Was unterscheidet Innere Medizin von Allgemeinmedizin, selbst wenn beide hausärztlich arbeiten? Für Jean-François Chenot ist es »more bang for the buck«. Eine Gespräch übers Seinlassen und die Weiterbildung. 🎙️#Allgemeinmedizin #InnereMedizin #Weiterbildung #BÄK #DGIM #DEGAM #PublicHealth #ÄrzteTag #Medizin
ÄrzteTag: »Wir sind die Spaßverderber für die Organ- und Labor-Party!«
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/26/malaria-mosquito-vaccine-disease
#Vaccination #PublicHealth #Immunisation #Africa #Medicine #Health
Something Needs To Be Done To Big Pharma
#Medicine #MedicalTesting #TB #PublicHealth #SpreadingTheWord
Ignorance and disinformation have a big cost.
But now giant clumps of the 13m-ton morass labeled the Great Atlantic sargassum belt are washing up on Florida’s beaches, scientists are warning of a real-life threat from the piles of decomposing algae, namely high levels of the flesh-eating Vibrio bacteria lurking in the vegetation.
Even more worrying, the researchers say, is the role of ocean pollution in the proliferation of the bacteria, which can cause disease and death if a person gets infected.
Samples tested from the Caribbean and #Sargasso Sea within the Atlantic were abundant with plastic debris, which interacted with the algae and bacteria to create a “perfect pathogen storm [with] implications for both marine life and public health”.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/03/sargassum-seaweed-algae-florida-bacteria-vibrio
#CapitalismFails #PeopleNotProfits #CorporateTerrorism #bacteria #pathogen #plastics #pollution #oceans #algae #Caribbean #Florida #environment #Vibrio #flesh #FleshEating #Flesh-Eating #PublicHealth #health #beaches #toxic
Watered-down language in the latest draft of the ‘pandemic treaty’ worries researchers.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01805-4
#Covid #CovidIsNotOver #medical #PublicHealth #healthcare #virus
Q: Why haven’t there been any new variants since Omicron?
A: We currently have lots of “sub-variants” that are direct offspring of Omicron, but they don't qualify for new Greek letters from the WHO because they aren't different enough from previous variants of concern.
TL;DR: SARS-CoV-2 is still evolving, but it’s not making as large of genetic leaps as it once did. This has left us with the alphanumeric soup of Omicron children named things like BQ.1.1. and XBB.1.16. 🙈
Like any family tree, all SARS-CoV-2 variants can be traced back to a common ancestor—the original Wuhan strain. From there the family tree expanded, with variant branches such as Alpha, Beta, and Delta coming on the scene with lots of new mutations. While it’s not known for sure, these early variants may have developed in immunocompromised people where they had more time to replicate and mutate within one host to take those larger genetic leaps.
New variants that “won the lottery” with their mutations, meaning they were more transmissible and/or could evade existing immunity, also won the race to infect and crowded out other variants. Delta was very dominant in its era, so it seemed likely that the next important variant would descend from Delta.
Instead, in late 2021 the Omicron variant took the world by surprise. Omicron had A LOT of new mutations but was not a descendent of Delta and didn’t have any close relatives in the more recent SARS-CoV-2 family tree--like a true long-lost cousin showing up and surprising everyone at the family reunion.
Omicron got a new Greek letter not only due to its genetic differences but also because it met the criteria of “variant of concern” with increased transmissibility and immune escape compared to other variants. All new variants circulating since then have been offspring of Omicron, but none have started behaving differently enough to be classified as “variants of concern” and earn their own Greek letter.
Scientists are currently watching the latest Omicron offspring, XBB.1.16, which seems to be contributing to a surge in India and has been reported in a few US states. In India XBB.1.16. is becoming dominant, a sign that it might have some transmission advantage. So far there is no evidence of increased severity of XBB.1.16.
WHO's switch to Greek letters for naming SARS-CoV-2 variants was meant to avoid stigmatizing locations where variants were first identified, but also to make it easier to communicate compared to cumbersome scientific naming conventions. Sadly the long list of numbered and lettered Omicron subvariants has certainly not helped with clear communication!
Even so, the WHO continues to support new Greek letter labels only for variants of concern that take “major evolutionary steps.” Overall, it could be good news if SARS-CoV-2 is settling down and taking smaller steps rather than large genetic leaps. But of course, it is still possible that an Omicron descendent could make a big jump (perhaps mutating from a long-lasting infection in an immunocompromised person) or that a variant could emerge that’s unrelated to Omicron but from a variant circulating at low levels.
Overall, we can probably expect less variant “news” than we’ve had the past three years. As you might have noticed from the nicknames of some of the recent Omicron subvariants (like the “Kraken”), not many are living up to the hype right now. With high levels of population immunity from vaccination and infection, we’re seeing a pattern of smaller but persistent waves of SARS-CoV-2 regardless of the dominant subvariant.
As always, the best thing YOU can do is give the virus fewer tickets to win the genetic lottery--by giving it fewer chances to infect and make copies of itself. You can lower your risk of infection through vaccination (get that booster!) and your other tried and true prevention measures.
SARS-CoV-2's family tree. It's full of surprises:
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/02/09/1047616658/take-a-look-at-sars-cov-2s-family-tree-its-full-of-surprises
What to know about the XBB.1.16 COVID variant causing concern in India:
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/xbb116-covid-variant-causing-concern-india/story
Omicron, Delta, Alpha, and More: What To Know About the Coronavirus Variants:
https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/covid-19-variants-of-concern-omicron
Update of WHO’s working definitions and tracking system for SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and variants of interest:
https://www.who.int/news/item/16-03-2023-statement-on-the-update-of-who-s-working-definitions-and-tracking-system-for-sars-cov-2-variants-of-concern-and-variants-of-interest
#variants #Omicron #virology #publichealth #covid #vaccinate
This falls under a couple of different headings.
Public Health was once a real thing. Diseases that once killed thousands per year and were considered under control are emerging again.
The causes are multiple, homelessness, poverty, mental illness, or just stubborn selfish disregard for others.
In this case the person in question may just fall into the last category, or the last two.
But she is a clear and present danger to those around her, and reasonable solutions are not working.
#health #PublicHealth
ars technica
As China grapples with its first-ever national COVID-19 wave, emergency wards in small cities and towns southwest of Beijing are stunned as they attempt to reel with the massive influx of critical cases.
Emergency rooms are turning away ambulances, relatives of sick people are searching for open beds, and patients are slumped on benches in hospital corridors and lying on floors for lack of beds.
In more than three decades of emergency medicine, Beijing-based doctor Howard Bernstein said, he has never seen anything like this.
#China #pandemic #hospitals #Covid #Covid19 #CovidIsNotOver #PublicHealth #ScienceMatters
Never trust a #libertarian with #science or health issues.
💡10 Fascinating Facts About Your Heart🫀
How many times does a heart beat during the day?
On average, an adult’s heart beats:
– 72 times a minute
– 100,000 times a day
– 36,000,000 times a year
What is the weight of the human heart?
A healthy heart only weighs 11 ounces on average and can pump 2,000 gallons of blood through 60,000 miles of blood vessels each day.
How much energy does the human heart generate?
In a lifetime, the human heart has the power to create enough energy to drive a truck to the moon and back.
How does blood get distributed through the body?
– 5% goes to the heart
– 20% goes to the brain and central nervous system
– 22% goes to the kidneys
How many cells receive blood?
75 trillion cells receive blood pumped from the heart.
Is the human heart a powerful muscle?
During a lifetime, the human heart generates 2.5 gigajoules of energy, making it the muscle that does the most physical work.
Which heart beats faster? Man or woman?
A woman’s heart beats faster than a man’s:
– Woman: 78 beats per minute.
– Man: 70 beats per minute.
Does lack of sleep affect the human heart?
Prolonged lack of sleep can cause irregular jumping heartbeats called premature ventricular contractions (PVCs).
How fast does blood travel through the human body while resting?
When the body is at rest, it takes the blood:
– 6 seconds to go from the heart to the lungs and back.
– 8 seconds to go to the brain and back.
– 16 seconds to reach the toes and travel all the way back to the heart
Do all organs receive blood?
The corneas are the only parts of the body that receive no blood supply from the heart. Since they don’t have blood vessels, they get nutrients via tears and aqueous humor.
Image Credit: Doctor Jana Cosa Nostra (@doctorjana57)
#health #science #publichealth #wellness #healthcare #medicine
Young children are being taken to hospital suffering with scurvy because their parents can't afford to feed them fruit and vegetables, nurses are warning.
Last year, a was reported.
There was tripling of hospital admissions for malnutrition since 2010, which was branded "a shameful indictment on a decade of the Tories" by Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth.
The worrying increases coincide with soaring numbers of people relying on food banks as the cost of living crisis deepens.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/kids-rushed-hospital-scurvy-parents-27922386
#UnitedKingdom #ToriesDestroyingOutCountry #ToryProfiteers #ToryCORRUPTION #PeopleNotProfits #CapitalismFails #TrickleDownEconomics #scurvy #children #hospitalisation #poverty #PovertyUK #ToryFascistDictatorship #medical #HealthCare #PublicHealth #ToryTerrorism #ToryCostOfGreedCrisis
With 80% of the eligible #UK population #vaccinated with two doses against #Covid-19, we're still losing over a thousand people a week and nearly a thousand a day are being admitted to hospital.
We got to this stage because politicians know very little about science and don't listen to expert advice.
Genug für alle da°
https://twitter.com/EMA_News/status/1435993283826749442
