The economic burden of Dengue in Kenya, Burkina Faso and Cambodia

Dengue fever is known to be a major concern in South America and South-East Asia and its burden on health is becoming an increasing threat within Africa. However, in order to get the proper attention from the government and from investors, it is essential to prove the economic burden of this disease. This is what a new study conducted by Jung-Seok Lee and colleagues attempted to answer for three countries in which the burden on health is most severe: Burkina Faso, Kenya and Cambodia. This was a follow-up study to a similar one that looked at the economic burden of Dengue in Vietnam, Thailand and Colombia. It is important to get the country-specific estimates of economic burden because prices of medication and treatment as well as national health care services can be extremely variable. This variability was expressed in the published results of this study with each case of Dengue costing $13-26 for care in Burkina Faso, $134 in Cambodia, and $23 in Kenya.

The economic burden in each of these countries was not insignificant when compared to malaria (another similar arbovirally transmitted disease) suggesting that these governments may need to consider redistributing some of their resources towards the increasingly pressing threat of Dengue.

-India Robinson

For more information visit: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190228141241.htm 

Improved treatments of HIV: Massive strides in the making

HIV treatments have improved vastly over the last few decades and the trajectory of improvement is only becoming steeper. Specifically looking at patient frailty, there have been massive strides in recent years. Historically, patients with HIV/AIDS would age 10-15 years in appearance and function once they began treatment. Similarly, disfiguring body mass changes would befall patients. However, a recent study has revealed that a few years of anti-retroviral treatment is able to actually rehabilitate patients to a state without extreme frailty. A “frailty meter” which judged frailty using motion sensors that tracked range of motion and weight bearing abilities. These kinds of side effects are beginning to look as though they are a thing of the past, a physical, visible and tangible marker for medical improvements. These anti-retroviral treatments are also immensely more efficient and less harmful than previous versions, with doses being administered in three pills rather than twenty and few to no side effects. 

These advancements offer the possibility that in the future HIV/AIDS may become manageable to live with for most people afflicted by it. Luckily, advancements in pharmaceuticals have also been paired with advancements in clinical care. Certain clinics such as the Petersen Clinic offer advanced, intense HIV counseling as well as opportunities to be at the forefront of biomedical intervention. In essence, as more is known about the disease on the whole, more steps have been taken to support patients with HIV/AIDS medically and socially.

-India Robinson

For more information visit: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190227124843.htm

Mandatory Vaccines and the abolition of private property. What do they have in common?

An Arizona State Representative, Kelly Townsend (R) expressed her stance against vaccinations this past Thursday on Facebook. She mentioned that she heard about the idea of implementing mandatory vaccines to tame the current measles outbreak. She saw the move as a complete violation of our all-American liberty to go unvaccinated and spread viral infection to others, noting that:

"The idea that we force someone to give up their liberty for the sake of the collective is not based on  American values but rather, Communist."

 she also claimed that her child was "injured" from vaccines and signed her post "live free or die". This is all amidst the current measles outbreak that is up to about 160 cases across 10 states. The Arizona legislature had recently passed a bill allowing for religious exemption from required vaccination.

Amidst criticism for her post, Townsend followed up with another, noting that "The point here isn't whether or not we should vaccinate, that's for another post. he point is whether or not your body is sovereign or if the government can force you to be injected against your will".

Should we need to stand by our God-given right to refuse to give our children life-saving vaccines, or give up our bodies to evil communist ideologies? You decide.

-Brittany Stinson


Read more here:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/03/01/something-is-those-vaccines-lawmaker-says-mandatory-shots-are-communist-idea/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f811159aa786

Once-Banned from Study. Research on this Deadly Flu Virus is About to Resume

The Government has mysteriously made plans to allow research that had previously been halted on this bird flu over safety concerns. In 2014, the government had halted research on H5N1, but months ago without any publication, allowed research to resume in two labs. This information was published in the Journal of Science. Back in 2011, two labs had altered H5N1, making it more contagious among ferrets, who are used in flu research because they cafc ti in a similar way that humans do. About H5N1, rarely does it jump from birds to humans, but when it does it is extremely lethal because it is not evident when those infected spread the disease to others. If it were modified to become better transmissible between humans, the results could be disastrous and cause an extremely high death toll.

The decision itself and the lack of information surrounding it has provoked outrage from some members of the research community, they are worried of this strain of influenza portrait to mutate into viruses that could generate a deadly pandemic if accidentally unleashed or were the target of bioterrorism.

Marc Lipsitch of Harvard and Tom Inglesby of Johns Hopkins University have called for more transparency in this process.  On Wednesday, they commented in the Washington Post:

“Making decisions to approve potentially dangerous research in secret betrays the government’s responsibility to inform and involve the public when approving endeavors, whether scientific or otherwise, that could put health and lives at risk”

-Brittany Stinson

Read more at: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/01/health/bird-flu-pandemic.html

Social Media Platforms Take Steps to Curb Misinformation About Vaccines

Pinterest, a social media platform popular with parents, is starting to crack down on the spread of anti-vaccination propaganda by purposefully banishing results associated with vaccine-related searches. The changes have not been publicly announced and started in September and October. Pinterest is an especially effective way to reach parents: 80% of mothers and 38% of fathers in the U.S. use Pinterest according to 2017 data from comScore. Other social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube have also been infiltrated with anti-vaccination information and are taking steps to combat it. One of YouTube's policies is to demonetize anti-vaccine videos. YouTube also said that is started surfacing more authoritative content in late 2017 for people searching for vaccination-related topics. An analysis by The Daily Beast of seven Facebook pages that promote anti-vaccine posts found that the pages had bought a combined 147 Facebook ads that had been viewed millions of times. Facebook spokeswoman Andrea Vallone said, "We've taken steps to reduce the distribution of health-related misinformation on Facebook, but we know we have more to do."
On the other hand, Twitter said that it had no specific policy to stem the spread of misinformation about vaccines but that its real-time nature was a "powerful antidote." Twitter spokeswoman Kati Rosborough said, "We, as a company, should not be the arbiter of truth." Arthur Caplan, head of the Division of Medical Ethics at the New York University School of Medicine, said, "We're just seeing all sorts of misinformation flying around on social media... Fake news. Fake science. Everybody's an expert."
"Internist Dr. Poland commented that he often encountered patients who relied on social media when researching health questions: "I will explain to a patient in detail the answer to their question and they'll look at me and say, 'Yeah, but I saw on Facebook that'... You just want to tear your hair out." 
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/23/health/pinterest-vaccination-searches.html

-- Caroline Aung

Egg-Based Flu Vaccines? We Should be Skeptical.

Based on a recent study of the 17-18 flu vaccine, concerns are arising over how effective egg-based vaccines are. This past year’s vaccine was disappointingly ineffective, with a 40% effectiveness according to the CDC. Researchers at the University of Michigan teamed up with the CDC to take a look at effectiveness of egg-grown versus cell-grown viruses.

The investigators took serum samples 15 cases with recently diagnosed influenza A (H3N2) and took samples in 15 hospitalized controls without influenza. The team measured titers against egg and cell-grown strains, and a set of circulating viruses for comparison. They found that those vaccinate in 17-18 had high antibody titers against the egg strain and lower against circulating viruses. They concluded that titers against circulating viruses were protective but those against egg-adapted strains weren’t.

Studies have shown that egg-based vaccines tend to mutate with time. Ian Wilson, DPhil, a professor of structural biology at the Scripps Research Institute, in California proposes an explanation citing that influenza viruses made in eggs have the opportunity to adapt in this environment and can generate mutations to grow better as a result.

Read more at: https://www.mdmag.com/medical-news/eggbased-vaccines-less-protective-against-circulating-flu-viruses

-Brittany Stinson

Scientists Unveil the History of Zika Virus in Thailand

In 2016, the WHO responded to the South American Zika outbreak by declaring a "public health emergency of international concern", prompting global action to combat the disease. In Thailand, the government, in collaboration with the Institut Pasteur, the CNRS, US researchers and the Thai National Institute of Health, decided to investigate the history of the virus in Thailand. While the Aedes mosquito is found in both South-East Asia and South America, Thailand did not have widely reported cases of Zika. The nature of the virus furthered muddied the waters, as Zika rarely causes serious illness and, even when it does, can easily be confused with the flu or dengue. 

To collect data on cases of Zika, the government requested hospitals to collect urine, blood and plasma samples from individuals with fever or rash symptoms. Over two years, 368 individuals were found to be infected by Zika. Inidividuals were spread out across age groups and across regions. The latter observation was surprising to researchers, as long-term circulation had not occured in the South American outbreaks.

In response, the researchers examined the viral genome, using "the little errors that emerge during viral replication to piece together the historical spread". The scientists discovered significant genetic diversity among the patients and concluded that the ancestor virus could have appeared in Thailand as early as 2002. Researchers have suggested cross-immunity or changes prior to transmission could be responsible for this diversity. Nevertheless, the continued presence of the disease could remain a problem for Thai public health authorities.

For more information, see the article: https://www.pasteur.fr/en/press-area/press-documents/zika-silent-long-term-circulation-thailand or the corresponding study: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(18)30718-7/fulltext.

-Ed