170423, Heuristics 170928, Glossary 171220, Mini Lessons 170827
1. HIV Prophylactic, 2. Flu Epidemic, 3. War as Biodisaster, 4. Economic Incentives, 5. Light for Disease Propagation, 6. Invasion Language, 7. Analogue Types, 8. Cholera Unrest. <ADDED> 1. Raw Water, 2. Orphans of Opioid Control, 3. Cholera Numbers, 4. Radiation Fear, 5. Soft Word Power, 6. Cuban Sonic Myth.
Other Topics: BioTrumpism, BioPolitics, Vaccine, Biosphere, Disaster, Humor, Climate Change, Anthropocene, Anthropogenic, Communication, Underfunding Health, BioSecurity, Invasive Species, Eating Around Gross Topics, Organ Donation, Celebrity Effect, False Correlation, Anecdotes, Vaccine Manufacture, Forced Migration, Crisis Communications, Tobacco, 1918 Flu, Victorian Health, Moral Panic, HIV, Needle Exhange, IV Bag Shortage, Puerto Rico, Diphtheria, Yemen, Unintended Consequences, Prediction.
-1. #Communications. The stated reasons for this may not be true. Besides costs and daily use there remains stigma and admitting one is courting risk or inversely avoiding a risk that unconsciously feels deserved. Usage Remains Low for Pill That Can Prevent HIV Infection. A few large U.S. cities are promoting Truvada, often with sexually charged ads. Bare It All [Video] was among the slogans urging gay men to consult their doctors. Using “raw, real language” a campaign was launched to increase use among young Latino and black gay men and transgender women (why is that approach considered an effective one for this audience). In 2012 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Truvada to reduce the risk of getting HIV in the first place. Critics warned that many gay men wouldn’t heed Truvada’s once a day schedule and complained of its high cost — roughly $1,500 a month. The Truvada debate has taken many twists, as exemplified by the varying stances of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a leading HIV/AIDS service provider. In 2012, the group unsuccessfully petitioned the FDA to delay or deny approval for preventive use, warning it was a party drug that would increase the spread of sexually transmitted infections by encouraging men to engage in sex without condoms. -7, -180107-8↓.
-1.1. Communicating Risk in Public Health Emergencies. A WHO Guideline for Emergency Risk Communication (ERC) Policy and Practice. Recent public health emergencies, such as the Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa (2014–2015), the emergence of the Zika virus syndrome in 2015–2016 and multi country yellow fever outbreaks in Africa in 2016, have highlighted major challenges and gaps in how risk is communicated during epidemics and other health emergencies. The challenges include the rapid transformation in communications technology, including the near universal penetration of mobile telephones, the widespread use and increasingly powerful influence of digital media which has had an impact on ‘traditional’ media (newspapers, radio and television), and major changes in how people access and trust health information. Important gaps include considerations of context – the social, economic, political and cultural factors influencing people’s perception of risk and their risk reduction behaviours. -4, -5.1-8*↓.
-1.2. Before Climate Change denial This Surgeon General’s Famous Report Alerted Americans to the Deadly Dangers of Cigarettes. Dozens of distinguished physicians have served as the U.S. surgeon general in our nation’s history. That said, we rarely remember their names, including the surgeon general who may have had the farthest reaching influence on our collective health. That man was Luther Terry. On January 11, 1965, he released an earth shaking, 150,000 word report entitled, “Smoking and Health”, the study that identified cigarette smoking as the chief cause of lung cancer in men, and later, as the gender gap between smokers narrowed, women too. Gen. Terry hammered a few more nails in the tobacco lined coffin by declaring that smokers were 70 percent more likely to die of a fatal heart attack than nonsmokers, and that there was a strong association between cigarette smoking and cancer of the esophagus and bladder, emphysema, peptic ulcers, and premature babies. His conclusion was clear and chilling in a country where at least 42 percent of all adults were smokers. Unfortunately, the public’s health has long been stymied on this issue by the powerful tobacco industry, a business so ingrained in the American fabric that tobacco leaves are inscribed in stone on the façade of the U.S. Capitol building. Although a number of roadblocks were put in his and his successors’ way, he was responsible for one of the most famous warnings ever made in this history of medicine and public health: “Caution: Cigarette smoking may be hazardous to your health”. 171217-2.2, <ADDED 171203-171126-4>2. FDA Sued over Delay on Graphic Cigarette Warning Labels (2016). [Labels]. Tobacco and Oil Industries Used Same Researchers to Sway Public as early as the 1950s, the groups shared scientists and publicists to downplay dangers of smoking and climate change.
-2. NHS's Real Problem Is Underfunding Not Australian Flu, Says Virologist that there has been no major outbreak of Australian flu in the UK and its threat is obscuring the real problem facing the NHS, which is underfunding. Concerns have been raised that an epidemic that hit New Zealand and Australia during the southern hemisphere’s winter could now be affecting the UK, after a sharp rise in flu related hospitalisations and deaths. The latest official figures showed that the number of hospitalisations in England almost tripled in a week from 2.33 to 6.82 per 100,000 of the population. There were also 24 flu related deaths in the last week of 2017, matching the toll from the start of winter up to that week. Influenza related deaths and hospitalisations are running at double the rate of last year. Public Health England (PHE) has said spikes can happen at different times and described the figures as in keeping with previous years. Nothing drastic is going on. The problem is there is a lack of investment, there are not enough doctors or nurses, and politicians are trying to blame the situation on influenza. I don’t see it causing all that many problems. What’s going to happen in the next few weeks is another case. At this moment in time there are no signs it is a great epidemic.
-‡. This Year’s Flu Is a Quirky, Vicious, Misbehaving Strain That Health Professionals Hate. Hospitals Grapple with Brutal Flu Season That Could Get Even Worse. [Map]. ¶ The Blackout in Puerto Rico Is Hurting Hospitals, Local Hospitals Dealing with IV Bag Shortage Caused by Puerto Rico Hurricane Damage, IV Bag Shortage Has Hospitals Scrambling to Treat Flu An ongoing shortage of fluids used to deliver medicine and treat dehydrated patients has hospital workers scrambling in the midst of a nasty flu season and supplies from factories in storm ravaged Puerto Rico have been slow to rebound. Supplies of saline and nutrient solutions were already tight before hurricanes pounded Puerto Rico and cut power to manufacturing plants that make much of the U.S. supply <ADDED 171015-171001-2.1>4B. Statement by FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, Update on Recovery Efforts in Puerto Rico, and Continued Efforts to Mitigate IV Saline and Amino Acid Drug Shortages, maybe a bit snarky but isn’t there a federal agency that gets critical infrastructure operating again. [Cartoon, Cartoon, Cartoon, Cartoon, Cartoon, Cartoon, Cartoon, Cartoon, Cartoon a recycle of Cartoon]. Hospitals Find Other Ways to Deliver Medicine amid IV Bag Shortage. ¶ Did President Donald Trump Get the Flu Shot -171119-2↓. Rise in Dog Flu Cases Has Pet Owners Worried. Veterinarians and pet owners across the country are warning dog lovers to get their pooch vaccinated with a newly released drug after an outbreak of the canine influenza, or dog flu, quickly spread throughout most of the country. ¶ We're Not Ready for a Flu Pandemic, how many times has this been said over the past few years. The Flu Vaccine Isn't Perfect – but That Doesn't Mean You Should Skip the Shot. Has Flu Season, in Full Swing, Reached its Height. An update out Friday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows patient traffic for flu is no longer skyrocketing the way it was in December. Many flu seasons don’t really get going until around Christmas, and don’t crescendo until February. That’s how last year’s flu season played out. This season got off to an early start and cases surged over the holidays. 20 Children Dead as Flu Reaches Epidemic Proportions, Flu Activity Still Rising, but CDC Warns Many Weeks of Activity Ahead, As Flu Spreads in Metro Detroit and Nationwide, Young Visitors Not as Welcome in Hospitals. There appears to be differences in interpretation if this epidemic is peaking or going higher. One reason for this is focusing on a jurisdiction rather than the total epidemiological region, and if measures are being taken to mitigate the next wave, Flu Activity in Canada 'High' and Continuing to Rise, Latest Public Health Numbers Say, PAHO Influenza Report EW 52, Influenza Update - 306. Since the increase in violence with the drug war in Mexico -3↓, followed by Trumpism policies, it has become more difficult to get direct public health surveillance information from Mexico. The Perfect Storm Behind This Year's Nasty Flu Season.
-2.1. Who Will Answer the Call in the next Outbreak. Drug Makers Feel Burned by String of Vaccine Pleas. Every few years an alarming disease launches a furious, out of the blue attack on people, triggering a high level emergency response. SARS. The H1N1 flu pandemic. West Nile and Zika. The nightmarish West African Ebola epidemic. In nearly each case, major vaccine producers have risen to the challenge, setting aside their profit making activities to try to meet a pressing societal need. With each successive crisis, they have done so despite mounting concerns that the threat will dissipate and with it the demand for the vaccine they are racing to develop (not to mention negative anti-vax claims of hoaxes, that BigPharma created the disease for profiteering). Now, manufacturers are expressing concern about their ability to afford these costly disruptions to their profit seeking operations. As a result, when the bat signal next flares against the night sky, there may not be anyone to respond.
-2.2. Ten Myths About the 1918 Flu Pandemic. The ‘greatest pandemic in history’ was 100 years ago – but many of us still get the basic facts wrong: 1 The pandemic originated in Spain. 2 The pandemic was the work of a super virus. 3 The first wave of the pandemic was most lethal. 4 The virus killed most people who were infected with it. 5 Therapies of the day had little impact on the disease. 6 The pandemic dominated the day’s news. 7 The pandemic changed the course of WWI. 8 Widespread immunization ended the pandemic. 9. The genes of the virus have never been sequenced. 10 The 1918 pandemic offers few lessons for 2018. Not one of these myths, except for 10, have any bearing on predicting parademic behavior in a future flu pandemic beyond the general assertion that there will always be myths during and after an accelerated biodisaster*. The Virus That Conquered the World: 100 Years Later, after the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 ravaged communities worldwide, the threat of another pandemic looms large as the scientific and global health communities find ways to prepare for, and battle, future outbreaks. The 1918 Flu Pandemic: Could it Happen Today. 171126-2 -2.2 -8, 171119-3.4, 171112-7.
-2.3‡. VCP News Archive: (non VCP). Ireland: HSE Says People Claiming to Be Nurses Are Warning Against HPV Vaccine on Social Media. Medical scams often times women who pose as nurses, both being figures of trust, though I have known in actual nurses who are anti-vaccine. It adds to the scam when there are concurrent unreliable sources that supported anti-vaccine in the past, create drama Could All NHSs Staff Be Forced to Have the Flu Jab. Britain's Top Doctor Calls for 'Serious Debate' Following Outbreak of 'Aussie' Virus Across the UK. Like any disaster waiting until the last moment to take mitigating actions is too late, UK: Doctors and Nurses Urged to Get Flu Jab amid Warnings That a French Epidemic Could Spread to Britain. | (Continuation of The Characteristics of Antivaccine Networks on Facebook same author as <ADDED 180107-171231-2‡>1). USA: The Anti-Vaccine Movement Shows Why Facebook Is Broken. Any media can be manipulated, it’s a characteristic of language that one can lie and manipulate it. Same can be said of books, statistics, arts, songs, drama are not broken simply because they can and have been used for propaganda; in this case UK: Fake News and Distrust of Science Could Lead to Global Epidemics, and result in Australia: 54 NSW Children Died of Diseases for Which There Is a Vaccine. One of the factors that makes propaganda effective is appeal to emotions, personal identification, values. These include what the individual considers are sober, rational, logical. USA: Facts Aren’t Everything – Understanding Parents’ Moral Reasons for Avoiding Vaccination (Association of Moral Values with Vaccine Hesitancy). In the meantime countries are trying various methods to get people to get vaccinated – India: No Vaccination, No Ration – up Health Dept Officials, Australia: No Jab No Play – New (WA) Vaccination Laws Reject Doctor’s Note.
-3. The Ecological Costs of War: Conflict a Consistent Killer of African Megafauna. Researchers report that war has been a consistent factor in the decades long decline of Africa's large mammals. But the researchers also found that wildlife populations rarely collapsed to the point where recovery was impossible, meaning that even protected areas severely affected by conflict are promising candidates for conservation and rehabilitation efforts. Part of the problem is that it is difficult to do biosurveillance in conflict zones. A problem can remain hidden for a long time making it more difficult to take mitigating action.
-4. Grocery Store Program Improves Farmers' Adoption of Environmental Practices. In one of the first analyses of a company led sustainability program in the food and agriculture space, researchers found a major grocery chain fostered increased adoption of environmental practices at the farm level. The Farming for the Future program combines annual auditor feedback with the individual needs of farmers, rather than imposing definitive rules. Farms are evaluated on sustainability criteria each year, including soil management, water use, biodiversity, waste disposal, pest management, carbon footprint and environmental laws. The company also employs auditors trained as agronomists, soil scientists or environmental scientists. When the auditor comes in, they drive up and they say, “Tell me about those trees – those are an invasive species and they're probably affecting your water table. Why aren't we working on a management plan to deal with those”. ¶ New Regulation Requires All Protected Species to Be Actively Looking for New Habitat in Order to Receive Funding, which is probably a variation of 8 Persistent Myths About Poverty in America, Kentucky Gets OK to Require Work from Medicaid Recipients, New Rules May Make Getting and Staying on Medicaid More Difficult, Economics and the Endangered Species Act -1.1↑, -4, -5.1, -*8↓ and Immigration Myths.
-5. We know that contaminated water, soil, land, air spread pathogens. It is possible that Light Pollution May Promote the Spread of West Nile Virus. After the West Nile virus appeared on the U.S. East Coast in 1999, it spread across the entire country in just a few years, sickening thousands of people and striking down whole flocks of robins, crows, and other birds. Now, a new study suggests the mosquito borne virus may have had an unexpected helper: light pollution. Birds infected with West Nile can spread the virus twice as long when they are exposed to night light. 171126-6.
-5.1. Why Air Pollution Is a Socioeconomic Issue. Too much pollution can pose a health risk to anyone, but whether it is lethal or not mostly depends on the person’s underlying health, and economic, status. -1.1, -4↑, -*8↓. Beijing Wins Battle for Blue Skies, but the Poor Are Paying a Price.
-6. #Linguistics. Why We Should Rethink How We Talk about “Alien” Species. In a trend that echoes the U.S.-Mexico border debate, some say that calling nonnative animals “foreigners” and “invaders” only worsens the problem. Ticks that carry cattle fever, a deadly bovine disease endemic to Mexico are carried by stray or infected cows that are tracked down and dipped in pesticide to kill the ticks and prevent them from spreading. Cattle fever ticks also have another host: Nilgai antelope, a species native to India that was imported to North America in the 1930s as an exotic target for game hunters. These antelope, like the ticks themselves, and the pathogen they carry, are considered an invasive species. They are cursed not only for their role as a disease vector, but because they eat native plants and compete with cattle for food. Unlike native white tailed deer, which also host ticks, they are subject to an unrestricted hunting season. ¶ The differences in how authorities treat domesticated cattle, native deer and wild, imported antelope illustrate a stark divide in ecology. For decades, both scientists and laypeople have referred to organisms like the Nilgai as alien, exotic and invasive. But as long as ecologists have warned about the danger of invasive species, others have asked whether this kind of language – which carries connotations of war and xenophobia – could cloud the science and make rational discussion more difficult. In the same border region, U.S. immigration officers look for signs of illegal human immigration into the United States. If caught, these immigrants, referred to as aliens or illegals, face arrest and deportation. The parallel has not been lost on those who study invasive species. The opposition of invasiveness to nativeness and purity and the many ways that invasiveness attaches to both human and nonhuman life. In an era of renewed focus on borders, it’s hard to ignore the similarities between how we talk about nonnative animals, hyperfertile -170827-2.1↓ foreigners colonizing native ecosystems, and the words some use to discuss human immigration. As international relations have become more heated, so too has the debate among researchers over the pointed rhetoric we use to talk about animals, plants and microorganisms that hail from elsewhere. Invasive Wild Monkeys Excreting Deadly Herpes B Virus Seen as Florida Public Health Threat. The Forgotten Needs of Refugees from Hurricane Irma -8↓.
-7. Considering refining the concept of analogue ∩ for parademic. Analogues are non biodisaster, non parademic that correlate with how humans behave in a biodisaster. A positive analogue +∩ is that the tendency of the analogue is to be like the parademic and/or likelihood of a biodisaster. lack of funding of public health and presence of an anti-vax cluster tends to positively correlate with an epidemic accelerating as well as correlating with other behaviors / beliefs that affect capability to weather a biodisaster; and forced migrations from war zones are likely to correlate with forced migrations from biodisasters Thinking Outside the Box on Climate Mitigation. | A negative correlation -∩ is an analogue where one would expect the tendency to be the complete opposite of a parademic behavior. This can still be predictive as it will be informative as the opposite will happen than. These can be harder to identify as they could be classified as denial or is proving a negative. One would expect anti-vax to be also concerned about over usage of antibiotics, but that does not seem to be the case. Determining why there is a lack of correlation between what would expect from data and what actually is can be more deeply information than +∩. Why Anti-Vaccination and Why Not Anti-Antibiotic Overuse. Why Don't More People Want to Donate Their Organs. More than 90 percent of people say they support organ donation in opinion polls, but less than one third are registered donors. What keeps well intentioned people from ultimately donating is something that academics, doctors, and organ donation activists are trying to figure out; More than 10,000 Donated Organs in 2017, Making a Record, maybe because of the celebrity effect, changing beliefs or stories of the benefits of organ donation. Sexually Transmitted Diseases Are at an All Time High. But Why. Half of patients visiting STD clinics were unwilling to use their health insurance to cover the cost of their visit -1↑ (the -∩, -171119-2↓), likely because of privacy concerns, the researchers concluded. The United States budget for "Abstinence Only Until Marriage" sex education in schools – which has been shown time and time again to be ineffective in combating both teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections – was increased to $85 million per year. The average high school health course includes less than four hours spent talking about all Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and pregnancy prevention combined, and 87 percent allow guardians to exclude their children from even this coursework. So on the one hand, it's not surprising to hear that rates of these infections are going up, on average, instead of down. And given the lack of education and discourse on these health issues, it would make sense for many Americans to interpret the findings of the CDC's annual STD Surveillance Report as the result of some sort of moral decline, The First Moral Panic: London, 1744. But according to medical professionals, the problem isn't that people are having more sex, the problem is that sexual healthcare, and the policies that fund it, are in dire shape – but this is confounded by Why Is the Teen Birth Rate Falling the use of some forms of highly effective contraceptive methods is increasing, US Teen Birth Rate Drops to All Time Low most teens are using some form of birth control. Others may come to different conclusions, and frankly teenagers tend to be an enigma [Meme, Memes] Today's Lame Ass Teens Are Drinking, Doing Drugs, and Boning Less Than Ever. | This then brings us to the last analogue, the null one ∅∩, that can be an anecdote or false correlation. This can be a behavior that is not based on physical reality. MMR Vaccine ≠ Autism, but still results in Anti-Vax. Is for sex education actually correlated with avoiding STD and pregnancy, or do teenagers have a more effective information system which by chance correlates with the fact that most teenagers attend school and interact with other teenagers in school related environments. One obvious solution to teen pregnancy and STD is to close down schools and have mandatory tracking of teenagers so they can’t get close to each other, or some sort of chastity device 2, More than 100 U.S. Schools Closed Because of Swine Flu (2009).
-8. Have been watching the various cholera outbreaks in Africa. Zambia seems to be taking a course toward more active civil unrest in the context of a Cholera outbreak*A. Root causes of violent conflict in developing countries (2002), A Strategic Conflict Assessment of Zambia (2009), Global Civil Unrest: Contagion, Self Organization, and Prediction (2012) the similarity between global social instability and the dynamics of natural hazards and epidemics. What’s Going On in Zambia (2016). | Chaile Backs Cancellation of UPND Rally over Cholera Threats. Zambia Suspends Passport Issuance in Capital amid Cholera Outbreak. Cholera Death Toll Rises to 66 as CDF Diverted to Cholera Fight. Zambia: Government Declares Cholera Curfew in Capital, Zambia Declares Curfew in Lusaka Slum Struck by Cholera, Cholera Curfew Imposed in Kanyama*B. Namibia Bans Food Imports from Cholera Hit Zambia. Day of Cleaning. Lungu Suggests Dedicated National Day of Cleaning Involving All Citizens to Promote Sense of Hygiene*C. Zambia Shuts down All Schools to Combat Cholera Outbreak, H5N1 Comment*D. Note the typical slow build up, similar to biodisaster, and then an acceleration, or stimulus (bio)event. You Can’t Fight Cholera with a Curfew, Kanyama Riots and the Call for Early Elections, Zambia Arrests 55 in Riots over Cholera Control Rules. Zambian troops entered a slum in Lusaka on Friday to restore order after residents rioted over a curfew and ban on street vending imposed to control a cholera outbreak. The riots in the densely populated Kanyama township were sparked after police sealed off a market where trading had been banned on Sunday, when the curfew was declared. Cholera has killed more than 60 people in the Zambian capital since it broke out there in October. Street vending and public gatherings were banned across Lusaka to prevent the spread of the disease, but residents of Kanyama, where around 370,000 people live, have been defying the order at night. The army was deployed after locals destroyed property and looted shops. Unlikely that this will grow into a civil war unless there are more incidents and increased repression. Government Hopeful of Eliminating Cholera in Few Weeks’ Time, unlikely if they don’t get to the root cause and increases likelihood of more draconian (and ineffective) measures being taken. Zambia Relaxes Restrictions as Cholera Outbreak Slows, Public Schools to Reopen on 23rd January. #Document Ethical and Legal Considerations in Mitigating Pandemic Disease: Workshop Summary. Chapter 3 Strategies for Disease Containment. -171224-3↓.
-*A. Why Economists Make Terrible Fortunetellers. Try to make sense of phenomena which are inextricably linked to human behavior and desire, factors that can be notoriously unknowable, even to the individuals themselves. We might understand what actions will cause ripples; we don’t know what causes people to make those ripples, when they’ll do it, or how forcefully. Self interest and profit motives are thought to be the biggest drivers, but humans, by nature, are often spurred by a sense of cooperation, purpose and, sometimes, selflessness. One cannot ultimately understand movements of these magnitudes without taking note of the objectives, knowledge, reasoning and decisions of the members of the society. What may be called mindless. Wall Street Analysts Are Embarrassingly Bad at Predicting the Future analysts overvalue of good news, which leads to too rosy predictions; likewise, they also get too scared of bad news. This bias that have the kernel of truth effect could help explain whys of what happens, how our cognitive shortcuts can influence the choices we make. -1.1, -4, -5.1↑. There's an Easy Way to Show the Stock Market Rally Has Little to Do with Trump.
-*B. Clinically curfew is not an effective means of social distancing to prevent spread of an epidemic, but then that is not the actual purpose of the curfew. Curfew is to control movement and make it easier to identify those who are not following rules. Curfew makes it easier to prevent crimes of looting homes where people have died or fled, pilfering medical supplies, giving public health enforcement a chance for some rest. Curfews do help control disease spread in terms of hindering the hiding of the dead and sick, the breaking of quarantine, but also interfers with getting food and other needed supplies, checking on others who need help, disrupting political gatherings, and in situations of fear increases uncertainty. These all increase civil unrest.
-*C. Though this will help overall public health, Cholera is a waterborne disease. Fecal matter is contaminating the water supply and that is the long term issue being addressed. It is possible that this is recognizing that the larger population is unfamiliar with germ theory in favor of something that more like miasma. This may help set the stage for water sanitation. To get an idea of how difficult changing peoples perception see Get Well Soon, Chapter 8, page 126 to 143. <ADDED 171105-171015-3>1B.
-*D. See January 12, 2010: Blogging Haiti's Earthquake for some insights into H5N1's interests and skews. Jan 12, 2010, Massive Earthquake Strikes Haiti.
-8.1. Meanwhile back at the White House Trump: Why Allow Immigrants from Shithole Countries*, Defeat Trump's 'S---hole' Politics of Racism in 2018, 2020 [Tweet], Trump Denies Haiti Slur amid Fallout from ‘Shithole’ Comment; concurrent with 200,000 Salvadorans May Be Forced to Leave the U.S. as Trump Ends Immigration Protection, H5N1 Comment. Trump Is Revoking 260,000 Salvadoran Immigrants’ Permission to Live in the United States, and don’t forget Africa has disappeared 171224-2*A. Senators Reach Bipartisan Agreement on Immigration – Maybe, and partisan lines on what Trump said [Tweet]. Trump Wishes We Had More Immigrants from Norway. Turns out We Once Did, but why would they come here now Who'd Prefer Their Country to Trump's U.S. Norwegians Would; they live longer than Americans, there's a generous safety net of health care and pensions, and last year was named the happiest on Earth. What He Said Was Basically a Form of Eugenics: A Professor on Trump’s “Shithole Countries” Remarks, Neo-Nazis Celebrate Trump S---hole Comment: He’s on the Same Page as Us, Trump Responds to 'S---hole' Outcry with 'America First!' Tweet. Making the Case That Discrimination Is Bad for Your Health. -6↑. *Using Potentially Offensive Language.
-180107-3>1. Got Diarrhea. The Latest Trend in Fashionable Nonsense Is Raw Water. In pseudoscience, appeals to nature are everywhere. It’s not surprising, then, that there is profit to be made selling “raw” (i.e., untreated) water at very high prices for its nonexistent health benefits, those benefits all claimed to be due to the “naturalness” of the water. I can’t help but note that cholera, Giardia, amoebic dysentery, and a wide variety of waterborne illnesses prevented by modern water treatment techniques are all very, very natural. Is Vitamin Enhanced Water Better for You than Regular Water. Let Me Tell You about the Violent Diarrhea I Got from Raw River Water. ¶ How the Victorians Help Explain Our Obsession with the Microbiome. Our obsession with gut health, diet and well being is far from new. The Victorians had very similar concerns.
-180107-8>2. One of the reasons for preferring a Public Health approach to a Law Enforcement one is that it takes in a larger perspective of what happens with a solution. Unfortunately it is also assumed to be a more expensive and takes a longer time than a simple and satisfying lock em up 2 3 4 approach. No matter which approach is taken, they both need data for feedback on course corrections and assure the intended goal is being reached without unfortunate consequences that could be worse than the original problem. As Opioid Crisis Strains Foster Care, States Aren’t Tracking the Damage, Growing Opioid Epidemic Forcing More Children into Foster Care. The opioid crisis is causing serious consequences across the country. One of the biggest, illicit opioid abusers are neglecting their children, resulting in more kids being removed from their homes. A new study finds a direct correlation between the epidemic and growing number of children placed in foster care. In 2015, roughly two out of every 1000 kids and teens were removed from their homes due to parental neglect, reflecting a staggering 129 percent increase since 2012. The number of opioids prescribed during this same time period rose 9 percent. In 2012, doctors prescribed 72.33 prescriptions for every 100 residents. The rate grew to 81.34 by 2015, averaging 74.1 prescriptions during the 2012-2015 time frame. It's important to note the rate dropped 2.5 percent in 2013, following the implementation of several new state policies regarding pain clinics and a prescription drug monitoring program. On average, for every additional 6.7 opioid prescriptions per 100 people, the removal rate for parental neglect increased by 32 percent. This estimated increase corresponds to roughly 2000 additional children removed, resulting in an annual state fiscal cost of $40 million. Previous studies have shown children removed from their homes due to parental neglect have a greater likelihood of juvenile delinquency, teen motherhood, mental and physical health problems and adult criminality. While the reported drop in opioid prescription rates over the last two years is encouraging, unfortunately it appears illicit opioid use has more than offset the decrease. We need to keep affected children in the forefront of our minds when tackling this crisis. ¶ Another unconsidered consequence is Mapping How the Opioid Epidemic Sparked an HIV Outbreak -1↑.
-A‡. How drug addiction is handled gives an indication of how other medical and biodisaster are handled. Different Takes on the Opioid Crisis. An Indiana County Just Halted a Lifesaving Needle Exchange Program, Citing the Bible. The program has overwhelming evidence behind it, but that wasn’t enough to save it. Stigma Continues to Hamper Response to Opioid Epidemic, There’s a Highly Successful Treatment for Opioid Addiction, but Stigma Is Holding it Back. The Maker of Oxycontin Likes Rick Scott’s Plan to Limit Opioids. So Why Don’t Others. Gov. Rick Scott is pushing legislation that would be a modest step toward combating the state’s growing opioid crisis. But it’s placing the former healthcare company CEO in an unusual spot: He’s at odds with doctors, drug companies and some fellow Republicans, who fear losing control or profits from Scott’s legislation. A Seven Step Plan for Ending the Opioid Crisis. Judge Urges Action on 100 Percent Manmade Opioid Crisis. Trump Administration Halts Evidence Based Program That Evaluates Behavioral Health Therapies. Senate Health Committee Hosts Opioid Hearing with a Single Witness: A Journalist. Trump Says 'I Think I Know Answer' to Drug Crisis, Adds Us May Not Be Ready. Trump Signs Bill to Improve Opioid Screening Technology. Hospitals Brace Patients for Pain to Reduce Risk of Opioid Addiction. Trump Promised To Liberate Americans From Opioid Crisis. States Say LittleHas Been Done. Rereading the Story of the Crack Epidemic. As policymakers seek solutions for the ongoing opioid epidemic, it’s worth remembering how sensationalist reporting can lead to troubling responses. ¶ Conservatives Are Now Getting Angry about Google's Fact Checking Module.
-B. Being prepared for a medical and biodisaster in the first place is another good indicator, of if preparation is being scaled back. Broadening the Public Health Security Agenda. Midway into 2014, public health emergencies around the world pepper local news headlines and raise concern for U.S. residents. Some biological incidents capture the broader attention of the public, for example: the novel emerging infectious disease Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; the Ebola hemorrhagic fever virus epidemic in western Africa; or the seemingly continuous threat from influenza virus out of Asia. Others remain a sidebar in the news, such as: the chikungunya virus epidemics in eastern Africa and the Caribbean; or the current dengue virus epidemic in the 2014 Soccer World Cup and 2016 Olympics host nation Brazil. None of these threats is far beyond the reach of domestic borders. Few pharmaceutical interventions exist for many endemic infectious diseases that continue to spread beyond previously isolated / neglected geographic regions. Even fewer pharmaceutical interventions, if any, exist for emerging infectious diseases such as MERS-CoV. Often the painful consequence of unavailable pharmaceuticals, if other nonpharmaceutical interventions are not immediately applied, is significant morbidity and/or mortality. Given the nature of some of these diseases with either a high mortality rate – the estimated mortality rates for MERS-CoV and Ebola are 30-60 percent and 59-90 percent, respectively – or significant morbidity rate, the effect is felt well beyond public health institutions and hospitals. What is intensifying the threat is that, for many diseases, the vulnerable population expands beyond the immunocompromised, the children, and the elderly. Some of these diseases have been aggressively reaching healthy members of society, including front line healthcare workers, who are raising concerns that these disease outbreaks may severely stress the workforce and subsequently the critical infrastructure.
-C. A last indicator is if people even think about it, or avoid the topic. Restaurant Patrons Sickened After Eavesdropping on Medical Professionals During Meal. The mix of physicians, nurses, and paramedics had gathered to relax after a reportedly grueling day at work and blow off some steam. The told the tales of the day, inclusive of trails of c-diff, macerated body parts, and the discovery of stow-away maggots. The group grew louder while swapping stories accented by knowing groans and inappropriate laughter. Hearing such a jovial group, other patrons began eavesdropping on their stories. That was the pivotal moment of tonight’s incident.
-171224-3>3. Apparently the steady climb in case numbers has silenced any further claims that the case count was exaggerated. Yemen: 1,032,518 Cholera Cases as of January 12. Life Saving Diphtheria Vaccination Campaign Remains Stalled in Yemen. -8↑.
-171119-2>4, <ADDED 180107>3. Fallout from 'Nuclear Button' Tweets: Jump in Sales of Radiation Drug. After a war of words between President Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong Un over the ability to launch nuclear attacks from their desks, orders rose for pills to protect against radiation. Trump’s Tweets Cause Sales of Anti-Radiation Drug to Skyrocket.
-A. -∩ -7↑ Unable to find data if there is an increase in flu related purchases before flu season, a known threat that will occur again, in fact is occurring now. Could be because that radiation medication purchases were anomalous it attracted attention while flu being mundane is a constant cycle or reminders to get the flu shot. People usually don’t worry about shortages of flu related supplies, though the dread of The 2009 H1N1 Pandemic: Summary Highlights, April 2009-April 2010 was an exception. Cold and Flu on the Rise. How to Prepare: 1 Stock up on supplies. 2 Check your medicine cabinet. 3 Be strict about washing hands. 4 Set up sanitizer stations. 5 Plan for sick days. 6 Line up support. 7 Disinfect. 8 Switch to paper goods. 9 Fill the fridge and pantry. 10 Rest. 11 Get your flu shot. In general the recommendation is to get the flu shot in the fall, which also is when the vaccine becomes available. Presumably there is a spike in getting a flu shot before the flu season begins. Flu Vaccination Coverage, United States, 2016-17 Influenza Season. -2↑.
-B. CDC Postpones Session on Preparing for the Unthinkable: A Nuclear Blast. It has drawn intense interest given escalating tensions between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. This may be to ease tensions and noticeable jumpiness, Missile Threat Alert for Hawaii a False Alarm, Missile Alert Mistake Feeds Doubts about a Real Emergency, [Alert]. ¶ It may also be due to too much interest which could crash the webcast, echoing a similar concern from, Trump Moves Back 'Fake News Awards', Citing High Interest, though one suspects the reason given is not the real reason. Donald Trump’s ‘Fake News Awards’ Could Land White House Staff in Hot Water. Will be interesting to see if it actually is done on January 17.
-171217-9.3>5, <ADDED 180107>2. Soft Power: The Over Determined Politicization of Vulnerable in the #CDC7words. 170917-1.4. At first blush, the inclusion of the word vulnerable alongside words like fetus, evidence based, and diversity in the list of 7 words discouraged for use in budget documents from the CDC evokes a feeling that ‘one of these things is not like the other’. Considering the other six words, a critical mind can see the potential for triggering the sensitivities of a polarized polity, even if a budgeteer chooses such words precisely for their neutral technicality. But vulnerable is at once so simple and fungible a word as to seem mostly innocuous, if also somewhat tonally tender for bureaucratese. We might call vulnerable a word about softness, one that denotes susceptibility to attack or a delicacy to being dented or nicked. Yet a tour through the particular health discourses in which the word vulnerable plays a singular role reveals some troubling implications of its inclusion on a list of words in official disfavor.
-170827-2.1>6, <ADDED 180107>5. Persistence in a belief related to an health threat for which there is no evidence, but is used to justify a political action. This is acerbated by different government departments that are in competition that should be cooperating. This would seem political risky but unless there is solid proof of cause or of synchronicity this is trying to disprove a negative, and even if there is solid evidence that will still not change people beliefs. US Lawmakers Say Cuba Knows Who is Behind 'Bizarre' Attacks on Diplomats, Tillerson Tells AP Cuba Still Risky; FBI Doubts Sonic Attack, Senate Holds Hearing on Cuba Sonic Attacks, Tillerson Says No Diplomats Return to Cuba Yet. Note the change to health attacks, and even vaguer term US to Further Probe 'Health Attacks' Against Diplomats in Cuba, Rex Tillerson to Order New Probe of Havana Embassy Health 'Attacks', or a bioattack US Stands by Claim Workers Attacked in Cuba, Maybe by Virus. What Harmed U.S. Diplomats in Cuba. The Mystery Continues. Similar to biotrumpism theme that certain foreigners are a contamination -6↑ risk that needs to be kept out, expelled, and kept at more than arms length. Cause of Symptoms Affecting Canadian Diplomats in Cuba Remains a Mystery. American and Canadian diplomats have experienced similar symptoms, there are differences between the cases. While many Americans reported injuries after hearing what they described as a high pitched sound, only one Canadian heard the sound and experienced symptoms afterward. Other Canadian diplomats and their families heard the sound, but didn't get symptoms. Canada Says No Conclusion on Cause of Unusual Health Issues in Cuba.
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