Modern Day “Victory Gardens” – Planting the Seeds for Covid Vaccination Success
By MIKE MAGEE
In the wake of Pearl Harbor, FDR found our nation ill-prepared for war. He lacked manpower and tools. In response, he took deliberative action with the support of Congress, drafting soldiers and redirecting supply chains toward weapons of war. Compliance was requested, then demanded. Those industries that served, including Pfizer with penicillin production, benefited in the short and long-term.
FDR not only harnessed the power of industry and science, and ramped up the military, but also asked every family and every community to participate in the war effort. Community volunteering soared, and sacrifice...
Source: The Health Care Blog - February 12, 2021 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Christina Liu Tags: COVID-19 Health Policy Mike Magee Source Type: blogs
Why Are People So Mad at Police?
ConclusionWe started with a simple question:Why are so many people so mad at cops these days? Plainly there are many reasons, and we should avoid the temptation to oversimplify. But it would be a monumental error to dismiss that anger if there is some justification for it, as well as a grave injustice. Police play a vital role in our society, but they cannot do their jobs effectively without the trust and support of the community. In order to hold that trust, they must earn it —including by asking themselves hard questions like whether there are certain laws they have a moral duty not to enf...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - December 24, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Clark Neily Source Type: blogs
What infectious diseases are due to be eradicated next?
Although Medical Science aims to eradicate Infectious Diseases in order to protect life and reduce the healthcare burden, it has only been able to achieve that goal against two diseases to date. While this remains a difficult task, there is a genuine possibility that additional diseases will be eliminated in the near future! Let’s explore the diseases that have been consigned to history…and those that are set to join them soon.
Smallpox: declared eradicated in 1980
Following a concentrated global effort spanning more than 20 years, Smallpox became the first infectious disease to be eradicated by mankind. S...
Source: GIDEON blog - December 23, 2020 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Kristina Symes Tags: Epidemiology News Source Type: blogs
Data Lights the Path Toward Ethical COVID-19 Vaccination Distribution
The following is a guest article by Kurt Waltenbaugh, CEO at Carrot Health. As millions of healthcare workers begin receiving the first vaccination to protect against COVID-19, public health officials and government leaders continue wrestling with not only the operational challenges of scale—this is the first mass vaccination since smallpox (1958-1977) and polio (1980s-present)—but also […] (Source: EMR and HIPAA)
Source: EMR and HIPAA - December 23, 2020 Category: Information Technology Authors: Guest Author Tags: Analytics/Big Data C-Suite Leadership Health IT Company Healthcare IT Carrot Health Carrot Health Social Risk Grouper CDC COVID-19 COVID-19 Analytics COVID-19 Critical Infection Risk Index COVID-19 Vaccination Priority COVID-19 Vacci Source Type: blogs
How many diseases are preventable by vaccines?
The power of vaccines cannot be underestimated. Take, for example, Poliomyelitis, which was a significant problem 70 years ago – and is now close to becoming a disease of the past. Not that long ago, smallpox was completely eradicated through the use of a vaccine.
As the world celebrates the imminent arrival of several COVID-19 vaccines, we might ask how many diseases are preventable by vaccines as of 2020.
Which diseases haven’t got a vaccine yet?
Of the 361 generic infectious diseases that affect humans, only 62 (17%) are preventable by vaccines. Over 100 of the remainder are caused by fungi and pa...
Source: GIDEON blog - December 17, 2020 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Kristina Symes Tags: News Therapy Source Type: blogs
Why are mRNA vaccines so exciting?
The very first vaccines for COVID-19 to complete Phase 3 testing are an entirely new type: mRNA vaccines. Vaccines of this type have never before been approved for use in any disease. How do they differ from traditional vaccines, and what makes them so exciting?
How traditional vaccines work
The main goal of a vaccine for a particular infectious agent, such as the virus that causes COVID-19, is to teach the immune system what that virus looks like. Once educated, the immune system will vigorously attack the actual virus, if it ever enters the body.
Viruses contain a core of genes made of DNA or RNA wrapped in a coat of pro...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - December 10, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Anthony Komaroff, MD Tags: Coronavirus and COVID-19 Health Vaccines Source Type: blogs
Let ’s end Polio
An Egyptian stele thought to represent a polio victim. 18th Dynasty (1403–1365 BC).
Poliomyelitis dates back to ancient times, as captured in this 14th century BC Egyptian carving, detailing a typical symptom of atrophy in one or more of the limbs.
The modern name is directly derived from Ancient Greek, poliós meaning ‘grey’ and myelós meaning ‘marrow’, the latter signifying the effect on the grey matter of the spinal cord.
But while the ancient Egyptians and Greeks knew about the disease, it wasn’t clinically described until the late 18th century (AD), by the English doctor Michael Underwood. The di...
Source: GIDEON blog - October 25, 2020 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Kristina Symes Tags: Epidemiology News Source Type: blogs
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 671: Prizes, polio, and a pandemic puzzle
Daniel Griffin provides a clinical report on COVID-19, then Amy joins us to discuss the 2020 Chemistry Nobel Prize for gene editing using CRISPR/Cas9, continuing circulation of poliovirus in Afghanistan, inborn errors of interferon in patients with severe COVID-19, and listener questions. Click arrow to playDownload TWiV 671 (102 MB .mp3, 170 min)Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become […] (Source: virology blog)
Source: virology blog - October 12, 2020 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: This Week in Virology coronavirus COVID-19 diagnostic test inborn errors interferon lateral flow assay pandemic polio eradication poliomyelitis SARS-CoV-2 SNIP vaccine viral viruses 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
Vaccines for COVID-19 moving closer
As the world reels from illnesses and deaths due to COVID-19, the race is on for a safe, effective, long-lasting vaccine to help the body block the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. The three vaccine approaches discussed here are among the first to be tested clinically in the United States.
How vaccines induce immunity: The starting line
In 1796, in a pastoral corner of England, and during a far more feudal and ethically less enlightened time, Edward Jenner, an English country surgeon, inoculated James Phipps, his gardener’s eight-year-old son, with cowpox pustules obtained from the arm of a milkmaid. It was widely believed ...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - July 21, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Shiv Pillai, PhD, MBBS Tags: Coronavirus and COVID-19 Health Infectious diseases Vaccines Source Type: blogs
5 Role Models to Help Us Cope with the Pandemic
How do you dig deep to withstand the ongoing stress and requirements of life during a pandemic? Look to the role models: seniors. Seniors have a depth of experience confronting crises and using creative problem-solving skills that summon the higher instincts of the human spirit. They have experience showing up. They reached within to draw on character and integrity, and learned what it means to come through a recovery. From the Great Depression to World War II to 9/11, they did what was needed. Right now, they can be a fountain of hope.
There are countless examples of people who had to switch to plan B and not only survi...
Source: World of Psychology - June 9, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BJ Kittredge Tags: Aging Self-Help coronavirus COVID-19 Elderly seniors 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
Will This Novel Virus Revive Older Ones?
Jeffrey A. SingerAs I recently wrotehere, and spoke abouthere, bans on elective surgery invoked by governors across the country in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have caused many people to suffer and even possibly face fatal consequences due to delays in necessary medical care. But there are other reasons why the public health emergency has the potential to generate secondary public health crises.In some cases people are avoiding doctors ’ offices and emergency rooms because they worry about handling theexpense at a time they have seen their income, and perhaps their savings, vanish during the current econom...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 9, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs
