Plague

"For those who have had to shape-shift, code switch and camouflage just to survive, this one is for us." So reads the dedication page in Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton's debut memoir, BLACK CHAMELEON: Memory, Womanhood, and Myth (Holt, 308 pp., $27.99) . Growing up in late-20th-century America, Mouton navigates rites of passage as a Black female whose body and spirit bear the force of multigenerational trauma, racism and misogyny. But this is no typical reckoning, such as we've come to expect from contemporary coming-of-age memoirs. Employing "Black mythology," Mouton aims to "fill in the gaps in literature that colonization has tried to steal," reclaiming a cultural history and personal heritage. Not all of her stories are real, she writes on Page 1. "But that doesn't mean they aren't true." When a menacing lech objectifies her 10-year-old body in a fast-food restaurant, Mouton — in a fantastical scene that satisfies even as it disorien...

It's an honor on this Doctors Day to write to you as both the physician-in-chief for City of Hope Orange County and the vice physician-in-chief for City of Hope National Medical Center. I'd like to share what it means to be a physician and to express my gratitude for all those who spend their days wearing a white lab coat. For me, the lab coat is not only a symbol of years of study and crafting an expertise; it is a beacon of hope for our patients — a light in the darkness, offering a foundation during a critical moment in their lives. At City of Hope, these white coats are backed by the brightest minds in cancer care. I'm writing from the most advanced cancer center in Orange County — City of Hope Orange County Lennar Foundation Cancer — where we have welcomed nearly 30 new physicians to our team in just the past year and are bringing not only our research and science, but also our compassion and humanity to more patients, faster. On behalf of the Ora...

Specialty

A graphic is going viral across social media claiming that a pandemic occurs every hundred years. The graphic claims that a pandemic has broken out worldwide every hundred years, starting with 1720, followed by 1820 and 1920. Claim: The viral post by RCVJ Insta posted on March 2, 2023, shows an infographic that reads, "Did You Know? There is a theory that every 100 years, a pandemic happens" This is followed by a set of years and the associated pandemic. "1720-Plague 1820-Cholera Outbreak 1920-Spanish Flu 2020-Coronavirus" DID YOU KNOW? THERE IS A THEORY THAT EVERY 100 YEARS, A PANDEMIC HAPPENS 1720-PLAGUE 1820-CHOLERA OUTBREAK 1920 SPANISH FLU 2020-CORONAVIRUS — Tina Arpan Shah 🇮🇳 @tina661014 on #kooapp (@tina661014) March 2, 2023 Fact Check: We first looked up the definition of a pandemic, which as per Britannica, is defined as an "outbreak of infectious disease that occurs over a wide geographical area and that is of high prevalence, generally affecting a...

[unable to retrieve full-text content] LVHN Expands Access to Cancer Care in Pocono Region With New ...    LVHN News

Eagle County Public Health and Environment is responding to an exposure to tuberculosis at Eagle Valley High School. The county department first learned about the potential for tuberculosis exposure at the school last week and began gathering information to "confirm and understand the scope of exposures," according to Becky Larson, the county's epidemiologist and deputy director of public health. "Currently, there is no ongoing risk for TB exposure at the school. It is safe for students and staff to attend school and participate in school activities as usual," Larson said. "We do want to ensure a thorough response to determine if anyone exposed has become infected and then treat them to prevent sickness from developing and further spread. This is not a widespread community concern and all ongoing activities at the school are considered safe and should continue as usual," she added. Larson clarified that the current expos...

DOH News Release: Department of Health raises awareness on "World Tuberculosis Day" Posted on Mar 23, 2023 in Latest Department News, Newsroom HONOLULU, HI – In observance of "World Tuberculosis Day" on Friday, March 24, 2023, the Hawai'i Department of Health (DOH) Tuberculosis (TB) Control Branch would like to encourage Hawai'i's at-risk residents to get tested for early TB diagnosis. "Approximately 1.5 million people die from tuberculosis worldwide every year," said Dr. Genevieve S. Ley, chief of the DOH TB Control Branch. However, active TB disease (the contagious form of TB) can be cured with medications. People with latent TB infection (the non-contagious form of TB) can also be treated to prevent progression to active TB disease. In 2022, Hawai'i had 102 cases of active TB disease. Symptoms of active TB include a prolonged cough of three weeks or longer, unexplained weight loss, fever, sweating at night, and feeling weak o...

Continued warming of the climate would see a rise in the number and spread of potentially fatal infections caused by bacteria found along parts of the coast of the United States. Vibrio vulnificus bacteria grow in warm shallow coastal waters and can infect a cut or insect bite during contact with seawater. A new study led by the UK's University of East Anglia (UEA) shows that the number of V. vulnificus infections along the East Coast of the US, a global hotspot for such infections, has gone up from 10 to 80 per year over a 30-year period. In addition, every year cases occur further north. In the late 1980s, cases were found in the Gulf of Mexico and along the southern Atlantic coast but were rare north of Georgia. Today they can be found as far north as Philadelphia. The researchers predict that by 2041-2060 infections may spread to encompass major population centres around New York. Combined with a growing and increasingly elderly population, who are more susceptible to i...

[unable to retrieve full-text content] Parsley Health inks deals with California, New York insurers, now in ...    FierceHealthcare

SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the following appointments: James Regan, of Roseville, has been appointed Deputy Secretary for Workforce Development at the Government Operations Agency. Regan has been Assistant Deputy Director of the Department of Health Care Access and Information since 2021. He was a COVID-19 Emergency Response Program Director for the California Department of Public Health from 2020 to 2021. Regan held several positions at the California Department of Public Health from 2015 to 2021, including Acting Assistant Deputy Director for the Center for Health Statistics and Informatics, Special Project Director and Policy Advisor, Project Manager and Operational Policy Specialist, Legislative Liaison, and Program Analyst. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences from the University of California, Merced. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $151,224. Regan is a Democrat. Jennifer "Jaime...

OhioHealth announced today its plan to build a comprehensive women's center to meet the complex and changing healthcare needs of women throughout the different stages of life. The goal of the OhioHealth Women's Center is to provide a place of warmth, security and safety for all patients and their families while receiving the best quality care with confidence and familiarity.  The standalone center will become one of the leading facilities of its type in the country and will be constructed on the southeast corner of the OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital campus.  The almost 590,000 square feet inpatient and outpatient facility will be designed to care for women and their families by not only providing advanced maternity and neonatal intensive care services with a fourth trimester clinic, obstetric and gynecological services, but will also feature mid-life and bone health, urogynecology and female urology, and mammography services.  "At OhioHe...

Listen to this article Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease that can be deadly if left untreated. Did you know that over 10 million cases of TB are reported every year in the world? The deadly disease is also spreading at a rapid rate in India, with more than 2 million cases and 450,000 deaths every year. So, it is vital to raise awareness about the disease and know what it is. From the causes of tuberculosis to prevention tips, here is everything you need to know about the disease. Due to the stigma attached to the disease and lack of awareness, people tend to ignore the signs and symptoms of the disease. To raise awareness about the disease, Health Shots reached out to Dr Sandeep Nayar, Senior Director and HOD- Centre for Chest & Respiratory Diseases, BLK Max Super Speciality Hospital, New Delhi. Is Tuberculosis contagious? Know all about TB. Image courtesy: Adobe Stock Is tuberculosis contagious? Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by a bacterium called Myco...

John S. Tregoning, PhD Oneworld Publications, New York, New York, 2021
ISBN13: 9780861541225; Pages: 384; Price: US $25.95 (hardcover), $30.62 (audiobook: Dreamscape Media, LLC; Mike Cooper, narrator; 9 h, 35 min) Figure Figure. Infectious: Pathogens and How We Fight Them Infectious disease outbreaks can have profound societal ramifications ( 1 ), as underscored by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic ( 2 ). Infectious: Pathogens and How We Fight Them , by John S. Tregoning, celebrates the research dedicated to understanding and controlling harmful microbes (Figure). An immunologist at Imperial College, London, Tregoning writes an accessible, authoritative primer, covering such topics as microbiology, epidemiology, and therapeutic solutions. He describes advances in techniques for identifying etiologic agents that have influenced scientific approaches to controlling, preventing, and even eliminating pathogens. He acknowledges pioneers such as Linnaeus and Gram and their work in catego...

[unable to retrieve full-text content] AccentCare Leverages Data, Transparency to Build Diverse ...    Hospice News

A federal jury convicted two doctors today for their involvement in a scheme to commit health care fraud. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Dr. William Lawrence Siefert, 69, of Dayton, Ohio, and Dr. Timothy Ehn, 50, of Union, Kentucky, orchestrated their health care fraud scheme through Northern Kentucky Center for Pain Relief, a pain clinic in Florence, Kentucky. Siefert, a medical doctor, was employed by the clinic, and Ehn, a chiropractor, was the clinic's owner. Siefert and Ehn engaged in a scheme to bill Medicaid for millions of dollars in medically unnecessary urinalysis testing for their patients, which included urinalysis testing purportedly conducted on faulty machinery. Siefert and Ehn were each convicted of health care fraud. Ehn was additionally convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Siefert and Ehn are both scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 20. Siefert faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Ehn faces a maximum pena...

If 2020 had been coronavirus-free, it would have been difficult to envision a Donald Trump defeat or to see the global economy operating under strict statist control fueled by printed money. These are only two developments that are bound to cause a kind of lasting change that has not yet been fully realized. It's not the first time this has happened. Indeed, history-altering epidemics have been the norm throughout the centuries. Without epidemics Napoleon could have established a long-lasting French-speaking global empire, Constantinople would have been strong enough to effectively fight off the Ottomans in 1453, and even the ancient city-state of Athens could have been transformed into an empire that could have reigned over the Mediterranean, and even Europe, for centuries. Back to 2021: The world as it was just a year ago has been profoundly changed by the coronavirus pandemic. But how far-reaching will this change be? From today's focal point, can we contemplate ...

Situation at a glance On 21 March 2023, the Ministry of Health (MoH) of the United Republic of Tanzania declared an outbreak of Marburg virus disease (MVD) in the country. As of 22 March, a total of eight cases, including five deaths (case fatality ratio [CFR]: 62.5%) have been reported from two villages in Bukoba district, Kagera region, United Republic of Tanzania. Two of these cases were healthcare workers, one of whom has died. This is the first Marburg virus disease outbreak reported in the country. As response measures, Rapid Response Teams have been deployed to investigate and implement interventions in the affected areas, including contact tracing and risk communication activities. WHO assesses the risk of spread as very high at the national level, high at the subregional level, and moderate at the regional level due to cross-border movements between Kagera region and bordering countries including Uganda in the north, Rwanda and Burundi in the west. The risk at the global lev...

Specialty

The Black Plague is what historians have come to call a brutal bubonic plague pandemic that swept across Europe in the middle of the 14th century. The sickness is thought to have first arrived in Europe via ships that sailed through the Mediterranean into modern-day Italy. It spread like wildfire among Sicilian people and then rushed onto mainland Europe. Over just a few years in the very middle of the 14th century, the bubonic plague killed at least 20 million people—which would have represented more than a third of the population of Europe at the time. Major cities like London and Paris lost nearly half their population in less than a decade. Isolation was nearly impossible in urban areas, and the plague spread quickly. Those living on the margins of society suffered brutally, were killed in droves, and left behind nothing but devastation in their wake. More than 500 years after the "Black Death" ravaged the continent, researchers have finally started to learn more abou...