Face Mask Detects Respiratory Viruses, Alerts User
Scientists at Shanghai Tongji University in China have created a face mask that can alert the wearer to the presence of respiratory viruses in the surrounding environment, including the viruses behind COVID-19 and influenza. The mask includes aptamers, which are short sequences of DNA or RNA that can bind to protein targets. When viral particles bind to the aptamers, ion-gated transistors boost the signal so that the mask can sensitively detect small amounts of virus. The mask sends a message to the wearer’s smartphone within 10 minutes of detecting the virus. The technology could be very valuable for healthcare staff or...
Source: Medgadget - September 22, 2022 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Medicine Public Health Source Type: blogs
Flu Is Making Comeback. Here ’s What We Can Do About It
Jeffrey A. SingerAfter being nearly absent in 2020 and 2021, influenza cases are making a comeback. In fact, cases are up ‐tickingunusually late in the year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)reported on April 15 that the majority of cases are H3N2, “antigenically different from the vaccine reference viruses.” This explains why the latest flu vaccine is only16 percent effective in reducing the chances of a moderate to severe infection. As of April 15, the CDC reported at least 4.3 million flu illnesses, 42,000 hospitalizations, and 2,500 deaths from the flu.Public health experts attribu...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 18, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs
The Social Science of Covid
By MIKE MAGEE
As we enter the third year of the Covid pandemic, with perhaps a partial end in sight, the weight of the debate shows signs of shifting away from genetically engineered therapies, and toward a social science search for historic context.
Renowned historian, Charles E. Rosenberg, envisioned a similar transition for the AIDS epidemic in 1989. He described its likely future course then as a “social phenomenon” with these words, “Epidemics start at a moment in time, proceed on a stage limited in space and duration, follow a plot line of increasing and revelatory tension, move to a crisis of individual ...
Source: The Health Care Blog - January 31, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: Health Policy COVID-19 COVID-19 vaccine Mike Magee vaccines Source Type: blogs
The Year of Living Dangerously
It ' s been exactly one year since our lives changed. On March 10, 2020, Governor Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency for Massachusetts, changing the way many of us travel. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, its first such designation since declaring H1N1 influenza a pandemic in 2009. On March 15, 2020, I flew to Minnesota and prepared my Rochester apartment for a lockdown. I said my goodbyes to colleagues on March 16 and flew back to Boston. We ' ve run the Mayo Clinic Platform at a distance for the past year.During the pandemic, those old enough to have overcome ...
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - March 16, 2021 Category: Information Technology Source Type: blogs
ECMO – Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
ECMO – extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
ECMO – Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation – has been in use for the past four decades to support persons who are unlikely to survive with mechanical ventilation. ECMO is used in both adult and pediatric practice, though in the initial years, use of ECMO was restricted to pediatric intensive care. The enthusiasm for use of ECMO in adults have been triggered by the beneficial effect noted during the last H1N1 influenza pandemic [1]. In contrast from cardiopulmonary bypass which is used for a short period during cardiac surgery, ECMO is used to support for a ...
Source: Cardiophile MD - December 26, 2020 Category: Cardiology Authors: Prof. Dr. Johnson Francis Tags: Cardiac Surgery Source Type: blogs
What this medical epidemiologist learned from prior pandemic vaccination efforts
It was the fall of 2009. I was a medical epidemiologist at the largest local health department in the state of Colorado, in charge of coordinating the area’s H1N1 pandemic vaccination efforts. The CDC was distributing vaccine to state and local health departments, and we were in turn responsible for getting it out to our […]Find jobs at Careers by KevinMD.com. Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now. Learn more. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - December 13, 2020 Category: General Medicine Authors: < span itemprop="author" > < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/tista-s-ghosh" rel="tag" > Tista S. Ghosh, MD, MPH < /a > < /span > Tags: Physician COVID-19 coronavirus Infectious Disease Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, November 23rd 2020
In conclusion, the study indicates that HBOT may induce significant senolytic effects that include significantly increasing telomere length and clearance of senescent cells in the aging populations.
Data on the Prevalence of Liver Fibrosis in Middle Age
https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2020/11/data-on-the-prevalence-of-liver-fibrosis-in-middle-age/
Fibrosis is a consequence of age-related disarray in tissue maintenance processes, leading to the deposition of scar-like collagen that disrupts tissue structure and function. It is an ultimately fatal issue for which there are only poor treatment options ...
Source: Fight Aging! - November 22, 2020 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Kimer Med is Crowdfunding Early Stage Work to Commercialize DRACO Antiviral Technology
Kimer Med is a New Zealand biotech startup in the very early stages of work on improvement and commercialization of the DRACO antiviral technology. This approach works by selectively destroying cells that host viral replication, and has been shown to be effective for a few presently challenging viral infections in animal models. In principle it is a platform extensible to any viral infection. Unfortunately DRACO fell into the usual chasm, made up of a lack of funding for later stage academic research, a lack of strong-willed iconoclasts willing to go to bat for it, and a lack of interest in the pharmaceutical industry for ...
Source: Fight Aging! - November 16, 2020 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
The Procurement of a COVID-19 Vaccine in Developing Countries: Lessons from the 2009-H1N1 Pandemic
Mark Eccleston-Turner (Keele University), The Procurement of a COVID-19 Vaccine in Developing Countries: Lessons from the 2009-H1N1 Pandemic, Public Procurement in (A) Crisis: Global Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic A vaccine is key to the COVID-19 global response strategy. However,... (Source: HealthLawProf Blog)
Source: HealthLawProf Blog - November 16, 2020 Category: Medical Law Authors: Katharine Van Tassel Source Type: blogs
Sotalol – class IIIa
Sotalol is a class IIIa antiarrhythmic agent as per the Modernized Classification of Cardiac Antiarrhythmic Drugs [1]. The class effect is voltage dependent K+ channel blocker. Specifically, it is a HERG channel –mediated rapid K+ current (IKr) blocker. It has additional action on beta 1 and beta 2 receptors. Sotalol increases refractory period and decreases tendency for reentry.
The drug is useful in ventricular tachycardia without structural heart disease and in those with a remote myocardial infarction. It is also useful in atrial fibrillation with conduction through accessory pathway in WPW syndrome. ...
Source: Cardiophile MD - October 15, 2020 Category: Cardiology Authors: Prof. Dr. Johnson Francis Tags: ECG / Electrophysiology Source Type: blogs
Time for flu shots — getting one is more important than ever!
Wondering when to get your flu shot? The best time is before influenza (flu) starts circulating widely. For most people, September or October is ideal for protection through the whole flu season, as the immune response from the vaccine wanes over time. And while changes and restrictions due to COVID-19 may make getting a flu vaccine less convenient for some this year, the pandemic makes it more important than ever.
Why do I need to get a flu vaccine yearly?
Influenza A and Influenza B cause most cases of flu in humans. Both have many strains that constantly change, accumulating genetic mutations that disguise them from the...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - September 17, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Elise Merchant, MD Tags: Cold and Flu Coronavirus and COVID-19 Vaccines Source Type: blogs
TWiV 634: 1000 hours of the sunlight of TWiV
TWiV reviews a new H1N1 swine influenza virus from China with pandemic potential, Ad5 vectored SARS-CoV-2 oral vaccine candidate, Operation Warp Speed vaccine candidates, FDA guidance on vaccine approval, and answer listener email. Click arrow to playDownload TWiV 634 (72 MB .mp3, 120 min)Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Show notes at microbe.tv/twiv (Source: virology blog)
Source: virology blog - July 2, 2020 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: This Week in Virology adenovirus COVID-19 FDA vaccine guidance Operation Warp Speed SARS-CoV-2 viral viruses Source Type: blogs
Lessons Learned and Ignored In a Pandemic
by Craig Klugman, Ph.D.
In 2009, after an outbreak of H1N1 flu, the Institutes of Medicine (IOM) issued a letter that encouraged all states to begin planning for a pandemic flu. Three years later the IOM expanded their call and asked states to develop crisis standards of care plans. Having worked on the ethical frameworks for pandemic flu for the State of Texas (2010), for crisis standards of care in the state of Illinois (2015), and conducted exercises with the Borough of Brooklyn (2012), these plans considered a number of scenarios from the length of the pandemic, to availability of supplies, to the type of crisis.…...
Source: blog.bioethics.net - May 28, 2020 Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Craig Klugman Tags: Featured Posts Health Care Health Policy & Insurance Health Regulation & Law Justice Politics Public Health #covid19 #diaryofaplagueyear COVID-19 Source Type: blogs
A Novel Approach Using Social Media to Solve Medical Ethical Dilemmas and Legal Risks in the Emergencies of COVID-19
by Jing Wan,Yuqiong Huang, Amaneh Abdel Hafez Aljaafreh, Dandan Dong, Yali Cong , Jun Lin, Hongxiang Chen
COVID-19 is an emerging infectious disease that is extremely contagious and can cause serious consequences and even death. Convalescent plasma, an unregistered therapy, from which the antibodies might suppress the virus, has been proven effective in the treatment of SARS, Ebola and H1N1, without severe adverse events (Chen et al.… (Source: blog.bioethics.net)
Source: blog.bioethics.net - May 21, 2020 Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Keisha Ray Tags: Clinical Ethics Clinical Trials & Studies Decision making Featured Posts Health Care Informed Consent Research Ethics Social Media #covid19 #diaryofaplagueyear COVID-19 Source Type: blogs
Is Trump Acting Presidential?
Thomas A. FireyAmong the criticisms President Trump has received over his handling of COVID-19, one is that he ’s playing politics with disaster aid. TheDenver Post recently charged that he “is treating life‐saving medical equipment as emoluments he can dole out as favors to loyalists.” Michigan Gov.Gretchen Whitmer has claimed that “vendors are being told not to send stuff here to Michigan.” Trump himself has said the governors “have to treat us well also” in order to get what they need.So far, evidence of actual favoritism is mixed. A Washington Post review of federal distribution of ventilators, ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 23, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas A. Firey Source Type: blogs
