Situation Report

Doctor Turns Up Possible Treatment For Deadly Sepsis

Fri, 2017-03-24 09:22 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Of the million or so Americans a year who get sepsis, roughly 300,000 die. Unfortunately, many treatments for the condition have looked promising in small, preliminary studies, only to fail in follow-up research. Reptile8488/Getty Images/iStockphoto

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Chest - Hydrocortisone, Vitamin C and Thiamine for the Treatment of Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock: A Retrospective Before-After Study

npr.org - by Richard Harris - March 23, 2017

It's hard not to get excited about news of a potentially effective treatment for sepsis, a condition that leads to multiple organ failure and kills more people in the hospital than any other disease.

But there have been so many false promises about this condition over the years, it's also wise to treat announcements — like one published online by the journal, Chest — with caution.

The study, from Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Va., reported some remarkable success in treating patients who were at high risk of sudden death.

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Tiny Genetic Change Lets Bird Flu Leap to Humans

Fri, 2017-03-24 08:25 — Kathy Gilbeaux

At least six provinces have reported human cases of H7N9 influenza this year, according to Chinese state media - Getty Images

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Nature Communications - An NS-segment exonic splicing enhancer regulates influenza A virus replication in mammalian cells

bbc.com - March 21, 2017

A change in just a single genetic "letter" of the flu virus allows bird flu to pass to humans, according to scientists.

Monitoring birds for viruses that carry the change could provide early warning of risk to people, they say . . .

. . . The change in a single nucleotide (a building block of RNA) allows the H7N9 virus to infect human cells as well as birds, say Prof Honglin Chen and colleagues.

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Testing for Zika Virus: There's an App for That

Wed, 2017-03-22 23:12 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Sandia National Laboratories chemical engineer and lead paper author Aashish Priye offers a view into the Zika box prototype, along with co-authors Sara Bird, a virologist, center, and a biomedical engineer. Credit: Randy Wong

CLICK HERE - Scientific Reports - A smartphone-based diagnostic platform for rapid detection of Zika, chikungunya, and dengue viruses

sciencedaily.com - DOE/Sandia National Laboratories - March 20, 2017 -

Prototype dramatically cuts cost, time for detection of mosquito-borne illness

Add rapid, mobile testing for Zika and other viruses to the list of things that smartphone technology is making possible. Researchers have developed a smartphone-controlled, battery-operated diagnostic device that weighs under a pound, costs as little as $100 and can detect Zika, dengue and chikungunya within 30 minutes.

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African Strain of Zika Kills Placenta Cells in Days

Tue, 2017-03-21 23:30 — Kathy Gilbeaux

futurity.org - University of Missouri - posted by Jeff Sossamon - March 9, 2017

CLICK HERE - STUDY - PNAS - Vulnerability of primitive human placental trophoblast to Zika virus

Infection of pregnant women by the Asian strain of Zika virus has been linked to brain abnormalities such as microcephaly in their infants. It’s not clear, however, at what stage of pregnancy the human fetus is most susceptible to the disease.

A new study shows the human fetus may be most vulnerable to Zika infection very early in pregnancy. In addition, the lesser-known African strain of Zika might possibly cause nearly immediate death of the placenta.

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Why Global Warming Could Lead to a Rise of 100,000 Diabetes Cases a Year in the U.S.

Tue, 2017-03-21 21:14 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Global warming could result in more cases of diabetes around the world, a new study suggests. (Mario Tama / Getty Images)

CLICK HERE - STUDY - BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care - Diabetes incidence and glucose intolerance prevalence increase with higher outdoor temperature

latimes.com - by Karen Kaplan - March 20, 2017

If the average temperature rises by 1 degree Celsius, sea levels will rise, crop yields will fall and vulnerable species will see their habitat shrink or disappear.

And, a new study suggests, the number of American adults suffering from diabetes would rise by more than 100,000 a year.

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ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLES WITHIN THE LINKS BELOW . . .

CLICK HERE - Is there a link between climate change and diabetes?

CLICK HERE - Rise in diabetes and NCDs linked to climate change

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After Bringing Cholera to Haiti, U.N. Can’t Raise Money to Fight It

Tue, 2017-03-21 02:22 — Kathy Gilbeaux

A clinic in Rendel, Haiti, was overflowing with cholera patients in October. The disease has killed nearly 10,000 people in Haiti since it was introduced there in 2010 by a United Nations peacekeeping force. Credit Meridith Kohut for The New York Times

nytimes.com - by Rick Gladstone - March 19, 2017

When the leader of the United Nations apologized to Haitians for the cholera epidemic that has ravaged their country for more than six years — caused by infected peacekeepers sent to protect them — he proclaimed a “moral responsibility” to make things right.

The apology, announced in December along with a $400 million strategy to combat the epidemic and “provide material assistance and support” for victims, amounted to a rare public act of contrition by the United Nations. Under its secretary general at the time, Ban Ki-moon, the organization had resisted any acceptance of blame for the epidemic, one of the worst cholera outbreaks in modern times.

Since then, however, the United Nations’ strategy to fight the epidemic, which it calls the “New Approach,” has failed to gain traction.

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Rising Humanitarian Needs Call for a New Way of Working

Mon, 2017-03-20 21:31 — Kathy Gilbeaux

portland-communications.com - by Stephen O'Brien - March 14, 2017

Today, a record 135 million people across 35 countries need humanitarian aid to survive. The scale of humanitarian suffering continues to grow exponentially as complex, inter-connected conflicts last for years without resolution, and protracted natural disasters, compounded by climate change, throw vulnerable people into a state of perpetual crisis.

This year a complex combination of human-made and environmental factors has put a staggering 20 million people in four countries alone – Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen – at risk of famine. To provide sustainable solutions to saving lives and building resilience in these countries and globally, the international community needs to shift its approach by putting vulnerability reduction at the centre of our collaboration.

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A Warming Climate Will Make It Harder to Stay Healthy

Fri, 2017-03-17 22:00 — Kathy Gilbeaux

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Climate Change is Making Us Sick, Top U.S. Doctors Say

Fri, 2017-03-17 21:45 — Kathy Gilbeaux

CLICK HERE - REPORT - Medical Alert - Climate Change Is Harming Our Health (26 page .PDF report)

usatoday.com - by Doyle Rice - March 15, 2017

From increases in deadly diseases to choking air pollution and onslaughts of violent weather, man-made climate change is making Americans sicker, according to a report released Wednesday by 11 of the nation's top medical societies.

The report was prepared by the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, a new group that represents more than 400,000 doctors, who make up more than half of all U.S. physicians.

“Doctors in every part of our country see that climate change is making Americans sicker,” said Mona Sarfaty, the director of the new consortium and a professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

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ALSO SEE IMPORTANT RELATED INFORMATION WITHIN THE LINKS BELOW . . .

CLICK HERE - Press Release - Nation's physicians act against climate change; it's making patients sick

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Coastal Resilience - Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Wed, 2017-03-15 23:59 — Kathy Gilbeaux

coastalresilience.org

Nature holds some of the world’s best and most practical solutions to climate change, solutions that keep nature and people healthy, safe, and secure.

The goal of this project is to work alongside the governments and communities of small island states to enhance their resilience to climate change by protecting, restoring, and managing marine and coastal ecosystems and strengthening local capacity for adaptation.

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