Influenza is Flying High!

This article is called “Where Germs Lurk on Planes” and was written by Scott McCartney. It was published in the Wall Street Journal on December 20, 2011.

Research has showed that travelers on airplanes are at a higher risk of getting infectious diseases, such as influenza, than every day people are. One specific study shows that there is a 20% higher risk of catching the flu on airplanes than regularly on land. This percentage also rises significantly around the holidays when a lot of people are packed into planes, flying here and there.

Researchers blame the air that is continuously circulated throughout the airplane during its travel. However, the high-efficiency particulate air filters, also known as HEPA filters, can capture 99.97% of the bacteria and virus-carrying particles aboard the planes. The problem occurs when planes are being boarded and exited, or when planes have long waits on the ground. In 1979, a plane was sitting for 3 hours without circulating the air. Within two days of this happening, about 38 of the 54 passengers had flu-like symptoms.

The danger of flying in an airplane comes when you are in the ‘hot zone’ of someone who is sick. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says, “The hot zone for exposure is generally two seats beside, in front of and behind you.” For instance, if someone in your hot zone sneezes, that single sneeze can make up to 30,000 droplets which can reach as far as six feet.

In addition, the virus thrives in the low-humidity climate offered in airplanes at 30,000 feet off the ground. Your mucous membranes dry out at such an altitude, and viruses can therefore enter your system much more easily.

The public health measures now offered to the spread of influenza on airplanes include: drinking a lot of water throughout their flight, using hand-sanitizer and disinfecting wipes throughout your trip, and not touching the seat pockets on the chairs.

In my opinion, this article relates to many of the units and concepts we have studied in class. For example, the public health measures given do exactly what the definition we learned says. They offer great suggestions to passengers to prevent illnesses, the influenza, from spreading. In addition, this article talked a lot about the air which I connected back to the Miasma Theory which came up in some of our units. People used to believe that diseases were spread due to poison in the air. I think this article is a good modern day connection to the units we have studied so far this year.

This article really showed me just how easy it is, if people are not careful, to spread germs and viruses. The image of someone sneezing in and airplane and spreading germs to everyone around them reminded me of our Cholera unit and how once you dirtied the water with your germs and feces, everyone around you could get sick.

To read more about this article, please check out:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204058404577108420985863872.html

image: http://photolibrary.usap.gov/Portscripts/PortWeb.dll?query&field1=Filename&op1=matches&value=AIRBUS_INTERIOR1.JPG&catalog=Antarctica&template=USAPgovMidThumbs

by: Christine Johnson

Experimental malaria vaccine shows early promise

Reuters) - British scientists have developed an experimental malaria vaccine that may have the potential to neutralize all strains of the most deadly species of malaria parasite.

Results from very early tests of the vaccine in mice and rabbits show it induces an antibody response able to halt many strains of the P. falciparum parasite, the form that causes almost all of the 655,000 malaria deaths worldwide each year.

The researchers, whose work was published in the journal Nature Communications on Tuesday, plan to take the vaccine into early stage human trials in two to three years, but it may be a decade or more beyond that before it is fully developed.

"Vaccines against malaria are notoriously difficult to develop," said Adrian Hill of Britain's Oxford University, who worked on the vaccine research team.

This vaccine builds on work published last month by the same team, who pinpointed a single receptor for a protein called RH5 that is critical for the malaria parasite to gain entry into red blood cells where it multiplies and spreads.

The researchers said in November they thought that by blocking this process, they could halt the disease in its tracks - and Tuesday's results confirm their thinking.

"What's exciting about RH5 is that we've shown that antibodies against this protein have so far knocked down every parasite we've been able to test in the laboratory," Simon Draper of Oxford's Jenner Institute, who also worked on the study, said in a telephone interview.

"We haven't found one yet that the vaccine isn't able to stop."

Malaria is a mosquito-borne parasitic disease that killed around 655,000 in 2010 according to latest World Health Organisation data. The vast majority of malaria deaths are among children and babies in sub-Saharan Africa.

The blood stage of the parasite's life cycle begins when it invades human red blood cells, and it is this stage that is responsible for malaria illnesses and deaths.

Scientists have been working for decades on trying to develop an effective vaccine against the disease, but this has proved particularly tricky because the parasites' antigens - the target of vaccines - tend to be genetically too diverse.

Researchers say RH5 doesn't show this diversity, making it a particularly good target for a vaccine to exploit.

British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline published data in October showing its experimental vaccine, RTS,S, halved the risk of children getting malaria in a large trial in Africa, making it likely to become the world's first licensed malaria vaccine.

Other teams of researchers around the world are also working on other approaches to a malaria vaccine.

Experts agree that wiping out the disease - a goal the scientific community says could be achieved in the next few decades with the right tools - will need a vaccine that is more effective than RTS,S.

"Unlike RTS,S, which aims to stop the parasite getting into the liver, this RH5 vaccine is trying to kill the parasite in the blood," Draper explained. "So it may be possible that the RH5 vaccine could complement RTS,S."

"Ultimately we don't know until we test our vaccine in humans whether it will be more efficacious than RTS,S. But these data on RH5 are some of the most exciting in the field at the moment."

(Editing by Peter Graff)

Source:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/20/us-malaria-vaccine-idUSTRE7BJ17W20111220

This article shows the progress that science is making. Malaria is an epidemic that has been around for many years and has killed many people. This article states that it killed 655,000 people in 2010! That is a staggering number and it is sad that so many people have been killed from a disease that we know the cause of. However, it is clearly hard to prevent this mosquito-borne parasite from claiming more victims. Creating a vaccine, that has so far been positive, is a huge step for scientists who work to fight Malaria. This vaccine has been tested on mice and other animals and hasn’t had any complications. However, I think that there still could be potential for problems and it is a good idea for the scientists to continue there research. The article says that it could be ready in two or three years. These scientists should be very proud of their findings, and hopefully they will be successful and discover a vaccine to combat a major epidemic disease.

Catching More Than Just Your Flight

The article “Where Germs Lurk on Planes” by Scott McCartney was published in the Wall Street Journal on December 20, 2011 and can be found by visiting http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204058404577108420985863872.html

In this article, McCartney claims that infectious diseases are spread in airplanes when the air circulation systems are shut down, which is common during long waits before takeoff. In a 1979 study where an airplane was without air circulation for three hours, 72% of the passengers contracted the same strain of the flu, which then was traced back to one of the passengers on board.

The other factors that contribute to the high rate of infections spreading on planes are the high altitude, extremely dry air, and germs hidden on places such as tray tables, seat pockets, pillows and blankets. Moreover, some viruses can live up to one day on a plane, which makes disease contraction much easier.

McCartney writes about the infectious disease SARS and states, “On one flight studied, one passenger spread a particular strain to someone seated seven rows away, while people seated next to the ill passenger didn't contract the disease.” This account shows how unpredictable the spread of infectious diseases is on airplanes. One would think that a passenger sitting next to someone with SARS would be much more likely to contract the disease than a passenger seven rows away would.

McCartney’s tips on how to avoid getting sick while traveling on an airplane include washing your hands frequently, changing seats if someone around you is coughing or sneezing, avoiding using airline pillows and blankets, and using a disinfecting wipe to clean your tray table before using it.

As I was scrolling through Google News, this article struck me because I had always placed a lot of faith in airlines in that they would try their hardest to avoid hidden germs from multiplying. Luckily, I have never gotten sick after traveling but this article made me realize that I should be more cautious about germs while on a plane. With the holidays rapidly approaching, I thought this was an appropriate article to get the word out that people should keep their health in mind while on airplanes.

As we leaned in the Black Death unit in class, travel is a contributing factor to the spread of infectious and epidemic diseases. However, I had never thought about the fact that a disease that only one passenger had could be rapidly spread while on a plane, and then the other passengers who contracted the disease could spread it even further from there.

Reading this article made me wonder if passengers in the First Class section of the airplane are less likely to contract diseases than passengers in other parts of the plane. It would be very interesting if a study was conducted to determine this answer, because it might show that airline employees sanitize the First Class sections of the plane more than the other sections. If this was found to be true, I think an uproar would ensue.

I think that airlines should make a bigger effort to keep their airplanes as sanitary as possible. Airlines should be aware that travel is such a big factor in the spread of infectious diseases. Something as simple as providing hand sanitizer for passengers could make a difference between stopping a disease from spreading and allowing a disease to be spread.

Picture: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/01/30/article-1132198-033E3448000005DC-482_468x286.jpg

Don't Let the Jigger Bugs Bite!

On October 22, 2010, MSNBC writer, Godfrey Olukya, reports the growing epidemic of the rot of flesh (medically known as Tungiasis) by small insects colloquially referred to as 'Jiggers' in Uganda Africa. According to James Kakooza, Uganda's minister of state for primary healthcare, Jiggers kills many young children, and shortens the life of many adults, by burrowing into the skin, sucking their blood, and causing the flesh to rot. This article consists of comments from the natives of Uganda, and public health, and government officials.

Tunga penetrans, commonly known as Jiggers, are small insects with similar characteristics to that of the common flea. They are the reason so many Ugandans, and people from parts of Latin America, the Caribbean, and sub-Saharan Africa are infected with the flesh rotting disease each year. The Jiggers burrow into a person's body, suck the blood, wax and multiply by the hundreds, and cause parts of the body such as the feet, the hands, buttocks, lips, and even the eyelids rot away.

"For the last three years I have been suffering from Jiggers. I lost two children killed by Jiggers," said a sixty year old Ugandan man. The disease killed at least twenty Ugandan people, and infected over twenty-thousand in the short time span of two months. Ministry of Health official in eastern Uganda writes, "It is common the find graves of whole families wiped away by Jiggers."

Though such a horrific disease seems to have symptoms written by Stephen King himself, there is hope. Kakooza says, "It is an epidemic which we are fighting against and I am sure over time we will eradicate the Jiggers." Like many problems that occur in dense poverished areas, the recurring factor is the lack of sanitation. "We are also telling them to use medicated soap. They can apply petrol and paraffin in places infested by Jiggers and they die," said Kakooza.

Unfortunately, the disease continues to spread throughout Africa and other continents, by way of travel and trade. The Jiggers like to live in dirty and dusty areas, and can easily survive on ships and transport trucks. The Ugandan government set aside one-million US dollars to fight the growing epidemic. It require topical medication, and the removal of the insects.

Personally, this article reflects the startling pain Africa feels everyday. The author describes images of people walking around on all fours and wailing in agony. I find it very interesting that the Ugandan government has only set aside one million dollars to contribute to the eradication of the insects. It absolutely makes me question the worth of material things against the simple health of our geographical brothers and sisters.

Something Batty is Happening in West Africa

Many different creatures are found around the world, from fish to frogs, to bears and bats and they all can carry diseases that can be spread to humans. But how do diseases jump from one species to another?
During the past few years researchers have been trying to find an answer to this question. In West Africa bats have been the cause of the spread of Ebola hemorrhagic fever and SARS.
Researchers believe that the cause of this species jump between bats and humans is because bats natural habitats are being destroyed causing them to move into West African homes and even some hospitals.
Another cause is because people in the area are beginning to eat bats because more traditional food like apes and antelope are either a protected species now or are simply not as available anymore to the people in the area.
The relation to bats living closer to humans is similar to the Black Plague and people living with rats. The plague was a result of rats moving in with people at the time and leaving behind their fleas for the host families to be bitten by making them sick and dying eventually.
Another example in history is smallpox. When the Columbian exchange began with all the new goods being brought to the new world disease was also brought infecting the natives. Europeans had built up immunity to Smallpox because they lived so close to their animals, but this was not the case for the natives.
There have been many examples though out history with disease jumping from species to species.
Researchers fear that one day it will be out of their control and there will be no way to stop it.
“We are concerned the solution will be to just kill the bats to control the virus. We need to find another way that protects bats and people at the same time.” Says Andrew Cunningham; bats play a key roll in the pollination of plants and to kill them off would effect the growth of many plants. With killing one species it affects many other species as well. All the species in an ecosystem play a part to make it work but if you remove one part others don’t work.
Not only has there been a problem with bats spreading disease in West Africa but pigs have been spreading disease as well. “It looks like there is a spill-over from bats to pigs in Ghana. This is the first step along the line to a public-health threat.” States Andrew Cunningham a wildlife epidemiologist. The great deal of pigs and their meat that is exported in Ghana causes for a fear of the diseases to be spread even further than the continent of Africa.
Recently there has been a movie made about this species cross over “Contagion”, shows just how fast a disease can be spread from species to species. In the movie bats live in the barns with pigs leading to bat droppings getting into the pig food and soon into humans.

Source: Nature News

Read the Article: http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110922/full/news.2011.545.html

Dengue Fever in Trinidad

My family and I are from Trinidad and Tobago, two sister islands approximately 8 miles off the coast of Venezuela. In Trinidad, Dengue Fever is very common, though the most recent outbreak was not declared an outbreak until August of 2010 when over 300 people had been diagnosed with dengue. This article is of interest to me mainly because over the past year since I last visited, there have been over 3000 reported cases of Dengue and yet the Ministry of Health has yet to properly deal with the situation despite this article.

Knowing what I know about how the Ministry of health works, I would say that the article is somewhat misleading. The Ministry has been down playing the serious of the disease since the start of the most recent spread. They waited nearly two months before declaring an outbreak, despite the numbers which had been steadily increasing since July of 2010. People were getting the disease without knowing it, and becoming seriously ill without really understanding that it was dengue.

I can also say that the Ministry overall ( this includes the Health sector) was very aware that the newer mosquitos had evolved and were resistant to strong and the rather harmful flit

(Trinidadian word for Bug spray) such as this one above. Trinidad is also in a massive breeding ground for the mosquitos that carry Dengue because of the Rain Season and the forever hot climate. Mosquitos thrive in wet areas, and since the Ministry of Public Safety seems oblivious to the never ending pot holes that are never filled in. This is especially unusual because Trinidad has what is called pitch lake...the very material we use to make roads.... These pot holes are almost always filled with rainwater and an abundance of mosquito eggs. Knowing that this is only aiding the spread of the disease and taking no action has led to a great anger with the already shaky Parliament. More recently our newest Prime Minister was sick with a mild case of Dengue Fever.

Really, I posted this particular article out of amusement because I know how disorganized Parliament (Trinidad's Government, also known as the Ministry) is, and this article makes it seem as though they clearly understood the dangers, AND were being proactive in their fight against Dengue, even though really, they're only really on trying now because children are becoming infected left and right. There aren't enough hospitals or space, and the medical help is poor, and or dealings with the public health and safety are poor, but Trinidad is certainly on top of things...right. Check out the article I refer to here.

Also if you're interested in our Honourable Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar. And lastly, an article written by a not ministry representative here.

The Fight Against The War on (Micro)Terrorism

U.S.: 1, Future Terrorists: 0. Researchers in Arizona might have finally discovered a possible vaccine to combat the Ebola virus. The Ebola virus is of African origin. Though it is very rare to contract (1,850 cases since 1976), it is extremely deadly (1,200 deaths). Victims of the Ebola virus experience organ failure after the immune system is overtaken by the virus.

Researchers found the vaccination after testing a vaccine consisting of a tobacco plant and an antibody combined together. The vaccine was then given to ten lab mice, which were then infected with Ebola. Out of the ten mice given the vaccine, 8 were able to overcome the disease. Though more research needs to be conducted, it is a positive sign for prevention from the thirty five year old disease, which has no current vaccination.

“The virus has a natural reservoir in several species of the African fruit bat. Gorillas and other non-human primates are also susceptible to the disease.” Researchers believe the virus is zoonotic and found in African primates. Not enough is known about the reservoir and it is one of things scientists need to further investigate.

The virus has long been feared as a biological weapon. The disease’s deadliness and discreetness have caused officials to be concerned about the Ebola virus. The government has attempted to store samples of the disease to use in case of a biological attack, but none of which survived. With an incubation period of 2-21 days, the virus can be spread through contact with an infected person’s blood or secretions. Also, with no current vaccine or standard treatment, a bioterrorist attack could be catastrophic.

This article relates to the Black Plague being used as a weapon of war. When bodies of infected soldiers were thrown over the walls of Caffa, no vaccine or treatment for the plague existed, thus, nearly wiping out the population.

I found this article interesting due to the fact that I had never heard of the virus before. With every 2 in 3 people dying from the disease, I assumed it would be more commonly known. I also found it interesting due to how effective the disease can be to use in a terrorist attack. The disease has no vaccine or well developed treatment. A terrorist attack using Ebola could be devastating.

From reading this article, I wondered if the United States is prepared for a biological attack. Do we have the resources in place to deal with the disease? Will an attack affect our civil rights and liberties? And if we are prepared, what is our response plan? Would there need to be another 9/11 type incident for us to fully realize the threat of bioterrorism?

I believe that, though we cannot fully prepare ourselves for an attack, we can focus on having measures planned out to be put in place in case of an attack and more research on diseases that can used by terrorists against us.

Source: New York Daily Times (12/12/11)

Read the Article:

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/vaccine-ebola-works-mice-study-rare-notorious-african-virus-feared-future-weapon-bioterrorism-article-1.990277

Learn More About Ebola Virus:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/Spb/mnpages/dispages/ebola/qa.htm

Image Source: http://www.miller-mccune.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/mmw_Bioterror_article.jpg

Why It's Not A Good Idea To Castrate Lambs With Your Teeth

http://www.digitaldesktopwallpaper.com/downloads/ddw/lamb_wallpaper_001.htm

In a recent article I read called Castrating Lambs With Your Teeth May Make You Sick (on this website: http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2011/12/08/cdc-castrating-lambs-with-your-teeth-may-make-you-sick/) by Katherine Hobson written on December 8th, 2011, I found that not only are some people dumb enough to use their teeth in medical procedures, but that it is also very easy to contract diseases from animals if you are not safe. The CDC wrote a report about a couple that got Campylobacter jejuni by literally castrating lambs with their teeth. This disease lasts for 5-7 days and is similar to cholera in that it is contracted from fecal matter and dehydrates the body. The easiest cure is to drink water and get electrolytes into your body.

On woman, Kerry Pride, said “this method has and does occur. It was more common in the 1800s, but still goes on." I believe that with all the knowledge we have today about diseases and how to practice safe medical procedures that these two workers would have known better than to use their teeth for such a messy job. Plus with modern technologies there would be no need for them to use their teeth to complete the job. I am sure the workers have their reasons for doing this procedure the way they did it. Maybe they were old fashioned or thought it was easier. Nonetheless it seems like a bad idea if you ask me. I would not put my mouth anywhere near any animals body parts because who knows whats lurking on their skin or fur or whatever they have. If you performed this procedure with your teeth would you be concerned with health issues or would you assume it was safe?

The workers put themselves at risk by putting their mouths where they shouldn't have so I believe they are to blame for getting sick. They were instructed on other methods, and even if they wished to continue using their teeth, they should have practiced safer and cleaner techniques. I think that today disease comes down to how you conduct your lifestyle. If you dont pay attention to health issues and cleanliness you are likely to get sick, however if you make sure to wash your hands and have a clean environment for things you will be ingesting or touching then your risks of getting sick greatly decrease.

It's That Time of Year Again...

As we head full force into winter this year, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is urging people to get their flu shots again. Although the vaccine will be the same that was used last year, the CDC stills says it's imperative that people stay protected. Last week the CDC announced that from December 4th to the 10th would be National Influenza Vaccination Week. Still Americans are becoming less concerned with protecting themselves from the flu. Last year only 42% of Americans got their flu shots.

Dr. Andrew Pavia of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) thinks that protection befits outweight the risks and more people should stay protected. He also stated:

“The flu shot is like the seat belt- it’s easy to use and protects against serious complications, even if the protection is not perfect… Last year, during a relatively mild flu season, we treated very severe complications of the flu in otherwise healthy teenagers. So, just as everyone uses seat belts, everybody, even healthy people, should get the flu vaccine.”

Many people don't know that after a year the vaccine can wear off, and you can get infected this year, even if you got the flu shot last year.

The ISDA’s president Dr. Thomas Slama has also said that not just the elderly and very young are at risk, but those who usually just rely on their good health can be at risk for a serious case of seasonal influenza:

“People often shrug off concerns about the flu, yet every year it strikes up to 20 percent of Americans, sending more than 200,000 to the hospital and killing thousands.”

The ISDA and the CDC are trying to make sure that everyone 6 months and older are protected this year. And it's not that outrageous of a request. This vaccine is the most accessible thing out there today. Vaccines are available in doctor's offices, retail outlets, and pharmacies across America.

As someone who spent from Friday to Monday of this week suffering from Seasonal Flu symptoms, I would highly recommend that everyone gets their flu shot, and steers clear of this virus. People don't realize how serious Influenza can be, and how many people are hospitalized and killed from this disease. There is no reason not to stay protected, so make sure you get a flu shot and stay healthy this holiday season!

To Read more about this check out:
http://www.inquisitr.com/167992/get-the-flu-vaccine-america-cdc-urges/
OR
http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/story/2011/08/CDC-Dont-skip-this-years-flu-shot/50056926/1

Another Outbreak of Cholera in Zimbabwe?

With the increase in cases of water born diseases, such as typhoid, dysentery, and watery diarrhoea, there is a new worry that all of these diseases will reach epidemic level. This is creating a concern for the conditions in Zimbabwe regarding a reprise of a cholera epidemic like the one in 2008-2009 that killed 4,000 people. The country of Zimbabwe is asking for US support in fixing their sanitation issues after over a decade of neglect. It used to be worse but a third of Zimbabwe's population still only have limited access to clean water and health services. Although $80 million has already been donated during the previous outbreak of cholera, it is estimated that in order to obtain basic services and sustainable water for all $800 million will have to be donated annually.

The urban poor have been forced to get their water from shallow wells which are easily contaminated. This is due to poor sanitation infrastructure, the start of the rainy season, and cut-offs of water to households because of the inability of many people to pay their bills. It's no wonder that these waterborne diseases are nearly reaching epidemic level. The common people have no control over these things and are forced to due what they can to survive which is very often using whatever water they have available to them whether they know it's contaminated or not.

Officials from both the health center and NGO have assured IRIN that the situation is being monitored but have not confirmed whether there have actually been cases of cholera. This poses a major potential disaster because it is very hard to control outbreaks in the many vulnerable areas of Zimbabwe.

This article relates directly to what we are doing in class right now on the subject of cholera. Similarly to the epidemic outbreak of cholera in London, this potential outbreak in Zimbabwe would arise due to poor sanitation. It is an easy disease to cure but very hard to prevent in places that are in such poor condition.

Click here for the article

Chickenpox Lollipops for Sale!

CBS News writer Walter Freeman reported on November 7, 2011 regarding the very sticky and icky situation that Tennessee has found itself in. According to Jerry Martin, a U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, parents have been purchasing lollipops via Facebook that have been licked by someone ill with chickenpox. The article is filled with comments from all perspectives of the event; a government official, a doctor, and a subject selling chickenpox lollipops all sharethoughts.

Parents have been purchasing this alternative method of immunization through a Facebook group called “Find a Pox Party in Your Area”. The customers could order chickenpox infected lollipops, q-tips, and spit. A vendor of the items, Wendy Werkit of Nashville, TN, justifies her sales because kids “can't get (chickenpox) the normal way anymore of just naturally catching and just naturally getting the immunity for life”.

Dr. Isaac Thomsen, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, says that this transmission is unlikely effective in giving chickenpox to other people. Thomsen worries more about other diseases that could potentially be on the lollipops, such as hepatitis. He also worries because one person on the Facebook group asked if she could acquire anything with measles on it, an even
more dangerous disease than chickenpox.

District attorney Martin asked the Associated Press "Can you imagine getting a package in the mail from this complete stranger that you know from Facebook because you joined a group, and say here, drink this purported spit from some other kid?” His comment captures the feel of the entire situation; it is horrible, disgusting, and dangerous.

This article relates to a topic that we will study in the future: vaccination debate. The persons who purchased the chickenpox infected items did so because they did not want their child to be vaccinated. They disagree on the process of vaccination for their own personal reason and therefore searched for another method to immunize their child.

Today’s vaccination debate has many sides to it. Those who are opposed to vaccines have that mindset for medical and religious reasons. Some believe that vaccines cause harm in the development of a child. Other people’s religions put restrictions on their medical practices because ultimately, God will choose their path. Still, others hold beliefs that overcoming a disease will make the child stronger in the grand scheme of things.

Personally, this article is repulsive. It is fascinating that even with modern knowledge people would still sell a chicken pox infected lollipop. Worst, there are people in the world who will gladly purchase it. It is understandable that some do not support vaccines, but they could at least expose their child to the disease in a different method.

Satellites Can Be Used To Track Disease?

We all know that satellites can be used to map the earth's terrain. Now online maps such as Mapquest and Google Maps make these satellite images ready at our fingertips. But, did you know that satellites are now being used to track measles across the continent of Africa? Probably not. A recent study explains how this is possible.

Measles kills thousands of people in Africa each year. It is commonly spread during the dry season when workers migrate to large cities in search of work. A lot of the time there is no electricity so any fluctuation in the amount of light coming from a certain area is clearly noticeable. Assuming that someone in the population of workers has measles means that the whole group could get it because the workers are living in densely populated areas.


By tracking the light given off by the worker's camp's and villages they can track their movement across the continent. Since measles seems to follow the group, they can also track the disease and predict where it will appear next. If doctors know where the disease will be heading next, they can get there before it and administer vaccination to prevent the disease from spreading. This method can be adapted for use with many other types of illness and disease

Click Here For Original Article

You Are Being Watched!

A New York Times reporter, Tina Rosenberg, brought her attention to the intensive care unit at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, New York just before this November‘s thanksgiving break, around the 24th. The focus of her article is hand washing and innovations that this particular hospital is taking in order to stress the importance of sanitizing your hands often. Hospitals all over the world are constantly trying to improve their hygiene rate, as the spread of disease in hospitals is very dangerous and often deadly to patients previously admitted. Interestingly many hospitals are already recording hygiene rates on a week to week basis. But North Shore hospital is taking things to a new level with an idea they often call “The Electronic Eye”. Starting earlier this fall the hospital displayed two L.E.D displays on the wall’s across from their nursing stations. The L.E.D is very strict about its recordings of hand washers. The health workers must wash their hands properly within 10 seconds of entering, and also exiting their patient’s room. The L.E.D is a sort of video system that monitors the hand washing.

According to the article this method seems to be the most effective way of trying to improve hand washing in hospitals. Yet the option of an “electronic eye” is rather costly to some hospitals. Others have tried things such as tracking the amounts of alcohol hand gel and hand soap used over periods of time. However this is a rough estimate and can be unrealistic, because the non washer criminals are usually repeat offenders. Some hospitals have also tried something along the lines of a private investigator, where staff members secretly watch their fellow employees and record the progress in the hand washing movement. Unfortunately, this often fails because people argue that it is against their privacy rights at work.

The “electronic eye” has been very successful in upping the rate of hand washing in the ICU unit at this hospital. Recently their weekly hand washing rate has reached 82%. The hospital claims that they are proud of this number, but isn’t it scary that there is still 18% of staff members not washing their hands before and after working with patients in critical condition? Rosenberg herself wrote “ Hospitals do impossible things like heart surgery on a fetus, but they are apparently stymied by the task of getting health care workers to wash their hands…ICU’s, where health care workers are the most harried, usually have the lowest rates.” Patients are at much higher risk in an ICU for infection which makes there hand washing passing rate of about 40% scary.

Earlier this year, we focused on the movement to increase hand washing rates in the United States. Not washing your hand is actually one of the easiest ways to spread germs. We learned that there are germs everywhere and on everything that we touch. Everything from door handles to faucets to gym equipment. The fact that patients in hospitals and specifically ICU’s are at highest risk for disease is scary because many of their caretakers are not washing their hands. Most people understand that the concept of hand washing can prevent the spread of disease. But what some are naïve to is the proper way of hand washing, and when not done correctly is not as effective. Soap and water must be used at all time. Rinsing is hardly effective at all. If possible warm water is the best. But how long should we wash? Little reminders have been made up such as singing “happy birthday” twice while washing. Some opt for the use of sanitizing gels instead, but when using these you must make sure that the gel has not expired and has a high alcohol content in order to kill germs. However the old fashioned way of soap and water is really the most effective. Interestingly, the article I researched is focused in a New York hospital, and we learned earlier this year that New York was the dirtiest location when it came to hand washing surveys.

The reporter of the article seems to be in support of the idea of the “electronic eye” to promote hand washing and she stresses its importance in keeping everyone healthy. I completely agree. Some argue it is an invasion of privacy, but I would argue that it is necessary in saving lives of patients. Specifically in the ICU, which the article focused on. The only thing concerning me, and something that I might ask is how costly exactly are these devices and will every medical facility be able to afford them some how? I think it is a possibility that after the device has done its job and reached hundred percent washing rates, that potentially it could be removed and put in another location, hoping that the message was stressed enough. However for the most part I think it is a great concept and a move in the right direction.

We're Blogging!

Welcome to our class blog, "Studying Epidemic Disease at RMHS: Infectious Disease in the News." This is a place where we will track recent news stories about infectious disease. You'll not only have the opportunity to write about what's in the headlines but you'll also engage in a dialogue with your classmates about the news stories that are shared.

We're looking forward to hearing about what interests you regarding current issues around epidemic disease and also to seeing how you make the important connections between class topics and studies and the current articles you find. Happy Blogging!

A problem that should not be present in today's world...

There is a new epidemic of something you would have never guessed; it is an epidemic of the incredible lack of vitamin D. As a society, there have been many times where one has been told inevitably as a child that one needs their vitamins – the most important being vitamin C and D. Now it has never been any true in a society where many individuals, not just teenagers, make precarious decisions to not consume meals enriched in vitamins, but rather ones lacking these essential vitamins. However, it also seems to be that this is not problem that causes the dangerous lack of vitamin D in many people of the western world but also the simple fact that they just do not get any sun. This article I am speaking about, Epidemic of Vitamin D deficiency, sweeping the world is about how the society is causing many people to become discouraged about attaining one of their most necessary vitamins in their body. Let’s face it though; there are many people who don’t get the chance to go outside all that much – a lot of people including those who go to work at 12 hours a day, those who sit inside their houses on their computers for hours on end, and those who work nightshifts. Then, there is of course the old individual, who normally stays inside their house and hardly ventures out even for a daily walk. When you start to look at the big picture and think about how many people you know who do that, unless you’re one of a few subgroup of people, you will find that you would know at least a couple of people who are like that. Given that there are over a billion people living in the US, that would be a lot of people, and if you look beyond the US it can easily become a big problem. It also speaks volumes about how important it truly is in order to keep us safe from things such as deadly diseases (some infectious) like cancer, flu, and osteoporosis. After all, without vitamin D our immune system would not activate via armament of t-cells and protect us against invasion of viruses or bacteria. It is why most people who died from the swine flu “epidemic” were the ones whose immune systems were the weakest, those who weren’t able to get enough sunlight or enough vitamin D from it to be more precise. Perhaps, considering the long reach of infectious disease, it would be not too farfetched to say that merely having one get their daily dosage of vitamin D would have prevented epidemics of infectious diseases from spreading even back then. However, back in the 17th or 18th century, it is well known that many of the common people were unable to attain proper vitamins as easier it is for people to get today. Flu season is already near its end, but if you want to be able to successfully prevent yourself from getting any of it you had better watch your intake of vitamin D. Who knows, it may just save your life.

reference link: http://www.naturalnews.com/028357_vitamin_D_deficiency.html#ixzz1HtmyhluB

The article "HIV/AIDs pandemic: What future for the youth and MDGs?", which can be found here: http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/features/19580-hivaids-pandemic-what-future-for-the-youth-and-mdgs, by Issac Shobayo on March 29th, 2011, talks about the struggle against AIDs in Nigeria and other African countries.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight goals that the countries in the United Nations wish to accomplish by 2015. These goals include things as eradicating extreme poverty, reducing death rates in children, and fighting against infectious disease such as AIDS. These goals help to improve the social and economic conditions in poorer countries. Fighting AIDs in African countries has been a main objective for a while. However, this can be a hard task to accomplish when in 2008, 1.72 million out of 4.67 million Nigerians alone were infected with HIV.

AIDs is rapidly spreading throughout African countries, and action needs to be taken against it. One of the most startling statistics was that teenagers and young adults between the ages of 15-25 years old, were the highest percentage effected by the disease.

Due to the fact that so many young people were being effect by the disease, UNICEF decided to come up with the idea of educating the younger generations through entertainment. Radio drama programs and sports were used as a way of sending out information about HIV to the adolescents, in hopes that it would help them understand it a little bit better. This method has been proven to be effective.

The goal for UNICEF Nigeria now is to reach out and educate at least 40 percent of the adolescent population in Nigeria about AIDs and HIV prevention by 2012.

I found this article to start off on a rather dark note, by saying how much of the population was infected with HIV, especially considering how many of these people were between the ages of 15 and 25. However, I saw it to be more hopeful towards the end of the article when it started to mention reaching out to the youth through things that they could connect with such as sports and the media. I think that this is sure to be a very effective strategy in educating about HIV/AIDs , and it can hopefully manage to bring down the rates of how many people have it.

Happy World TB Day.

Today, March 24, marks the day of World TB Day. On this day, around the world, public health associations and other disease controlling, researching, or simply fighters, raise the public's awareness of tuberculosis. The article "ATS Honors World TB Day", talks about the day and what it is about. Basically, The American Sanatorium Association (now known as the ATS) was founded and has worked hard trying to prevent and find cures to diseases such as TB. The president of the ATS is quoted in the article talking about the importance of infectious disease awareness saying "it is essential that the United States continues to play a strong leadership role in global TB control efforts". This is important for the association as well as the people of the world.

This article was very appealing to me because frankly, I had never heard of World TB Day and it intrigued me. I almost feel bad I've never heard of it because I'm probably one of many in the US who doesn't. This article opened my eyes to TB and how people are still trying to prevent it and help with it. I felt it related to class and the modern ways of raising awareness during the Polio epidemic. Devoting a whole day to TB is a big deal, and shows people just what a big deal TB is. This technique, as well as writing articles about the disease and the day are very popular nowadays and can be seen starting back in the days of FDR's presidential balls.

This article can be found at http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/220160.php

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Vaccines

It has been an ongoing debate for years whether vaccinations should be used or not, and it will continue to be debated for years to come. Anti Vaccine rallies are held and attended by those skeptical of today's vaccines being used to prevent diseases, such as Polio and Smallpox. Some of these protesters against vaccinations claim they are a violation on the beliefs of the founding fathers. Although vaccination was not the method used to prevent disease during the time of the founding fathers, inoculation was. Inoculation was a far less safer form of prevention than vaccines, yet founding fathers such as Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams were all inoculated successfully, and supported this method. John Adams also has his family inoculated, like we watched in the movie in our class. In 1796 Edward Jenner made the discovery of vaccinations. In 1801, President Thomas Jefferson declared vaccination one of the nation’s first public health priorities. Considering the years of scientific advances in health measures, vaccines are proven to prevent some of the most deadly and contagious diseases we still face today. According to Dr. Howard Markel, a professor of the history of medicine at the University of Michigan, so few Americans have firsthand knowledge of the safeness and reliability of vaccines. I agree with him completely because vaccines have clearly helped us come a long way in the history of health and science. Although some risks are involved, I feel the results in the end are worth it. To have the ability to prevent diseases that have shown to be so dangerous and contagious, and then take that ability away would be ridiculous. Instead of fighting and protesting against vaccines, we should be finding ways to make them better. This article reassured me that although many people fear, or protest against vaccination, many others fight to keep them around everyday as well. It is frustrating to read about anti vaccine rally members using the beliefs of the founding fathers against vaccination, when they actually helped create organizations supporting vaccination. I thought this article deserved attention because the on-going debate whether or not to use vaccines is a heavy subject. Also when debating this topic, all points should be made with fact-based information so people don't worry over points made without evidence. This debate will last a long time and the result will have an effect on everyone, so it is important that the information being released by both sides of the argument is fact based, so people actually know what they're fighting for. To me, a world without vaccination would be a scary place, so I truly hope people get to hear the truth of the history of vaccination.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/01/health/01smallpox.html

The Forgotten Epidemic in the U.S.

On Wednesday doctors gathered in Washington to discuss the AIDs epidemic in America before opening a national summit on AIDs. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop was the physician that put the spot light on the AIDs epidemic about three decades ago and is back to show to everyone that the AIDs epidemic has not gone away since then. Koop is now 94 years old but still knows his facts and says "The war against HIV/AIDS is far from over." With over 1 million Americans living with AIDs, it is still considered an epidemic, and one that kills 18,000 people a year. This disease has come a long way from where it was when it first became an epidemic thanks to modern medicine, but is still prevalent in the states.

The article in the Boston news can be found at:

http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2010/11/17/koop_aids_is_the_forgotten_epidemic/

AIDs have affected the world and have been a pandemic for many years. Many world efforts have been made to stop the spread of AIDs and to treat the victims of the disease, but as shown in the facts it has not been enough. There are many other current diseases around the world that are more prevalent today, but that does not mean we should stop our efforts on AIDs. We should fight each disease off one at a time. I can understand if countries with no sexual education or birth control have a higher numbers of AIDs victims, but to still see a large amount in America where most people have access to medical attention shows that we are not doing something right.

In the book Mountains Beyond Mountain AIDs is one of the more common diseases that they treat in the hospital in Haiti. I agree with Koop in that the efforts against AIDs is slacking and people should become more aware of how it still effects places like America today.

The World Health Organization’s Reaction to Swine Flu is Questioned

I’m sure we all remember very well last year when people started freaking out about swine flu. Most of us thought this was a severe over-reaction. Some of us knew people who died of swine flu. We all felt a certain way about it.

In this article a panel of independent experts review the World Health Organization’s handling of the swine flu epidemic. Although there was no evidence supporting their accusations that the World Health Organization played the swine flu up to make vaccine companies rich. The article makes you ask yourself: What is a healthy balance between over-reaction and under-reaction when dealing with the outbreak of an epidemic?

Millions of vaccines went unused, and people from other countries who needed them could not get them. “Later, when rich nations donated 78 million doses for use in poor ones, the health agency could not deploy them because it was bogged down in negotiations with vaccine companies over liability and costs.” Also, not everything was the fault of the World Health Organization; some of it was the vaccine companies. “Vaccine companies use slow 60-year-old technology, diagnostic tests are cumbersome, and virologists know too little about which mutations are the most dangerous.”

Did the World Health Organization handle the swine flu outbreak well? I give them credit. They did a good job at getting the virus identified and getting seed strands vaccine makers. When you are dealing with something like an epidemic I would prefer an over-reaction by the World Health Organization to an under-reaction. Is there a right way to respond to an epidemic? Probably, but the World Health Organization did their best, with our best interests in mind. I don’t think they deserve to be criticized.

This article can be found at

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/health/policy/11flu.html?_r=1&ref=health

Measles

Measles

We have all heard about the measles outbreak and how it is connected to vaccines but this article, called "Measles Case Leads to Mass Vaccination" talks about the dangers of the new idea that vaccines cause diseases like autism and it also discusses how dangerous a case of mealses can be.

The woman who got measles had worked in a busy office building in the Back Bay. She was a short term worker who had never been vaccinated for mealses and they believe that she contracted it through travel to another country. She thought that she had the flu so she went to a crowded community health center in Roxbury where they confirmed that she had measles.

What made her case so alarming was that she was exposed to a large amount of people. If she had contracted the disease through traveling, she would have been on a plane, where air is circulated and she would have been in busy airports for a long time. Then it was discovered that she traveled on the T to go to and from work, where she would have been exposed to a lot of people, then she would have been exposed to all of the people working in her office. The amount of people that could have been exposed to measles made it scary to people, especially to parents who have decided to not vaccinate their children.

There has been a lot of talk about how vaccines could be linked to diseases like autism which is the cause for the movement that we have been seeing lately. Parents who do not vaccinate their children are putting them at a great risk. If there was no vaccine to measles, there would have been a lot more than a few cases but the scary part is that if there was another outbreak of a disease that parents have not vaccinated their children for, it would be tragic.

http://http//www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/articles/2011/02/24/measles_case_leads_to_mass_vaccinations/?page=1

The Importance of Vaccinations

Deborah Huso's article, "Boston Measles Outbreak Points to Importance of Vaccination", posted on AOL Health on March 3, 2011, talks about how important it is to be vaccinated and continue to receive vaccinations in light of the arrival of measles in Boston. It talks about how an increasing number of patients are choosing not to get their children vaccinated because of the belief that vaccines for the measles, along with those for the mumps and rubella, cause autism. Dr. Carl Fichtenbaum, a clinical medicine professor at the University of Cincinnati, says, "Measles are very contagious and they can be transmitted from person to person very easily." He goes on to say that it is transmitted in the same way influenza it spread, as we learned in class, from droplets from coughing or sneezing. Despite the parental concern of autism stemming from the vaccine, Dr. Fichtenbaum says that vaccine rates are still strong.

The article really drives home the point that by not being vaccinated people are placing, not only themselves, but also everyone around them at risk. There have already been two confirmed cases and three suspected cases of measles. Even though the disease was almost eradicated and is uncommon in the United States, the fact that it is back is very scary and it is important for people to be wary. Over 20,000 children died from measles before vaccines were available and the fact that people are putting their children, and other people, at risk of catching it is also scary. "I think the key question is: how many people could be affected?" says Dr. Fichtenbaum. He says that 20 cases is enough to be considered an epidemic in the United States.

With measles running rampant through the Boston area, it is very important for people to keep up on their vaccinations. Not getting vaccinated just seems silly since the disease is extremely easy to catch and spread. I think it is very important for people to keep themselves protected against the disease. One interesting point of the article was the mention of children receiving immunizations before they begin school and also before college. Most of us are going to be going to college in the fall, and I think we would all feel better knowing that none of our new friends are going to spread measles of some other disease to us. Vaccinations are an important part of modern medicine and not getting them puts you at an unnecessary risk. It was also interesting that parents were able to not vaccinate their children, because I thought kids had to have certain immunizations before they were able to be enrolled in school. It is also interesting that parents would not vaccinate their children due to a myth of autism being a result of the vaccinations. They would be willing to risk something like measles spreading to their child to avoid something like autism, which isn't even proven to stem from vaccines.

The article can be found at: http://www.aolhealth.com/2011/03/03/boston-measles-outbreak-vaccination/