LGBT Rally in Montgomery Draws Strong Rhetoric and the League of the South | Hatewatch

Old School Mormons – closet same sex and polygamy promoters? – Some of these folks also celebrated Lincoln’s Assassination this month

Other speakers included Alabama Republican state representative Will Ainsworth, who linked same-sex marriage to polygamy when he said, “Allowing the whims of our pop culture to redefine marriage is a slippery slope that could lead to polygamy. Where does the definition stop? Think about that.” He then quoted Isaiah 5:20, which states, in part, “woe to those who call evil good, and good evil.”

via Anti-LGBT Rally in Montgomery Draws Strong Rhetoric and the League of the South | Hatewatch.

Plants found to alter soil types

{Australia has a reputation for messing up its environment with rabbits and camels, now they want to “engineer” their soil. Maybe being short-sighted and dumb is in their soil?}

Exciting research has revealed some plants have the ability to alter soil types, suggesting opportunities may exist to re-engineer WA’s hostile soils to better suit agricultural purposes.

via Plants found to alter soil types.

​Pussy Riot offers two video versions of ‘I Can’t Breathe’ song

“This song is for Eric and for all those from Russia to America and around the globe who suffer from state terror — killed, choked, perished because of war and state-sponsored violence of all kinds — for political prisoners and those on the streets fighting for change,” Pussy Riot members said.

via ​Pussy Riot offers two video versions of ‘I Can’t Breathe’ song.

Taking the Samoa Pathway: Second Caribbean Green Economy Conference in Kingston, February 23 – 25, 2015

Petchary's Blog

I will be writing, tweeting and reporting from this very special and important conference hosted by the Jamaican Government in Kingston this week. Below is the official press release. For more information, do contact Alison Christie Binger: Tel: 876-330-1155(cell); email: achristie@illuminartecommunications.com

I DO hope that the local/Caribbean media will report on more than the Minister’s keynote speech, and that there will be substantive, in-depth reporting on this meeting. By the way, you can follow me @petchary on Twitter. 

Jamaica will host the second Caribbean Green Economy Conference (CGEC) on February 23-25, 2015 at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston. Robert Pickersgill, Jamaica’s Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, will be the keynote speaker at the official opening.

The Conference is a collaborative initiative of The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the University of the West Indies (UWI) with support from the European Union. It will be held under the theme “Implementing…

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UNRWA Declares Urgent Need for 100 M to Repair Gaza Homes

UNRWA has registered 96,ooo homes as refugee houses or structures exposed to breaking down. The agency stressed the urgent need for $720 million to repair these houses.

The consequences of last summer assault are still ongoing, and the number of homes that were damaged is estimated reach about 100,000 by this March.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees last month halted Gaza reconstruction for lack of fund, since it could not afford repairing homes because “donors have failed to pay.”

via UNRWA Declares Urgent Need for 0 M to Repair Gaza Homes.