Tag Archives: vaccines

What you need to know about the new CDC mask guidance

Confused about the new CDC mask guidance for vaccinated people? You’re not alone. In a reverse course from the honor system (wear a mask if you’re unvaccinated), the CDC is now recommending all-masking in indoor public settings in areas of substantial-high “community transmission”. So what does that mean? Read on to find out.

Continue reading What you need to know about the new CDC mask guidance

Ebola is back–10 things you need to know

Ebola infection isolation

  1. Ebola causes a severe disease with fever, rashes, vomiting, diarrhea, and sometimes internal and/or external bleeding. It kills about half of  patients.
  2. Humans are first exposed to the virus from contact with bats or other infected animals. Once a person is infected, they can transmit the virus directly to other people via bodily secretions.  All bodily secretions are considered infectious, but the virus cannot spread through the air.
  3. The largest outbreak occurred in West Africa in 2014-2015, affecting almost 30,000 people and killing 40% of them.  From this outbreak, 4 cases occurred in the U.S.–2 traveled from Africa and 2 additional healthcare workers contracted the disease.
  4. The current outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo involves 58 people and 27 have died.
  5. Healthcare workers are frequently infected during outbreaks due to close contact with patients despite rigorous precautions and personal protective equipment.
  6. Burial ceremonies that involve contact with the deceased, which are common in Africa, have been implicated to spread disease.
  7. Ebola virus has been detected in semen of male survivors months after infection, but it is not known whether it can be transmitted via sexual intercourse this long after infection.
  8. Rehydration and supportive care improves survival, but there is no proven therapy to treat patients with Ebola. A few experimental therapies are being tested.
  9. There is no licensed vaccine available, though an experimental vaccine appeared to work during the West Africa outbreak and has been deployed to Democratic Republic of Congo.
  10. Ebola virus is a slow moving target that poses little risk for a worldwide pandemic with proper control and coordination from the WHO and partners.

For more information:
WHO
DynaMed Plus 
Cloudy Media Blog posts about Ebola

10 Fun Facts about Vax

It’s that time of year again.  The leaves are a-changing, there is a crispness in the air, and you’re finding it impossible to NOT purchase Halloween candy that you will inevitably eat and have to buy again anyway.  Oh, and your local pharmacy, Facebook feed, tv, magazines, and just about any other media outlet are reminding you to go get your flu shot.

Continue reading 10 Fun Facts about Vax

Our Precious Antibiotics

(c) Gage Skidmore

Just a day after reading about a woman in Nevada who died from a bacterial infection resistant to EVERY SINGLE antibiotic, I discovered that my sister had just finished a course of antibiotics for an upper respiratory infection known as pharyngitis.  Not all that interesting until you consider that my sister had strep test-negative pharyngitis, meaning not caused by the bacteria Streptococcus.  As my palm smacked my forehead in disbelief and I attempted to explain why taking antibiotics might not have been a great idea, I said to myself, “gosh darn it Heather, you’ve got a blog, go blog.” Continue reading Our Precious Antibiotics

Preventing cancer in our children

16727-a-nurse-giving-a-young-girl-a-vaccine-shot-pvNational vaccination coverage statistics for adolescents (13-17 years old) were recently published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  Wait, wasn’t this supposed to be a cancer blog?  Oh, it is–the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine prevents infection by the HPV strains that cause cancer.

In 2015, 56% of adolescents had at least 1 dose of HPV vaccine, 45% had 2 doses, and 35% had all 3 doses required for maximal protection.  In comparison for the same adolescent population, 87% had a Tdap vaccine and 81% had a meningococcal vaccine.

So why the low HPV vaccination rates? Continue reading Preventing cancer in our children

A socialist view of the Zika epidemic

Epidemiologists say there’s little worry about the impact the Olympics will play in the spread of Zika virus.  While that may be true–it is winter in Rio–the virus is not there for the Olympics.  The growing number of locally acquired infections in Miami highlight how restricting our attention to big, flashy events like the Olympics does a disservice to curbing this epidemic.

The most significant clinical outcomes of Zika virus infection are birth defects in babies born to infected pregnant women. While a majority of the focus to restrain Zika virus involves travel restrictions for pregnant women or women planning to become pregnant, we need to remember that the virus doesn’t seek out pregnant women.  We are all susceptible and we can all contribute to minimizing the spread of Zika virus and reducing its affect on the next generation of our world. Continue reading A socialist view of the Zika epidemic

Protecting kids who can’t be vaccinated

unvax kidw PIDD

It’s no secret that I’m an unabashed and staunch supporter of vaccines.  Man’s most influential medical accomplishments: vaccines, antibiotics, and water purification have all contributed to lengthening human life by reducing infectious disease.  The public health implications of vaccination aren’t questioned–epidemiological data clearly show that vaccines work. Continue reading Protecting kids who can’t be vaccinated

What’s with all the mumps?

Mumps_virusChances are you’ve been hearing a lot about mumps lately.  If you live in the greater Boston area, The Boston Globe reports that Harvard has been hit the hardest with 13 confirmed cases.  The grand total for Massachusetts so far in 2016 stands at 26 cases (and all of the U.S. at 250 cases).  As we barrel towards peak season for mumps, these numbers are alarming.  So what’s with all the mumps? Continue reading What’s with all the mumps?

The Truth Squad with Cloudy Media Blog

Logo_X-Files_2_-_I_want_to_believe14 years after we’ve last been fascinated by Mulder and Scully’s investigations of paranormal activities on prime time, the duo went back to work at the FBI’s X-Files in a 6-episode mini-season.  This season was just enough to whet fans’ appetites with fond memories of their favorite stories (Eve, anyone?) and infuriate us with a cliffhanger ending.  But it was the bookended storyline linking episodes 1 and 6, that made my scientist blood boil (FYI–just a saying, tissues would be incinerated long before blood could boil).

Continue reading The Truth Squad with Cloudy Media Blog