Another great talk at TED:
“Drug-resistant bacteria kills, even in top hospitals. But now tough infections like staph and anthrax may be in for a surprise. Nobel-winning chemist Kary Mullis, who watched a friend die when powerful antibiotics failed, unveils a radical new cure that shows extraordinary promise.”
Guest Post:
The word pandemic has been thrown around in recent years because of the prevalence of many major illnesses that have occurred throughout the third world nations as well as even many Western nations. However, the recent Swine Flu outbreak has caused much deliberation as to the proper terminology of the word itself.
There have been generations of widespread epidemics in the past that have included influenza, cholera, and a multitude of other diseases. However, the World Health Organization has come up with a six-tiered level in which to determine when to implement specific disease control efforts around the world, which has successfully led to many countries quarantining illnesses which could be easily spread abroad. However, the true definition of a pandemic is not delivered by the WHO nor can medical journals accurately define it as well. Rather, the general public is on its own to determine what a pandemic ensues, as it implies the “rapid spread of an infectious disease to many countries”. However, the severity of pandemics vary with each disease, and not every country is affected when an outbreak occurs.
Additionally, the variety of different illnesses affects the overall terminology of the word; scientists and doctors alike are still unsure as to how pandemics arise, how they spread, and why they vary in their lethality. The background of the originating country has a lot to do with the severity and contamination of the impending illness and helps contribute to the overall definition of a pandemic. The recent Swine Flu outbreak has increased concerns over the spread of a disease within these “Western nations” which otherwise were remarkably protected from threat of outside illnesses that could infiltrate these nations. The fact that the United States was one of the first countries to report signs of such a disease caused the WHO to scramble to upgrade their alert system in order to properly take care of this problem. It is unfortunate that it takes a Western nation to cause this much concern over an illness, while many African nations have been experiencing similar epidemics. The new limelight on these Western nations is solely due to the international trade that occurs within many of these nations, which therefore caused the disease to be spread throughout Europe, Asia, and Australia.
This new illness caused the WHO much stress as to a proper cure for the illness as well as a way in which to quarantine travelers from disease-ridden countries. While the illness can be treated with regular flu remedies, the fact that so many outside the tradition flu age group were coming down with the illness and succumbing to its side effects caused the WHO to take drastic measures and qualify it (perhaps prematurely) as a pandemic. This recent flu outbreak is vastly different from any earlier outbreaks which may be labeled as “true” pandemics, but this type of definition is forever changing and it may take another widespread illness before we can determine what is the proper scenario in which to classify as a pandemic.
This post was contributed by Meredith Walker, (Online nursing schools). She welcomes your feedback at MeredithWalker1983 at gmail.com
References: WHO Pandemic Phase Descriptions (pdf)
“Using genetic sequencing, needle-haystack research, and dogged persistence, Nathan Wolfe has proven what was science-fiction conjecture only a few decades ago — not only do viruses jump from animals to humans, but they do so all the time. Along the way Wolfe has discovered several new viruses, and is poised to discover many more. His research may open the door before the next pandemic may happen.”
Watch this awesome presentation at TED 2009.
A related presentation was given by Joe DiRisi at TED 2006 in which he described a DNA Microarray test (Virochip) that can not only detect all viruses in one test but also has the capability (and technology) to detect relatively unknown viruses.
This video explains how the salmonella outbreak related to peanuts was identified and how the affected products are being identified and recalled.
Updated information regarding the outbreak can be found at the CDC website.
Updated peanut butter and related product recall list from FDA.
Poliomyelitis is a deadly disease which may affect the central nervous system leading to irreversible flaccid paralysis of the legs. Since it strikes children at a very young age, affected children are paralyzed for their entire life.
Google’s philanthropic arm – Google.org is about to release a movie titled “The Final Inch” to document the historic effort to eradicate this disease from the planet. Once we succeed this will be second disease after small pox to be found only in history books (and/or some covert lab, somewhere in the world).
The Final Inch is a 38-minute film about the historic global effort to eradicate polio. Here, the story told is as much about the messengers as the message. You’ll meet Munzareen Fatima, one of the thousands of community “foot soldiers” across India working to sway reluctant families to vaccinate their children, and Dr. Ashfaq Bhat, who travels into the backwaters of India’s Ganges Basin by boat and foot to detect emerging cases of polio. Martha Mason and Mikail Davenport bring us into their lives and describe the paralyzing challenges of childhood polio, reminding us how endemic polio once was in the United States.
Filmed in high-definition (HD) in cinematic style — wide open shots to give a strong sense of place — The Final Inch captures their stories, and we hope it is both a tribute and an inspiration of hope. With a final push, this is a disease that can, and should, be eradicated finally.
The movie airs on HBO in 2009. Check out the film trailer:
RSS subscription
| We comply with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here. |
