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Vaccines Tag

Posted by Leslie Eastman on October 07, 2014 30 Comments
Earlier, I weighed in on how the media and administration are handling the Ebola epidemic, using language to minimize the fact that it is a hemorrhagic fever. It the wake of reports that Colorado children who suffered from an infection of the very aggressive respiratory pathogen, Enterovirus D-68, have also experienced limb paralysis, today's "Bio-Insurrection" research has revealed that there is a nice, new moniker associated with it: Non-Polio Enterovirus. From our Department of Health: LI #09 Non-polio enterovirus I made this discovery while I was searching for confirmation that a child's recent death was associated with an Enterovirus D-68 infection. Sadly, it was.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on September 17, 2014 17 Comments
Last week, there were dozens of stories about American children flooding emergency rooms in 10 states; they were infected with a cold-like virus that devastated their respiratory systems. This week, the list of states reporting cases of the virus, now classified as Enterovirus D68, has risen to 12:
Since mid-August, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed more than 100 cases of Enterovirus D68 in 12 states: Alabama, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, New York and Oklahoma.

Yet the real number of severe respiratory illnesses caused by this virus is probably even higher, the CDC says.

Enterovirus D68 is related to the common cold virus. However, children who have asthma face potentially life-threatening symptoms without the proper treatment. Additionally, there are indications that the virus is already impacting other states beyond the 12 formally recorded.
The respiratory virus that’s been sweeping the nation and sending asthmatic children to the hospital may have only been officially reported in 97 children, but experts say that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Dr. Claudia Hoyen said the virus, called enterovirus D68, probably affected thousands of children -- and that’s just in Cleveland, where she works. The virus has been reported in 21 states, according to state health departments. At UH Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland, about 20 children normally go to the intensive care unit each month with respiratory symptoms, said Hoyen, who heads the hospital’s pediatric infection control program. But for the last two months, the hospital’s intensive care unit has treated 80 children per month, she said. The rare enterovirus starts out like the common cold but can quickly turn more serious -- especially in children with asthma. Enteroviruses often appear in the summer and fall, but an outbreak like this hasn’t occurred since the 1960s, Hoyen said.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on September 09, 2014 7 Comments
With all the crises we report on daily, it is easy to lose track of one....so, I thought it would be wise to review the situation related to Ebola, which was the American press panic flavor-of-the-month in August. It looks like another American is heading toward the Emory University medical facilities for treatment:
A fourth American who contracted Ebola in West Africa was expected to arrive in the U.S. for care Tuesday and will be treated at an Atlanta hospital where two other aid workers successfully recovered from the disease, the hospital said Monday.
The other three patients appear to be recovering from their infections at this point. I suspect the quality of medical care here is still higher than in in West Africa (even in the wake of Obamacare). Koby Sebastian Spio-Garbrah, Global Managing Director at DaMina Advisors, indicates that the doctor-patient ratios may be key in predicting the spread of the disease:
An analysis of a basic global healthcare metric - doctor-patient-ratios - may be the key in helping identify the next most vulnerable West African states to the ongoing Ebola outbreak. Unsurprisingly, Liberia and Sierra Leone, which have remained the epicenters of the pandemic, have the worst doctor-patient ratios in West Africa, at over 86,000 patients-per-1-doctor in Liberia, and 45,000 patients-per-1-doctor in Sierra Leone. Nigeria, which has lately received a lot of media attention ironically has the best doctor-patient ration of any West African state and is probably the least vulnerable during this outbreak. Due to climatic factors connected to the epidemiology of Ebola, the northern arid West African states of Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad or Mauritania are unlikely to see any major outbreaks. However the tropical coastal states, whose porous land borders adjoin Liberia and Sierra Leone, remain very vulnerable.
A good video review of the situation comes from Paper News TV:

Posted by Bruce Carroll on June 21, 2014 15 Comments
The international volunteer medical organization Doctors Without Borders has issued a chilling warning -- that the deadly Ebola virus is "totally out of control." The Ebola virus spreads through direct contact with infected people and causes internal bleeding and organ failure. There is no cure or vaccine so infected patients must be quarantined to stop the rapid spread of the virus. According to the World Health Organization, an Ebola outbreak can result in over 90% fatality rates. Bart Janssens, director of operations for Doctors Without Borders, said Friday that the international community must send in more resources to stop the current Ebola epidemic.
"The reality is clear that the epidemic is now in a second wave," Janssens said. "And, for me, it is totally out of control." The outbreak has caused more deaths than any other of the disease, said another official with the medical charity. Ebola has been linked to more than 330 deaths in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, according to the World Health Organization. The current outbreak, which began in Guinea either late last year or early this year, had appeared to slow before picking up pace again in recent weeks, including spreading to the Liberian capital for the first time.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 09, 2013 32 Comments
With each passing day, we learn more and more about the horrible effects of Obamacare. Here are just some of the "new" revelations. While there is ample evidence that premiums have risen for many if not most people, the NY Times finds that the supposedly lower premiums come with much higher deductibles, On Health Exchanges, Premiums May Be Low, but Other Costs Can Be High:
For months, the Obama administration has heralded the low premiums of medical insurance policies on sale in the insurance exchanges created by the new health law. But as consumers dig into the details, they are finding that the deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs are often much higher than what is typical in employer-sponsored health plans.... In El Paso, Tex., for example, for a husband and wife both age 35, one of the cheapest plans on the federal exchange, offered by Blue Cross and Blue Shield, has a premium less than $300 a month, but the annual deductible is more than $12,000. For a 45-year-old couple seeking insurance on the federal exchange in Saginaw, Mich., a policy with a premium of $515 a month has a deductible of $10,000. In Santa Cruz, Calif., where the exchange is run by the state, Robert Aaron, a self-employed 56-year-old engineer, said he was looking for a low-cost plan. The best one he could find had a premium of $488 a month. But the annual deductible was $5,000, and that, he said, “sounds really high.” By contrast, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average deductible in employer-sponsored health plans is $1,135.
That is not exactly news, but that the NY Times is now up to speed with the rest of us is important because it helps filter the information down even to low information NY Times readers. https://twitter.com/gabrielmalor/status/410029530636894208 Jim Geraghty has more bad news, But Other Than All That, Obamacare Had a Good Weekend!:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 20, 2011 12 Comments

From The Daily News: Santa won't bother going to poor countries this year, so the United Nations Children's Fund will go instead -- or at least that's the message behind a satirical new UNICEF advertisement released in Sweden...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 23, 2011 56 Comments

My initial reaction last night was that Rick Perry did not have a good night. My reaction this morning is that he had a disastrous night, possibly ending his chances of getting the nomination unless he gets his act together real soon.  I say "possibly" because it...

Posted by Kathleen McCaffrey on September 22, 2011 6 Comments

Today "House leaders will pay tribute to Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), less than a year after the House formally censured the former chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.  Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will speak at a ceremony to unveil Rangel’s official portrait as chairman of...

Posted by Katie Thompson on June 21, 2011 72 Comments

The pool of Republican candidates just keeps growing, and voters are beginning to vet stances and pick sides. In an economy burdened by a $14.4 trillion debt and over 9% unemployment, Americans want someone new at the helm who can turn this sinking ship around....

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 08, 2009 3 Comments

If you want to know why Barack Obama was spitting into the wind with his "historic" speech to the Muslim world, at least as regards the Israeli-Palestinian issue, there is no better example than this juxtaposition of Palestinians booby-trapping horses as part of a failed...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 27, 2009 3 Comments

The Nation has run a post, "GOP Know-Nothings Fought Pandemic Preparedness," which seeks to blame the opponents of the Stimulus Plan for lack of preparedness for the swine flu outbreak. The post, like most big lies, has a kernel of truth, but twists reality for...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 29, 2009 3 Comments

Despite an impassioned last minute closing argument, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was found guilty by the Illinois Senate on the Article of Impeachment. The vote was 59-0 to convict Blagojevich of the single Article of Impeachment for abusing power. Elements of the Article included alleged...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 29, 2009 3 Comments

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich just finished his closing argument in the Senate impeachment trial. In an impassioned argument, Blagojevich invoked images of his immigrant parents, the people he tried to help by providing health care benefits, and working families.Blagojevich followed a strategy of saving his...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 30, 2008 1 Comment

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has reversed course, and now wants to release to the Illinois House impeachment committee some wiretap evidence relating to the federal criminal case against Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Previously, Fitzgerald went so far as to ask the House committee not even to...

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