http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/09/sav001-hiv-vaccine-side-effects-adverse_n_2102593.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular
One Step Closer
The researchers from the University of Western Ontario have been working hard and may have developed a vaccine for HIV. Christened SAV001-H, it has been tested on a subject, and so far hasn't shown any adverse side effects and also seemed to boost the body's antibody formation against the virus. "Sumagen announced today the patient enrollment has progressed smoothly and there have been no adverse effects observed including local reactions, signs/symptoms and laboratory toxicities after SAV001-H injection in all enrolled patients to date."
It now goes on to further testing to see how safe this vaccine really is. The FDA has already approved a medication that will prevent HIV in healthy people, called Truvada. This pill is specifically for people who are at a high risk, such as their partner is infected. They take the pill and then they may sleep safe at night. This current vaccines though is very exciting and could be the first step towards eliminating HIV-Aids.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Monday, November 5, 2012
Issues with affordable Anti-Malaria
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96705/GLOBAL-The-trouble-with-affordable-anti-malarials
The Affordable Medicines Facility (AMF) for malaria drugs - administered by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria - has been controversial from the start. Most of the vendors in Africa that provide these medications have no medical training, have pill bottles just lying out for purchase, they don't write prescriptions, and there's always the worry that what you're buying is not the real thing. Restricting them from selling though can be dangerous, for those who live in a village that is very far from a clinic.
Ten years ago it became evident that these vendors were going to be a problem, they were selling cheaper versions of the drugs, outdated versions, weaker versions which was almost sure to end up in a resistance buildup and make the drugs ineffective.
A plan was put into action to flood that market with the effective expensive drugs, but at lower prices, what that ended up creating was a bad system, but with better drugs. Since introducing this system other complications have arisen too. Even though these shopkeepers are selling the top brand drugs at a low price, they still are untrained medically and unable to make a diagnosis. How does one treat a disease with no knowledge of what it is or the steps that need to be taken to cure it.
Its a tough situation to weigh out, remove those vendors and you critically restrict a poor populations access to medicine. Continue to let those vendors exist and you potentially put the same people at risk, having access to medicine is only beneficial if youre getting the medicine you need.
The Affordable Medicines Facility (AMF) for malaria drugs - administered by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria - has been controversial from the start. Most of the vendors in Africa that provide these medications have no medical training, have pill bottles just lying out for purchase, they don't write prescriptions, and there's always the worry that what you're buying is not the real thing. Restricting them from selling though can be dangerous, for those who live in a village that is very far from a clinic.
Ten years ago it became evident that these vendors were going to be a problem, they were selling cheaper versions of the drugs, outdated versions, weaker versions which was almost sure to end up in a resistance buildup and make the drugs ineffective.
A plan was put into action to flood that market with the effective expensive drugs, but at lower prices, what that ended up creating was a bad system, but with better drugs. Since introducing this system other complications have arisen too. Even though these shopkeepers are selling the top brand drugs at a low price, they still are untrained medically and unable to make a diagnosis. How does one treat a disease with no knowledge of what it is or the steps that need to be taken to cure it.
Its a tough situation to weigh out, remove those vendors and you critically restrict a poor populations access to medicine. Continue to let those vendors exist and you potentially put the same people at risk, having access to medicine is only beneficial if youre getting the medicine you need.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
http://www.guatemala-times.com/health/global-health/3389-preventing-maternal-mortality-a-complications.html
Babies having Babies
Every year, 16 million girls between 15-19 give birth before they really are ready to. In many countries, having a child as an adolescent can nearly double your risk of maternal death. Conditions and complications from pregnancy is the 2nd most common cause of death among young females. Severe bleeding, infections, unsafe abortion and high blood pressure conditions are four of the main factors that cause 70 percent of deaths. In all, over 358,000 women die per year and most of these are preventable. Among these data, this article provides more and more data, seemingly to inform the masses. Unsafe abortions is one of the most astonishing topics I thought that this article had to include. WHO defines unsafe abortion as a “procedure for terminating a pregnancy that is performed by an individual lacking the necessary skills, or in an environment that does not conform to minimal medical standards, or both.” There are over 18 million of these unsafe abortions held worldwide yearly. The article then goes on to say that education is directly related to the health of these women, and their children. The education of mothers is directly related to their health and their childs health, and in turn, has other positive effects, being educated and healthy helps create less of a burden on healthcare delivery systems and overall improves society. With this article, hopefully the young women of today will read through it and become informed for the next generation.
Babies having Babies
Every year, 16 million girls between 15-19 give birth before they really are ready to. In many countries, having a child as an adolescent can nearly double your risk of maternal death. Conditions and complications from pregnancy is the 2nd most common cause of death among young females. Severe bleeding, infections, unsafe abortion and high blood pressure conditions are four of the main factors that cause 70 percent of deaths. In all, over 358,000 women die per year and most of these are preventable. Among these data, this article provides more and more data, seemingly to inform the masses. Unsafe abortions is one of the most astonishing topics I thought that this article had to include. WHO defines unsafe abortion as a “procedure for terminating a pregnancy that is performed by an individual lacking the necessary skills, or in an environment that does not conform to minimal medical standards, or both.” There are over 18 million of these unsafe abortions held worldwide yearly. The article then goes on to say that education is directly related to the health of these women, and their children. The education of mothers is directly related to their health and their childs health, and in turn, has other positive effects, being educated and healthy helps create less of a burden on healthcare delivery systems and overall improves society. With this article, hopefully the young women of today will read through it and become informed for the next generation.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Update on SARS-Like virus
http://www.thespec.com/news/article/821454--new-sars-like-virus-discovered-before-it-causes-outbreak
New SARS-like virus discovered before it causes outbreak
Four months ago a virus had been discovered that gave the WHO a bit of a fright. It was a coronavirus, the same kind of virus that caused the SARS breakout in 2003 that swept the world and put humanity at risk, the significance behind it being a coronavirus is that there are few viruses of this type, and they tend to be very dangerous. Dr. Ali Mohamed Zaki's laboratory in Saudi Arabia is to thank for this mankind-saving event. The first case that arose was a 60yr old Saudi Arabian man with a diagnosed case of pneumonia. After his kidneys failed, and he later died, it seemed that something was amiss. Dr. Zaki and his associates acted quickly and diligently to help prevent another string of preventable deaths by identifying the virus, and making a test that could be used worldwide to detect any more cases. After posting his information online to a website designed to alert other health officals, a new case was quickly unveiled. With the fast actions of Dr. Zaki, they were able to identify it as such and continue to test anyone the patient had contact with. Luckily there have been no new cases and if anything pops up, were ready to deal with it. The means of how this situation was handled are impressive, and show that mankind has a will to live. Within a month of finding an abnormality in a sickness, they now know so much more about it and are prepared to handle it. This article hopefully concludes this SARS-like virus' potential of being a threat.
Monday, October 1, 2012
New SARS-like virus not spreading easily between people: WHO
New SARS-like virus not spreading easily between people: WHO
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/virus+spreading+easily+between+people/7324939/story.html#ixzz285IwF7yI
A new and potentially fatal virus, allegedly originating in Saudi, appears not to spread easily from person to person, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. This virus has already killed one man, and put another into critical condition, both patients who have so far been confirmed with the new virus suffered kidney failure. Found about a week ago or so, the studies surrounding it are short of conclusive. After putting out a Global Alert on the severity of the virus, finding that it cannot be transmitted easily is a sigh of relief for us all. Since those 2 cases have been released, there has been no confirmation of any other cases like it.
It is not however, being discounted as dangerous, given the cost of hosting this virus, the WHO is still monitoring the situation. Scientists at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), said initial virology results and the separation in time of the only two confirmed cases suggest the infection may have developed from animals. Such diseases are known as zoonoses. "(It) is quite probably of zoonotic origin and different in behaviour from SARS," the scientists from Eurosurveillance said.
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/virus+spreading+easily+between+people/7324939/story.html#ixzz285IwF7yI
A new and potentially fatal virus, allegedly originating in Saudi, appears not to spread easily from person to person, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. This virus has already killed one man, and put another into critical condition, both patients who have so far been confirmed with the new virus suffered kidney failure. Found about a week ago or so, the studies surrounding it are short of conclusive. After putting out a Global Alert on the severity of the virus, finding that it cannot be transmitted easily is a sigh of relief for us all. Since those 2 cases have been released, there has been no confirmation of any other cases like it.
It is not however, being discounted as dangerous, given the cost of hosting this virus, the WHO is still monitoring the situation. Scientists at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), said initial virology results and the separation in time of the only two confirmed cases suggest the infection may have developed from animals. Such diseases are known as zoonoses. "(It) is quite probably of zoonotic origin and different in behaviour from SARS," the scientists from Eurosurveillance said.
I find this quote disturbing though:
"But from the evidence we have, and given that there are only two cases confirmed so far and there was a distance and time distance between the two cases, (the) assumption is that it isn't easily transferable person to person," he told reporters.
The above content is seemingly based on assumption, not to say that it is right or wrong, but it seems that the statements released regarding the communicability of this virus are not fact based or test based. The health and well-being of the world seems like a rather large pot to gamble on, but next week they said they will be able to release much more conclusive judgments and be able to make much more well informed decisions. Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Sars-Like Virus being monitored
http://www.kpic.com/news/health/Global-health-officials-monitoring-new-SARS-like-virus-170986711.html
Another epidemic scare is starting to gain some weight in the health world these days. A germ has been linked to a death and a critical condition, and that germ is known as a coronavirus. A coronavirus is from a family of viruses that cause the common cold as well as SARS. So far it is believed to have killed at least one person in Saudi Arabia. Usually, one person is not enough to be wary of an epidemic. Yet there have been connections made between this case, and one about a 60-year-old Saudi who died earlier this year. The samples from both these cases match up. The last case could be the big breakthrough. There is one person in an intensive care unit at a London hospital that is believed to also be affected by the germ, one of the main issues they are having is kidney failure. As far as we know, respiratory viruses aren't usually known to cause serious kidney problems. At this moment, we have three cases, that may or may not be linked, they all did have one geographical thing in common though, each case had originated in Saudi Arabia. It may be too early in the stages to do so, but restricting immigration out of Saudi may be the next move to help contain this. "It's still (in the) very early days," said Gregory Hartl, a WHO spokesman. "At the moment, we have two sporadic cases and there are still a lot of holes to be filled in." Looking at this from a WHO standpoint though, combating an epidemic seems to have 3 steps, identification, containment, and constructing a cure. One of the scarier things is that we don't know how its spread, how fast it can spread, who else has it, are there carriers, is this from an animal infection, there are many questions that need to be answered before any drastic moves are made.
http://www.kpic.com/news/health/Global-health-officials-monitoring-new-SARS-like-virus-170986711.html
Another epidemic scare is starting to gain some weight in the health world these days. A germ has been linked to a death and a critical condition, and that germ is known as a coronavirus. A coronavirus is from a family of viruses that cause the common cold as well as SARS. So far it is believed to have killed at least one person in Saudi Arabia. Usually, one person is not enough to be wary of an epidemic. Yet there have been connections made between this case, and one about a 60-year-old Saudi who died earlier this year. The samples from both these cases match up. The last case could be the big breakthrough. There is one person in an intensive care unit at a London hospital that is believed to also be affected by the germ, one of the main issues they are having is kidney failure. As far as we know, respiratory viruses aren't usually known to cause serious kidney problems. At this moment, we have three cases, that may or may not be linked, they all did have one geographical thing in common though, each case had originated in Saudi Arabia. It may be too early in the stages to do so, but restricting immigration out of Saudi may be the next move to help contain this. "It's still (in the) very early days," said Gregory Hartl, a WHO spokesman. "At the moment, we have two sporadic cases and there are still a lot of holes to be filled in." Looking at this from a WHO standpoint though, combating an epidemic seems to have 3 steps, identification, containment, and constructing a cure. One of the scarier things is that we don't know how its spread, how fast it can spread, who else has it, are there carriers, is this from an animal infection, there are many questions that need to be answered before any drastic moves are made.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
How Your Job Could Hurt Your Heart
Those of us with stressful jobs had a 23 percent higher risk of getting a heart attack than those without that added stress. What makes a job stressful? A stressful job has to have high demands and little control, sort of like college. In their study, only 5 percent, of the participants had stressful jobs. On a global scale, there are probably much higher percentages for having a "stressful" job. Before this article came out however, this subject had mixed results with previous studies. In the article they state why the data collection method this time will yield a much high correlation than previous accounts. They were able to synthesize a monumental amount of data by combining previously published and unpublished studies. Even so, will working off of these past studies reveal anything about our current understanding? These results can't prove cause and effect because the original work they drew upon only observed participating people, not a random sample where each individual was assigned randomly to high-stress and low-stress jobs. The results and numbers in this article are misleading though. By ending an article with such inconclusiveness and by pointing out their own flaws, these results and tests mean almost nothing. Halfway research is worthless, it is commonly known though that stress has a correlation with heart attacks, but that's why we collect data, so we can have an exact, trustworthy answer.
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