Category Archives: healthcare

Deadly Algal Bloom Triggers Social Uprising in Southern Chile | Inter Press Service

The union headed by Villarroel represents 35 fishers who mainly catch the Chilean blue mussel (Mytilus chilensis), Chilean abalone (Concholepas concholepas), the hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria) and the surf clam (Mesodesma donacium). All of these have been contaminated by the red tide. In previous outbreaks, “the seaweed hadn’t been contaminated, but now it has been. We’ve never seen that before,” Villarroel said. He believes the salmon companies “have destroyed the marine system and seabed.” The protests, which have included the burning of tires and clashes with the police, worry the government of socialist President Michelle Bachelet, which offered 1,100 dollars indemnification each for 5,500 artisanal fishers, to be paid in four installments, subject to the evolution of the red tide. The compensation, which also included a basket of basic foodstuffs worth 37 dollars, was rejected by union leaders, who argued that the amount was too small and that it wasn’t being paid to all of the affected fishers. In a new 28-point list of demands, they demanded the payment of 2,650 dollars in six installments, cancellation of their debts, and the declaration of a large part of Chiloé as a “disaster zone”. They also called for greater regional control of local natural resources, lower fuel prices, a special regional minimum wage, guaranteed public health coverage, and a regional university. Most scientists blame the red tide on climate change, which drove up water temperatures and caused an increase in algae and toxins.

Source: Deadly Algal Bloom Triggers Social Uprising in Southern Chile | Inter Press Service

HUMANS OF NEW YORK

(4/6) “After the surgery, we thought it was over. We think it’s done. Gabriel is getting better and it’s like nothing happened. His teachers can’t believe it! We’re even planning on going to the beach. But the doctors tell us that they can’t identify the tumor. The surgery was in July. August passes. September passes. Now that the tumor was gone, we were anxious to start treating the cancer, but nobody knows where to start. Every hospital is saying something different. Then finally two hospitals gave the same opinion: Descmoplastic Small Round Blue Cell Tumor. Nobody had ever seen this tumor in the brain before. They told me not to read about it. They told me that every case was different and not to read about it. When you read about it, it’s very bad. Oh my God. This cancer always comes back. And when it comes back, it’s worse. ‘Less than three years,’ it says. Oh my God. What did I do? What did I expose him to? What did I feed him? The chemo is so painful for him. My family tried to talk me out of it. They told me that I’m killing my son with my own hands. But what can I do? There’s nothing I can do. I want to give blood. I want to give bone marrow. But all I can do is watch. It’s the worst show you can imagine, but you have to watch. You’re forced to watch.”

Source: HUMANS OF NEW YORK

HUMANS OF NEW YORK

“All doctors have those patients who sit on our shoulder. Their image is always with you. One kid will pop into your head every time you hit a wall– when you encounter a disease that is so unrelenting that you’ve exhausted all therapies and you’re still not even close. One memory will keep you going. It’s a different kid for every doctor. It’s hard to know why they stick with us. I remember one patient that had red hair just like my son. And I remember one five-year-old girl who made me laugh, because when I asked her how she was doing, she told me: ‘I don’t know. You’re the doctor.’ And then there was the boy early in my career who was born without an immune system. He’d already lost two older siblings to the same disease. He lived the first two years of his life in an isolation room with no windows, and his entire exposure to the world was through a black-and-white TV. We gave him a bone marrow transplant, and suddenly his immune system came online. And we took him for a walk in the garden. This boy who had spent his entire life in a windowless room. And a sparrow landed on a bush, and he pointed at it, and said: ‘Bird.’ That moment will always be with me.”

Source: HUMANS OF NEW YORK

The Icarus Syndrome Strikes Again! Avian Flu Diary: Cell Host & Microbe: Wolbachia Blocks Zika Virus In Brazilian Aedes Aegypti Mosquitoes

  1. Infecting many mosquitoes with Wolbachia will result in Wolbachia resistant mosquitoes.
  2. Pretending that mosquitoes are an enemy or pest that can/should be destroyed ignores why mosquito populations explode (human interventions) and what the role of the mosquito is in nature.
  3. Someone will profit greatly and will not pay for any unintended consequences.

“The idea has been to release Aedes mosquitoes with Wolbachia in the field over a period of a few months, so they mate with Aedes mosquitoes without Wolbachia living in the place and, over time, replace the mosquito population,” says senior author Luciano Moreira of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation. He is also actively involved in the Eliminate Dengue Program, a non-profit that is testing the approach in 40 locations around the world.

Source: Avian Flu Diary: Cell Host & Microbe: Wolbachia Blocks Zika Virus In Brazilian Aedes Aegypti Mosquitoes

Listeria linked to frozen vegetables sickens 8 in 3 states | CIDRAP

Epidemiologic and lab evidence suggests the likely source of the outbreak is frozen vegetables produced by CRF Frozen Foods, based in Pasco, Wash., and sold under different brands, the CDC said. Two patients reported buying and eating the same Organic Nature brand of frozen vegetables in the month before they got sick, and routine product sampling by the Ohio Department of Agriculture found Listeria in frozen organic sweet corn and green peas under the Meijer grocery store chain’s True Goodness brand, also produced by CRF Frozen Foods. Whole-genome sequencing showed that the Listeria strain in the frozen corn was closely related to seven Listeria isolates from sick patients, and Listeria from the frozen peas was closely related to an isolate from one of the people. Recall includes 358 products, 42 brands CRF recalled 11 of its frozen vegetable products on Apr 23, then expanded it on May 2 to include all of its organic and traditional frozen vegetable and fruit products processed in its Pasco facility since May 1, 2014. The recalled products, packaged in plastic bags, are distributed nationally and in four Canadian provinces: British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.

Source: Listeria linked to frozen vegetables sickens 8 in 3 states | CIDRAP

Doctor, Warned to Be Silent on Abortions, Files Civil Rights Complaint – The New York Times

In ordering Dr. Horvath-Cosper to end her advocacy, the medical director of the hospital, Dr. Gregory J. Argyros, said he did “not want to put a Kmart blue-light special on the fact that we provide abortions at MedStar,” according to the complaint. Since then, hospital officials have ordered Dr. Horvath-Cosper to turn down several requests for interviews or articles or risk losing her job , she said in the complaint, which was filed with the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services. If the civil rights office finds that Dr. Horvath-Cosper’s rights were violated, it can order the hospital to take corrective action or risk losing its federal funding. The hospital on Monday afternoon did not directly respond to the allegations, saying in a brief, emailed statement, “MedStar Washington Hospital Center is committed to providing family planning services for our community, and we do so in a respectful, private and safe environment.” “We look forward to cooperating fully with the Office for Civil Rights,” said the statement, which was issued by Donna L. Arbogast, the hospital’s vice president for public affairs and marketing. Dr. Horvath-Cosper’s legal case rests on a little-known aspect of the Church Amendment, which was adopted in 1973 after Roe v. Wade established abortion rights nationwide earlier that year. The bill is best known for offering protections to medical staff members who object to participating in abortions on religious or moral grounds. But the legislative history and final wording of the amendment show it was intended to be two-sided, said Gretchen Borchelt, the vice president for reproductive rights and health at the National Women’s Law Center and a co-counsel in Dr. Horvath-Cosper’s complaint. The law states that no entity receiving federal money may discriminate against any doctor “because of his religious beliefs or moral convictions respecting sterilization procedures or abortions.” That means that doctors are protected from punishment for supporting abortion, just as they are protected if they oppose it and refuse to participate, according to the complaint. “If she can’t speak out about abortion the way other doctors at the hospital do about what they work on, she is being treated differently and that is discrimination,” Ms. Borchelt said.

Source: Doctor, Warned to Be Silent on Abortions, Files Civil Rights Complaint – The New York Times

Zika virus in the United States | Zika virus | CDC

As of April 27, 2016 (5 am EST) Zika virus disease and Zika virus congenital infection are nationally notifiable conditions. This update from the CDC Arboviral Disease Branch includes provisional data reported to ArboNET for January 1, 2015 – April 27, 2016. US States Travel-associated Zika virus disease cases reported: 426 Locally acquired vector-borne cases reported: 0 Total: 426 Pregnant: 36 Sexually transmitted: 8 Guillain-Barré syndrome: 1 US Territories Travel-associated cases reported: 3 Locally acquired cases reported: 596 Total: 599 Pregnant: 56 Guillain-Barré syndrome: 5

Source: Zika virus in the United States | Zika virus | CDC

Norovirus studies pinpoint global burden, build case for vaccine | CIDRAP

“Is norovirus an issue of child survival, a food safety problem, a healthcare associated infection?” he wrote. “Well, it’s all of these, which may have hampered our community of researchers and public health workers from coalescing around a central problem.” Other new findings from studies in the collections revealed: Genetic diversity in the virus, but similar global patterns, with novel GII.4 strains replacing each other every 2 to 4 years through gene swapping New insights on immunity, including the possibility of raising neutralizing antibodies without using cell-culture systems Regional epidemiologic patterns, such as those in the United States, where rates are higher in children under age 5 and in military personnel and their families Prevalence and data gaps in Africa, such as rates in Kenya that are double that of developed nations and lack of information about norovirus in Africa’s older adolescents and adults Vaccine development focusing on young children would offer the greatest global impact, though so far early trials have targeted adults in high-income settings

Source: Norovirus studies pinpoint global burden, build case for vaccine | CIDRAP

Effectiveness of aerobic exercise for adults living with HIV: systematic review and meta-analysis using the Cochrane Collaboration protocol | BMC Infectious Diseases | Full Text

People with HIV are living longer with the health-related consequences of HIV, multi-morbidity, and aging. Exercise is a key strategy that may improve or sustain health for people living with HIV. Our aim was to examine the safety and effectiveness of aerobic exercise interventions on immunological, virological, cardiorespiratory, strength, weight, body composition, and psychological outcomes in adults living with HIV.

Source: Effectiveness of aerobic exercise for adults living with HIV: systematic review and meta-analysis using the Cochrane Collaboration protocol | BMC Infectious Diseases | Full Text

Mosquito Repellent Guidelines | Mosquito Research and Management

In 2011, I produced a document designed to provide guidelines on the use of mosquito repellents. I put these guidelines together because I’d noticed that the mosquito repellent recommendations provided by local health authorities didn’t reflect the wide range of products available or questions I was asked by the community. You can download this document for free here:

Source: Mosquito Repellent Guidelines | Mosquito Research and Management