100 years ago . . .
Although there have been some public reflections on WWI in corporate media, I ' ve come across very little about the 1918 influenza pandemic. Check this out:The blue line is the age-adjusted death rate in the United States, and the orange line is life expectancy at birth. They ' ve both been going in the right direction throughout the 20th Century, and most of the 21st until the past few years (more on that later), but as you can see in 1918 we spiked right back into the 19th. Our best estimates are that 50 million people died in the epidemic worldwide, and 675,000 in the U.S. The spike in deaths wasn ' t caused by the war...
Source: Stayin' Alive - September 20, 2018 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
Influenza in children: reducing the death rate
A recent article and accompanying commentary in the journal Pediatrics describe what we currently know about children who have died from influenza over the past decade or more. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has collected information about this since the 2003-2004 influenza season. In that first report, there were 153 deaths. Since then there have been at least 100 influenza deaths annually among children. Several characteristics have not changed. About half of the deaths occur in children who were otherwise normal; that is, they had no underlying chronic condition that would predispose them to having more sev...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - May 3, 2018 Category: General Medicine Authors: < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/christopher-johnson" rel="tag" > Christopher Johnson, MD < /a > Tags: Conditions Infectious Disease Pediatrics Source Type: blogs
Through the Revolving Door, with a Few Stumbles - Health Care Corporate Executives and Consultants Continue to Become Leaders of Trump's Department of Health and Human Services
We continue to see a remarkable stream of people transiting therevolving door from high-level positions in health care corporations to high-level positions in health care policy or regulation for the Trump administration. Lately, though, these transitions have not been without missteps. The most recent cases we have found, in the order of their public appearance, appear below.John Bardis, Who Went from MedAssets to Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Administration, Resigned Under FireWe first discussed the appointment of Mr Bardis in May, 2017,here. We noted then that most recently Mr Bar...
Source: Health Care Renewal - April 18, 2018 Category: Health Management Tags: conflicts of interest CVS Donald Trump finance health care corruption Pfizer revolving doors Source Type: blogs
LexaGene ’s New LX6 Rapid Pathogen Detection System: Interview with CEO Dr. Jack Regan
With the ever-growing list of potentially harmful pathogens being discovered, the systems needed to detect different strains need to become more sophisticated as well. Enter LexaGene, a biotechnology company developing automated and sensitive solutions for efficient pathogen detection. LexaGene’s unique microfluidics approach to pathogen detection uses disposable cartridges to analyse the molecular signature of large volumes of samples. While LexaGene is initially targeting the food safety and vet diagnostics industry in the coming years, their technology is transferrable to the clinical diagnostics market. We recently h...
Source: Medgadget - March 29, 2018 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Rukmani Sridharan Tags: Diagnostics Exclusive Pathology Public Health Source Type: blogs
Defective viral genomes and severe influenza
The virulence of a virus – its capacity to cause disease – is determined by both viral and host factors. Even among healthy individuals, infection with a particular virus may have different outcomes ranging from benign to lethal. The study of influenza viruses that cause mild or fatal outcomes reveals that defective viral genomes play […] (Source: virology blog)
Source: virology blog - February 15, 2018 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Basic virology Information defective viral genome DI particles H1N1 influenza interferon pandemic virulence virus viruses Source Type: blogs
Stayin' Alive
Last Sunday I showed you all those characters in Genesis who lived 900 years, and I noted that is about 20 times what folks could actually expect back then. The story is a bit more complicated than that.Here ' s a useful resource from Oxford University about historic life expectancy. (You might enjoy exploring the site which has all sorts of other information about humans and the planet.) This only goes back to about 1850, when reasonably complete records are available, but in fact the story in 1750 was not markedly different than it was in 1750 BC.Life expectancy at birth, historically, has been around 37 year or so. Howe...
Source: Stayin' Alive - February 2, 2018 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
2018: The Near Future of Flu
The influenza virus continues to be wildly successful at growing and spreading in people around the world because it slightly changes its structure from time to time to avoid our body’s detection systems. In particular, influenza periodically changes some of the proteins in the outer envelope of the virus to mislead our immune systems. We get fooled again and again.
When someone with the flu coughs or sneezes, huge amounts of virus are spewed out in droplets that travel up to about 6 feet. Inhaling these droplets is the surest way for the virus to enter our bodies. It can also enter through landing on the eye. Beyond thi...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - December 14, 2017 Category: Child Development Authors: Dr. Alan Greene Tags: Dr. Greene's Blog Colds & Flu Cough Source Type: blogs
2018: The Near Future of Flu
The influenza virus continues to be wildly successful at growing and spreading in people around the world because it slightly changes its structure from time to time to avoid our body’s detection systems. In particular, influenza periodically changes some of the proteins in the outer envelope of the virus to mislead our immune systems. We get fooled again and again.
When someone with the flu coughs or sneezes, huge amounts of virus are spewed out in droplets that travel up to about 6 feet. Inhaling these droplets is the surest way for the virus to enter our bodies. It can also enter through landing on the eye. Beyond...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - December 14, 2017 Category: Child Development Authors: Alan Greene MD Tags: Dr. Greene's Blog Colds & Flu Cough Source Type: blogs
The Six Worst U.S. Health Disasters of the Last 50 Years
Up until the first half of the twentieth century, large-scale health disasters were mostly due to natural causes (earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, etc.) or infections (e.g., smallpox, influenza epidemics, cholera). But something peculiar happened as we entered the second half of the century: Health disasters due to natural causes became dwarfed by large-scale health disasters that are man-made.
Here’s a list of the Six Worst U.S. Health Disasters of the Last 50 Years, mostly man-made phenomena that have exacted huge tolls: widespread disease, premature death, poorly managed (though nonetheless highly profitable fo...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - December 2, 2017 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Undoctored Wheat Belly Lifestyle autoimmune gluten grain-free grains Inflammation low-carb Weight Loss Source Type: blogs
Digital Maps Help Fight Epidemics
Have you ever thought that it would be possible to monitor drug overdoses, Zika cases or the spread of the flu in real time? Have you ever imagined that satellites wouldbe able to tell how and where a malaria epidemic will happen months before the actual outbreak? It is mind-blowing how, in the last years, digital maps developed to a level where they serve as effective tools for evaluating, monitoring and even predicting health events. That’s why I decided to give a comprehensive overview of digital maps in healthcare.
John Snow, cholera and the revolution of maps in healthcare
Before Game of Thrones monopolized John Sn...
Source: The Medical Futurist - October 12, 2017 Category: Information Technology Authors: nora Tags: Future of Medicine Healthcare Design Mobile Health digital health digital technology epidemics epidemiology gc4 Innovation interactive maps Source Type: blogs
TWiV 446: Old sins die hard
The TWiV hosts review an analysis of gender parity trends at virology conferences, and the origin and unusual pathogenesis of the 1918 pandemic H1N1 influenza virus.
Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 446 (68 MB .mp3, 112 min)
Subscribe (free): iTunes, RSS, email
Become a patron of TWiV!
Show notes at microbe.tv/twiv (Source: virology blog)
Source: virology blog - June 18, 2017 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: This Week in Virology 1918 pandemic gender parity H1N1 influenza virus Spanish flu viral virology conferences viruses Source Type: blogs
Public Health Funding And OMB Director Mulvaney ’s “Taxpayer First” Test
The first formal budget of the Trump era—billed as a “Taxpayer First” budget—contains some very bad news when it comes to the health of the American public. It proposes dramatic cuts in federal investments that keep us healthy and protected from harm, including a $1.2 billion cut from the budget for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This is on top of the catastrophic cuts that will occur with the loss of the Prevention and Public Health Fund if the Affordable Care Act is repealed.
It is the opposite of both what American taxpayers have asked for and what is owed to them.
Office of Management and...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - June 8, 2017 Category: Health Management Authors: Edward L. Hunter Tags: Costs and Spending Featured GrantWatch Public Health Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Chronic Care Consumers Effectiveness Health Philanthropy Health Promotion and Disease PreventionGW vaccines Source Type: blogs
Big Data and the Social Good: The Value for Healthcare Organizations
The following is a guest blog post by Mike Serrano from NETSCOUT.
It’s a well-known fact that Facebook, Google, and our phone companies collect a lot of information about each of us. This has been the case for a long time, and more often than not it’s to improve the user experience of the services we rely on. If data is shared outside the organization, it’s anonymized to prevent the usage of any one individual from being identified. But it’s understandable while this practice has still sparked a passionate and longstanding debate about privacy and ‘big brother’-style snooping.
What is often forgotten, however,...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - May 22, 2017 Category: Information Technology Authors: Guest Blogger Tags: Healthcare HealthCare IT Population Health Management Mike Serrano NETSCOUT Public Health Subscriber Information Source Type: blogs
What Three Decades Of Pandemic Threats Can Teach Us About The Future
Editor’s Note: This post reflects on a speech on pandemic preparedness Dr. Fauci gave on January 10, 2017 in Washington, DC, hosted by The Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University Medical Center, the Harvard Global Health Institute, and Health Affairs.
One of the most important challenges facing the new Administration is preparedness for the pandemic outbreak of an infectious disease. Infectious diseases will continue to pose a significant threat to public health and the economies of countries worldwide. The U.S. government will need to continue its investment to combat these diseases whe...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - February 9, 2017 Category: Health Management Authors: Anthony S. Fauci Tags: Featured Global Health Policy Ebola HIV/AIDS NIH pandemic preparedness Zika Source Type: blogs
Ventilator Allocation Guidelines – Constitutional Limits to Rationing
In routine clinical circumstances, ventilators are allocated on a first come, first served basis. But in crisis situations like a large-scale influenza pandemic, there will not be enough ventilators for everyone who needs one. In... (Source: blog.bioethics.net)
Source: blog.bioethics.net - December 17, 2016 Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Thaddeus Mason Pope, JD, PhD Tags: Health Care medical futility blog syndicated Source Type: blogs
