The lessons of COVID-19, two years on
When Robert Kim-Farley heard that COVID-19 had reached the United States, on Jan. 20, 2020, he immediately recalled the grim images from China that he had been seeing online, with people dying in the streets outside of overwhelmed hospitals.“The pandemic has reached us, and it’s going to be bad,” the UCLA epidemiologist thought.With the U.S. reaching the second anniversary of that first U.S. case, Kim-Farley has been reflecting on what the scientific community got right during the medical crisis, and what it could have done better.On a scale of 1 to 10, he said he ’d give the U.S. a 7 for how local, state and feder...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - January 20, 2022 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Beneath a Covid Vaccine Debacle, 30 Years of Government Culpability
Washington has rejected plans to revamp vaccine preparedness for decades and repeatedly paid a price. The Biden administration is at a similar crossroads. (Source: NYT Health)
Source: NYT Health - December 23, 2021 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Chris Hamby and Sheryl Gay Stolberg Tags: Emergent BioSolutions Inc Politics and Government Government Contracts and Procurement Public-Private Sector Cooperation Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Vaccination and Immunization Smallpox Drugs (Pharmaceuticals) Anthrax Botulism Biological Source Type: news
Federal Government Cuts Ties With Troubled Vaccine Maker
Emergent BioSolutions ruined millions of doses of Covid-19 vaccines. Now its $600 million deal is canceled. (Source: NYT Health)
Source: NYT Health - November 5, 2021 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Chris Hamby Tags: Vaccination and Immunization Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Government Contracts and Procurement Anthrax Emergent BioSolutions Inc AstraZeneca PLC Food and Drug Administration Health and Human Services Department Johnson & Kramer, Robert G Source Type: news
Mozambique: Mozambique Will Vaccinate Over Two Million Livestock
[AIM] Maputo -- A livestock vaccination drive underway across Mozambique will immunise more than two million animals against diseases such as anthrax, foot-and-mouth disease, brucellosis, lumpy skin disease, Newcastle fever and rabies, according to a report in Monday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias". (Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine)
Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine - April 14, 2021 Category: African Health Source Type: news
What Are Toxin-Mediated Diseases?
Discussion
A poison is a generic term for “a substance with an inherent property that tends to destroy life or impair health.” A toxin is more specific and is “any poison produced by an organism, characterized by antigenicity in certain animals and high molecular weight, and including the bacterial toxins that are the causative agents of tetanus, diphtheria, etc., and such plant and animal toxins as ricin and snake venom.” A toxin does not include those substances that are made synthetically produced. Venom is also a toxin that is used by animals and insects for predation or defense which can cause ...
Source: PediatricEducation.org - April 12, 2021 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Pediatric Education Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: news
How Emergent BioSolutions Put an ‘Extraordinary Burden’ on the U.S.’s Troubled Stockpile
The shortage of lifesaving medical equipment last year was a searing example of the government ’s failed coronavirus response. As health workers resorted to wearing trash bags, one Maryland company profited by selling anthrax vaccines to the country’s emergency reserve. (Source: NYT Health)
Source: NYT Health - March 8, 2021 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Chris Hamby and Sheryl Gay Stolberg Tags: Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Shortages Protective Clothing and Gear Anthrax Stockpiling Biological and Chemical Warfare Terrorism Drugs (Pharmaceuticals) Emergent BioSolutions Inc Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority Brigh Source Type: news
How one firm put an ‘extraordinary burden’ on the nation’s troubled stockpile
The shortage of lifesaving medical equipment last year was a searing example of the government's failed coronavirus response. As health workers resorts to wearing trash bags, one Maryland company profited by selling anthrax vaccines to the country's emergency reserve. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Pharmaceuticals headlines)
Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Pharmaceuticals headlines - March 8, 2021 Category: Pharmaceuticals Authors: Chris Hamby and Sheryl Gay Stolberg Source Type: news
A Vaccine Against COVID-19 Would Be the Latest Success in a Long Scientific History
Here’s betting you wouldn’t want anyone blowing smallpox scabs up your nose. But you might feel differently if you lived in 15th century China.
Long ago, the Chinese recognized that people who had contracted smallpox once were immune to reinfection. They came up with the idea of preserving scabs from individuals who had suffered mild cases, drying them out, crushing them to a powder and blowing them up the nostril. For boys it was the right nostril, for girls it was the left because, well, 15th century.
That is how the story of vaccines usually begins, though that version is decidedly incomplete. For one thing,...
Source: TIME: Science - May 15, 2020 Category: Science Authors: Jeffrey Kluger Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 Explainer health Source Type: news
The Baltimore Bioterrorism Expert Who Inspired South Korea ’s COVID-19 Response
On Oct. 2, 2001, a 62-year-old photojournalist named Bob Stevens became the first victim of a coordinated series of anthrax attacks to be admitted to hospital. Stevens inhaled the deadly pathogen after opening one of several letters laced with anthrax spores which were mailed to the offices of prominent senators and media outlets across the U.S. Over the next seven weeks, he and four others would die as a result of their exposure.
For a shell-shocked nation still reeling from the single deadliest terrorist attack in human history on September 11, it was a disturbing realization that there was a new wave of challenges to Am...
Source: TIME: Health - May 6, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: David Cox Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 Source Type: news
Zimbabwe: 33 People Infected With Anthrax
[263Chat] The government has availed vaccines for the treatment of cattle from anthrax hit areas amid reports that 33 people have been diagnosed and hospitalized of the deadly disease in the past weeks. (Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine)
Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine - January 17, 2020 Category: African Health Source Type: news
The Dengue Dance?
Discussion
Dengue is an important arboviral infection that affects about 40% of the world population. It is found mainly in topical and subtropical areas of the world mainly in developing countries but it range is spreading including the United States. A review of common arboviruses can be found here. It is a flaviavirus with 4 distinct serotypes named DENV-1 through DENV-4 and is spread by A. aegypti a day biting mosquito. Infection with one serotype confers immunity to that serotype but not the others. It does offer some protection for cross-infection but this only lasts a few months. Incubation period is 3-14 days with ...
Source: PediatricEducation.org - July 29, 2019 Category: Pediatrics Authors: pediatriceducationmin Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: news
ACIP Updates Japanese Encephalitis, Anthrax Vaccine Guidance
During the Feb. 27-28 meeting of the CDC ' s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the group voted to update recommendations for the Japanese encephalitis vaccine, along with guidance on pre-exposure prophylaxis anthrax vaccination. (Source: AAFP News)
Source: AAFP News - March 6, 2019 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news
ACIP: After WHO Delay, FDA Waits to Select Flu Strains for Vax
(MedPage Today) -- Also, ACIP issues new language on vaccines for anthrax and Japanese encephalitis (Source: MedPage Today Infectious Disease)
Source: MedPage Today Infectious Disease - February 27, 2019 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
