Electronic Health Records: Yesterday’s Ebola and Today’s Zika
By SHIRA FISCHER
When I showed up at the obstetrical urgent care unit at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the care I received was swift and appropriate. I saw a nurse quickly and a doctor soon after. They asked relevant questions and immediately put a plan for further evaluation in place. Only then did the nurse turn to the computer to enter everything into the electronic record. As she worked her way through the required documentation, she asked several more questions. Any allergies that weren’t already in the system? Surgeries she should note? And, of course, importantly, had I been to an Ebola-infected country recently...
Source: The Health Care Blog - February 17, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Irvine Tags: THCB Source Type: blogs
Rubella virus and birth defects
Amidst the fear surrounding Zika virus, remember that there are over 100,000 children born each year with birth defects caused by infection with rubella virus.
The virus
Rubella virus is a member of the Togaviridae family, which also includes chikungunya virus. The genome is a 9.7 kilobase, positive strand RNA enclosed in a capsid and surrounded by a membrane (illustrated; image from ViralZone).
Transmission
Humans are the only natural host and reservoir of rubella virus. The virus is transmitted from human to human by respiratory aerosols. Upon entry into the upper respiratory tract, the virus replicates in the ...
Source: virology blog - February 17, 2016 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Basic virology Information birth defects congenital rubella syndrome microcephaly mmr vaccine placenta viral virus viruses Zika zika virus Source Type: blogs
Appraising information in a language not your own
I was looking for information in Portuguese or Spanish about the Zika virus. I had shared the National Library of Medicine's page of resources on the lis-medical discussion list, and had a response from Neil Pakenham-Walsh of the splendid HIFA2015 group to say there were few items in Portuguese or Spanish, the languages of the areas most affected. HIFA have a Portuguese discussion group and they had been discussing it. According to the WHO's ePortuguese project, Portuguese is the sixth most spoken language in the world and the most widely spoken in the Southern Hemisphere, but is not an offi...
Source: Browsing - February 15, 2016 Category: Databases & Libraries Tags: evaluation patient information Source Type: blogs
Oh, myyyy! George Takei falls for a Zika virus conspiracy theory
It really sucks when a celebrity you like and admire screws up. Before social media, you might never have known whether stars were prone to bouts of excessive credulity when it comes to medicine, conspiracy theories, the paranormal, or whatever. Twenty years ago, for instance, few might ever have known that Jenny McCarthy was into… (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - February 15, 2016 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Complementary and alternative medicine Science fiction/fantasy Skepticism/critical thinking conspiracy George Takei Hikaru Sulu microcephaly Pyriproxyfen Star Trek Zika virus Source Type: blogs
TWiV 376: The flavi of the week is Zika
On episode #376 of the science show This Week in Virology, the TWiV team discusses the latest data on Zika virus, including ocular defects in infants with microcephaly, and isolation of the entire viral genome from fetal brain tissue.
You can find TWiV #376 at microbe.tv/twiv. (Source: virology blog)
Source: virology blog - February 14, 2016 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: This Week in Virology Aedes brain congenital rubella syndrome Dengue genome Guillain-Barré microcephaly mosquito ocular defects TORCH viral virus viruses West Nile virus Zika zika virus Source Type: blogs
