“Lounging In Toxins” By: Alexandra Kalogeris

For this blog post I wanted to chose an article that would capture people’s attention, I also wanted it to be about a topic that we could all relate to. The article I decided to write about is called “The Most Toxic Thing in Your House?” by Emily Main. I found this article through a link on ABCNews.com http://www.rodale.com/flame-retardant-furniture . Emily published this article on November 15^th 2012 with the intention of capturing readers’ attention, bringing awareness to what dangerous chemicals and bacteria may be inside their couches.  We have focused a lot in class about different forms of bacteria. We even conducted an experiment throughout the high school to figure out which location in RMHS had the greatest amount of bacteria. Since we already did a lab and found out that bacterium and harmful chemicals can be found all around us I thought many people would find this article particularly interesting.

This article discussed the many dangers hidden deep beneath your couch.“There’s nothing more relaxing than coming home after a long day and flopping on the couch to unwind. That is, until you realize that your couch and chemicals inside it are doing anything but help you de-stress-like even causing cancer or reproductive problems.” Says author Emily Main.

Researchers from Duke University asked people all over the United States to send them small samples of foam from their couches, along with detailed information about where and when they purchased their couch.

After some research it is believed that 50 percent of couches in America are likely to contain a chemical know to cause cancer. To think that something we come in contact with on a daily basis can cause cancer is simply freighting. Researchers from Duke University also concluded that flame retardant furniture is both unhealthy and actually does not stop fires. Nearly 97 percent of the newer couches analyzed contained flame retardants.

“There are pounds of these flame retardants in a typical couch,” says researcher Dodson of Duke University. Couches gradually release them in small amounts over time. As the foam breaks down, the chemicals puff out, bind to dust, and settle on your floor or in your lungs.”

The author of this article later goes on to say that if you bought your couch after 2005 there is a really good chance that it contains a significant amount of chemicals in it. The most common chemical the researchers came in contact with was called “Tris” or TDCPP.  This chemical is known for causing cancer, and it was found in a shocking 50 percent of the couches sampled.

You may be asking yourself, well if these chemicals are supposedly so harmful why they in are coaches to begin with? The answer comes down to a California state law, known as Technical Bulletin (TB) 117. This law requires that polyurethane foam must be used in couches to resist and open flame. But as the studies mentioned earlier show- by using this foam you are doing much more harm than good.  This California state law actually tuned into a national law solely do to the fact that manufactures didn’t want to make different pieces of furniture for different states.

The good news however is that the law is getting a long-overdue revamp. “ The California government is redrafting the TB 117 that will require the upholstery fabric , not the foam, to be smolder resistant” says the author Emily Main.  The government believes this fabric will be less harmful because an estimated 85 percent of upholstery fabrics on the market already provide protection against flames without the addition of chemicals.

It is never going to be possible to completely eliminate these chemicals from you house but there are some things you can do to cut down your expose. For example dusting and vacuuming, washing your hands, and repairing rips in torn upholstery.

I found this article to be extremely interesting. I never would have thought there could be so many hidden dangers within a couch. I think it’s scary that these harmful toxins are found in such a commonly used item but on the other hand I do think we need to take this information with a grain of salt and not be too caught up about the what ifs.  It’s important to be educated about these issues, but when  you’re lying on your couch you should enjoy it. If you get too caught up thinking about what's hidden beneath your couch you’ll never be able to relax! For more on this article check out this link. http://www.rodale.com/flame-retardant-furniture

Coming Together But Leaving AIDS Behind

Kenya village pairs AIDS orphans with grandparents

by Jason Straziuso

November 30,2012

The Boston Globe http://www.boston.com/news/world/africa/2012/11/30/kenya-village-pairs-aids-orphans-with-grandparents/uO8LOA1IcxudiLaXJLrssJ/story.html

938 children and 97 grandparents live together and take care of each other in Nyumbani, Kenya. All of the children became orphans when their parents (the grandparents’ children) passed away from AIDS. 

Only 80 children have HIV, and none of them has AIDS because of anti-retroviral drugs.

Each grandparent takes care of 12 "grandchildren", one or two of whom is biologically their own. 

“Each grandparent has a plot of land for farming.” They rely on aid from many sources. This money and their hard work will help them to become self-sufficient in the future.

During class we talked a lot about how people react when others are infected with disease. Even though the grandparents and children are not all family, they care for each other as if they are.

The article says that 69% of the global HIV population is in sub-Saharan Africa. That is an estimated 23.5 million people! It is hard to imagine what their lives are like in Nyumbani and the rest of Africa.

So many of these people have lost multiple relatives to AIDS, and I think it is amazing that everyone is coming together to support one and other.

(AP Photo/Ben Curtis November 21, 2012)

"Malaria Vaccine: When Will We Have A Complete Success?" By Eric O'Brien

While in the process of choosing what to write about for this blog post, I decided that I would like to write about something that everyone was familiar with and from a recent date.  For this reason, I found an article on Malaria written November 9, 2012.  We’ve talked about Malaria a number of times in class and its effects on the world population.  The name of this article is “Malaria Vaccine Candidate Gives Disappointing Results” by Donald G. McNeil Jr. and it can be found in the New York Times at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/10/health/malaria-vaccine-candidate-produces-disappointing-results-in-clinical-trial.html .

This article discussed the Gates Foundation’s undying efforts to find an effective vaccine to immunize people from Malaria.  The most recent vaccine clinical trial proved not so much a failure as a building block.  The vaccine yielded only about a third fewer infections than a control group.  When researchers from GlaxoSmithKline were asked about whether or not they would press on, they said that they would do so because, “the number of children who die of malaria is so great that even an inefficient vaccine can save thousands of lives.” 

The latest trials have used babies from seven different African countries (not specified) thanks to the World Health Organization.  All babies used in this specific trial were younger than 12 weeks old.  Three shots of the vaccine named RTS, S or Mosuirix, yield 31% protection against detectable Malaria and 37%protection against severe Malaria.  At the same time last year, babies up to 17 months were used in similar trials with the same vaccine.  The results were  “55% protection against detectable Malaria and 47% against severe Malaria.”

Though the new trial was “is less than we’d hoped for,” said Moncef Saloui, chairman of research and development at Glaxo, “…if a million babies were vaccinated, we would prevent 260,000 cases of malaria a year. This is a disease that kills 655,000 babies a year — 31 percent of that is a very large number.”

Glaxo has spent over $300 million on this vaccine thanks the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  This also means that research can only continue if the funding keeps coming. 

Bill Gates agreed with Saloui in that the results were lower than first expected, but they’re making progress in a very difficult field.  He continues by saying that developing a vaccine for a parasite is not easy.  RTS, S actually contains a protein found on the parasite’s surface, which then provokes an immune reaction in order for the parasite to detach from the host.  Malaria is ever changing and evolving and a cure remains elusive.  Though some have become immune, there never seems to be any consistency.  For now all we can do is push for better vaccines. 

Before I had even started reading the article, I knew that Malaria was a pandemic from what we learned in class.  What this means is that Malaria is consistently a large threat to large populations across the globe.  What interested me about this article is that Malaria is similar to viruses and diseases that affect us.  Here in Massachusetts, we have the Triple E and West Nile viruses, which are also carried by mosquitos.  From first hand experience, I have seen the spray trucks spraying to rid neighborhoods of potential virus carrying mosquitos.  It was interesting to think of what the reactions of the Massachusetts population would be if , instead, we had Malaria being carried by our mosquitos.  This article was very informative and I would recommend anyone to read it.  It stated facts that gave a good idea of what is being done to prevent deaths from Malaria. 

“AIDS, AIDS, Go Away, Come Again Another Day: How Our Efforts Towards Eradicating AIDS May Be Doing More Than We Think” by Kathryn Vallis

I found this article when I was looking up some articles for World AIDS Day for the Gay-Straight Alliance. Originally titled “AIDS Rates Falling, But More Can Be Done”, it was published on November 23, 2012 by a newspaper called the San Francisco Gate. The specific contributing author is unknown. The original article can be found at: http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/editorials/article/AIDS-rates-falling-but-more-can-be-done-4062614.php

This article talked about the AIDS pandemic in the last 10 years focusing on Africa and the United States. It was written not only to bring awareness to people about World Aids Day (December 1), but also to look at why AIDS rates are falling. This is wonderful news especially in places like Africa which “account for 74% of cases worldwide”, and dispels the misguided notion that AIDS is a disease only affecting the LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) community.


AIDS rates are dropping because of education, rising health care coverage, falling drug prices, and preliminary testing.

Groups which used to be excluded from adequate AIDS treatments- such as the LGBTQ community and prostitutes- are now being offered equal opportunities for treatment and medication. This is great, because by working together people can educate each other about AIDS and prevent transmission, especially from mother to child and between partners.



When the AIDS epidemic became prevalent in the 1980’s, people were frightened but made plans to eradicate the disease similarly to the eradication of Smallpox in 1979. With “1.2 million HIV-infected people in this country [the United States]” who don’t know they have the disease, early detection is key to stopping the spread of disease. This is a picture of the hands of a man who has AIDS in Africa.

I really connected to this article because of its connection to the LGBTQ community, and the AIDS awareness stuff that the GSA will be doing in December. For a disease so rampant among young people because of its mode of transmission (sexual and during birth), I don’t understand why more isn't being done to prevent it. Ugh. At least the statistics at the bottom of the article are comforting.


This reminded me of our Black Death unit because of how highly infectious and deadly AIDS is. With “34 million people living with AIDS” worldwide, it is one of the most deadly and most rampant modern pandemics.


They are also similar in that specific groups have been targeted in connection with the disease (the Jews for poisoning the wells which started the Black Plague epidemic, and gay men for spreading the disease). This made me think about how culture and religion might influence what people’s preconceived notions about AIDS are like how the Miasma Theory and Four Humors Theory were practiced in the Middle Ages.


More information on World AIDS Day can be found at the World AIDS Day website: http://www.worldaidsday.org/about-world-aids-day.php

** The World AIDS Day image is from: http://www.google.com/imgres?start=296&num=10&hl=en&tbo=d&biw=1280&bih=703&tbm=isch&tbnid=-kRWsgbe2qFxiM:&imgrefurl=http://www.ambergristoday.com/node/5885&docid=MjUGXFqzmlj1gM&imgurl=http://www.ambergristoday.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/page_full/image/World-AIDS-Day-2012_0.jpg&w=615&h=410&ei=AWa1UJ29ONKB0AHp3oDQAg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=440&vpy=139&dur=344&hovh=181&hovw=272&tx=149&ty=65&sig=103418895026103222555&page=11&tbnh=157&tbnw=236&ndsp=26&ved=1t:429,r:98,s:200,i:298

**The AIDS patient's hands picture is from:http://www.google.com/imgres?start=149&um=1&hl=en&tbo=d&biw=585&bih=671&tbm=isch&tbnid=bKqiUchqeHF_4M:&imgrefurl=http://howtocureayeastinfectionathome.net/hands-of-aids-patients&docid=EGwRYUuav8b0UM&imgurl=http://imgc.allpostersimages.com/images/P-473-488-90/28/2811/C6JOD00Z/posters/the-hands-of-aids-patient-areernt-forrest.jpg&w=473&h=473&ei=Uly1ULmyEaaT0QHAr4D4CQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=131&vpy=12&dur=255&hovh=158&hovw=149&tx=138&ty=56&sig=103418895026103222555&page=9&tbnh=144&tbnw=134&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:55,s:100,i:169

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!