1. New Research Maps in Unique Detail the Devastation of the Black Death on Medieval England. An innovative new archaeological study has revealed in detail for the first time how individual towns, villages and hamlets across swathes of medieval England were decimated by the Black Death. Disaster Recovery: New Archaeological Evidence for the Long Term Impact of the ‘Calamitous’ Fourteenth Century. I’m currently reading Daniel Defoe: 'A Journal of the Plague Year', published in 1722 about the biosyndemic of 1665, giving a first person account. Defoe (more widely known for Robinson Crusoe) was 5 years old at the time of the plague so the account is a fictional one, but an informed one by having access to people who experienced it, access to the records of the time, and living in the geographic area only a few years later, albeit a change one due to the 1666 Great Fire of London, which in part happened because of the depopulation from the plague. One of the takeaways from combining different perspectives and sources is that can see consistent patterns. In the case biodisaster context human behavior is fairly consistent, except for changes in explanation, perception, and vocabulary. Similar behavior appear again and again. What has however changed are the modern technologies and circumstances. Communication is faster and wider (We had no such thing as printed newspapers in those days to spread rumours and reports of things, and to improve them by the invention of men, as I have lived to see practised since. Pg 1 para 3 line 1), the damage of both the combined biosphere disasters (biosyndemic) and human behaviors (parademic) are faster and wider, while the overall impact is more serious, more costly, more lethal, with more and longer consequences. 'Eye Watering' Scale of Black Death's Impact on England Revealed. English Sweating Sickness: the Epidemic You Forgot to Be Terrified of.
2. After Ebola, World Bank Creates Pandemic Insurance Plan. In direct reaction to the sluggish donor response to the outbreak of Ebola, which killed thousands and shut down economic activity for months, the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility (PEF) will accelerate global and national responses to disease outbreaks that threaten large populations and fragile economies. ¶ We can't change the speed of a hurricane or the magnitude of an earthquake, but we can change the trajectory of an outbreak. With enough money sent to the right place at the right time, we can save lives and protect economies. ¶ It took months to bring together the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to pay for deploying health personnel, supplies, and other relief to Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. The bank estimated that had the PEF existed in mid-2014, an initial $US100 million could have been mobilised as early as July of that year to severely limit the spread and severity of the epidemic. World Bank launches $500 million insurance fund to fight pandemics. Our Approach to Financing Epidemic Response is Broken. Economic Interests Harming Global Health: WHO Chief. Business of Disaster: Insurance Firms Profited $400 Million after Sandy. World Health Assembly Agrees New Health Emergencies Programme. Investing in Health Is Not Cheap, but it Is Not a Luxury Either. #Document Public Health Service Agencies: Overview and Funding (FY2015-FY2017). Africa’s Yellow Fever Outbreak is a Glimpse of Our Connected Future. Somehow, the World's Governments Can't Find More Than $4 Million for the WHO to Fight Zika. WHO’s Fairy Dust Financing.
3. #Book Review. The Awful Diseases on the Way. Pandemic: Tracking Contagions, from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond. The prevailing view in global health is that pandemics are inevitable and that pandemics are the product of complex human behavior. Development, urbanization, and population growth transform harmless animal microbes into human pathogens. Building takes humans into animal habitats, while climate change caused by human activity and deforestation forces animals into urban areas; industrial poultry, cattle, and pig farms also bring humans into greater contact with animals. The environment — biological, social, political, and economic (the last three being the parademic realm) — is both the source and driver of today’s emerging diseases.
↕4. Zika Conspiracy Theories on Social Media Putting Vulnerable People at Risk. Conspiracy theories and pseudoscientific claims refuting the facts around Zika virus vaccines could be putting vulnerable people at risk, according to a new study. By analyzing social media* in real time, researchers were able to identify conversations about Zika virus vaccines and pinpoint the conspiracy theories being discussed. Zika Vaccine Misconceptions: A Social Media Analysis. From the graph one can see the pattern that conspiracy theory creates the demand, like a marketing campaign using the Hurt and Rescue Principle, while pseudoscience are the suppliers with the products and SPIN Selling. SPIN BTW is also a good model for public health campaigns and countermeasures to cons, scams and medical frauds, SPIN Selling Technique for Medical Rep, The End of Solution Sales. 160320-4.1↓. #Document Social Media Strategy Development – A Guide to Using Social Media for Public Health Communication. This with CERC Online Training and Risk = Hazard + Outrage gives a good basis for self education about parademic and biosyndemic communication. A Checklist for Rethinking Crisis Communications, Tapping Media for Credible Disaster Communication. This Comic Book Series Captures the Enticements – and Evils – of Social Media.
4*. Previous listicles have covered this emerging phenomena of online memorials, noting it is both a cultural change, but one similar to older grief behavior. Grief also does not cover death, but loss in general, such as having an autistic child, which in my opinion has lead to many people seeking explanation (blame) for the autism on social media, where they can be exploited by those who take advantage of grief for their own purposes. Grief for the Ages. How mourning on social media is like mourning in ancient Greece. Traditionally Americans haven’t mourned in public. Funerals here tend to be private affairs—an interior scene at a funeral home, a few family and friends, some flowers. Big politicians may have public funerals, but most funerals – even for celebrities (160424-9.1↓) – are closed. Traditionally, too, we let the dead be dead: We may speak in whispers at the wake, but we don’t speak of the dead as still living. Instead, we call that “being in denial”. ¶ Mourning online is changing our rituals. Not only do we mourn people we do not know personally, but the Facebook pages of deceased friends have the potential to live on, turning into spaces where friends and family write public messages, expressing intimate details for all to read as though the person were still alive. ¶ These new forms of grieving erode traditional American boundaries between public and private, and the living and the dead. But in fact, this manner of mourning is really old. Public mourning and maintaining connection with the dead were big in ancient Greece (as they are in other countries today). Funerals were spectacles.
4.1. Could Sing a Long Science Be the Key to Straight A’s. Does Edutainment such as content rich music videos have any place in the rapidly changing landscape of science education. A new study indicates that students can indeed learn serious science content from such videos. Rapping Doc with a Reggae Beat Tells Jamaicans How to Fight Zika Virus, Brazil's New Weapon Against Zika Is Children's Songs. Unfortunately songs also have a long history of being used for misinformation, disinformation and propaganda. Local Band Draws Controversy with Anti-Vaccine Song 130217-46↓, 150705-7.3.5↓. The “Truth” About Hurricane Sandy, misconceptions and false information dominated with 185,000 tweets during big storm. Some Humor in Government Social Media Is a Good Thing. Humor can get more interest and hits, but humor can also have disastrous unintended consequences, How to Use Humor in Advertising. [Cartoon, Cartoon]
4.2. Have been watching Venezuela for some time as it is an unstable society, where government absolute control is slipping, which means that it is more likely to have a violent conflict and a health crisis that will be under reported, How Venezuela’s Socialist Dream Collapsed into a Nightmare. Since January they have be an information vacuum about Zika. How Many Zika Cases Are There in Venezuela: 4,000 or 400,000, Colombia: Venezuela Is Hiding Hundreds of Thousands of Zika Cases. Venezuela’s Zika Outbreak May Be 150 Times Worse than Reported. Venezuelan doctors are turning to Google and Twitter to grasp the scope of the Zika epidemic amid a government blackout on health data. Others have stated even stronger opinions about the situation, Zika in Venezuela: No News Is Very Bad News, http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/03/16/zika-virus-venezuela-manu-quinterosltCovering Zika in Hushed Up Venezuela. Pregnant Women in Scarcity Hit Venezuela Battle to Dodge Zika.
4.3. Starting to detect a pattern here 160522-4.2 all, 151004-59↓. Congress Leaves Town with No Zika Resolution, Lengthy Negotiations Ahead. Congress abandoned the Capitol Thursday for an almost two week break without addressing how to combat Zika, even as public health officials issue dire warnings about the spread of the mosquito driven virus with summer approaching. Ex-Ebola Czar: "Zika Is Not 'Coming' to the United States: it Is Already Here". Political Battles Color Congressional Feud Over Zika Funding. [Cartoon, Cartoon, Cartoon, Cartoon, Cartoon, Cartoon]
4.4. Zika’s Getting All of the Attention. It Shouldn’t. Yellow fever’s coming back, and Ebola never left. This is a continual pandemic problem, thinking that disasters only happen one at a time and are separate event. One of the many ways that a biodisaster is different from others, its not a sudden single event, but one of a series of continual, concurrent disasters with unclear beginnings and ends. This is one reason for the term biosyndemic. It is a neologism that avoids the problem (at least for awhile) of people thinking they know what it is and therefore have to apply a little cognitive effort to grasp multiple, concurrent, contiguous, interactive biosphere threats, hazards, risks, morbidity and mortality. Yellow Fever, Zika Virus, and Lessons We Have to Keep Learning, 11↓.
5. #Conference. Data and Mapping for Infectious Diseases. Thursday, 2 June 2016, 10 am EDT/7 am PDT/2 pm GMT. Audio by telephone on: +1 (866) 586-3530, No Conference ID#. International number: +(339) 368-5000, Conference ID# 18984583. Link.
6. Communicable Disease Surveillance and Control in the Context of Conflict and Mass Displacement in Syria. The impact of conflict on communicable disease spread is well recognised, resulting from a combination of damage to critical infrastructure including water and sanitation systems, reduced health system functionality and - importantly - disruption to surveillance, outbreak response systems and other disease control measures. 160522-14↓.
7. There is a possibility that biological/technological hybrids could open the way for new biosyndemic vulnerabilities and threats, of more concern is parademic consequences such as something akin to racism of the cyborg, elitism by the cyborg, strife about what is human similar to conflicts between religions, moral panics about the trend, and however else humans end up behaving no matter how little biologically human they are. Cyborgs Closer to Becoming a Reality of Human Evolution. The human species continues to evolve: "There is still a tendency by some to view the current form of human beings as static, and that we will stay as such into the future unless some catastrophe causes our extinction". ¶ "However, our world is a continuously changing complex system and humans are a part of this ever changing system. Within this framework, human evolution is an ongoing process that shapes us now and will shape us in the future, body and mind. We must understand it in order to survive and be able to direct it to our advantage". Cyborgs Closer to Reality in Future Stages of Human Evolution. The Dynamic Human. Advances in Technologies with Relevance to Biology: The Future Landscape.
8. Moving Beyond Race Based Drugs. Prescribing certain medications on the basis of a patient's race has long come under fire from those uneasy with using race as a surrogate for biology when treating disease. But there are multiple challenges to overcome before we can move beyond race based treatment decisions, writes a geneticist and a bioethicist in a new perspective piece. Though there is a logic to basing medical interventions based on individual biological differences such as weight, height, sex, age, genetic heritage; race and class are both social constructs that vaguely correlates with groups that have been biologically isolated for sufficient time (genetic heritage) to have distinguishable phenotypes, however these differences are a far cry from different genotypes (Genotype Phenotype), which would require far more time than the existence of modern humans (How Long Have Humans Been on Earth, Genetically Speaking, Race Doesn't Exist in Humans). ¶ Given that homo (not so) sapiens are a single species, albeit one with a range of breeds nearly equivalent to the range of canine, [Photo] the bioterrorist dream of creating a weapon that would only kill the enemy is far fetched. Though this is a remote possibility there is too much chance of sharing genes from with the enemy from Neanderthals, the Golden Hoard, Romans, European Imperialist, Berber Pirates, Chinese and Indian business people, Cain, Abraham, Lucy, to make this practical. The best one can manage is kill a large percentage of humans (to include yourself) and still have who ever the enemy was remain (again including yourself).
9. Why Everyone Wants to Help the Sick, but Not the Unemployed. New research explains why health-care costs are running out of control, while costs to unemployment protection are kept in line. The answer is found deep in our psychology, where powerful intuitions lead us to view illness as the result of bad luck and worthy of help. This observation is not supported by the historical record where contagious diseases were shunned, banished, abandoned and avoided. In addition some diseases were related to immoral behavior such as STDs and AIDS.
10. Biosyndemic do not have to directly threaten humans life to be a risk to human live, such as pathogens of food sources, pollution of air, loss of life forms. A Moth Nicknamed 'Tomato Ebola' Ravages Nigeria's Tomatoes. Poultry Returning to State Fairs, Farm Show, After Ban due to Avian Flu.
11. The Superbug That Doctors Have Been Dreading Just Reached the U.S. For the first time, researchers have found a person in the United States carrying bacteria resistant to antibiotics of last resort, an alarming development that the top U.S. public health official says could signal "the end of the road" for antibiotics. U.S. Sees First Case of Bacteria Resistant to All Antibiotics. Pennsylvania Superbug Infection Could Mean "The End of the Road" for Antibiotics. 4.4↑, 160522-8↓, 151206-5↓, 151129-1↓, 151116-8.1↓, 10, 151018-10.3↓ 151011-48↓, 150927-8, 150920-25.2, 150913-20, 150809-9, ...... E100808-14. This long list is a sample of items collected about the biosyndemic superbug, or antibiotic/Drug resistant, and the parademic behavior of apathy and ignoring. Not all of the parademic database have as many topical stubs, but this illustrates the number of raw listicles that could be provided quickly upon request. More extensive analysis product would take longer to do, which in the case of the superbug parademic will be requested too late (if ever) before a useful product could be provided to anticipate behavior as it moves from current apathy to panic and blame. Panic and blame will furthermore delay an effective response. Note that material dates back to prior to the NORTHCOM Parademic Regions start in 2009 (USNORTHCOM CONPLAN 3551-09, Concept Plan to Synchronize DOD Pandemic Influenza Planning, 13 Aug 2009), when we tried to get interest in the drug resistant threat. We were told that it was not a problem, that we were only to focus on H1N1 flu non medical response only within our regions. ¶ This also indicates other problems. That a written plan means one is prepared and ready, that one does not have to build up a capability because people who did the prior pandemic will be available and start cold for another pandemic, and authorities actually understand the problems that will be encountered under unknown circumstances. Resistance to Antibiotics: The Spread of Superbugs 2011, Dec 11, 1945, at the end of his Nobel lecture, Alexander Fleming sounded a warning. “There is the danger that the ignorant man may easily underdose himself and by exposing his microbes to non lethal quantities of the drug make them resistant”. Penicillin's Discoverer Predicted Our Coming Post Antibiotic Era 70 Years Ago 2015. The Landscape of Antibiotic Resistance 2009.
12, Death by Privatization in US Prisons. Maximizing profits means minimizing medical staffing and care. This is not limited to prisons but also found in hospitals, insurance and government. Personal profit often times trumps performing the duties of a position.
13. A continual theme of reporting the most current as being the most correct. Seriously, Stop with the Irresponsible Reporting on Cellphones and Cancer. Scientists are calling for caution on a new study on cancer and cellphones. The media should stop fearmongering. Cell Phone Radiation Increases Cancers in Rats, but Should We Worry. A Woman Contracted Breast Cancer from Carrying a Cell Phone in Her Bra. My take on this is that this is a Cautionary Tale. The unconscious intent is to prevent an undesireable behavior, in this case constant cell phone use, with a warning of what could happen. Many teenagers have heard about The Hook, which of course makes one cautious to go park at make out spots. [Photo]
14, Bird flu has not left us, but it has been awhile since there was an interesting new story. This behavior of threats to those who report poor health conditions and outbreaks is not uncommon nor limited to flu. Minister Receives Threats for Raising Bird Flu Alarm in Yaounde. The Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Husbandry, is alleged to have received death threats from influential poultry farm owners for raising an alarm on a possible resurfacing of Bird flu. California Senator Who Fought to Make Vaccines Mandatory Faces Recall Efforts. Doctors With Enemies: Did Afghan Forces Target the M.S.F. Hospital. MSF has a history of reporting war crimes, rapes, genocide, poor health conditions and outbreaks, not following the IFRC policy of impartiality and neutrality, making many enemies, How Much Evil Can You Not See. Reports of negative information has economic and political negative consequences, leading to people hiding the evidence, Saudi Arabia Finds Nearly 100 Unreported MERS Deaths or attacking those who do report it. This type of parademic can be taken to extremes such as the Drafa Plague people would rather die than reveal they were sick.
15. Just Stay. Not a true story in fact, but a very true one in social reality.
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