Zika May Place Burden On Medicaid
Congress is currently debating the level of federal funding that should be made available to fight to reduce the spread of Zika. Administration officials working with local public health agencies on the ground have recently expressed fear that the funding levels are insufficient to prevent the disease from spreading. What is one overlooked concern? State budgets.
Medicaid is jointly funded by states and the federal government and serves as a key financer of health care services if Zika spreads across the country this summer. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released a bulletin to state Medicaid...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - June 8, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: Emma Sandoe Tags: Equity and Disparities Medicaid and CHIP Public Health family planning States Zika Source Type: blogs
On Zika Preparedness And Response, The US Gets A Failing Grade
There are worrying signs that the United States is unprepared to contain a likely Zika virus outbreak this summer. The critical problems are: insufficient resources for mosquito control, surveillance, and health care; highly variable capabilities and quality of service among public health and mosquito abatement authorities; and weak legal powers to implement critical interventions.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) reports that 35 countries and territories in the Americas have confirmed local, vector-borne transmission of Zika since 2015. In the US, local mosquito-borne transmission has been reported in Puerto Ri...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - April 28, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: Alexandra Phelan and Lawrence O. Gostin Tags: Costs and Spending Equity and Disparities Featured Public Health CDC Congress outbreaks PAHO Prevention WHO Zika Zika virus Source Type: blogs
Looking, hopefully, towards an Ebola-free future
Experts from WHO and other partner organizations comment on the future of the VSV-EBOV vaccine. (Source: WHO Features on the Ebola Outbreak)
Source: WHO Features on the Ebola Outbreak - April 14, 2016 Category: Infectious Diseases Tags: ebola [subject], ebola haemhorragic fever, ebola virus, ebola fever, ebola virus disease, ebola [subject], ebola haemhorragic fever, ebola virus, ebola fever, ebola virus disease, ebola [subject], ebola haemhorragic fever, ebola virus, ebola fever, ebola Source Type: blogs
WHO coordinating vaccination of contacts to contain Ebola flare-up in Guinea
Hundreds of people who may have been in contact with 8 individuals infected with Ebola virus in Guinea have been vaccinated with the experimental Ebola vaccine. (Source: WHO Features on the Ebola Outbreak)
Source: WHO Features on the Ebola Outbreak - March 30, 2016 Category: Infectious Diseases Tags: ebola [subject], ebola haemhorragic fever, ebola virus, ebola fever, ebola virus disease, ebola [subject], ebola haemhorragic fever, ebola virus, ebola fever, ebola virus disease, ebola [subject], ebola haemhorragic fever, ebola virus, ebola fever, ebola Source Type: blogs
The End of Civilization and the Real Donald Trump
By ART CAPLAN
The pandemic started quietly. In the spring of 2017 A few hundred dead chickens appeared in markets in Hong Kong and a few other cities in China. Public health officials in China were slow to respond. They did not want to panic the public about an avian flu outbreak. Nor were they eager to take the steps necessary to contain such an outbreak—the killing hundreds of thousands of chickens and poultry with devastating economic consequences. While the delay went on a few cases began to occur on Canadian and American poultry farms. Department of Agriculture experts traced the outbreak to waterfowl ...
Source: The Health Care Blog - March 15, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Irvine Tags: 2016 Election Uncategorized CDC Donald Trump Pandemic of 2017 Source Type: blogs
US Vaccine Officials Weigh In At The Midpoint Of The Decade Of Vaccines
We’re at the midpoint of the Decade of Vaccines — an intense period marked by efforts to ramp up and extend the benefits of immunization to all people, everywhere. Unfortunately, despite much progress, the world has fallen short. But there is still time to re-think our strategy.
It was with this goal in mind that PATH recently joined Health Affairs at the launch of its February issue on Vaccines, which includes a series of articles on global immunization. I moderated a thought-provoking panel of experts from various US agencies to discuss how the US government—as a leader in global immunization—can help...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - March 7, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: David Fleming Tags: Featured Population Health Quality Decade of Vaccines Global Vaccine Action Program Source Type: blogs
Response to the current Zika virus epidemic
Scientific American has an article that briefly summarizes the link between Zika virus infection during pregnancy and fetal microcephaly. While the circumstantial evidence is strong for a causal link, the article discusses the fact that conclusive evidence will likely only come from retrospective analysis of the current epidemic.Wired magazine has a more speculative article that has some additional interesting facts about the outbreak and the response to it."Most of Brazil's microcephaly cases are in the northeast, and it's unclear why Zika would cause more birth defects there than in other places." Multiple Zika strains o...
Source: Bayblab - February 2, 2016 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Rob Source Type: blogs
Response to the current Zika virus epidemic
Scientific American has an article that briefly summarizes the link between Zika virus infection during pregnancy and fetal microcephaly. While the circumstantial evidence is strong for a causal link, the article discusses the fact that conclusive evidence will likely only come from retrospective analysis of the current epidemic. Wired magazine has a more speculative article that has some additional interesting facts about the outbreak and the response to it."Most of Brazil's microcephaly cases are in the northeast, and it's unclear why Zika would cause more birth defects there than in other places." Multiple Zika strains ...
Source: Bayblab - February 1, 2016 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Rob Source Type: blogs
A couple of thoughts about Zika virus
Epidemics are scary, and often the fear is exaggerated and leads to all sorts of irrational behavior. All we need is to recall the lunacy over Ebola virus in 2014, which was never a significant threat to the United States. (Of course it was awful where it was epidemic, and the lack of sympathy here in the U.S. for people in the affected regions was at least as appalling as the misguided panic.) The flu pandemic hoax of 2010 was another excellent example.However, the WHO's alarm over Zika virus does seem proportionate. But this is a complicated story. The virus, which is related to Dengue, has never particularly concerned a...
Source: Stayin' Alive - January 28, 2016 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
Doctors and patients: An inability to talk to one another as people
Dear medical professionals:
We need to talk. I know I walk into your office fearing the worst of you, and I suspect that you may have some hesitation about some of your patients. (Need I say, “frequent flyers?”)
We both have baggage. You have your patient horror stories. I — as a female patient with fibromyalgia and mental health issues — have mine.
My mom is a nurse, so I’ve grown up with her stories: Coming home late because she had to explain ten times that there is no “Ebola vaccine.” The patients who came in 30 minutes late, meaning she sees them instead of eating lunch. I kno...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - January 28, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Liz Moore Tags: Patient Patients Source Type: blogs
TWiV 370: Ten out of 15
On episode #370 of the science show This Week in Virology, the TWiVomics review ten captivating virology stories from 2015.
You can find TWiV #370 at www.twiv.tv. (Source: virology blog)
Source: virology blog - January 3, 2016 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: This Week in Virology codon bias codon pair bias Dengue dinucleotide bias Ebola ebolavirus gain of function Joan Steitz outbreak pathogenesis persistence recoding spillover this year in virology vaccine viral virome vir Source Type: blogs
An Ebolavirus vaccine in Africa
An Ebolavirus vaccine has shown promising results in a clinical trial in Guinea. This vaccine has been in development since 2004 and was made possible by advances in basic virology of the past 40 years.
The ability to produce the Ebolavirus vaccine, called rVSV-EBOV, originates in the 1970s with the discovery of the enzyme reverse ilnscriptase, the development of recombinant DNA technology, and the ability to rapidly and accurately determine the sequence of nucleic acids. These advances came together in 1981 when it was shown that cloned DNA copies of RNA viral genomes (a bacteriophage, a retrovirus, and poliovirus), ...
Source: virology blog - August 7, 2015 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Basic virology Information cluster-randomized trial Ebola ebolavirus Guinea live attenuated vaccine phase III trial rhabdovirus ring vaccination rVSV-EBOV vector vesicular stomatitis virus viral Source Type: blogs
Profit over Safety – Centers for Disease Control Names 271 New Vaccinations
Conclusion
How many vaccinations will be considered to be a sensible number? If all of the vaccinations currently under development are deemed a success, how many of them will be added to the schedule? As there is little research to determine which ingredients are in the vaccinations listed as “under development” by the CDC, many parents are concerned about their toxicity and how best to protect their children.
I will leave you with the wise words of Robert F, Kennedy Jr: “Vaccine industry money has neutralized virtually all of the checks and balances that once stood between a rapacious pharmaceutical industry and ou...
Source: vactruth.com - August 3, 2015 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Christina England Tags: Christina England Logical Top Stories Centers for Disease Control (CDC) PhRMA Robert F. Kennedy Jr. World Health Organization (WHO) Source Type: blogs
Guinea: Ebola vaccine trial
Photo gallery on Ebola vaccine trials in Guinea. (Source: WHO Features on the Ebola Outbreak)
Source: WHO Features on the Ebola Outbreak - July 31, 2015 Category: Infectious Diseases Tags: ebola [subject], ebola haemhorragic fever, ebola virus, ebola fever, ebola virus disease, ebola [subject], ebola haemhorragic fever, ebola virus, ebola fever, ebola virus disease, ebola [subject], ebola haemhorragic fever, ebola virus, ebola fever, ebola Source Type: blogs
