Disease names – what do they mean?
In the midst of the continuing pandemic, World Dictionary Day seems like the perfect occasion to consider the meaning and origin behind some of the most well-known disease names. We’ve been speaking with Dr. Steve Berger, our co-founder, to learn more.
CORONAVIRUSES
Let’s start with the obvious one. COVID 19, which began as a localized outbreak of “Novel Coronavirus” infection, is now a name almost every household in the world will know. COVID-19 comes from COrona VIrus Disease which first appeared in 2019, with the disease itself being caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
SARS was a prominent name back in the early 2...
Source: GIDEON blog - October 16, 2020 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Kristina Symes Tags: Epidemiology News Source Type: blogs
TWiV 668: Mice, bats, and coronaviruses with Tony Schountz
Tony Schountz joins TWiV to explain the work of his laboratory showing that deer mice can be infected with and transmit SARS-CoV-2, and how his colony of Jamaican fruit bats is being used to understand their response to virus infections. (Source: virology blog)
Source: virology blog - October 2, 2020 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: This Week in Virology coronavirus COVID-19 deer mouse fruit bat hantavirus MERS-CoV pandemic reservoir host SARS-CoV-2 viral viruses zoonosis Source Type: blogs
Free course on Covid-19 and SARS-CoV-2
I mentioned elsewhere that MIT is offering a free online course for anyone interested in learning more about Covid-19 and SARS-CoV-2. You can watch them live or grab the Youtube clips each week. The first lecture offers and excellent summary of our knowledge regarding this emergent pandemic disease as well as looking back briefly at previous viruses, such as previous coronavirus threats SARS and MERS, as well as the retrovirus HIV.
The lecture also cautions that we must remain vigilant about future viruses, which are a significant existential threat for the human race (as I wrote in New Scientist in 1997). A virus with the...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - September 7, 2020 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Sciencebase Source Type: blogs
3 Things Medical Events Could Learn From Video Game Streamers
500 000, 500 000 and 100 000: these are the numbers of attendees to recent live events that lasted for hours, even during the ongoing pandemic. No, these aren’t the statistics for the thousands of beachgoers flocking en masse and risking contracting the virus. Rather, these numbers refer to those who tuned in worldwide to watch video game livestreams of Guy Beahm (Dr Disrespect), Michael Grzesiek (Shroud) and Tyler Blevins (Ninja), respectively. These individuals, known as streamers, gathered those numbers remotely in less than one day for only one livestream event.
The numbers don’t end with viewers either but also...
Source: The Medical Futurist - August 25, 2020 Category: Information Technology Authors: Prans Tags: Future of Medicine Healthcare Design Medical Education conference technology medical event video games gaming streaming Source Type: blogs
The Trump COVID Legacy: Bad Timing. Lots of Questions. Few Answers.
By MIKE MAGEE, MD
What a strange irony. Trump decides, full-bravado, to challenge China to a trade war just months before China unwittingly hatches a virulent pandemic that collapses our deeply segmented health care system and our economy simultaneously. And rather than cry “Uncle”, our President then fires the WHO just as their experts are heading to China to attempt to unravel the mystery of COVID-19.
With the ongoing, cascading catastrophe of Trump’s mishandling of COVID-19, it is easy to lose sight that the next pandemic (fueled by global warming, global trade, and human and animal migration) is just around...
Source: The Health Care Blog - July 16, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Christina Liu Tags: COVID-19 Health Policy Politics Mike Magee Trump Source Type: blogs
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INCREASING EPIDEMIC FREQUENCY
There’s mounting evidence that the rates of infectious disease outbreaks have been increasing in frequency over the past few years. Perhaps even in the past two decades.
From the period of the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918 to the HIV/AIDS epidemic around 1981, there were only six pandemics on record. Approximately one per decade.
However, since the SARS outbreak of 2002, there has been an increased frequency of outbreaks.
The records show that SARS was quickly followed by several recurring and new outbreaks. AVIAN flu, MARBURG virus, SWINE flu, MERS, and E...
Source: GIDEON blog - July 9, 2020 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Kristina Symes Tags: Case studies News Reviews Source Type: blogs
Covid-19 Reuters Q & A with William Haseltine
I live-tweeted a fascinating and perhaps rather depressing meeting with William Haseltine via a Reuters Newsmaker Broadcast. His talk was upbeat but the message does not offer a positive outlook unless we can collaborate internationally to identify, trace, and isolate and go back to early antivirals to treat people urgently. A vaccine will probably never be found, we must stay on top of this virus when we get communities under control. Moreover, we must recognise that another emergent pathogen could appear any time.
These are essentially my notes from Haseltines’s talk.
Might we ever achieve herd immunity?
There is n...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - May 20, 2020 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Sciencebase Source Type: blogs
Covid-19 Reuters Newsmaker Broadcast with William Haseltine
I live-tweeted a fascinating and perhaps rather depressing meeting with William Haseltine via a Reuters Newsmaker Broadcast. His talk was upbeat but the message does not offer a positive outlook unless we can collaborate internationally to identify, trace, and isolate and go back to early antivirals to treat people urgently. A vaccine will probably never be found, we must stay on top of this virus when we get communities under control. Moreover, we must recognise that another emergent pathogen could appear any time.
These are essentially my notes from Haseltines’s talk.
Might we ever achieve herd immunity?
There is n...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - May 20, 2020 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Sciencebase Source Type: blogs
Caring for Babies and Small Children During COVID-19
The good news is emerging evidence shows that coronavirus affects children and babies the least out of all age groups. While there have been a small number of newborns who have contracted the disease, it is extremely rare. In these cases, it’s impossible to tell, as yet, if the virus was contracted in utero, or shortly after birth.
Babies and COVID: The Breastfeeding Question
Many mothers are wondering if they should continue breastfeeding if they are showing symptoms of illness. Traditionally, in cases of common influenza, encouraging a baby to breastfeed even when the mother is sick has the effect of increasing immunit...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - May 11, 2020 Category: Child Development Authors: Alan Greene MD Tags: Dr. Greene's Blog COVID COVID-19 Source Type: blogs
The Problem With “Herd Immunity” as a COVID-19 Strategy
This article originally appeared on his blog here.
The post The Problem With “Herd Immunity” as a COVID-19 Strategy appeared first on The Health Care Blog. (Source: The Health Care Blog)
Source: The Health Care Blog - May 5, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Christina Liu Tags: COVID-19 Health Policy Dave deBronkart e-Patient Dave e-Patient Dave DeBronkart Pandemic Source Type: blogs
TWiV 609: A coronavirus chronology with Susan Weiss
Susan Weiss recalls some of her 40 years of research on coronaviruses, including mouse hepatitis virus, MERS-CoV, and now SARS-CoV-2. Click arrow to play Download TWiV 609 (45 MB .mp3, 75 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 - May 3, 2020 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: This Week in Virology coronavirus COVID-19 furin MHV mouse hepatitis virus pandemic SARS-CoV SARS-CoV-2 Tmprss2 viral viruses Source Type: blogs
What's new in midwifery - 30th April 2020
Updated 30th April after posting (sorry)Some new things that you may need to know... ResearchEffects of psychoeducation on the mental health and relationships of pregnant couples: A systemic review and meta-analysis. (International Journal of Nursing Studies)Outcome of Coronavirus spectrum infections (SARS, MERS, COVID 1 -19) during pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis (American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology MFM)Screening for Bacterial Vaginosis in Pregnant Adolescents and Women to Prevent Preterm Delivery: Updated Evidence Report and Systematic Review for the US Preventive Services...
Source: Browsing - April 30, 2020 Category: Databases & Libraries Source Type: blogs
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SARS in 2003, H1N1 in 2009, MERS in 2012, and now Covid-19. We don’t know when or where, but we know with 100% certainty that another deadly infection will strike. While the clear priority right now must be coping with the surging number of cases and the economic havoc that the current pandemic is wreaking, it is also time for the country to begin takings steps to minimize the pain of the next pandemic.
(Source: The Commonwealth Fund: Blog)
Source: The Commonwealth Fund: Blog - April 21, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David Blumenthal, M.D., Elizabeth Fowler Source Type: blogs
After the pandemic – plus ça change
There’s an interesting quote purportedly from Arundhati Roy that’s been doing the rounds on social media for a few days. She says something about pandemics making us think of the way forward anew…if only.
Did the massive flu pandemic of a century ago force us to break with the past? What about SARS, MERS, Swine Flu, Ebola, Bird Flu, bovine TB, foot and mouth. I don’t think much changed after any of them…
Sadly, it feels like we restarted after the Spanish Flu pandemic that followed on the same industrial, destructive trajectory begun by the Victorians all the way through the 20thC and into thi...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - April 19, 2020 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Sciencebase Source Type: blogs
Neglected Diseases – Neglected Once Again
written by Dr. Stephen A. Berger
For several years, the World Health Organization has been following a group of twenty-or-so Neglected Tropical Diseases. In the Developed World, these conditions are largely unknown to the general public, and even to physicians working in fields outside of Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases. In only three months, the list of neglected diseases has grown to include more than 360 infectious conditions – all because of a single new viral disease called COVID-19.
As of this morning, 287 cases of COVID-19 had been reported in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) resulting in 23 deaths. H...
Source: GIDEON blog - April 17, 2020 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Kristina Symes Tags: Diagnosis Epidemiology Outbreaks Source Type: blogs
