Not testing for the virus you are trying to associate with a disease is really dumb…

Ventura%2Bet%2Bal_Ophthalmological.jpgI quickly skimmed over two new papers last Friday (AEST) and was appalled.[1,2] 

In their current format, these papers really just should not have been published at all. 

Any respectable peer review would have sent them back for additional results, to be completely re-written as a letter or more simply – and what I would have recommended to the Editor – that they be rejected outright. 

I was asked if this was just a lost-in-translation error, but complete absence of laboratory data is not that. And that’s what these lack – any testing for the virus they name – Zika virus. 

How can you publish something even hinting that a disease is caused by a virus infection, when you present no data to show that person was ever infected by that virus? How can you seriously have that conversation at all?

And using “presumable”and “clinically diagnosed” doesn’t get you out of jail either. 

You need some evidence that the virus is or was in the tissue(s) in question (viral genetic material or infectious virus isolated in culture), or was present at some point in the past (antibodies or cells tat respond to the virus when challenged by it in the laboratory) in the person. Neither of the papers here do that. Which astounds me.

Sadly today, there seems to be a journal willing to take any manuscript so that even had the authors been rejected, they most likely would have had their paper appeared elsewhere. 

Or perhaps they had been rejected – and this is that “elsewhere”.

I think this sort of publishing sets a hugely dangerous precedent. If the “scientific and medical” literature cannot be relied upon to present its results accurately and with necessary context, how do we expect the community to be able to accurately judge risk and respond reasonably, or our public health experts to find the extra time to sort the signal from the background noise, or the media to get the story straight? 

The Zika virus epidemic of 2015/16 has made much more background noise than signal to date. I hope that changes soon because its hugely disappointing to see so many responding to noise as if it were fact, and fact as if it was hiding conspiracy.

References…

  1. Ophthalmological findings in infants with microcephaly and presumable intra-uterus Zika virus infection.
    Arquivos Brasileiros de Oftalmologia
    http://bitly.com/1V7ubAf
  2. Zika virus-related hypertensive iridocyclitis
    Arquivos Brasileiros de Oftalmologia
    http://bitly.com/1RuBvab
© 2013-2015 Ian M. Mackay. PhD.
This content was originally published at http://bitly.com/1Kas2vY
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(2/2)“When I heard I was HIV-positive I didn’t cry….

tumblr_o2emnlmah21s3h52mo1_500.jpg

(2/2)“When I heard I was HIV-positive I didn’t cry. Neither did my world collapse. The first thing that went through my mind was, now I have this label attached to me and I’m never getting rid of it. I will always be the one who is HIV-positive. The second thing that went through my mind was the concern that I might infected someone else. The first person I called after I found out was a friend who is also a colleague of mine. Her first reaction was: ’‘I will be here for you! No matter what, I still love you.” Those words hit me hard and I started to cry for the first time. Three months have passed I feel really good. Of course I’m devastated that I have this virus but at the same time I’m not an unhappy person. Finding happiness is something I have fought for my entire life. When I found out I was HIV-positive it hit me hard. The first weeks I cried a lot but now I’m getting my life back on the road. I have a wonderful job, great friends and supportive parents. I’m open about it because I find it important to be honest and I hate lying. I have decided to take matters into my own hands and I won’t let the HIV define me or determine my happiness.“

Avian Flu Diary: ECDC EFSA Report: Antimicrobial Resistance On The Rise In The EU

Source: Avian Flu Diary: ECDC EFSA Report: Antimicrobial Resistance On The Rise In The EU

The report also found evidence of resistance to the antimicrobial colistin in Salmonella and E. coli  among poultry in the EU. “This is worrying because it means that this last-resort drug may soon no longer be effective for treating severe human infections with Salmonella” said Mike Catchpole, Chief Scientist for ECDC.

Besides the high levels of resistance shown throughout Europe, there are significant regional differences. The highest levels of antimicrobial resistance are observed in eastern and southern Europe. “In northern Europe, there is lower resistance in bacteria from poultry, particularly in countries with low use of antimicrobials in animals,” said Marta Hugas, Head of EFSA’s Biological Hazards and Contaminants unit.

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