Category Archives: healthcare

Northern Italy’s trees overrun by toxic caterpillar cobwebs – The Local

“Here the plague has reached biblical proportions and has been getting steadily worse for two years,” a resident in the small town of Conclonaz told La Stampa. “We are all full of painful rashes and it hurts to swallow because we’re constantly breathing in the hairs.”

Source: Northern Italy’s trees overrun by toxic caterpillar cobwebs – The Local

Death of homeless man from bacterial infection sparks vaccination drive – The Boston Globe

Boston health officials are vaccinating hundreds of homeless people against a severe bacterial infection that can kill within hours, after a homeless man died Monday from the disease. The victim was among three homeless men who recently came down with meningococcemia, which occurs when certain bacteria get into the bloodstream. The fatal case appears to be unrelated to the other two, which occurred in late January and involved a different strain of the bacteria, said Dr. Denise De Las Nueces, medical director of the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, a nonprofit agency managing the response. “It’s not a disease that’s seen frequently in homeless people,” De Las Nueces said. “The recent cluster of three cases has been unusual. That has sparked our response. . . . Our population lives in crowded conditions in the shelters. That puts them at increased risk.”

Source: Death of homeless man from bacterial infection sparks vaccination drive – The Boston Globe

Avian Flu Diary: WHO: Zika Risk Assessment In The African Region – What goes around may be worse the second time around!

Although the Zika virus was first detected in Uganda nearly 70 years ago (see WHO Timeline) it was never considered a serious problem in Africa because human infection was rare and the illness it produced was extremely mild.  The virus maintained these attributes as it slowly spread from Africa into equatorial Asia (India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan) during the 1970s and 1980s. Sporadic human infections – but no outbreaks – were reported. It wasn’t until the virus arrived in 2007 to the South Pacific island of Yap that a large human outbreak of Zika was recorded. Over the next three years, more than 70% of the island’s population was estimated to have been infected, although no serious illness or deaths were reported.

It wasn’t until the virus arrived in 2007 to the South Pacific island of Yap that a large human outbreak of Zika was recorded. Over the next three years, more than 70% of the island’s population was estimated to have been infected, although no serious illness or deaths were reported.

In 2012 researchers determined that a new `Asian strain’ of Zika had emerged, similar to – but genetically distinct from – the African strain.  It was this new Asian strain that sparked the first large outbreak on Yap Island, and a variant of that strain that would arrive in the Americas 7 years later in 2014.

In 2013-2014 Zika began to show some teeth in the South Pacific, where for the first time we saw in Zika, Dengue & Unusual Rates Of Guillain-Barre Syndrome  In French Polynesia, outcomes that challenged the notion that Zika only produces mild illness.

In 2014 Zika landed in Brazil, likely brought in by a viremic international traveler, and found nearly perfect conditions to proliferate and thrive; a competent vector (Aedes mosquitoes), a year-round climate suitable for mosquito transmission, and an immunologically naive population.  Within a year, well over a million infections had occurred, and while most were mild, we began to see reports suggesting that maternal infection with Zika could cause serious congenital birth defects, and some small percentage of those infected might be affected by Guillain-Barré Syndrome.  In its multi-decade trek across Asia and the Pacific, the Zika virus

Within a year, well over a million infections had occurred, and while most were mild, we began to see reports suggesting that maternal infection with Zika could cause serious congenital birth defects, and some small percentage of those infected might be affected by Guillain-Barré Syndrome.  In its multi-decade trek across Asia and the Pacific, the Zika virus

In its multi-decade trek across Asia and the Pacific, the Zika virus changed, and was no longer the same innocuous strain that has caused so little trouble over the years in Africa.   Which means that Africa – which shares the same sort of mosquito vectors and climate as much of South and Central America – could conceivably see a more robust, more `worldly’  Zika virus find its way back to where it began.

Source: Avian Flu Diary: WHO: Zika Risk Assessment In The African Region

Oral bacteria linked to risk of stroke

In the single hospital study, researchers at the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center in Osaka, Japan, observed stroke patients to gain a better understanding of the relationship between hemorrhagic stroke and oral bacteria. Among the patients who experienced intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), 26 percent were found to have a specific bacterium in their saliva, cnm-positive S. mutans. Among patients with other types of stroke, only 6 percent tested positive for the bacterium.

Source: Oral bacteria linked to risk of stroke

“I knew a girl in high school that always complained about…

“I knew a girl in high school that always complained about having anxiety. I used to make fun of her a little bit. It looked like nothing to me. So I assumed it was nothing. And I dealt with it by trying to convince her that it was nothing. I called her recently to apologize. I’ve had really bad anxiety ever since my father died. And it’s definitely not nothing. It’s the indescribable fear of nothing.”

Source: “I knew a girl in high school that always complained about…

IRIN | After 60 years of Zika in Asia, why worry?

“The strain in Brazil could be new because mutation rates in these viruses are high. Moist tropical climates, population explosion and international travel mean Asia is susceptible to Zika,” said Dr. Shailen Saxena, of the Indian Virological Society. He said that rapidly growing populations in many Asian countries make them vulnerable to an outbreak of Zika. As migration to cities increases, so do slums with poor sanitation and stagnant water where mosquitoes can breed.

Source: IRIN | After 60 years of Zika in Asia, why worry?

VDU’s blog: Zika virus: pathology, postulates and questions…

There remain a few of voids around the ZIKV/microcephaly topic that I can and have listed below…

  1. How long has ZIKV been in Brazil and in what numbers?
  2. What are the real (not affected by extra attention/poor reporting) rates of microcephaly in Brazil?
  3. Do real rates of microcephaly diagnoses vary by region/state?
  4. What are the real rates of microcephaly in countries other than Brazil?
  5. How many microcephaly diagnoses have been infected with ZIKV?
  6. How many infections by other viruses including Dengue virus (DENV)?
  7. Is microcephaly a seasonal diagnosis?
  8. What other possible causes of microcephaly also occur with a seasonal pattern?
  9. Are DENV and Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) and other mosquito-borne virus infections seasonal?
  10. Is ZIKV seasonal?
  11. Is mosquito treatment and/or mosquito breeding in this region seasonal?
  12. Apart from Pyriproxyfen, what other pesticides are in use and are they all equally safe?
  13. What has been excluded from having a role in causing a GBS or microcephaly diagnosis so far?
  14. What are the data supporting this?
  15. What about other chemicals that have been associated with microcephaly, for example Isoretinoids in cosmetics [22]
  16. What is the tissue distribution of the ZIKV receptor(s) and are we happy we know what that receptor(s) is/are [23]?
  17. Does ZIKV cross the blood-brain and placental barriers in the absence of microcephaly?
  18. What does ZIKV do in foetal, or infant/child/adult, brain tissue?
  19. Is it destructive or inflammatory and does it constantly produce new virus or does it enter some type of latency?
  20. How long does ZIKV persist in foetal tissues?
  21. Are there long-term disease consequences from ZIKV infection of brain tissue that stretch into adulthood?
  22. Does ZIKV persist in the adult central nervous system or anywhere else apart from semen (and what is the upper limit of persistence in semen)? Do DENV, CHIKV, JEV etc persist?
  23. Are the mutations observed between ZIKV lineages and within lineages important for viral virulence, transmissibility or for the clinical course of disease?
  24. Is ZIKV present in and/or able to persist in the eye (during or after conjunctivitis) or in other organs?
  25. Are there mums with evidence of past ZIKV infection who have delivered completely healthy babies?
  26. Do these babies have any other issues?
  27. How has the study of ZIKV infection in mums been done – by unbiased selection and testing or testing only those with symptoms?
  28. When would we expect to see signs of microcephaly among pregnant mothers in Colombia and other countries with large outbreaks of ZIKV?

Source: VDU’s blog: Zika virus: pathology, postulates and questions…

(it is not easy, is it?)

Man given two weeks to live after taking popular weight-loss product purchased online – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

A Western Australian man has told how he lost his liver after taking popular weight-loss products widely available in protein powders and supplements.

Source: Man given two weeks to live after taking popular weight-loss product purchased online – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

FAO – News Article: FAO calls for international action on antimicrobial resistance

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an emerging public health threat requiring a globally coordinated effort to counter the risks it poses to food security, FAO Deputy Director-General Helena Semedo said Wednesday.Overuse and misuse of antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents foster increasing resistance among the very microbes that cause the infections and disease they were designed to quell, threatening to reverse a century of progress in human and animal health, she said.”We have to help save live-saving drugs,” she told European ministers of health and agriculture at a conference on antimicrobial resistance in Amsterdam.Aside from the human health considerations, the emergence of microbes resistant to antibiotics and other pharmaceutical agents puts animal health at risk and consequently has an impact on rural livelihoods and food security. “AMR is a global threat that in this inter-connected world cannot be solved in Europe alone,” Semedo said.

Source: FAO – News Article: FAO calls for international action on antimicrobial resistance