Israeli forces have evicted dozens of settlers from the disputed West Bank buildings and blocked access to the site, police said. Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon accused the settlers of ‘crudely’ breaching the law.
Category Archives: Viva!
Genetics change people’s response to bipolar treatment lithium, research finds
The mood stabiliser drug lithium only works on one third of bipolar patients, new research shows, with scientists concluding that a person’s genetic make-up determines how they respond to the drug.
ECDC Rapid Risk Assessment On Zika Virus Epidemic
| Credit ECDC |
#10,918
The ECDC has published a 20 page, data-rich, overview and analysis on the Zika virus called Rapid Risk Assessment: Zika virus disease epidemic: potential association with microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome (first update).
As we’ve come to expect from the ECDC, it is comprehensive, well documented, and makes an invaluable reference.
You’ll want to download to read and keep this PDF file handy, as it is simply too large to excerpt the full gist here.
You’ll find sections devoted to genetic lineage and possible changes to the Zika virus (see AFD Blog Paper: Zika Adaptations To Humans Helped Spark Global Spread), the risks from blood transfusion, advice to international travelers and their doctors, and of course the two big (and as yet, unanswered) $64 questions:
Risk of microcephaly and other congenital central nervous system malformations
To date, health authorities have reported eight adverse pregnancy outcomes and/or other congenital CNS malformations with laboratory confirmation of Zika virus in amniotic fluid, placenta or foetal tissues. In addition, information on six cases of Zika virus detection in newborns from the Paraíba State with partly severe congenital malformations has been recently published. All fourteen reported cases have history of exposure in Brazil.
After performing a retrospective analysis following the alert from Brazil, the health authorities of French Polynesia reported an increase from an average of one case annually to 17 cases of CNS malformations in foetuses and infants during 2014–2015, following a Zika virus outbreak in 2013–2014.
No cases of microcephaly or other CNS malformations potentially related to Zika virus have been reported from other countries of Americas and Caribbean affected by Zika virus outbreaks. However, autochthonous transmission of Zika virus did presumably not start before the last trimester of 2015 in most of these countries, and the prospective monitoring of congenital malformations will support the evaluation of the association with Zika virus infections.
In summary, the evidence regarding a causal link between Zika virus infections during pregnancy and congenital CNS malformations is growing, although the available information is not yet sufficient to confirm it. The definitions of suspected cases applied in the epidemiological surveillance protocol for Brazil are broad and will capture many healthy children who are within the normal variation as well as children with medical conditions that are unrelated to Zika virus infections. The cases identified with the surveillance protocol will need to be further investigated and assessed, and many will have to be followed over time. It is expected that many of the suspected cases will be reclassified and discarded. So far, no results have been made public from the epidemiological studies that reportedly are ongoing and may substantiate or disprove the association between intra-uterine Zika virus infections and congenital lesions in CNS.
Risk of Guillain–Barré syndrome
No new scientific evidence about the association of GBS and Zika virus infection has been published since the ECDC RRA published on 10 December 2015. Two new countries, El Salvador and Venezuela (according to media), have reported an unusual increase above the baseline, concomitant with the development of Zika outbreaks in the country. This observation supports a temporal and spatial association as that seen in French Polynesia.
The bottom line is, despite a growing body of evidence, there is not yet conclusive proof that microcephalic births or the rise in GBS are due to Zika virus infection. For now, however, it remains the most likely culprit.
With no vaccine, no specific treatment, and far too many unanswered questions – the immediate focus is on prevention.
Better mosquito control, limiting personal exposure to mosquitoes, and taking steps (using repellents, wearing long sleeved shirts, etc.) to prevent mosquito bites will be the best way to limit the spread of Zika, along with Dengue and Chikungunya.
“At my high school, the first kid to get a pair of new…
“At my high school, the first kid to get a pair of new Jordan’s was the king, and the kid who couldn’t afford them was bait for the sharks. My mom and I didn’t have much money so I got teased a lot. Sometimes it got so bad that I’d have panic attacks. One day all the kids were being especially nice to me in history class. Everyone was acting like my friend, but as soon as the bell rang, they all threw soap at me at the same time. I lived in a homeless shelter at the time. I liked being at the shelter much more than being at school. Everything at school was a competition. But everyone at the shelter helped each other out. People would share clothes, cook for each other, and babysit for each other. We were all at rock bottom, so nobody thought they were better than each other.”
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Viewpoint: The Flint Water Crisis from the Ground Up
Aunties unite! Russian and Chinese damas take the icy plunge together in Shandong swimming contest
While Russians are renowned for their ability to survive the cold and Chinese aunties are known to take absolutely no prisoners, a recent outdoor swimming competition has only proven that together they are an unstoppable force not to be reckoned with.
Your cute cat of the day
Your cute cat of the day
Ted Cruz’s campaign is handing out bottled water in Flint — but only to anti-abortion groups
Ted Cruz’s campaign is handing out bottled water in Flint — but only to anti-abortion groups:
“While most other Republican presidential candidates are feigning ignorance on the devastating lead contamination of Flint’s water stream or doing their best to deflect criticism from Michigan’s Republican Governor Rick Snyder, Ted Cruz’s campaign is out on the ground helping the people impacted by the disaster — well, only some of the people.
Cruz’s Michigan state director Wendy Lynn Day announced this week that the campaign had coordinated with anti-abortion group Flint Right to Life to collect water bottles to be distributed only to crisis pregnancy centers in the area.”
What a sanctimonious prick. Fuck off forever, Ted.
The Other Side, Berlin, Germany
Bigmob Dontwannastop posted a photo:
The wall of passageway under Berlin Victory Column can detect human bodies and shine according to the movement.
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