Plague

The World Health Organization (WHO) is organizing a special virtual talk show to commemorate World TB Day on 24 March. This will put the spotlight on TB under the theme - ' Invest to End TB. Save Lives ' to convey the urgent need to invest resources to ramp up the fight against TB and achieve the commitments to end TB made by global leaders. This is especially critical in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic that has put End TB progress at risk, and to ensure equitable access to prevention and care in line with WHO's drive towards achieving Universal Health Coverage. The event will take place in a talk-show format with speakers connected by video on  WHO's interactive web-platform- End TB Forum. The main speakers will include Ministers, leaders and other high-level government representatives, Heads of Agencies,  TB survivors, civil society and partners. The Show will be broadcast live, with interactive Q&A from the audience online. Background: ...

After completing his undergraduate studies at the University of Oxford , Dr. Hughes studied for a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Genomics at the University of Cambridge and Welcome Trust Sanger Institute. Dr. Hughes then spent time in Brazil , where he developed an interest in infectious diseases. He went on to work on the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) VectorBase project and Ensembl genome project at the European Bioinformatics Institute where he worked on numerous emerging genome projects. Subsequently, Dr. Hughes spent several years at the Human Genome Sequencing Center at Baylor College of Medicine as a Lead Scientific Programmer & Analyst working extensively on the application of High-Performance Compute for Genome Assembly, Variant Calling, Annotation, and Cancer Genomics. He then moved to Columbia University's Medical School to build their infrastructure for the analysis of the Genetics of Complex Human Diseases where he w...

This is a MedPage Today story. As patients with long COVID-19 scour the internet desperate for relief, physicians are concerned they may stumble upon an unproven treatment plan touted by a group known for pushing the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin. The Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC) lists about 20 medications, vitamins and therapies as part of its "i-recover" protocol for long COVID-19, with ivermectin at the top of the list. The group said it developed the protocol to aid the large numbers of patients suffering from lingering symptoms and a lack of available treatment options. However, doctors treating patients at hospital-based centers for post-COVID care have been quick to call out the dangers of the the treatment plan. FILE PHOTO: A pharmacist holds the anti-parasite drug ivermectin in Santa Cruz, Bolivia May 19, 2020. "Recently I saw the FLCCC Long COVID 'protocol' & oh boy is this some crazy non-evidence based prescriptions: HIV ...

Oral health is paramount to overall health and well-being, yet inequities in oral health continue to pose a major global public health threat. To bolster health throughout the United States, it's essential that we acknowledge the factors driving the unequal burden of oral disease and leverage scientific and technological advances to guide responses. A new National Institutes of Health report, 1 which was compiled by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, aims to address these issues and offer solutions. In 2000, Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General affirmed the importance of oral health for overall health and captured the attention of researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and the general public. Although the past two decades have seen progress in this area, dental and oral diseases remain problematic for many Americans. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 47% of U.S. adults 30 years of age or older have pe...

In response to feedback from stakeholders, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced on Thursday that it will cancel one direct contracting accountable care organization (ACO) model and replace a second direct contacting model with a redesigned version focused on improving health equity for patients. Stakeholder groups shared clashing responses to the new announcements, with one physician group arguing that the redesign repeats the "fatal flaws" of the original model. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) has decided to cancel the Geographic Direct Contracting model and replace the Global and Professional Direct Contracting (GPDC) model with the redesigned ACO Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health (REACH) model. "The Biden-Harris Administration remains committed to promoting value-based care that improves the health care experience of people with Medicare, Medicaid and Marketplace coverage," said CMS Adminis...

Incentive begins Monday, August 2 and extends through the end of August; all New Mexicans will eligibl SANTA FE – The New Mexico Department of Health on Thursday announced that, beginning Monday, August 2, and for the duration of August, all New Mexicans will again be eligible for a $100 incentive for getting a dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Any dose will qualify – a first or second dose of Moderna or Pfizer, or a dose of the single-shot J&J vaccine. No more than one $100 incentive will be distributed per person The announcement follows today's White House press conference, at which President Biden praised New Mexico for launching a $100 incentive program in June – a program that led to a 333% increase in single-shot vaccines and a 26% overall boost in completed vaccinations. New Mexico is resuming its $100 incentive program at President Biden's request To be eligible for the incentive, New Mexicans will have to register with an email, phone number, or home address at ...

Editor's Note: The author, Dr. Richard Sternberg, a retired Bassett Hospital orthopedic surgeon, is providing his professional perspective during the COVID-19 threat. Also a village trustee, he lives in Cooperstown. Until now, COVID did not hit too close to home for me. My cousin's father-in-law died of it in late 2020 as did that gentleman's sister, but nobody very close to me had. This past week, my elder daughter came down with COVID. She said it was like a bad flu but she's getting better now. She had been fully vaccinated and boosted. She had been working from home, but with proper masking had gone out to her gym, shopping, and visiting her mother, who is a primary care physician. I'm still anxious because I'm aware of the long-term sequela. It's now clear that one can contract COVID multiple times despite vaccination status. Nevertheless, I'm very glad she's fully vaccinated because with the severity of her symptoms, I hesitate to think how...

Looking at ancient deposits of pollen as markers of agricultural activity, researchers found that the Black Death caused a patchwork of destruction in Europe. In the mid-1300s, a species of bacteria spread by fleas and rats swept across Asia and Europe, causing deadly cases of bubonic plague. The "Black Death" is one of the most notorious pandemics in historical memory, with many experts estimating that it killed roughly 50 million Europeans, the majority of people across the continent. "The data is sufficiently widespread and numerous to make it likely that the Black Death swept away around 60 percent of Europe's population," Ole Benedictow, a Norwegian historian and one of the leading experts on the plague, wrote in 2005. When Dr. Benedictow published "The Complete History of the Black Death" in 2021, he raised that estimate to 65 percent. But those figures, based on historical documents from the time, greatly overestimate the true toll of the plague...

Vermont has the highest rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infections, while the District of Columbia has the lowest, according to the healthcare-associated infections dataset from CMS. Measures are developed by the CDC and collected through the National Healthcare Safety Network. The measures show how often patients in a particular hospital contract certain infections during the course of medical treatment when compared to similar hospitals. The CDC calculates a standardized infection ratio, which may take into account care location, number of patients with an existing infection, lab methods, hospital affiliation with a medical school, hospital bed size, patient age and patient health. The measures apply to all patients treated in acute care hospitals, including adult, pediatric, neonatal, Medicare and non-Medicare patients, according to the CMS data dictionary. CMS data was last updated Jan. 7, 2022. Data was collected from Oct. 1, 2019, to March 3, 2021. Data from the secon...

The COVID-19 pandemic has become one of the worst health crises in a century, with over five million killed so far by the coronavirus. But, let's face it: we've seen much worse. The Black Death, for instance, loomed like a specter of pestilence for centuries, rapidly spreading, then subsiding, only to return in yet another wave. At one point, the plague killed one-third of Europe's population in only a few years. In Medieval times, you knew things were serious when the plague doctor came to town, who was immediately recognizable by his beaked mask. If you thought hazmat suits were scary, the costumes worn by these plague doctors elicited a whole new level of dread mixed with mystery, the kind that would be at home in a David Lynch film. The plague doctor uniform: was this the first example of personal protective equipment? Although the Black Plague reached Sicilian ports in the late 1340s, the plague doctors didn...

[unable to retrieve full-text content] Physicians, Students Share Why They are Proud to be General Internal Medicine    Albany Medical Center

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Last fall, millions of Americans made choices about their Medicare coverage. But being proactive about your coverage and care doesn't end after enrollment. Dr. Luke Hansen, chief medical officer with UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement in Illinois, joined Ryan Chiaverini to share the many ways that you can - and should - get more from your Medicare benefits. Now is the time to get to know your Medicare plan, take advantage of all it has to offer, and take proactive steps to stay healthy and save money in 2022. First, be proactive with preventive services. Everyone enrolled in Medicare has coverage for many preventive services, such as certain cancer screenings and an annual wellness visit. Taking advantage of these preventive benefits - including vital services like colonoscopies or mammograms - can help catch problems early, before they become potentially more serious - and costly. If you have a Medicare Advantage plan, you may have extra benefits and f...

[unable to retrieve full-text content] 'Black Death' may not have killed half of Europe as previously believed, study finds    The Independent

I sent the (hornet) horsefly ahead of you, which drove them out before you—also the two Amorite kings. You did not do it with your own sword and bow. (Jos. 24:12) The Hebrew term ʽa·róv is not easy to translate and, in fact, it is uncertain exactly which species of insect it refers to. It appears as the fourth plague of Egypt, which did not affect the Israelite inhabitants of Goshen (Ex. 8:21; Psalm 78:5; 105:31). In different versions of the Bible, the term is translated as "flies", "horseflies", "mosquitoes", "annoying insects", "dog flies" , etc. Of course, one of the dipteran insect groups with the most painful sting is that of the horsefly, which is why many scholars prefer this translation. Horseflies are similar to flies, but larger in size, with a thick body and large, green-tinted, shining eyes. The males do not harm humans, as they feed on vegetal juices. However, the females have a complex buccal apparatus, wit...

Introduction During the COVID-19 pandemic, the healthcare delivery system experienced exponential changes, where telemedicine played the leading role. 1–3 Telemedicine can provide high-quality care 4,5 and is particularly useful during the current pandemic to guarantee excellent patient attention while avoiding overcrowded emergency departments and maintaining physical distancing. 6,7 Leveraging this surge in telemedicine, Mayo Clinic instituted a new model of hospital at home called Advanced Care at Home (ACH). ACH is a virtual hybrid home hospital program where care is managed virtually by remote providers in a command center and executed through external vendors in an integrated health care supply chain. As only using in-person physicians and bedside nurses had limited overall scalability in previous models of hospital at home, ACH hoped to mimic the success of patient volume scalability seen in recent virtual remote patient monitoring programs. 8 In ACH, patients receive ho...