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Health Care Tag

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 22, 2016 2 Comments
World #4 golfer Rory McIlroy has announced he will not play at the Rio Olympics due to the Zika outbreak. He released this statement:
"After much thought and deliberation, I have decided to withdraw my name from consideration for this summer's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. "After speaking with those closest to me, I've come to realise that my health and my family's health comes before anything else. "Even though the risk of infection from the Zika virus is considered low, it is a risk nonetheless and a risk I am unwilling to take. "I trust the Irish people will understand my decision. The unwavering support I receive every time I compete in a golf tournament at home or abroad means the world to me. "I will continue to endeavour to make my fans and fans of golf proud with my play on the course and my actions off it."
Scientists have connected Zika to birth defects, including microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome. Numerous athletes have withdrawn from the Olympics because of Zika while some have expressed doubt they will play, but have not made up their mind yet.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on June 12, 2016 12 Comments
California is now beginning to implement its new right-to-die law, so terminally ill patients with six months or less to live can ask their doctor for life-ending medication.
The law requires terminally ill patients to submit three requests to their doctor for life-ending drugs. Two of them are verbal requests and must be at least 15 days apart. Patients must submit the third request in writing. Doctors and pharmacists can refuse to issue lethal medications without any fear of consequences. Patients can also opt out at any time. California will become the fifth state to allow medical aid in dying, and it's estimated that some 1,500 lethal prescriptions will be written in the state each year.
When Californians passed a medical marijuana measure, marijuana dispensaries began opening. In the wake of the new physician assisted suicide law, the first "right to die" clinic has been created.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 05, 2016 5 Comments
U.S. cyclist Tejay van Garderen has decided not to attend the 2016 Rio Olympics this summer due to the Zika virus. Van Garderen has concerns he could contract the disease and give it to his pregnant wife and unborn daughter:
“If Jessica were not pregnant right now, assuming I was selected, I would go,” van Garderen told CyclingTips. “But the fact is, she is pregnant. If we were just going to start trying, I’d say we could start trying six months after the Olympics. But when she has a baby in her belly, I don’t want to take any chances.”
His statement comes a week after 150 of the world's top doctors demanded the Olympic Committee either move or postpone the games.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on May 15, 2016 3 Comments
An expert's report in the Harvard Public Health Review asserts that the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro could cause a "full-blown public health disaster” because of the Zika virus unless the event is postponed, relocated or canceled. The author of this analysis is Amir Attaran, Associate Professor of Law and Population Health and the holder of the Canada Research Chair in Law, Population Health and Global Development Policy at the University of Ottawa. His education includes a D.Phil in immunology from the University of Oxford. Interestingly, Attran has been a fighter for for renewed use of DDT in sub-Saharan Africa to combat malaria. His full piece in the Harvard publication makes 5 key points, which are as follows:

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 26, 2016 9 Comments
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have done neither, lacking the power to stem the flow of essentially unimpeded immigration into the U.S. by unaccompanied minors. Judicial Watch recently reviewed the records generated by that agency during the past few years, and the findings were truly sickening.
A government official warned employees deploying for the influx of illegal immigrant minors about health and safety risks because the new arrivals would have tuberculosis and some were young adults—not children—like the Obama administration proclaimed, according to records obtained by Judicial Watch. “We might as well plan on many of the kids having [Tuberculosis] TB,” states a June 26, 2014 guidance e-mail from a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) environmental health scientist, Alaric C. Denton, as the agency prepared to handle the crisis.

Posted by New Neo on April 18, 2016 12 Comments
You know those hot air hand dryers found in almost all public restrooms? Time-consuming, don't really dry your hands thoroughly --- and now we discover that they throw a bunch of viruses into the air, particularly the newer design called the Dyson:
Researchers have long known that warm hand dryers can launch bacteria into the air—compared to dabbing with paper towels, which unleashes virtually none. But new jet air dryers, made by Dyson, are significantly more problematic—they launch far more viruses into the air, which linger for longer periods of time and reach much farther distances, researchers recently reported in the Journal of Applied Microbiology. This is particularly concerning because viruses, unlike many infectious bacteria, can easily maintain their infectiousness in the air and on surfaces, and just a few viral particles can spark an infection.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 15, 2016 0 Comments
A new a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirms that the Zika virus can cause a rare birth defect called microcephaly, as well as other brain and neurological effcts.
Health officials across the globe have suspected for months a link between the virus and the birth defect, characterized by an abnormally small head and brain. Officials said today the evidence is overwhelming that exposure to virus in utero causes the birth defect. CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden called the news a "turning point" in a fight against the virus that has continued to spread throughout the Americas.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 10, 2016 2 Comments
I attended two fascinating lectures at a local biosafety conference this week. The first talk addressed "The Zika Virus Invasion" and the second revealed a potential new weapon to control the spread of the pathogen that has been linked to birth defects and neurological disorders. The Scripps Research Institute's Biosafety Officer, Dr. Laurence Cagnon, focused on entirely on the Zika Virus in her intriguing talk. The expert on virology and microbiology discussed the history of Zika research and reviewed recommendations for working with infected samples and mosquitoes safely. "We are still limited about what we actually know about Zika," said Cagnon. "The recommendations are to treat Zika as guilty until proven innocent". Cagnon noted that before the outbreak in Brazil was widely reported, along with the associated microcephaly birth defects, only 171 professional articles mentioned the Zika Virus. In comparison, thousands were available on other well-known mosquito-borne diseases (including several I have covered here, including dengue fever, chikungunya, and Ebola).

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 30, 2016 1 Comment
As the primary battle in Wisconsin heats up with the endorsement of Senator Ted Cruz by Governor Scott Walker, an different kind of fight is occurring among the state's citizens. As of this report, nearly 60 Wisconsin residents have been stricken with bloodstream infection from a bacteria called Elizabethkingia, and 18 have died. Additionally, one Michigan resident has also died from an infection.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 23, 2016 13 Comments
It doesn't sound quite as good as "on the cover of The Rolling Stone." A reader emailed me a photo of a NY Times front page story today in which I am quoted. Thing is, the Times article suggests I opposed the proposal:
Ever since Mr. Myrick, 29, unveiled a plan last month for what he called a “supervised injection facility,” critics have pounced on it as a harebrained idea that would just enable more drug abuse. A Republican state legislator, Tom O’Mara, called it “preposterous” and “asinine,” and a Cornell law professor, William A. Jacobson, said it would be a “government-run heroin shooting gallery.”
In fact, in my blog post from which the quote was taken, to which The Times links in the online version, I was ambivalent:

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 13, 2016 7 Comments
As of our last report on the Zika virus, the number of confirmed cases of infection among those living in the United States was steadily rising and several woman had pregnancies that were likely impacted by the mosquito-borne pathogen. While President Obama says "not to panic", the normally glacially responsive Food and Drug Administration took the initial steps to pave the way for the use of genetically modified mosquitoes in the fight to eradicate the virus. The agency has just published a draft of its environmental impact study of OX513A, a male Aedes aegypti mosquito genetically modified to pass on a lethal gene to his offspring.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on March 06, 2016 19 Comments
In a move being called "ghoulish" by one critic, Britain's National Health Service (NHS) has announced plans to ask pregnant women to carry to term babies that have severe birth defects so that, once delivered or still born, their babies' organs can be harvested for transplant. The Daily Mail reports:

Women whose babies develop fatal defects in the early stages of pregnancy will be given advice on going ahead with the birth so the NHS can harvest their organs, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Most expectant mothers opt for termination after being told the devastating news their child has no chance of survival once born.

But now, amid a chronic shortage of donated organs, mums will be 'supported' to have the baby at nine months so that the child's vital organs can be taken for transplant.

. . . .  The move was revealed at a medical conference where NHS transplant surgeons said they wanted to take more organs from babies nationally to address a dire shortage.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 28, 2016 3 Comments
The number of confirmed cases of Zika among those living in the United States is steadily rising.
There have been 107 cases of Zika virus among U.S. travelers returning from Zika-infected areas, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. The CDC also reported 40 locally acquired cases of the virus in U.S. territories. Thirty-five are in Puerto Rico, four are in American Samoa, and one is in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
As I have noted, one of the most significant concerns associated with infection by the virus is a birth defect called microcephaly. This condition, associated with abnormal smallness of the head and incomplete brain development, occurs when a pregnant woman is either bitten by a mosquito or infected via other modes of blood-borne pathogen transmission.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 10, 2016 11 Comments
Aloha to an American tropical disease crisis!
Hawai’i County Mayor Billy Kenoi declared a State of Emergency in Hawai’i County Monday morning as the Big Island continues to face the dengue fever outbreak. As of Friday, Feb. 5, a total of 250 individuals had been infected with the dengue virus since the beginning of the outbreak. Three of the individuals remained “potentially infectious” on Friday. Hawai’i Department of Health officials will update the numbers again Monday afternoon.
As with Zika, specific mosquito species are the carrier or the virus. Dengue fever is characterized by an array of symptoms, including high fever, severe headache, severe pain behind the eyes, and joint pain. A variety, known as dengue hemorrhagic fever, may be fatal. As with Zika, standing water associated with discarded tires is a contributor to this crisis. In this case, Hawaii County will prohibit the acceptance of tires at its landfills.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 09, 2016 16 Comments
Obama now says that there is no reason to panic over a virus that has been linked to an outbreaks in birth defects in South America:
President Obama is asking people not to panic about the Zika virus. "The good news is this is not like Ebola, people don't die of Zika — a lot of people get it and don't even know that they have it," the president said in an interview with Gayle King that aired Monday on "CBS This Morning."
While I agree panic is unwarranted, concern is not...especially after Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that its emergency operations center has been put on a “Level 1” status. The President is also asking for $1.8 billion in funding for the resources to combat the disease.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 04, 2016 13 Comments
It looks like Zika virus is truly the new Ebola. Concerns about the Zika virus have grown to the point that Utah Congressman Chris Stewart wants to divert funding from the fight against Ebola to use against this latest epidemic.
Stewart says his bill, which would unlock more than a billion dollars for the CDC and National Institute of Health, would ensure the agencies had the resources they need to research and combat the virus. “Congress has already allocated funding to fight many of the world’s infectious diseases, like Ebola, and I want to make sure this funding can also be used to combat the Zika virus,” Stewart said. The Zika Response and Safety Act would allow federal agencies to use funds allocated for Ebola research in the fight against the Zika virus, according to a press release from Stewart’s office. Stewart states that of the $2.4 billion allocated for Ebola research, about $1.4 billion was unused as of September of 2015.
Dallas County Health and Human Services has confirmed acase of Zika infection that occurred on American soil...through sexual transmission.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 02, 2016 1 Comment
The World Health Organization officially declared a "public health emergency of international concern" over the wildfire spread of the Zika virus.
The agency said the emergency is warranted because of how fast the mosquito-borne virus is spreading and its suspected link to an alarming spike in babies born with abnormally small heads -- a condition called microcephaly -- in Brazil and French Polynesia. Reports of a serious neurological condition, called Guillame-Barre Syndrome, that can lead to paralysis, have also risen in areas where the virus has been reported. Health officials have specifically seen clusters of this in El Salvador, Brazil and French Polynesia, according to WHO's Dr. Bruce Aylward.
Brazilian officials are claiming the outbreak is even worse than reported, because most cases show no overt symptoms of "Zika". Therefore, testing potentially infected people (especially pregnant women) will be one element of controlling the public health crisis.
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