Blog 10 China Escalates Its Response to Outbreak of Avian Flu

With a sixth death being confirmed from an avian-borne virus, Chinese officials have increased their response on Friday, warning people to avoid live poultry, sending virologists to chicken farms across the country and slaughtering more than 20,000 birds at a wholesale market in Shanghai where the virus, known as H7N9, was detected in a pigeon. Health officials around the world are monitoring the outbreak, which has killed almost half of the fourteen people that were diagnosed with the virus. What they fear most is that the disease will mutate so that it can spread from human to human; there has not been a confirmed case of transmission between humans. John Oxford, a professor of virology at Queen Mary, University of London, warned of a potential pandemic should H7N9 become mutated therefore allowing human-to-human transmission. “On my earthquake scale, I’m quite concerned because influenzas have a greater history of emerging and spreading.”

The importance of this article is to raise awareness to this disease and hopefully prevent the spread of it.  As the article stated influenzas can be very dangerous because they have the potential to spread so easily. Hopefully China will gain control of the virus before it can spread any further throughout the country and before it can spread to individuals in other countries.  The article was flawed in that it did not present any solutions to treat the virus, potential solutions may help other countries if the virus was to spread outside of China. If a solution is not found then the virus will spread to other individuals in China and eventually to other countries.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/06/world/asia/china-escalates-response-to-avian-flu-outbreak.html?ref=health&_r=0

Bria Gill
4/7/13
12:53

Blog 9 Drug- Resistant Tuberculosis Knocks at Australia's Door

Australia’s first death from XDR-TB, a drug resistant tuberculosis, which is nearly incurable, has alarmed health officials. It has also added heat to a debate over how to treat immigrants with dangerous diseases.   Tons of small Australian islands mingle with islands belonging to Papua New Guinea, one of the world’s poorest nations. A World Health Organization report found serious drug shortages, and Australian television showed XDR patients mingling with others in an Australian hospital tuberculosis wards, raising the risk of spreading resistant strains. Treatment for drug-resistant tuberculosis, when it works, can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Experts reported that the same problem exists on the borders between the United States and Mexico, and between Finland and Russia.  

The importance of this article is to raise awareness of the dangers of immigrants carrying diseases from one country to another. It discussed how the issue is not just in Australia but in other countries around the world such as the United States and Finland. Our society should be more educated on these dangerous diseases so people will get tested and treated for these diseases before they take the disease to another country. The article was flawed in that it did not present any suggestion to alleviate the problem of immigrants carrying diseases from one country to another. If a solution is not found, many more immigrants will bring diseases from one country to another, therefore spreading dangerous diseases such as tuberculosis even more.   

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/26/health/drug-resistant-tuberculosis-knocks-at-australias-door.html?ref=health

Bria Gill

3/26/13

5:30 A.M

Blog 8 Cell Therapy Shows Promise For Acute Type of Leukemia

A treatment that genetically alters a patient’s own immune cells to fight cancer, has produced remissions in adults with an acute leukemia that is usually lethal. The treatment is experimental, and has been used in only a small number of patients and did not work in all of them. But experts consider it a highly promising approach for a variety of malignancies, including other blood cancers and tumors in organs like the prostate gland.  The treatment uses patients own T-cells, a type of blood cell that normally fights viruses and cancer. The patient’s blood is run through a machine that extracts T-cells and returns the rest of the blood to the body. Researchers then do some genetic engineering; they use a disabled virus as a “vector” to carry new genetic material into the T-cells which reprograms them to recognize and kill any cell that carries a particular protein on its surface.

This article was flawed in that it did not provide enough evidence to support the fact that the T-cell treatment will be a viable solution to those who have acute leukemia. When you present an article that deals with a disease such as acute leukemia, the article should be backed up with evidence that supports your claims.  The study that the author included only has five participants, the reader can not a good idea whether the treatment actually is effective or not based off so little participation. If the treatment will work, it will be help patients who suffer from acute leukemia to hopefully live longer lives since now the disease is lethal.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/21/health/altered-t-cell-therapy-shows-promise-for-acute-leukemia.html?ref=health&_r=0

 

Bria Gill

3/24/13

12:57 A.M

 

Blog 7 African Trial of H.I.V Drug Fails

Scientists reported failure in a large African trial of three different ways to protect women against H.I.V. The failure was not due to the methods of prevention which were  two different pills and a vaginal gel, but to the fact that the women did not use the methods consistently. The study followed more than 5,000 women in South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. Although almost all the women in the study made their monthly clinic visits and the majority of the women said they were using the pill or gel, blood tests suggested that only twenty- five percent of the women actually were.

The article was flawed in that it did not mention any specific reasons as to why the women did not use the pills or vaginal gel to protect them from H.I.V.  This disease is a major global issue especially in the African countries in which they carried out the study and there may be some underlying issues as to why they did not use the prevention methods, other than they did not desire to. Prevention methods would be greatly beneficial to Africa and it would seem that there would have been more participation from the women in the study. Perhaps further investigation as to why the women did not use the prevention methods will yield better results for the next study.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/05/health/african-trial-of-hiv-drugs-fails.html?ref=health&_r=0

Bria Gill
3/7/13
3:53

Blog 6 In medical first, a baby with H.I.V is deemed cured

Doctors announced that a newborn baby had been cured of H.I.V for the first time. This new development could change how infected babies are treated and significantly reduce the number of children living with the virus that causes A.I.D.S. The baby was treated aggressively with antiretroviral drugs starting around thirty hours after birth, something that is not usually done. One reason people cannot be cured now is because the virus hides in a dormant state, out of reach of existing drugs. When drug therapy is stopped, the virus can emerge from hiding. “ That goes along with the concept that, if you treat before the virus has had an opportunity to establish a large reservoir  and before it can destroy the immune system, there’s a chance you can withdraw therapy and have no virus”, said Dr. Anthony S. Fauci. In the United States transmission from mother to child is rare, but women in many developing countries are less likely to be treated during pregnancy. Studies are being planned to see if early testing and aggressive treatment can work for other babies.

The article was flawed in that it provided too much information opposing the initial point that it was trying to convey. With the title of the article being “ In medical first, a baby with H.I.V is deemed cured, the reader may expect only information supporting the argument. The article states “ some outside experts need convincing that the baby had truly been infected” . The author have may also published the article too soon giving the public false hope. The findings have not been backed up by outside doctors nor have the results been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal. The article has a whole was good, we may in fact have found a cure for newborns with H.I.V. A cure for newborns would be greatly beneficial since  330,000 were newly infected in 2011 and more than three million children globally are living with H.I.V.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/04/health/for-first-time-baby-cured-of-hiv-doctors-say.html?ref=health&_r=0

Bria Gill

3/5/13

11:35

Blog 5 After Measles Success, Rwanda to get Rubella Vaccine

Rwanda has been so successful at fighting measles that next month it will be the first country to get donor support to fighting rubella too. Rubella causes a rash that resembles the measles rash, making it difficult for health care workers to tell the difference. Every year almost around 112,000 children, mostly in Africa, South Asia and the Pacific Islands are born with handicaps caused by the mother’s rubella infection. On March 11^th there will be a nationwide three day vaccination campaign with a combined measles-rubella vaccination and hopefully reaching nearly five million children up to age fourteen. Christine Mcnab, a spokeswoman for the Measles and rubella initiative, Stated “Rwanda has proved that it can suppress measles and it would benefit from the newer, more expensive vaccine.

The article was flawed in that it did not provide more evidence supporting why they feel that the rubella vaccine specifically will be effective, such as success rate of those who have been given the vaccine already. If the rubella vaccine was to be as successful as the measles vaccine it would be greatly beneficial since so many children die a year from rubella in poor countries such as Rwanda. The article was good overall in that it provided many statistics on how successful the measles vaccine was in Rwanda, such as the death among children declined seventy-one percent since 2000 and ninety-percent of Rwandan children no are vaccinated twice against measles, as cases have been near zero since 2007. It is imperative that effective vaccines such as the one for measles and rubella are being discovered and distributed so the health in Rwanda can improve and thus improving global health.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/health/after-measles-success-rwanda-to-get-rubella-vaccine.html?ref=health&_r=0

Bria Gill
2/26/13
12:50 PM

Blog 4 New Polio Strains That Protect Vaccine Factory Workers

Scientists have created new strains of polio that is supposed to protect workers in factories that make the polio vaccine. The new strains have the same immune reaction but there is little  risk of anyone getting polio if the new strain suddenly escapes. After growing a large amount, vaccine makers “kill” the virus with formaldehyde and prepare it for syringes. Right now, polio eradication depends on many volunteers putting drops of the oral Sabin vaccine into children’s mouth.  The Sabin vaccine has drawbacks; it can mutate back into a dangerous form which can paralyze or kill. And the vaccine  is risky in children with immune-system problems. Doctors are working with the new vaccine company, Crucell , to prove that the safer strains grow well in the human cell line.

Although the article provided some evidence that the new strains for polio for polio will be effective, more evidence should have been provided to further convince the reader. Also the article discussed how if a disaster such as an explosion, an earthquake, a tsunami, or a flood, that the spill could spread like wildfire. I am curious to know what preventative measures are being taken just in case a disaster of some sort was to happen. True some things can not be prevented but it seems that no plan of action is in place. If a spill were to occur it would be a major disaster in of itself.  Overall the article was good, it provided input from doctors and included some evidence that the new strain for polio will be effective.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/19/health/new-polio-strains-that-protect-vaccine-factory-workers.html?ref=health&_r=0

Bria Gill
2/19/13
12:11 PM

Blog 3 Chagas Disease Costs U.S More Than Better-Known Ilnesses

Chagas disease may sound unfamiliar but it cost the world more than better-known diseases like cervical cancer or cholera. In a study published in Lancet Infectious Diseases, it was calculated that Chagas cost the American economy nine hundred million a year. According to the article “ Chagas disease is caused by a trypanosome parasite transmitted by the the bloodsucking “kissing bug”, which bites victims as they sleep. The disease is mostly found in Latin America, Central Mexico and Northern Argentina. But the “kissing bugs” have also been found in the southern United States. As many as ten million people may be infected. The authors estimate that the global burden of Chagas is around seven billion a year, compared to the economic burden of cervical cancer which is below five billion. Dr. Peter J. Hotez stated “ knowing that Chagas is a serious economic threat could push policy makers to spend more money on developing vaccines against it.”

Before reading this article, I had never heard of Chagas disease, but the disease affects so many people. Even though billions of dollars are already being spent, I feel that money should continue to go to research on the disease. Eventually vaccines will be discovered and that will in the long run decrease some of the costs to treat patients who get Chagas disease, and thus it will eliminate some of the economic burden. Also more people should be educated about Chagas disease so the spread of it can be decreased. If we decrease spending on Chagas I feel it will harm our economy in the future because more and more people will become infected thus requiring additional care and increasing the economic burden.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/health/chagas-disease-costs-us-more-than-better-known-illnesses.html?ref=world

Bria Gill
2/12/13
4:09 PM

Blog 2 Rwanda's Health Care Success Story

The article that I chose was published on February 4, 2013 by Donald G. Mcneil Jr. and is titled “Rwanda’s Health Care Success Story.”  In the less than twenty years since the 1994 genocide that almost killed a million and dislocated another two million, the country has become a public health success story that could be an example for the rest of Africa, based on a new analysis by American health experts. In an article published last month by the British Journal BMJ, Dr. Paul E. Farmer, the success was totaled up and the findings were that the population living below poverty had dropped from 78 percent to 45 percent, the gross domestic product has tripled, and almost 99 percent of primary-age-school children are in school. Also the number of people getting treatment for AIDS has increased to 108,000 from nearly zero in a decade. There are only 625 doctors for a population of about 11 million. But there are many nurses and new health care workers, who do primary care for things such as malaria, pneumonia, family planning, and childhood shots. Almost 98 percent of all Rwandans have health insurance and many aspects of preventive care are free. Dr. Farmer wrote, “If these gains can be sustained, Rwanda will be the only country in the region on track to meet each of the health-related millennium development goals by 2015.” Experts disagree on why Rwanda has been successful, with some attributing to foreign aid while others give credit to the national government.

I found it amazing how Rwanda has found a way to rebuild their country after the genocide almost two decades ago. Everything from the population living below poverty from the number of children in school, to even the number of people who are being treated for AIDS has improved. Hopefully the success of Rwanda will also benefit other countries in Africa and they will be able to rebuild themselves also since the region as a whole is suffering tremendously. To do this, countries such as the United States should step in to aid them in improving their quality of life. If Rwanda can find success as a country after a genocide, then other countries can also find similar success with the help of other countries and the national government.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/05/science/rwandas-health-care-success-story.html?ref=world&_r=0

Bria Gill
2/05/13
1:09 PM

Blog 1 Malnourished Gain Lifesaver in Antibiotics

The article that I chose was published on January 30, 2013 and was written by Denise Grady, and is titled  “Malnourished Gain lifesaver in Antibiotics”.  The article described two studies about new findings that could aid those with severe malnutrition. In the first study they found that giving children who suffer from malnutrition an antibiotic could save many lives every year. They found that those who are malnourished may be suffering from more than a lack of food. In a week study researchers found that giving the malnourished children an antibiotic did increase survival rates. Because of the findings the World Health Organization will recommend the use of antibiotics in treating malnutrition. In the second study, for the first time they found that an imbalance in bacterial portions of the stomach may also lead to severe malnutrition called kwashiorkor. They also found that fortified peanut butter could aid in restoring the proper balance. But it will be necessary to feed to children the peanut butter for longer than a few months which is typical. A researcher not associated with the study, Dr. David Relman of Stanford University perceived the findings well said that “an increased understanding of the gut microbiome could lead to better treatments for malnutrition.” An experiment led by Dr. Trehan and others involved 2,767 children, 6 months to 5 years old, who had severe malnutrition. All of them were given the fortified peanut butter and were at random given an antibiotic or placebo for one week. Based on their findings they found that for every 100 children treated, two to three could be saved, and treating a million could save more than 20,000. “Within a week of treatment the kids were gaining incredible amounts of weight”, Dr.Trehan said. For children who had kwashiorkor the bacteria in their stomach became more healthy when they were given the fortified peanut butter, but it went back to normal when they were not given the peanut butter anymore.

I am glad that there are efforts being made to help those children who are malnourished. So many children die every year as a result of malnutrition and something needs to be done to fix this issue. The use of the antibiotics and the fortified peanut butter may not be able to save every child suffering from malnutrition but it seems these researchers have found something that may significantly affect those who malnourished. I feel that more doctors need to take these recent findings into consideration and start treating more patients who are malnourished with antibiotics and also the fortified peanut butter. The best result of these new findings will be an increase is to save as many children’s lives as possible because malnutrition is an problem that takes so many innocent lives every year.


http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/31/health/antibiotics-can-save-lives-of-severely-malnourished-children-studies-find.html?ref=world

january 30 2013
Bria Gill
11.32 P.M

health/disease

The topic I chose to focus on this semester is global health and disease. I chose this topic mainly because I want to one day work in the medical field. Secondly I feel that our country should be more educated on global health issues and diseases so we can try to help solve the problem. Also if we were more informed about health and disease on a global level we could control the spread of them in our own country.