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
The tragedy of the post-COVID “ long haulers ”
Suppose you are suddenly are stricken with COVID-19. You become very ill for several weeks. On awakening every morning, you wonder if this day might be your last.
And then you begin to turn the corner. Every day your worst symptoms — the fever, the terrible cough, the breathlessness — get a little better. You are winning, beating a life-threatening disease, and you no longer wonder if each day might be your last. In another week or two, you’ll be your old self.
But weeks pass, and while the worst symptoms are gone, you’re not your old self — not even close. You can’t meet your responsibilities at home or at wor...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - October 15, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Anthony Komaroff, MD Tags: Brain and cognitive health Coronavirus and COVID-19 Fatigue Source Type: blogs
The Law of Responsibility and the World Health Organisation: A Case Study on the West African Ebola Outbreak
Mark Eccleston-Turner (Keele University), Scarlett McArdle (University of Lincoln), The Law of Responsibility and the World Health Organisation: A Case Study on the West African Ebola Outbreak, Infectious Diseases in the New Millennium: Legal and Ethical Challenges The delay between... (Source: HealthLawProf Blog)
Source: HealthLawProf Blog - October 14, 2020 Category: Medical Law Authors: Katharine Van Tassel Source Type: blogs
“Under the radar” – Ongoing Lassa Fever Outbreak
By Dr. Stephen A. Berger
Nigeria is battling the largest recorded Lassa Fever outbreak to-date
Lassa Fever in Nigeria is a paradigm for Infectious Disease outbreaks that continue to threaten massive populations “under the radar” during the COVID-19 pandemic. As of October 3, 2020, a total of 1,112 fatal cases of COVID-19 had been reported in Nigeria.
In terms of population size, the statistical likelihood of dying from this disease in Nigeria – or in Singapore – is exactly the same. But then…nobody in Singapore is dying these days from Lassa Fever.
WHAT IS LASSA FEVER?
The disease was ...
Source: GIDEON blog - October 13, 2020 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Kristina Symes Tags: Epidemiology News Outbreaks Source Type: blogs
Coronavirus: adult social care key issues and sources
House of Commons Library -This briefing aims to provide a high-level overview of policy in relation to adult social care since the start of the coronavirus outbreak in early 2020, including the development of key UK Government guidance. It also provides information on some key issues that have been raised during the course of the outbreak including statistics on deaths in care homes, funding for adult social care, and testing for care home staff and residents.BriefingHouse of Commons Library - publications (Source: Health Management Specialist Library)
Source: Health Management Specialist Library - October 9, 2020 Category: UK Health Authors: The King ' s Fund Library Tags: Local authorities, public health and health inequalities Social care Source Type: blogs
Monkeypox
By Dr. Stephen A. Berger
Cynomolgus monkey, a known reservoir of the Monkeypox virus
WHAT IS MONKEYPOX?
Monkeypox, as the name implies, is a disease of monkeys (unlike chickenpox – which has no relation to chickens). Although the condition is reported in a group of eleven African countries, the virus was first discovered in a laboratory in Denmark in 1958, when it was first isolated from cynomolgus monkeys.
The signs and symptoms are similar to those of smallpox. Following a three-day prodrome of fever, headache, myalgia, and back pain, patients develop a papular rash in the face, extremities, and genitals....
Source: GIDEON blog - October 8, 2020 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Kristina Symes Tags: Epidemiology News Source Type: blogs
The Macro View – Health, Economics, and Politics and the Big Picture. What I Am Watching Here And Abroad.
October 08, 2020 Edition. ----- The only real news this will has been with Trump being felled by the COVID-19 and the ramifications for his health and the election. Very much a watch this space situation! Amazingly he has been in hospital - given all sorts of treatment and has now been discharged back to the White House. He claims to be perfectly well but who knows. His doctors seemingly are clueless!
In the UK it is clear that the second wave is well and truly underway and not by any means under control. It could get a great deal worse. Now we have seen the budget I am sure many are still wondering just what is me...
Source: Australian Health Information Technology - October 8, 2020 Category: Information Technology Authors: Dr David G More MB PhD Source Type: blogs
New York City ’s COVID-19 outbreak from the eyes of a pulmonary and critical care team’s biostatistician
December 15, 2018. My coworker is moving to California. She’s a statistician for a group of pulmonary and critical care physicians at our New York City hospital, and I’m a statistician who’s trying not to do too many things wrong, only three months into my first job out of school. “I think you’d be good wi th […]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 - October 7, 2020 Category: General Medicine Authors: < span itemprop="author" > < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/katherine-hoffman" rel="tag" > Katherine Hoffman < /a > < /span > Tags: Conditions COVID-19 coronavirus Infectious Disease Source Type: blogs
The Evolution Of COVID-19 Rapid Tests Paves The Way For At-Home Lab Tests
In January of this year, oblivious of the fact that we were about to engage in a twisted round of real-life Jumanji, we released our annual digital health trends e-book. Among one of our 12 forecasts for 2020 was that at-home blood tests would gain traction and become the new direct-to-consumer DNA testing in terms of adoption and availability. While the pandemic threw everyone off guard and messed up regular forecasts, we might have been onto something with our predicted trend.
With the need to limit physical contact and trace COVID-positive individuals rapidly, public health authorities worldwide are finding rapid, po...
Source: The Medical Futurist - October 6, 2020 Category: Information Technology Authors: Prans Tags: Future of Medicine Future of Pharma Healthcare Design Healthcare Policy fda testing outbreak covid19 at-home tests WHO point-of-care POC antibodies virus nasal swab test PCR Abbot Source Type: blogs
Typhoid Trump: A Public Health Threat
by Stephen P. Wood, MS,ACNP
Mary Mallon, better known as Typhoid Mary, was an asymptomatic carrier of Salmonella typhi, the organism known to cause typhoid fever. Mallon worked as a cook for eight different families in and around New York city, infecting seven of the families she worked for. There were a number of deaths in these families as typhoid had a 10% mortality rate at the time. George Soper, a sanitary engineer enlisted by one of the families affected, is credited with discovering Mallon as the source of this outbreak and he followed her around, collecting samples of her urine and ...
Source: blog.bioethics.net - October 5, 2020 Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Blog Editor Tags: Featured Posts Public Health #covid19 #Journalofaplagueyear COVID-19 medical history Typhoid Mary Source Type: blogs
Measles, Chickenpox, and Other Preventable Diseases: Why Stricter Vaccine Exemptions Are a Must-Proposed Legislation For Stricter Vaccine Exemption Standards
Eleanor Sills (Florida State University), Measles, Chickenpox, and Other Preventable Diseases: Why Stricter Vaccine Exemptions Are a Must-Proposed Legislation For Stricter Vaccine Exemption Standards, 47 FL. ST. U. LAW REV. 3 (2020, FORTHCOMING): The outbreak of measles in 2019 was... (Source: HealthLawProf Blog)
Source: HealthLawProf Blog - October 5, 2020 Category: Medical Law Authors: Katharine Van Tassel Source Type: blogs
When Will this $%!# Pandemic End?
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a worldwide effect for what seems like an eternity. After shelter-in-place orders became more prevalent in March, most people probably didn’t think they’d still be wearing masks in October. So the question remains, when will the pandemic end?
It turns out there are quite a few factors that contribute to the rise and fall of a pandemic, some within our control, some that are not. An outbreak becomes a pandemic when it meets two criteria, first, it spreads rapidly and widely, and second, it must qualify as a severe disease. If either of these factors change, it is no longer consi...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - October 5, 2020 Category: Child Development Authors: Alan Greene MD Tags: Dr. Greene's Blog Coronavirus COVID COVID-19 COVID-19 Feature Source Type: blogs
Your Privacy In The Digital Health Era: The Medical Futurist ’s Guide
As solutions like remote care are becoming the norm, 3D-printing disrupts the normal supply chain and even the number of life science studies on tools like artificial intelligence (A.I.) skyrocket, it’s become clear that we are not anticipating the digital health era; we are in the digital health era due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
First and foremost, it’s an era defined by a cultural transformation that will upend the traditional structure of healthcare. Clinical-grade sensors are available outside of the ivory towers of medicine; patients demand such tools so that they can become more proactive in managing the...
Source: The Medical Futurist - October 1, 2020 Category: Information Technology Authors: Prans Tags: Digital Health Research E-Patients Future of Medicine Future of Pharma Genomics Health Sensors & Trackers Healthcare Design Healthcare Policy Personalized Medicine Security & Privacy Telemedicine & Smartphones amazon device epati Source Type: blogs
Two Sorts of Average Inflation Targeting
George SelginIt occurs to me that recent discussions of the Fed ' s new average inflation targeting plan gloss over a subtle distinction between two different kinds of Average Inflation Targeting (AIT). Hence this post explaining the difference, and why I think it matters.The difference between the two sorts of AIT that I have in mind is subtle, so pay close attention! It hinges not on any different central bank objectives or reaction function parameters or that sort of thing, but on two different reasons why a central bank might find that it has veered from its inflation target in the first place. A central bank may fail ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - September 29, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: George Selgin Source Type: blogs
NATO ’s Rogue Member Meddles in Another Conflict
Ted Galen CarpenterThis week,armed clashes erupted between the forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan, exacerbating already serious tensions in the Caucasus.The underlying reason for the latest incident is the long ‐standing struggle between the two countries for control of Ngorno‐Karabakh.That ethnically Armenian region is legally part of Azerbaijan, but Armenia assumes responsibility forguaranteeing the minority enclave ’s self‐declared political independence. The inherently unstable arrangement has led to several previous outbreaks of violence over the past three decades, but the latest incident seems especia...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - September 29, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Ted Galen Carpenter Source Type: blogs
