When Lowering the Odds of Cancer isn’t Enough, written by Tara Parker-Pope, was published in The New York Times on December 14, 2009. In this article, two pills named tamoxifen and raloxifene are discussed. These pills have been proven to prevent cancer in people who are at a high risk of getting it. Despite this good news, most women who are asked to consider taking the drug refuse and would rather have surgeries to remove their breasts and ovaries to prevent cancer. They do not want to take tamoxifen because it has serious side effects. In a group of 1,000 women, 21 would likely be diagnosed with endometrial cancer; a cancer of the uterine lining that is easily treated if caught early. 21 more women are likely to develop blood clots, 31 would develop cataracts and 12 would develop sexual problems. While more than one half of these 1,000 women will naturally experience hormonal symptoms, tamoxifen will give these symptoms to an extra 120 women. When there was a study done on this drug, only six percent of the people said they would consider it after talking to their doctors; one percent actually got a prescription filled for tamoxifen, and 80 percent were too worried about the side effects to think about filling a prescription. When a study was done on raloxifene, which significantly reduces the risk of breast cancer but has less severe side effects, the results were similar to those of tamoxifen. Doctors have called this resistance to take the drug omission bias, which is when “[p]eople tend to worry more about a low risk of harm from something they do (like taking a pill or a vaccine) than about a higher risk of harm from doing nothing.” Dr. Norton of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York is confident that new research being done on aromatase inhibitors, which lower the amount of estrogen in the body, would lead to new cancer prevention drugs with less worrisome side effects.
Tara Parker-Pope has been a professional reporter for twenty years. She writes a weekly consumer health column and daily health blog for The New York Times. Before those jobs, she was the health columnist for The Wall Street Journal. She won the Media Award from the North American Menopause Society along with the Second Century Award for Excellence in Health Care from the Columbia University School of Nursing for her article about the findings of the Women’s Health Initiative in The Wall Street Journal. In this article, Tara seems to be taking the side of the medication. She implies that the medication is there to help women more than it is going to harm them. She says, “parents gave far more credence to hypothetical concerns about side effects than about the very real danger of an unvaccinated child’s becoming severely ill with the disease.” The fact that she calls the concerns of the side effects “hypothetical” shows she understands that there is a good chance that the side effects will not happen, and if they do they will not be as serious as the disease. She calls contracting the disease a “very real danger,” which shows that she would rather deal with hypotheticals and maybes than definite dangers. In this article, Tara quotes Ms. Birkhold, an ideal candidate for the medication, who had no interest in taking the drugs. She balances these quotes with Dr. Larry Norton, the deputy physician in chief for breast cancer programs at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, who understands why people may not want to take the drugs, however, he is in full support of and encourages people to try tamoxifen. Overall, I found the author to stay neutral and give key facts about both sides of the issue. The article was very interesting and informative.
This article made me think about the assignment we had at the beginning of the year about whether or not cancer was infectious. That assignment got me thinking about how cancer is not usually infectious, but it is unbelievably serious. I found it shocking that only six percent of the people in the study considered taking the drug to help eliminate the possibility of getting cancer. What was more surprising to me was that only one percent actually got the prescription filled. I completely see why these women would hesitate and not want to take the drug, but I feel like the dangers of cancer are much greater and far more serious than the possible side effects of taking tamoxifen and raloxifene. I have family members who suffered through the treatments of many different types of cancer, and if they were given the option, they would have taken the risk of having to deal with side effects of these medications over having to go through what they went through with cancer.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
H1N1 scare distracts from West Nile Virus Threat
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/chi-west-nile-virusjan03,0,7322936.story
By Angie Leventis Lourgos
I found this article to be very interesting when i first read it. This article written by Angie Leventis Lourgos talks about in 2009 while numerous cases of the H1N1 flu came out, a suprisingly low number of another recently new disease was being recorded; the disease known as the West Nile Virus. Usually this disease is seen in higher numbers, but many health experts believe it was due to wet springs and summers; they do not believe that it is actually going away.
Marilyn Ruiz, a clinical assistant professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, says that it has not gone away because they are still finding this disease in mosqittos. She also noted that it is easy to forget about, when all this commotion is circled around the H1N1 Virus.
It is said that the best time for this virus to spread is during hot summers when it is a perfect breeding ground for mosqittos. Season like those have reported many more cases of this virus.
It was also reported in 2009 there were only five cases of West Nile in Illinois, but back in 2002 there was a shocking 884 human cases with 67 deaths. This was a huge difference to see. This virus was actually first confirmed in birds here in 2001. Health officials believe that there were more cases of it than reported. Most people who contract this virus do not even know how they got it. People who have it usually show no syptoms, only such like a headache or fever. In rare cases of this virus the disease can be fatal or can case severe damage.
Many health experts say that this disease is hard to track because you need to anylize all three cycles of populations of birds, mosquittos, and humans. the disease is between mosqittos and birds and then mosquittos give it to humans.
Emily Zielinski-Gutierrez of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says, "There's a lot we don't know about the interrelationships."
This makes it all the more hard to truly understand this virus.
I believe that this article was very good because instead of just talking about the H1N1 virus, which is all we hear about now, it brought up another virus that is also just as dangerous. It brings up the awareness of the West Nile and how easy it is for a human to contract it. It is only transmitted by mosquittos, and during the summer they are every where. Unlike Swine Flu, the West Nile barely shows any symptoms, a fever and a headache, but those are things that are easily cureable today. So it just shows that we have to be more aware of our surroundings and know ways to protect ourselves from further disease.
By Angie Leventis Lourgos
I found this article to be very interesting when i first read it. This article written by Angie Leventis Lourgos talks about in 2009 while numerous cases of the H1N1 flu came out, a suprisingly low number of another recently new disease was being recorded; the disease known as the West Nile Virus. Usually this disease is seen in higher numbers, but many health experts believe it was due to wet springs and summers; they do not believe that it is actually going away.
Marilyn Ruiz, a clinical assistant professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, says that it has not gone away because they are still finding this disease in mosqittos. She also noted that it is easy to forget about, when all this commotion is circled around the H1N1 Virus.
It is said that the best time for this virus to spread is during hot summers when it is a perfect breeding ground for mosqittos. Season like those have reported many more cases of this virus.
It was also reported in 2009 there were only five cases of West Nile in Illinois, but back in 2002 there was a shocking 884 human cases with 67 deaths. This was a huge difference to see. This virus was actually first confirmed in birds here in 2001. Health officials believe that there were more cases of it than reported. Most people who contract this virus do not even know how they got it. People who have it usually show no syptoms, only such like a headache or fever. In rare cases of this virus the disease can be fatal or can case severe damage.
Many health experts say that this disease is hard to track because you need to anylize all three cycles of populations of birds, mosquittos, and humans. the disease is between mosqittos and birds and then mosquittos give it to humans.
Emily Zielinski-Gutierrez of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says, "There's a lot we don't know about the interrelationships."
This makes it all the more hard to truly understand this virus.
I believe that this article was very good because instead of just talking about the H1N1 virus, which is all we hear about now, it brought up another virus that is also just as dangerous. It brings up the awareness of the West Nile and how easy it is for a human to contract it. It is only transmitted by mosquittos, and during the summer they are every where. Unlike Swine Flu, the West Nile barely shows any symptoms, a fever and a headache, but those are things that are easily cureable today. So it just shows that we have to be more aware of our surroundings and know ways to protect ourselves from further disease.
Search for a Cure-AIDS
The article I read is "Search for a Cure-AIDS Turns 20" and I found it on nationalgeographic.com.The article is about the world wide search for a preventative vaccine for HIV, the virus that causes the disease AIDS.
It starts out talking about a 37 year old heroin addict who was getting his blood drain at Clinic 17 of the Bangkok Vaccine Evaluation Group. He has high hopes that his contribution to the search for a vaccine for HIV will be beneficial to society in the years to come. He is one out of 2,500 injecting drug users in Thailand that have enrolled in a trial of the first potential HIV vaccine to reach the third and final stage of clinical testing. Not only are people in Thailand searching for a vaccine but people all over North America and Europe have also been involved in the search. Almost 8,000 people at high risk for HIV but HIV negative, have volunteered to receive either injections of the vaccine called AIDSVAX or a placebo, without knowing which would be given. Over a course of three years, these participants blood is drawn at 6 month intervals. If the vaccine group shows a lower infection rate than the placebo group, there is evidence that the vaccine is working. The results will take many years to come out however, we will have results from the first trials, begun in 1998-99 in Europe and North America by the end of this year.
More than 36 million people world wide are carriers of HIV even though 95% of them are never actually diagnosed. Statistics say that every 24 hours 15,00 more people become infected with the virus while 8,00 others die from the disease caused by HIV, AIDS. AIDS is a horrible disease that takes victims mercilessly when it disables their immune system and causes them to die from otherwise treatable ailments. If a vaccine were to be developed to help prevent this disease, thousands of lives would be spared.
I think it is very interesting how scientists go about creating vaccines to help prevent the various epidemic diseases taking victims all across the globe.This hopeful vaccine for HIV would benefit society an unbelievable amount because so many people who would otherwise die from HIV/AIDS, would be saved. However if this vaccine is developed, it should not be used as an excuse to continue having unprotected sex because safe sex should always be practiced.
Does Air Travel Increase Your Risk for Getting Sick?
http://wellness.blogs.time.com/2009/08/13/does-air-travel-increase-your-risk-for-getting-sick/
I read the Time Magazine article Does Air Travel Increase Your Risk for Getting Sick? I was very interested the read this article because with the reintroduction of the Swine Flu, many people were fearful of flying. According to this article, air travel is nothing to be feared.
According to Sr. Russell B. Rayman, executive director of the Aerospace Medical Association, peoples fears are "overblown." Even though airplanes are not clinically sterile, they have rigid air quality requirements. Many people believe that everyone on a plane is breathing in the same air, this is untrue. Instead of breathing the same air with 400 passengers, you are only sharing air with the people in your row. This is because of "side to side air circulation systems" in planes and the fact that fresh air comes out by your feet as well as by your head. Dr. Rayman says "If anything pathological were in the air, it would be confined to that row, or at most, it could possibly spread one or two rows in either direction,"
Rayman says that it is unlikely for microbes to make their way along seven or eight seats and the high efficiency air filters also provide protection for travelers. Like any public place, there is a risk for disease exposure on planes when other passengers are ill. Rayman also says that because you are on the plane for a long period of time the chances of catching a disease are greater than getting on and off a bus or waiting in line at the store. If you're in an airplane flying across the Atlantic, you may be sitting next to somebody for a long period of time which is not generally true in a grocery store." Regardless of where you are getting sick, particularly with Swine Flu, it comes down to the proximity of people.
I addition to the airflow, planes have requirements for the introduction of fresh air into the cabin. 55 lbs. of fresh air per occupant per minutes according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Rayman says that there has been too much misinformation about travel safety being linked with Swine Flu, but emphasizes that people who are already sick should avoid traveling to help protect themselves as well as the people around them. "If you're considerate of other people and you have a fever or you have the flu, you shouldn't be flying," he says. "It's just common sense."
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Cholera Outbreak in Guinea-Bissau
http://www.who.int/csr/don/2008_09_24/en/index.html
The article, “Cholera Outbreak in Guinea-Bissau”, by Amanda O’Donnell, discusses a recent outbreak of the fatal disease Cholera, which we discussed in class. The recent outbreak in Guinea-Bissau infected approximately 14,000 people and killed 225 people total before being controlled by the government. The article states that in the past there have been seasonal outbreaks of Cholera that have infected the people because of a lack of water sanitation, but there has not been a recent outbreak like this one. A water engineer states that the infected water is due to a lack of funding that goes towards the water system, and also the pipes are leaking because they are about 45 years old and in need of repair. Another factor in the flawed pipe system is that the population of the capital city has gone from 60,000, when the pipe system was started, to 350,000 now and of that 350,000 only about 20% have access to pipe-born water, which in itself can be contaminated as well. Because of the lack of water, people have been forced to dig wells in their backyards, which is also dangerous because contaminated run-offs usually are in the water. However, people are trying to help clean up this situation. World Bank has started to build water reservoirs in the capital by laying pipes which has cost them about six million dollars so far. Also, the European Commission has signed a 3.9 million dollar project with the capital to improve its water system. One of the reforms that this project plans to bring to help the situation is to put solar powered water points in communities. The last part of the article talks about the fact that Guinea-Bissau has the world’s fifth-highest mortality rates for children in the world. About one in five children die in this capital before the age of five, and Cholera is definitely a factor in most of these child deaths. So, if the city is able to clean up their water system, they should be able to at least reduce the number of people who contract Cholera.
This article made me appreciate how good we have it here in the United States, because we do not have to worry about diseases such as Cholera. I think that we should try to help countries that are in a state such as Guinea-Bissau is in order to save many people’s lives from preventable diseases such as this one. I also found it helpful knowing the information that I learned in class about Cholera and its symptoms, because without it I would not have gotten such a good understanding of this article.
The article, “Cholera Outbreak in Guinea-Bissau”, by Amanda O’Donnell, discusses a recent outbreak of the fatal disease Cholera, which we discussed in class. The recent outbreak in Guinea-Bissau infected approximately 14,000 people and killed 225 people total before being controlled by the government. The article states that in the past there have been seasonal outbreaks of Cholera that have infected the people because of a lack of water sanitation, but there has not been a recent outbreak like this one. A water engineer states that the infected water is due to a lack of funding that goes towards the water system, and also the pipes are leaking because they are about 45 years old and in need of repair. Another factor in the flawed pipe system is that the population of the capital city has gone from 60,000, when the pipe system was started, to 350,000 now and of that 350,000 only about 20% have access to pipe-born water, which in itself can be contaminated as well. Because of the lack of water, people have been forced to dig wells in their backyards, which is also dangerous because contaminated run-offs usually are in the water. However, people are trying to help clean up this situation. World Bank has started to build water reservoirs in the capital by laying pipes which has cost them about six million dollars so far. Also, the European Commission has signed a 3.9 million dollar project with the capital to improve its water system. One of the reforms that this project plans to bring to help the situation is to put solar powered water points in communities. The last part of the article talks about the fact that Guinea-Bissau has the world’s fifth-highest mortality rates for children in the world. About one in five children die in this capital before the age of five, and Cholera is definitely a factor in most of these child deaths. So, if the city is able to clean up their water system, they should be able to at least reduce the number of people who contract Cholera.
This article made me appreciate how good we have it here in the United States, because we do not have to worry about diseases such as Cholera. I think that we should try to help countries that are in a state such as Guinea-Bissau is in order to save many people’s lives from preventable diseases such as this one. I also found it helpful knowing the information that I learned in class about Cholera and its symptoms, because without it I would not have gotten such a good understanding of this article.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Cholera Kills 15 Per Day in Zimbabwe
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/12/01/zimbabwe.cholera/index.html?eref=rss_world. Capital lacks clean water, cholera kills hundreds in Zimbabwe, CNN.
Four of the nations largest hospitals have shut down and some doctors and nurses have gone on strike because of low wages. Other doctors and nurses refuse to work in fear of contracting the disease while working in the hospitals. Efforts to correct this crisis include importing chemicals from South Africa to treat the water, yet they have been unsuccessful. With the countries economy as awful as it is, Zimbabwe is not able to pay for these chemicals because of their bad records and lack of credit lines. 90% of citizens in Zimbabwe are unemployed and the official inflation rate is said to be over 231 million percent. Movement for Democratic Change president, Thokozani Khupe has asked the government to call on the international community to send food and medicine. He asked the government to put politics aside and to focus on the crisis at hand.
I chose this article because I feel that with all the hustle and bustle of the busy world we live in, we rarely acknowledge how much trouble there is outside of the United States. It is important for us to recognize the epidemics going around in other parts of the world that we simply overlook. I liked this article because it spreads awareness about this disease on one of the most prestigious news websites out there, CNN. By spreading awareness we can hopefully help Zimbabwe and other third world countries suffering from mass cases of Cholera and help them obtain the resources they need to help end this epidemic.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Very Sick, and Now a Curiosity
By DENISE GRADY
Published: December 21, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/22/health/22virus.html?_r=1&scp=7&sq=infectious%20disease&st=cse
The author of this article, Denise Grady, is a writer in the science department for the New York Times, and also has been writing for numerous magazines such as Discovery and Scientific America. She has a B.S Degree and a M.S in English from the University of New Hampshire. She is a very accomplished journalist, who has been awarded with many awards for her works in the scientific fields. She also received a commendation from the Newspaper Guild for "choice and excellence of crusading journalistic contributions in the areas of science and medicine," in 1986.
http://sciwrite.org/sciwrite/grady.html
In this article Denise focuses on a woman named, Michelle Barnes, and her fight with the very deadly Marburg virus . Ms. Barnes was just getting back from a vacation in Uganda, when she fell extremely ill with this rare virus. Symptoms of hers included a rash, the development of terrible abdominal pain, weakness, being very tired, and confusion. After tests revealed that she had a low white blood cell count and that her kidneys and liver were starting to fail she was hospitalized. After a while her muscles and pancreas started to become inflamed, and doctors had no idea what was going on. Even after having specialists in infectious disease looking up every tropical disease they could think of they got no answer. After a little over a week she left the hospital, but still was affected by abdominal pain, confusion, and exhaustion for over seven months. However, she found an article about a woman who traveled to the same place she did, and had died from something called Marburg hemorrhagic fever. After reading further she found out that it was believed that she caught the viral disease from exposure to bat dropping in the same cave in which she had visited. After being tested again for Marburg, test came back positive, and she was reported as the first case of Marburg virus every reaching North America. There is no cure, or vaccine against this disease, which has a high mortality rate, and one which can easily be transmitted through bodily fluids.
Experts say that it is amazing that she survived, and that no one else caught the deadly disease from her. They have warned that this disease easily could have traveled around the world by plane, and exposed itself to countless of other victims. Denise did a really great job at the end to emphasize how close it was to having an outbreak of this very dangerous disease. Ms. Barnes’s case is considered to be very mild, even though she almost died, and took her over a year to fully recover. This goes to show how deadly this disease really is, only being exposed to a very little amount can cause death.
I choose this article because there is still little known about this disease, and it goes to show how far we still have to go in the field of medicine. We have gone a long way with finding ways to prevent disease and cures, but I do not think we will ever be able to be finished with finding new ways to help cure people and fighting off new diseases. Ms. Barnes has allowed the National Institutes of Health to take blood samples from her in the hope of finding a vaccine and a way to help cure this disease. I find is extremely heart warming to find that she is making a scary situation and turning it into one in which can save the lives of others.
Published: December 21, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/22/health/22virus.html?_r=1&scp=7&sq=infectious%20disease&st=cse
The author of this article, Denise Grady, is a writer in the science department for the New York Times, and also has been writing for numerous magazines such as Discovery and Scientific America. She has a B.S Degree and a M.S in English from the University of New Hampshire. She is a very accomplished journalist, who has been awarded with many awards for her works in the scientific fields. She also received a commendation from the Newspaper Guild for "choice and excellence of crusading journalistic contributions in the areas of science and medicine," in 1986.
http://sciwrite.org/sciwrite/grady.html
In this article Denise focuses on a woman named, Michelle Barnes, and her fight with the very deadly Marburg virus . Ms. Barnes was just getting back from a vacation in Uganda, when she fell extremely ill with this rare virus. Symptoms of hers included a rash, the development of terrible abdominal pain, weakness, being very tired, and confusion. After tests revealed that she had a low white blood cell count and that her kidneys and liver were starting to fail she was hospitalized. After a while her muscles and pancreas started to become inflamed, and doctors had no idea what was going on. Even after having specialists in infectious disease looking up every tropical disease they could think of they got no answer. After a little over a week she left the hospital, but still was affected by abdominal pain, confusion, and exhaustion for over seven months. However, she found an article about a woman who traveled to the same place she did, and had died from something called Marburg hemorrhagic fever. After reading further she found out that it was believed that she caught the viral disease from exposure to bat dropping in the same cave in which she had visited. After being tested again for Marburg, test came back positive, and she was reported as the first case of Marburg virus every reaching North America. There is no cure, or vaccine against this disease, which has a high mortality rate, and one which can easily be transmitted through bodily fluids.
Experts say that it is amazing that she survived, and that no one else caught the deadly disease from her. They have warned that this disease easily could have traveled around the world by plane, and exposed itself to countless of other victims. Denise did a really great job at the end to emphasize how close it was to having an outbreak of this very dangerous disease. Ms. Barnes’s case is considered to be very mild, even though she almost died, and took her over a year to fully recover. This goes to show how deadly this disease really is, only being exposed to a very little amount can cause death.
I choose this article because there is still little known about this disease, and it goes to show how far we still have to go in the field of medicine. We have gone a long way with finding ways to prevent disease and cures, but I do not think we will ever be able to be finished with finding new ways to help cure people and fighting off new diseases. Ms. Barnes has allowed the National Institutes of Health to take blood samples from her in the hope of finding a vaccine and a way to help cure this disease. I find is extremely heart warming to find that she is making a scary situation and turning it into one in which can save the lives of others.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Hospitals Could Stop Infections by Tackling Bacteria Patients Bring In, Studies Find
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/health/research/07infection.html?ref=science
This article was about bacteria causing infections at hospitals. This article was from the New York Times and was written by Pam Belluck on January 6, 2010. It discussed how doctors can solve the problem of acquiring an infection at a hospital while having surgery. Everyone has millions of bacteria on their body at all times. There is a common bacteria called staphylococcus aureus that many patients can carry before entering a hospital. However, if this bacteria gets into someone's body via an incision, sometimes problems can arise. Dr. Verbrugh carried out a study where he swabbed the noses of patients who were having surgery and were going to be in the hospital for at least five days. He found 500 people who carried staphylococcus aureus and gave them ointment and soap that had antiseptics in it. From this study he found that after surgery the patients were 60 percent less likely to develop an infection. Another study that was done was performed by Dr. Wenzel. He looked at the skin disinfectants that different hospitals use. The most common disinfectant was povidone-iodine, but another one was chlorhexidine-alcohol, which was used in less hospitals. Dr. Wenzel found that the alcohol solution was much more efective at removing harmful or pathogenic bacteria than the iodine one. These two studies were just conducted in the United States.
It is slightly unclear about the author's view or tone in this article. The author does a good job at simply telling us the facts of the studies and what scientists learned from these studies. I think it is obvious that the author believes it is a good idea to try and solve the problem of infections at hospitals. Even though the chlorhexidine-alcohol disinfectant is slightly more expensive than the povidone-iodine, it is necessary to spend that extra money because in the long run if less people are acquiring infections after surgery, then that will save a lot of money. One quote that does a great job at summing up this article is when Dr. Wenzel says, “Everybody wins on this. Patients obviously have less morbidity, and hospitals and medical centers and insurers save a lot of money.” Because the author chose to include this quote it can be implied that she is in favor of using extra precautions to insure less infection. There was not any additional information about Pam Belluck. Belluck was not very biased in this article at all, because she just gave the facts and not her opinion at all. This article was mostly just informative.
I decided to choose this article because we have done an entire unit on microbiology, which includes bacteria. I think it is a very fitting and appropriate article in relation to our class. I remember when we learned about normal bacteria flora and how we all have many bacterial cells living both inside and outside our bodies. The bacteria discussed in the article, staphylococcus aureus, can be a beneficial and a harmful bacteria at the same time. About one third of people carry this bacteria and it does not do them any harm. However, it can be harmful if it develops during surgery at the site of an incision. I think it is great that people are taking the time to address a very important issue, and if hospitals follow through with the findings from the two studies, that would greatly reduce that amount of infections that patients while in hospitals.
This article was about bacteria causing infections at hospitals. This article was from the New York Times and was written by Pam Belluck on January 6, 2010. It discussed how doctors can solve the problem of acquiring an infection at a hospital while having surgery. Everyone has millions of bacteria on their body at all times. There is a common bacteria called staphylococcus aureus that many patients can carry before entering a hospital. However, if this bacteria gets into someone's body via an incision, sometimes problems can arise. Dr. Verbrugh carried out a study where he swabbed the noses of patients who were having surgery and were going to be in the hospital for at least five days. He found 500 people who carried staphylococcus aureus and gave them ointment and soap that had antiseptics in it. From this study he found that after surgery the patients were 60 percent less likely to develop an infection. Another study that was done was performed by Dr. Wenzel. He looked at the skin disinfectants that different hospitals use. The most common disinfectant was povidone-iodine, but another one was chlorhexidine-alcohol, which was used in less hospitals. Dr. Wenzel found that the alcohol solution was much more efective at removing harmful or pathogenic bacteria than the iodine one. These two studies were just conducted in the United States.
It is slightly unclear about the author's view or tone in this article. The author does a good job at simply telling us the facts of the studies and what scientists learned from these studies. I think it is obvious that the author believes it is a good idea to try and solve the problem of infections at hospitals. Even though the chlorhexidine-alcohol disinfectant is slightly more expensive than the povidone-iodine, it is necessary to spend that extra money because in the long run if less people are acquiring infections after surgery, then that will save a lot of money. One quote that does a great job at summing up this article is when Dr. Wenzel says, “Everybody wins on this. Patients obviously have less morbidity, and hospitals and medical centers and insurers save a lot of money.” Because the author chose to include this quote it can be implied that she is in favor of using extra precautions to insure less infection. There was not any additional information about Pam Belluck. Belluck was not very biased in this article at all, because she just gave the facts and not her opinion at all. This article was mostly just informative.
I decided to choose this article because we have done an entire unit on microbiology, which includes bacteria. I think it is a very fitting and appropriate article in relation to our class. I remember when we learned about normal bacteria flora and how we all have many bacterial cells living both inside and outside our bodies. The bacteria discussed in the article, staphylococcus aureus, can be a beneficial and a harmful bacteria at the same time. About one third of people carry this bacteria and it does not do them any harm. However, it can be harmful if it develops during surgery at the site of an incision. I think it is great that people are taking the time to address a very important issue, and if hospitals follow through with the findings from the two studies, that would greatly reduce that amount of infections that patients while in hospitals.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
New Form of Malaria Threatens Thai-Cambodia Border
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/28/world/AP-When-Drugs-Stop-Working-Malaria-Fights-Back.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&sq=malaria&st=cse&scp=2
The article is by "Martha Mendoza is an AP national writer based in Mexico City. Margie Mason is an AP medical writer who reported from Cambodia while on a fellowship from The Nieman Foundation at Harverd University." written Dec. 28th, 2009
This article focuses on the growing number of resistant strains of malaria and the causes of this sudden spike. The large jump in the number of people with the resistant strain can be blamed on the fake drugs being sold to "cure" malaria. These fake drugs only contain a small dose of Artemisinin, and are killing people all over the world. This article focuses on the spike in resistant strain malaria in Palin,Cambodia, today.
The effective drug that works to cure malaria is Artemisinin. If a person were to catch malaria and proceed to take a full dose of Artemisinin, they would be cured of the disease. Though when people in poor places like Palin, Cambodia go out to buy drugs they don't know what they are actually getting. Most times when they but the "drugs" they are really getting a fake drug that is just being called Artemisinin. If these drugs were simply no medicine it wouldn't be as bad as what most actually turn out to be. Most of the counterfeit drugs that are found actually contain small amounts of Artemisinin. With these small amounts of Artemisinin people can actually build up and immunity to the drug. When they take only a small amount of the useful drug Artemisinin, the malaria is not cleared from their system and is actually able to build up immunities to the drugs. Then if the person does eventually get to real drugs, it is often too late because the disease has already become resistant to the Artemisinin. The selling of counterfeit drugs is becoming a huge problem and poorer countries; because when people do not have the money to buy reliable drugs they often end up with fake drugs, which will ultimately lead to their death. The people have no way to protect themselves from catching the disease, and when they try to cure it often just end up even sicker. This is a highly recognized problem that is getting a lot of attention today. Many people debate over how to stop the distribution of these counterfeit drugs. Every time they find and take one shipment of them a new shippment simply arrives. This is a problem that is spreading as more and more people become infected with the resistant strain of malaria. I believe we need to find a solution to this problem before it spreads all over the world.
The article is by "Martha Mendoza is an AP national writer based in Mexico City. Margie Mason is an AP medical writer who reported from Cambodia while on a fellowship from The Nieman Foundation at Harverd University." written Dec. 28th, 2009
This article focuses on the growing number of resistant strains of malaria and the causes of this sudden spike. The large jump in the number of people with the resistant strain can be blamed on the fake drugs being sold to "cure" malaria. These fake drugs only contain a small dose of Artemisinin, and are killing people all over the world. This article focuses on the spike in resistant strain malaria in Palin,Cambodia, today.
The effective drug that works to cure malaria is Artemisinin. If a person were to catch malaria and proceed to take a full dose of Artemisinin, they would be cured of the disease. Though when people in poor places like Palin, Cambodia go out to buy drugs they don't know what they are actually getting. Most times when they but the "drugs" they are really getting a fake drug that is just being called Artemisinin. If these drugs were simply no medicine it wouldn't be as bad as what most actually turn out to be. Most of the counterfeit drugs that are found actually contain small amounts of Artemisinin. With these small amounts of Artemisinin people can actually build up and immunity to the drug. When they take only a small amount of the useful drug Artemisinin, the malaria is not cleared from their system and is actually able to build up immunities to the drugs. Then if the person does eventually get to real drugs, it is often too late because the disease has already become resistant to the Artemisinin. The selling of counterfeit drugs is becoming a huge problem and poorer countries; because when people do not have the money to buy reliable drugs they often end up with fake drugs, which will ultimately lead to their death. The people have no way to protect themselves from catching the disease, and when they try to cure it often just end up even sicker. This is a highly recognized problem that is getting a lot of attention today. Many people debate over how to stop the distribution of these counterfeit drugs. Every time they find and take one shipment of them a new shippment simply arrives. This is a problem that is spreading as more and more people become infected with the resistant strain of malaria. I believe we need to find a solution to this problem before it spreads all over the world.
H5N1 Outbreak Overseas in Animals
All we've been hearing about for the past year is H1N1. While Swine Flu has become a very prominent issue in our society, another deadly disease has surfaced in animals in Asia, Europe, the Near East, and Africa. This disease is H5N1, or Avian Influenza.
According to The Center for Disease Control's acticle, Avian Influenza: Current H5N1 Situation, written in October of 2008 (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/outbreaks/current.htm) infections have broken out among "domestic poultry". These "epizootic" infections are expected to affect humans as well if contact is made with the infected animals. This strand of H5N1 is not particularly deadly however due to the lack of immunity in humans to Avian Flu, this disease could pose a serious problem to the contries where the outbreak is occurring.
Unfortunately for anyone who has been infected with the H5N1 disease, there is no vaccine currently available however two antiviral medications were deemed effective at the time this article was published. While there are some medications for humans, there is no help for the animals that are being infected at a much higher rate than humans. These animals include ducks, cats, dogs, tigers, leopards, and wild stone martens (weasel-like rodents). The high rate of animals being affected increases the possiblity for humans to become infected.
The main countries that have experienced outbreaks of the Avian Flu in the past 5 years include Thailand (2004), Vietnam (2004, 2005, and 2006), Azerbaijan (2006), and Indonesia (2006). Mortality at the time of this article was reported at 60% and the highest mortality among humans was in the 10-19 age bracket.
Several things are being done in an attempt to prevent further spread of H5N1. A ban was placed on bird importation to any affected countries, efforts to develop a vaccine are in motion, and monitoring of the situation by the CDC.
This article was very informative. It's main purpose seemed to be just that, to inform people of what is going on across the sea and that this is a serious problem. While there is no author named, I found the article on the Center for Disease Control website and since we have used the CDC as a resource in class I believe this source is credible and reliable. There were no evident biases as the article provided no one-sided arguments or viewpoints.
I found this article very interesting. We briefly talked about the Avian Flu at the beginning of the school year and I'm glad that I was able to learn more about it. While I don't see any direct connections to things we have done or studied in class, this article is very much related to other articles and blogs written by other people in the class. This information, similar to the information on other people's blogs, demonstrates an issue overseas that we would otherwise have been oblivious to. This information lacks direct connection to our class because it differs greatly from the units we have studied. While some would say it is like the outbreak of Swine Flu here, the strain of Avian Flu today is closer to the original Avian Flu strain and therefore unlike the new and unknown strain of H1N1 today. However if anyone sees any connections to class I would love to hear them!
According to The Center for Disease Control's acticle, Avian Influenza: Current H5N1 Situation, written in October of 2008 (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/outbreaks/current.htm) infections have broken out among "domestic poultry". These "epizootic" infections are expected to affect humans as well if contact is made with the infected animals. This strand of H5N1 is not particularly deadly however due to the lack of immunity in humans to Avian Flu, this disease could pose a serious problem to the contries where the outbreak is occurring.
Unfortunately for anyone who has been infected with the H5N1 disease, there is no vaccine currently available however two antiviral medications were deemed effective at the time this article was published. While there are some medications for humans, there is no help for the animals that are being infected at a much higher rate than humans. These animals include ducks, cats, dogs, tigers, leopards, and wild stone martens (weasel-like rodents). The high rate of animals being affected increases the possiblity for humans to become infected.
The main countries that have experienced outbreaks of the Avian Flu in the past 5 years include Thailand (2004), Vietnam (2004, 2005, and 2006), Azerbaijan (2006), and Indonesia (2006). Mortality at the time of this article was reported at 60% and the highest mortality among humans was in the 10-19 age bracket.
Several things are being done in an attempt to prevent further spread of H5N1. A ban was placed on bird importation to any affected countries, efforts to develop a vaccine are in motion, and monitoring of the situation by the CDC.
This article was very informative. It's main purpose seemed to be just that, to inform people of what is going on across the sea and that this is a serious problem. While there is no author named, I found the article on the Center for Disease Control website and since we have used the CDC as a resource in class I believe this source is credible and reliable. There were no evident biases as the article provided no one-sided arguments or viewpoints.
I found this article very interesting. We briefly talked about the Avian Flu at the beginning of the school year and I'm glad that I was able to learn more about it. While I don't see any direct connections to things we have done or studied in class, this article is very much related to other articles and blogs written by other people in the class. This information, similar to the information on other people's blogs, demonstrates an issue overseas that we would otherwise have been oblivious to. This information lacks direct connection to our class because it differs greatly from the units we have studied. While some would say it is like the outbreak of Swine Flu here, the strain of Avian Flu today is closer to the original Avian Flu strain and therefore unlike the new and unknown strain of H1N1 today. However if anyone sees any connections to class I would love to hear them!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
South African President Announces New AIDS Policy
An article from the New York Times, December 2, 2009 entitled: "Breaking With Past, South Africa Issues Broad AIDS Policy" by Celia W. Dugger (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/world/africa/02safrica.html?pagewanted=print)
The president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, declared on December 1st (World AIDS Day) that drug therapy for HIV-positive women and babies is to be improved and will now start much earlier. This is an attempt at ensuring that all babies are born healthy. The new policy is in response to the new treatment guidelines issued by the World Health Organization the day before the president's address. The early treatment of newborns will be attempting to lower child mortality in South Africa, as the country is one of only four countries where the level of child mortality has worsened since 1990. South Africa has more HIV-positive inhabitants than any other nation in the world. President Zuma stated, "We have no choice but to deploy every effort, mobilize every resource and utilize every skill our nation possesses." He says that by April, the government would begin treating those who are HIV-positive with tuberculosis earlier, as tuberculosis is the leading killer of South Africans with HIV. The number of deaths due to tuberculosis has more than tripled in South Africa since 1997.
The former president of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, spend nine years in office questioning whether HIV even caused AIDS and suggested that antiretroviral drug treatment could be harmful. He once said he had never known anyone who had died of AIDS. Harvard researchers estimate that 330,000 people died prematurely due to lack of treatment because of Mbeki's delay in the use of these drugs. This includes 35,000 babies. The Congress of South African Trade Unions said that Mbeki should apologize to the nation for his failures in fighting an epidemic that it describes as "destroying more lives than any invading army in history." Also, the Young Communist League has demanded that he be prosecuted for genocide.
As well as the South African government's new policy against the HIV epidemic, the United States will be giving South Africa $120 million over the next two years to help buy the desperately needed antiretroviral drugs to treat the disease. This is on top of the $560 million they were already planning on giving South Africa in the 2010 fiscal year to fight the epidemic.
I personally think this announcement is a great thing. The previous president seemed not to really care much about the effect that HIV has on the people of South Africa. Zuma's policy seems like it could be a new beginning and if the government keeps up with the effort, hopefully it will make a difference in the lives of many people. It also helps raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic and may lead others t0 take greater action against the disease. I believe that this is a huge step in the fight against the AIDS epidemic.
Here is an interesting video I found about the topic of the article: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JPesVItjik
The president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, declared on December 1st (World AIDS Day) that drug therapy for HIV-positive women and babies is to be improved and will now start much earlier. This is an attempt at ensuring that all babies are born healthy. The new policy is in response to the new treatment guidelines issued by the World Health Organization the day before the president's address. The early treatment of newborns will be attempting to lower child mortality in South Africa, as the country is one of only four countries where the level of child mortality has worsened since 1990. South Africa has more HIV-positive inhabitants than any other nation in the world. President Zuma stated, "We have no choice but to deploy every effort, mobilize every resource and utilize every skill our nation possesses." He says that by April, the government would begin treating those who are HIV-positive with tuberculosis earlier, as tuberculosis is the leading killer of South Africans with HIV. The number of deaths due to tuberculosis has more than tripled in South Africa since 1997.
The former president of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, spend nine years in office questioning whether HIV even caused AIDS and suggested that antiretroviral drug treatment could be harmful. He once said he had never known anyone who had died of AIDS. Harvard researchers estimate that 330,000 people died prematurely due to lack of treatment because of Mbeki's delay in the use of these drugs. This includes 35,000 babies. The Congress of South African Trade Unions said that Mbeki should apologize to the nation for his failures in fighting an epidemic that it describes as "destroying more lives than any invading army in history." Also, the Young Communist League has demanded that he be prosecuted for genocide.
As well as the South African government's new policy against the HIV epidemic, the United States will be giving South Africa $120 million over the next two years to help buy the desperately needed antiretroviral drugs to treat the disease. This is on top of the $560 million they were already planning on giving South Africa in the 2010 fiscal year to fight the epidemic.
I personally think this announcement is a great thing. The previous president seemed not to really care much about the effect that HIV has on the people of South Africa. Zuma's policy seems like it could be a new beginning and if the government keeps up with the effort, hopefully it will make a difference in the lives of many people. It also helps raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic and may lead others t0 take greater action against the disease. I believe that this is a huge step in the fight against the AIDS epidemic.
Here is an interesting video I found about the topic of the article: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JPesVItjik
HIV: 250-500 African Patients Infected Daily
For many people suffering from colossal blood loss, anaemia, hemophilia, or various other blood diseases, blood transfusion is crucial for survival. The article "HIV Transmission Via Transfusions in Continent Remains High," by Alison Walkley, relays a negative outcome due to blood transfusion in Africa; the contraction of HIV, a highly contagious disease, most often contracted through blood transmission or sexual activity. Many unlucky patients are being injected with HIV-tainted blood during the transfusion process. This practice is often fatal, occurring throughout Africa, due to limited amounts of healthy blood to transfer. Currently, the World Health Organization (WHO), estimates that between 5% and 10% of recently documented HIV cases are the outcomes of infectious blood used for transfusions.
Sadly, approximately 87% of African counties do not have the healthy blood required to meet blood donation standards. That being said, eight-million units of blood are to be collected annually for donation, but because the majority of African countries do not have sufficient blood, only three-million units were collected. Not only are blood clinics lacking hale blood, they are also lacking adequate equipment and money to thoroughly test the blood units for HIV contamination. This causes a nearly 95% to 100% (250-500 people daily!) chance of contracting infected blood.
Now, in order to halt unhealthy blood transfusion, more and more African countries are constructing policies, making it mandatory for clinics to screen all blood units for infection. Dr. Neelam Dhingra, the blood transfusion safety coordinator for the WHO, states that this policy is nearly impossible, because many countries are not able to supply healthy blood, proper blood testing material, and substantial clinics. Dhingra believes that more blood donations, and appropriate testing are essential in making sure that patients in Africa are getting acceptable transfused blood.
There is no evident author bias present in this article. The article does not contain opinion, it consists of alarming issues, facts, and statistics regarding the HIV transmission due to blood transfusion. The article does, however, contain quotes from Dr. Neelam Dhingra, who is the WHO blood transfusion safety coordinator. Dhingra is concerned for the health of African citizens, and he is trying to create ways to make the blood transfusion system safer, positive, and more effective.
In my opinion, this article was very organized and informative. It successfully relayed an alarming message of what is happening in Africa, due to their poverty and obsolete equipment. A main reason why I chose this article, is because I feel that it is informative and necessary to be aware of infectious disease evident in other parts of the world. During reading and summarizing this article, I connected the HIV contraction in Africa to the Swine Flu scare here. While the United States has been caught up in the current phenomenon of Swine Flu, Africa is in a tangled mess to prevent the rapid spread of HIV. In the United States, we are lucky to have advanced medical technology and knowledge to assist us in finding ways to stop the Swine Flu from spreading. We can't take this for granted, because this article allows us to see that Africa is far behind us in essential gear to prevent a much bigger health issue than Swine Flu. For the full article, visit here: http://allafrica.com/stories/201001050140.html
Sadly, approximately 87% of African counties do not have the healthy blood required to meet blood donation standards. That being said, eight-million units of blood are to be collected annually for donation, but because the majority of African countries do not have sufficient blood, only three-million units were collected. Not only are blood clinics lacking hale blood, they are also lacking adequate equipment and money to thoroughly test the blood units for HIV contamination. This causes a nearly 95% to 100% (250-500 people daily!) chance of contracting infected blood.
Now, in order to halt unhealthy blood transfusion, more and more African countries are constructing policies, making it mandatory for clinics to screen all blood units for infection. Dr. Neelam Dhingra, the blood transfusion safety coordinator for the WHO, states that this policy is nearly impossible, because many countries are not able to supply healthy blood, proper blood testing material, and substantial clinics. Dhingra believes that more blood donations, and appropriate testing are essential in making sure that patients in Africa are getting acceptable transfused blood.
There is no evident author bias present in this article. The article does not contain opinion, it consists of alarming issues, facts, and statistics regarding the HIV transmission due to blood transfusion. The article does, however, contain quotes from Dr. Neelam Dhingra, who is the WHO blood transfusion safety coordinator. Dhingra is concerned for the health of African citizens, and he is trying to create ways to make the blood transfusion system safer, positive, and more effective.
In my opinion, this article was very organized and informative. It successfully relayed an alarming message of what is happening in Africa, due to their poverty and obsolete equipment. A main reason why I chose this article, is because I feel that it is informative and necessary to be aware of infectious disease evident in other parts of the world. During reading and summarizing this article, I connected the HIV contraction in Africa to the Swine Flu scare here. While the United States has been caught up in the current phenomenon of Swine Flu, Africa is in a tangled mess to prevent the rapid spread of HIV. In the United States, we are lucky to have advanced medical technology and knowledge to assist us in finding ways to stop the Swine Flu from spreading. We can't take this for granted, because this article allows us to see that Africa is far behind us in essential gear to prevent a much bigger health issue than Swine Flu. For the full article, visit here: http://allafrica.com/stories/201001050140.html
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Drug-Resistant Diseases: First Case of Contagious Form of TB
Martha Mendoza is a writer for the New York Times and has recently published an article about a special, highly drug-resistant case of Tuberculosis. The article focuses on the story of the man that acquired the disease, while providing innumerable details and examples about drug-resistance. This was published on December 27, 2009 and is titled, “First Case of Highly Drug-Resistant TB Found in US”. This article can be accessed from this link: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/ 12/27/health/AP-AS-MED-When-Drugs-Stop-Working-Killer-TB.html?pagewanted =3&_r=1&sq=Infectious%20Disease&st=cse&scp=11.
Bacteria resisting treatment is a growing problem and one of great concern. One cause for drug resistance is the overuse of drugs. For example, antibiotics are prescribed for almost every little thing. Because bacteria reproduce rapidly, it can evolve quickly to build up immunity towards these drugs. Another cause is the misuse of medication. If the infected does not complete its treatment, not all of the bacteria will be killed. In this case, the bacteria will multiply, mutate and reemerge as a stronger, tougher strain. Drug-resistant diseases are showing up all over the word. For instance, Cambodia is seeing new forms of Malaria and Africa is trying to fight against new forms of HIV. Now tuberculosis in the Americas has augmented this list of drug-resistant diseases by one more. It has recently been discovered that tuberculosis has built up immunity to treatment and now can be highly contagious.
A man named Oswaldo Juarez contracted a rare form of tuberculosis that most of his doctors had never even seen before, never mind know how to cure. His strain was named XXDR, which means extremely drug resistant TB. He was sent to special facilities to receive treatment and had tests done. Juarez is 19 years old and lived in Peru his whole life. He came to America as a student to study English. He was told that if he returned home, you would die within a month. He experienced many symptoms from this disease. He vomited blood, experienced wheezing fits, and every breath he took was accompanied with labor and pain. The worst part about his situation, Juarez claimed, was that he was contagious. The disease could be spread every time he coughed, sneezed, or even talked. His doctors pumped significant doses of drugs into him, hoping to find a cure. He suffered for a year and a half, living in the isolation of a tiny hospital room. Finally, he received the news that the black dot on the x-ray of his lungs was gone and he was cured. At age 21, he left the hospital and went back home to Peru.
This article provides a lot of information about why diseases are becoming more drug resistant and I agree that the public should ascertain all of the facts. Tuberculosis has been reported on all seven continents and is rapidly increasing. TB has the highest mortality rate of adults than any other infectious disease. Unfortunately, in one year, MDR (multi-drug-resistant) TB infects the bodies of 500,000 people over the planet. Drug-resistance is a growing problem and with not enough funding it is hard for scientists to come up with a new cure. I think Juarez’s case was horrible and unbelievable. Doctors said that he was one of two people to ever obtain that strain of TB and the other died. Hopefully the evolution of infectious diseases slows down in time for doctors to find new cures and new forms of diseases don’t continue to spread on a global scale.
Bacteria resisting treatment is a growing problem and one of great concern. One cause for drug resistance is the overuse of drugs. For example, antibiotics are prescribed for almost every little thing. Because bacteria reproduce rapidly, it can evolve quickly to build up immunity towards these drugs. Another cause is the misuse of medication. If the infected does not complete its treatment, not all of the bacteria will be killed. In this case, the bacteria will multiply, mutate and reemerge as a stronger, tougher strain. Drug-resistant diseases are showing up all over the word. For instance, Cambodia is seeing new forms of Malaria and Africa is trying to fight against new forms of HIV. Now tuberculosis in the Americas has augmented this list of drug-resistant diseases by one more. It has recently been discovered that tuberculosis has built up immunity to treatment and now can be highly contagious.
A man named Oswaldo Juarez contracted a rare form of tuberculosis that most of his doctors had never even seen before, never mind know how to cure. His strain was named XXDR, which means extremely drug resistant TB. He was sent to special facilities to receive treatment and had tests done. Juarez is 19 years old and lived in Peru his whole life. He came to America as a student to study English. He was told that if he returned home, you would die within a month. He experienced many symptoms from this disease. He vomited blood, experienced wheezing fits, and every breath he took was accompanied with labor and pain. The worst part about his situation, Juarez claimed, was that he was contagious. The disease could be spread every time he coughed, sneezed, or even talked. His doctors pumped significant doses of drugs into him, hoping to find a cure. He suffered for a year and a half, living in the isolation of a tiny hospital room. Finally, he received the news that the black dot on the x-ray of his lungs was gone and he was cured. At age 21, he left the hospital and went back home to Peru.
This article provides a lot of information about why diseases are becoming more drug resistant and I agree that the public should ascertain all of the facts. Tuberculosis has been reported on all seven continents and is rapidly increasing. TB has the highest mortality rate of adults than any other infectious disease. Unfortunately, in one year, MDR (multi-drug-resistant) TB infects the bodies of 500,000 people over the planet. Drug-resistance is a growing problem and with not enough funding it is hard for scientists to come up with a new cure. I think Juarez’s case was horrible and unbelievable. Doctors said that he was one of two people to ever obtain that strain of TB and the other died. Hopefully the evolution of infectious diseases slows down in time for doctors to find new cures and new forms of diseases don’t continue to spread on a global scale.
Cholera Devastates Zimbabwe
In "Beyond Cholera: Zimbabwe's Worsening Crisis", it talks about how the economic collapse and deteriorating infrastructure in Zimbabwe has led to a major outbreak in Cholera. Zimbabwean's must flee from their country and risk their lives by crossing the Limpopo River in order to seek refuge in Southern Africa. Cholera is not the only crisis in Zimbabwe, HIV, political problems, and malnutrition also plague the country. Cholera has been an ongoing problem, however, in the last few months it has continued to worsen. MSF, also known as Medicines Sans Frontiers has some teams stationed in Zimbabwe and others helping refugees seek immediate medical treatment, so far they have treated more than 75% of the infected population but the Cholera outbreak continues. Lack of access to clean water and blocked or burst sewage can be pinpointed as reasons for the outbreak of Cholera, but these all point back to the break down of the economy and government. Increases in Cholera cases have been seen because of the shutting down of many medical centers due to lack of supplies, money, and staff. This is a national problem in Zimbabwe but not much international attention has been shed on this issue of Cholera, the MSF program is one of the only groups trying to help resolve this. It's impact on Zimbabwe is that so far only 45,000 patients have been treated for Cholera and the problem still continues to worsen with the downfall of the economy and government. This paper was written in February of 2009 and was written by a team of MSF workers, the link to this paper is http://www.msf.org.uk/beyond_cholera_zimbabwe_20090217.news.
The writer's attitude toward the subject is not really positive or negative, it is more factual. The writer is trying to stress how important this Cholera outbreak is and show how it is affecting so many people and we should try to do more to help Zimbabwe resolve this. Also, the author shows sympathy for the people of Zimbabwe and the struggle they must go through to get medical treatment for Cholera. " It is a constant challenge to keep up with increasing patient numbers. We are running out of ward space and beds for the patients.", this quote shows the anxiety of the MSF team trying to help the Zimbabwean's and it shows how more support is needed. No, the article does not give an author's name just that it was writte by some members of the MSF staff. Yes, the article provides much factual details to support the thoughts and ideas of the MSF staff on the Cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe. No, different viewpoints are not expressed in the article, it is all viewed from a staff member's perspective, at no point is the Cholera outbreak talked about through a Zimbabwean's view. Yes, the article is very informative and convincing because it gives so much in depth descriptions about the problem's in Zimbabwe and what has led to the Cholera outbreaks as well as what the people must do to get treatment.
A connection between this article and History of Epidemic Disease class is the transfer of the infectious disease Cholera, for example, Cholera is transferred through unclean water and anywhere that hygiene and sanitation are not very good as is HIV with sharing unclean needles. I have learned that more time should be spent on helping the important crises in other nations and that they should be publicized better. I thought the article was very interesting because I had no idea that there was even a Cholera outbreak going on in Zimbabwe and it opened my eyes as to what some people have to do in order to get medical attention.
The writer's attitude toward the subject is not really positive or negative, it is more factual. The writer is trying to stress how important this Cholera outbreak is and show how it is affecting so many people and we should try to do more to help Zimbabwe resolve this. Also, the author shows sympathy for the people of Zimbabwe and the struggle they must go through to get medical treatment for Cholera. " It is a constant challenge to keep up with increasing patient numbers. We are running out of ward space and beds for the patients.", this quote shows the anxiety of the MSF team trying to help the Zimbabwean's and it shows how more support is needed. No, the article does not give an author's name just that it was writte by some members of the MSF staff. Yes, the article provides much factual details to support the thoughts and ideas of the MSF staff on the Cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe. No, different viewpoints are not expressed in the article, it is all viewed from a staff member's perspective, at no point is the Cholera outbreak talked about through a Zimbabwean's view. Yes, the article is very informative and convincing because it gives so much in depth descriptions about the problem's in Zimbabwe and what has led to the Cholera outbreaks as well as what the people must do to get treatment.
A connection between this article and History of Epidemic Disease class is the transfer of the infectious disease Cholera, for example, Cholera is transferred through unclean water and anywhere that hygiene and sanitation are not very good as is HIV with sharing unclean needles. I have learned that more time should be spent on helping the important crises in other nations and that they should be publicized better. I thought the article was very interesting because I had no idea that there was even a Cholera outbreak going on in Zimbabwe and it opened my eyes as to what some people have to do in order to get medical attention.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Scary Sexual Practices in Uganda
Scary Sexual Practices in Uganda:
This article is found on Times Online, the article is written by Tristan McConnell who is an international correspondent that currently resides in Nairobi. The article titled “Ugandan MPs debate Bill proposing death sentence for gay sex” was published on December 18, 2009. Here is a link for the article : http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article6960920.ece
Shocking. That is the one word that comes to mind after being ambushed by this article. I was caught totally off guard by this article and the bill that was being proposed in it. In Uganda there is in the process draft legislation for a law that will enact the death penalty for any citizen caught in a homosexual act. The bill goes even further by citing the consequences of individuals known to be aiding and abetting individuals partaking in such acts. The bill has come to light in Uganda for multiple reasons both of which are very notable and important on a global level. The first reason, main reason why Ugandan politicians are pushing the bill is because of the evangelical Christianity push in Uganda. The bill as one unnamed politician says is aimed too, ““strengthening the nation’s capacity to deal with emerging internal and external threats to the traditional heterosexual family”. Although the evangelical Christianity is an important factor in the radical and by some considered “inhumane” bill it is not the whole side. How this article relates to History of Epidemic Diseases has to do with not only Uganda’s but Africa’s HIV/Aids population. Over the course of the last 30 years a lot has been learned about HIV/Aids and a lot of stereotypes have been formed about the topic. A very common stereotype that has been associated with HIV/Aids individuals is their sexuality; particularly their sexual orientation. The Bill calls for mandatory testing for HIV and forced disclosure of HIV status of infected individuals. The Bill proposes the death penalty as a possible punishment for the “willful transmission of HIV to others”.
Overall as an article I find it informative if not mostly because I was completely unaware that it was happening. The article cites people from both sides of the argument and really cements the fact that evangelical Christians are a big part of the debate. Personally I find the idea inhumane and think that it is just flat out wrong. On a world level the law is seen in a similar light with some countries expressing such distaste that they are threatening to cut foreign aid to Uganda. I choose this article for shock value and that it is a subject that is very radical, or at least from an American point of view seems so. I also choose the article because it not only highlights HIV/Aids but does it in an area where the disease is problematic. Not only problematic, but I feel as though to a degree the disease is almost associated with Africa unfortunately. Furthermore HIV/Aids has been easily one of the biggest players as far as epidemic diseases since its arrival in the early 1980’s, in retrospect to history it is a very new and still puzzling disease. Is Uganda right about this law? If the law eventually passes how will other countries that currently give Uganda aid react to it? What about the thousands of homosexuals living in Uganda, is this an invasion of right? Basic sexual orientation? I’m curious of any and all points of view
-Tim O’Sullivan
This article is found on Times Online, the article is written by Tristan McConnell who is an international correspondent that currently resides in Nairobi. The article titled “Ugandan MPs debate Bill proposing death sentence for gay sex” was published on December 18, 2009. Here is a link for the article : http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article6960920.ece
Shocking. That is the one word that comes to mind after being ambushed by this article. I was caught totally off guard by this article and the bill that was being proposed in it. In Uganda there is in the process draft legislation for a law that will enact the death penalty for any citizen caught in a homosexual act. The bill goes even further by citing the consequences of individuals known to be aiding and abetting individuals partaking in such acts. The bill has come to light in Uganda for multiple reasons both of which are very notable and important on a global level. The first reason, main reason why Ugandan politicians are pushing the bill is because of the evangelical Christianity push in Uganda. The bill as one unnamed politician says is aimed too, ““strengthening the nation’s capacity to deal with emerging internal and external threats to the traditional heterosexual family”. Although the evangelical Christianity is an important factor in the radical and by some considered “inhumane” bill it is not the whole side. How this article relates to History of Epidemic Diseases has to do with not only Uganda’s but Africa’s HIV/Aids population. Over the course of the last 30 years a lot has been learned about HIV/Aids and a lot of stereotypes have been formed about the topic. A very common stereotype that has been associated with HIV/Aids individuals is their sexuality; particularly their sexual orientation. The Bill calls for mandatory testing for HIV and forced disclosure of HIV status of infected individuals. The Bill proposes the death penalty as a possible punishment for the “willful transmission of HIV to others”.
Overall as an article I find it informative if not mostly because I was completely unaware that it was happening. The article cites people from both sides of the argument and really cements the fact that evangelical Christians are a big part of the debate. Personally I find the idea inhumane and think that it is just flat out wrong. On a world level the law is seen in a similar light with some countries expressing such distaste that they are threatening to cut foreign aid to Uganda. I choose this article for shock value and that it is a subject that is very radical, or at least from an American point of view seems so. I also choose the article because it not only highlights HIV/Aids but does it in an area where the disease is problematic. Not only problematic, but I feel as though to a degree the disease is almost associated with Africa unfortunately. Furthermore HIV/Aids has been easily one of the biggest players as far as epidemic diseases since its arrival in the early 1980’s, in retrospect to history it is a very new and still puzzling disease. Is Uganda right about this law? If the law eventually passes how will other countries that currently give Uganda aid react to it? What about the thousands of homosexuals living in Uganda, is this an invasion of right? Basic sexual orientation? I’m curious of any and all points of view
-Tim O’Sullivan
The Secret Weapon Against Viruses: Evolution
Rose Barrett
A recent article in The New York Times, Using a Virus’s Knack for Mutating to Wipe It Out, written by Carl Zimmer and published on January 4, 2010, offers new information on the eradication of viruses. It is available online.
This article discusses recent developments regarding the concept of “lethal mutagenesis.” This is a potential new method of treating viruses with drugs that increase the rate of mutation. Although current treatments are often effective, scientists are always in search of improved techniques. The article states, as we know from class, that viruses mutate very quickly in comparison with other living things. These mutations can enable the virus to evolve so that it can infect its host more effectively. However, while some mutations result in increased strength, most are fatal or at least slow growth. The idea behind lethal mutagenesis is that increased mutations will result in the defeat of the virus, as the number of harmful mutations also increases. A geneticist at the
This article is extremely optimistic about the future of lethal mutagenesis. Zimmer chooses to cite Dr. Domingo, who is also hopeful, saying, “Dr. Domingo, who has been studying mutation rates in viruses for more than three decades, the latest results suggest lethal mutagenesis will become a medical reality—at least someday.” His choice to end the article on the confidence of Dr. Domingo shows his faith in the method. Zimmer does recognize other bias, however, covering the negative aspects of the treatment, but he seems to believe that these will be overcome at some point.
The author of this article, Carl Zimmer, is a science writer who has contributed to numerous reputable sources, including The New York Times, National Geographic, Time, and Popular Science. He also lectures at
I found this article to be very interesting because the treatment could completely revolutionize the way viruses are treated. I appreciated the heavy integration of quotes and data to support the information. The article was especially interesting because we have learned so much about antibiotics. Antibiotics slow growth of pathogens directly, while mutation-increasing drugs cause pathogens to eliminate themselves through a process that is meant to make them more powerful. Lethal mutagenesis seems to be a promising new field, and I believe scientists should proceed with caution to test it.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Swine Flu May Be Less Contagious Than Feared
The article I found on-line which was very interesting was published by The Boston Globe. The article was written by Marilynn Marchione titled Swine Flu May Be Less Contagious Than Feared and the tagline read, "Most households with illness keep it to one patient". This article can be found at this link: http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2009/12/31/swine_flu_may_be_less_contagious_than_feared/
The overall review of this article would be that through recent research it has been determined that this is not the most contagious of many recent diseases. It will not have such a devastating effect world-wide as other diseases. After this first study of how contagious h1n1 flu is in a family setting and it has been determined that the odds of catching the flu are 1 in 8 (far less than the Bubonic Plague we recently studied) the study also showed that children are more likely. This is the first time one such survey was taken.
This article is actually a summary of a resent publication in the New England Journal of Medicine. The research was done by the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Imperial College London specialists. A lot of interesting statistics were assembled, such as this: Swine Flu has infected one sixth of all Americans since it was identified in April. Also, around 60% of the people effected with Swine Flu have been children. What these researchers specifically did was follow 216 people with H1N1 and the 600 people they live with. It turns out that only around 10% developed flu-like symptoms. This shows a very low spreading rate than flus of the past. In an ordinary flu season (like, the seasonal flu) shows a spreading rate 5 - 40% in households. It was also discovered that children were twice as likely to be infected as older family members. This would be even more prevalent if they are under years of age. There was a lot of good news from this study the article said, "Nearly three-fourths of households in the study managed to avoid spreading the illness to any family members." It did not show a high level of children as super-spreaders which is a misconception often attached to how germs are spread.
As you can see, a lot of helpful information has been assembled because of this survey.
This article was written in a straight forward, informative way. It was easy to understand and very clear. I picked this article because it is very good in summing up our Swine Flu unit by bringing together some current research on this disease. I found it very informative and I hope you did too.
The overall review of this article would be that through recent research it has been determined that this is not the most contagious of many recent diseases. It will not have such a devastating effect world-wide as other diseases. After this first study of how contagious h1n1 flu is in a family setting and it has been determined that the odds of catching the flu are 1 in 8 (far less than the Bubonic Plague we recently studied) the study also showed that children are more likely. This is the first time one such survey was taken.
This article is actually a summary of a resent publication in the New England Journal of Medicine. The research was done by the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Imperial College London specialists. A lot of interesting statistics were assembled, such as this: Swine Flu has infected one sixth of all Americans since it was identified in April. Also, around 60% of the people effected with Swine Flu have been children. What these researchers specifically did was follow 216 people with H1N1 and the 600 people they live with. It turns out that only around 10% developed flu-like symptoms. This shows a very low spreading rate than flus of the past. In an ordinary flu season (like, the seasonal flu) shows a spreading rate 5 - 40% in households. It was also discovered that children were twice as likely to be infected as older family members. This would be even more prevalent if they are under years of age. There was a lot of good news from this study the article said, "Nearly three-fourths of households in the study managed to avoid spreading the illness to any family members." It did not show a high level of children as super-spreaders which is a misconception often attached to how germs are spread.
As you can see, a lot of helpful information has been assembled because of this survey.
This article was written in a straight forward, informative way. It was easy to understand and very clear. I picked this article because it is very good in summing up our Swine Flu unit by bringing together some current research on this disease. I found it very informative and I hope you did too.
U.S. Reaction to the Swine Flu
The article I read was "U.S. Reaction to Swine Flu: Apt and Lucky".This article is from The New York Times and was written by Donald G. McNeil Jr. and was published on January 2, 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/02/health/02flu.html?ref=health . This article is about how the reaction to H1N1 by Americans was better than expected and even though we reacted excellently, luck played a huge part. This article talks about the national reaction by Americans and the good and bad decisions made by federal officials during the outbreak of H1N1. Back in August, an estimate was made that at least 30,000 to 90,000 people would die from the swine flu. Since August, only 10,000 people have been killed by H1N1. This shows our country that swine flu was not as bad as we believed it would be and that we did a good job of keeping everyone healthy and vaccinated. But we did make some mistakes and these mistakes let Americans know what are weaknesses were during the H1N1 outbreak. One mistake was that we should have been able to spot H1N1 earlier than we did but we did not have good cooperation with Mexico. Another mistake made by the government was making only 30 million vaccine doses by October, when we were told there would be 160 million doses. The government did make a lot of good decisions involving the swine flu. There were many rumors evolving around the Swine Flu, but the C.D.C. and the World Health Organization were always on the top of their game. They were able to shut down every rumor, which helped stop fears about the Swine Flu from Americans.
Donald McNeil wrote this article in a positive way. He agrees with the fact that America did a good job of handling the Swine flu. This article shows readers that things could have been a lot worst if we had not responded to H1N1 in the ways we did. He is very informal and uses mostly quotes and facts from different people to get the message across. The message is that America reacted to H1N1 in many good ways and that the ways we reacted showed us a little about our country. He says, "The outbreak highlighted many national weaknesses." He goes on to list the weaknesses but then he goes into detail with quotes from many health experts on the things that we did right. I do not think that there is any bias of the author. He is simply giving information on how we reacted to the Swine Flu. McNeil gives many quotes and statistics from both sides of the Swine Flu. He shows the ways in which we reacted to the Swine Flu excellently and how we reacted to it badly. I believe that this article is informative and I was convinced that we did do a good job reacting to H1N1.
This article is centered around Swine Flu and that is why I decided to choose it. We did public health announcements on Swine Flu and many of the things that we focused on were talked about in this article. Back in the summer and early fall, I remember watching the news and learning about the Swine Flu. I feared it, like many people did, since all of the information we were being told about H1N1 made it seem like a lot of people were going to die. This article showed me that the Swine Flu did not turn out to be what we all thought it was going to be. I also learned that our government did a very good job in reacting to the Swine Flu. Overall, I think this is a really good article to read because it shows people the things that we did wrong in reacting to the Swine Flu and the things we did right and we can learn from our reactions.
Donald McNeil wrote this article in a positive way. He agrees with the fact that America did a good job of handling the Swine flu. This article shows readers that things could have been a lot worst if we had not responded to H1N1 in the ways we did. He is very informal and uses mostly quotes and facts from different people to get the message across. The message is that America reacted to H1N1 in many good ways and that the ways we reacted showed us a little about our country. He says, "The outbreak highlighted many national weaknesses." He goes on to list the weaknesses but then he goes into detail with quotes from many health experts on the things that we did right. I do not think that there is any bias of the author. He is simply giving information on how we reacted to the Swine Flu. McNeil gives many quotes and statistics from both sides of the Swine Flu. He shows the ways in which we reacted to the Swine Flu excellently and how we reacted to it badly. I believe that this article is informative and I was convinced that we did do a good job reacting to H1N1.
This article is centered around Swine Flu and that is why I decided to choose it. We did public health announcements on Swine Flu and many of the things that we focused on were talked about in this article. Back in the summer and early fall, I remember watching the news and learning about the Swine Flu. I feared it, like many people did, since all of the information we were being told about H1N1 made it seem like a lot of people were going to die. This article showed me that the Swine Flu did not turn out to be what we all thought it was going to be. I also learned that our government did a very good job in reacting to the Swine Flu. Overall, I think this is a really good article to read because it shows people the things that we did wrong in reacting to the Swine Flu and the things we did right and we can learn from our reactions.
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