At the same time we have Hillary, 4 female astronauts graduating from the NASA space program, Samantha Bee on late night tv, and actual dialogue about gender gaps in salary and management, it’s still been a rough start to 2016 for women. Continue reading It takes two to make a thing go right, or wrong
Tag Archives: infectious disease
Attack of the killer mosquitoes! Part 1: Zika virus
Somewhat unbelievably given the preponderance of violence today, humans are not responsible for the most human deaths worldwide. This distinction instead belongs to that annoying buzzy insect, the mosquito. Mosquitoes are like an Uber for infectious pathogens hitching a ride to and from nice cozy destinations such as humans. There are numerous viruses, bacteria, and even fly larvae (I dare you to watch this video) taking mosquito Ubers, but the one I want to talk about today is called Zika.
Continue reading Attack of the killer mosquitoes! Part 1: Zika virus
Charlie Sheen has HIV…so what?
In a blitz of media frenzy, Charlie Sheen recently announced he is HIV positive. So, should we care?
Before saying anything else, absolutely and unequivocally: YES! Raising awareness for disease is always a good thing. Remember that ALS ice bucket challenge? Even a disease like HIV, which for the general public is a has-been, benefits from media attention. To the medical and scientific community, HIV is so much more. HIV remains the number 1 infectious disease killer and top-funded research area. Despite not yet having an effective vaccine (the Holy Grail of infectious disease if there ever was one), we’ve made enormous progress in understanding this unwieldy virus.
Man dies from his parasite’s cancer
In a strange collision of infectious disease and oncology, The New England Journal of Medicine (@NEJM) yesterday published a case report of a man who succumbed to cancer, which was surprisingly not his own, but his parasite’s.
For the sake of my (soon-to-arrive) baby niece, go get your flu shot
It’s that time of year again. The sequences are in, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have made their recommendations, and the vaccine has been prepared. As an immunologist, I’m sad to say that I know far too many people who decide to forgo their flu shots each year. When I ask why, I’ve gotten a variety of answers including:
“I never get the flu”
“I once got flu from the shot”
“The flu shot never works, it’s just a guess”
And my all-time favorite:
“My body is stronger than the flu”
I’d like to set the record straight since each of these statements is ultimately and ridiculously flawed.
Continue reading For the sake of my (soon-to-arrive) baby niece, go get your flu shot
What you can do to help end a terrible epidemic
There is an epidemic currently sweeping up and down the west coast of the United States. From Alaska to southern California, something wicked is causing lesions, malformations, and mass casualties. To help support this cause, it’s not the CDC, WHO, nor Red Cross to whom you should send a donation. Instead, pick this up at your local packie:
Rogue Ales & Spirits has teamed up with Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO) to brew Wasted Sea Star Purple Pale Ale—a beer for drinking while thinking about the shrinking starfish population. That’s right, the epidemic is not happening to people (thankfully, this time), but our star-shaped sea friends are being wiped out by an outbreak of sea star wasting disease.
Continue reading What you can do to help end a terrible epidemic
How MMR helps your immunity remember
For many years, we’ve known that measles virus infection messes with your immune system. During infection, you are at greater risk of infections caused by other pathogens because measles thwarts the proper immune attack. At the same time, your body makes a long-lasting response to the measles virus. This is often known as the “measles paradox”.
The next eradicated disease will be…
…not polio, nor HIV, tuberculosis, or influenza, but that doesn’t mean that millions won’t benefit from it’s elimination. The next eradicated disease will likely be Guinea worm disease (dracunculiasis).
Matilda, James, & Charlie would have been vaccinated
Recently, a letter written in 1988 by beloved British children’s lit author Roald Dahl resurfaced. The letter was written on behalf of his deceased daughter Olivia, who caught measles and died in 1962 at the all-too young age of 7. Prior to the development of the measles vaccine, this was a horrifyingly common occurrence. In his letter, Dahl recounts the last day of Olivia’s life and pleads parents to vaccinate their children.
“In my opinion parents who now refuse to have their children immunised are putting the lives of those children at risk.”
-Roald Dahl’s 1988 letter
Measles is a highly contagious viral infection that starts somewhat innocuously as a flu-like disease before exploding into an itchy rash that can spread all over the body. Measles is particularly dangerous when the virus infects the lungs and progresses to pneumonia or infects the brain and causes inflammation leading to seizures and brain damage. This brain infection is what ended poor Olivia Dahl’s life all those years ago. And although Roald Dahl recognized that the vaccine was not available in time to save his eldest daughter, he was conscious of the well-being of his other children and all the kids all over the world that are captivated by his fantasy worlds in books.
“Are you feeling all right?” I asked her.
“I feel all sleepy,” she said.
In an hour, she was unconscious. In twelve hours she was dead.
-Roald Dahl’s 1988 letter
Continue reading Matilda, James, & Charlie would have been vaccinated
Tending to our community garden
Perhaps the very worst aspect of humanity is our illusion of independence. Humans have evolved into self-thinking, -centered, and -indulgent individuals that have, for the most part, lost site of the microcosm that we inhabit and that inhabit us.
“Our bodies may belong to us, but we ourselves belong to a greater
body composed of many bodies.”
-Queen Elizabeth I
Eula Biss takes this social stance in her fascinating new book On Immunity: An Innoculation, which should find itself on every mothers’ reading list. The birth of Biss’ son transformed her from a relatively fearless woman into a MOM–one who will do quite literally anything to protect her child. Like any mother, Biss second guesses many of the decisions she has made on behalf of her son, including vaccinations. Continue reading Tending to our community garden