Tag: Pandemic

The Next Pandemic

In the past we have had information to let the people of this country know when diseases were spreading and since we now have a comnplete idiot in charge of HHS and the lack of importance for keeping the public informed we are facing the next pandemic.

I am sure you have read how measles, whooping cough, etc is gaining the upper hand in our society…..and this could be disastrous for the public.

To accomplish its mission of increasing the health security of the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that it “conducts critical science and provides health information” to protect the nation. But since President Trump’s administration assumed power in January, many of the platforms the CDC used to communicate with the public have gone silent, an NPR analysis found.

Many of the CDC’s newsletters have stopped being distributed, workers at the CDC say. Health alerts about disease outbreaks, previously sent to health professionals subscribed to the CDC’s Health Alert Network, haven’t been dispatched since March. The agency’s main social media channels have come under new ownership of the Department of Health and Human Services, emails reviewed by NPR show, and most have gone more than a month without posting their own new content.

“Public health functions best when its experts are allowed to communicate the work that they do in real time, and that’s not happening,” said Kevin Griffis, who served as the director of communications at the CDC until March. “That could put people’s lives at risk.”

Health emergencies have not paused since January. Cases of measles, salmonella, listeria and hepatitis A and C have spread throughout the country. More than 100 million Americans continue to suffer from chronic diseases like diabetes and breast cancer. The decline in the agency’s communication could put people at risk, said four current and former CDC workers, three of whom NPR is allowing to remain anonymous because they are still employed by the CDC and believe they may be punished for speaking out.

https://www.npr.org/2025/05/21/nx-s1-5387723/cdc-communications-cuts-social-media-public-health

How could this happen in a country as advanced as America?

The answer is misinformation and fake analysis…..

Let’s look at why we fall for the bullshit…..

In today’s digital world, people routinely turn to the internet for health or medical information. In addition to actively searching online, they often come across health-related information on social media or receive it through emails or messages from family or friends.

It can be tempting to share such messages with loved ones – often with the best of intentions.

As a global health communication scholar studying the effects of media on health and development, I explore artistic and creative ways to make health information more engaging and accessible, empowering people to make informed decisions.

Although there is a fire hose of health-related content online, not all of it is factual. In fact, much of it is inaccurate or misleading, raising a serious health communication problem: Fake health information – whether shared unknowingly and innocently, or deliberately to mislead or cause harm – can be far more captivating than accurate information.

This makes it difficult for people to know which sources to trust and which content is worthy of sharing.

The allure of fake health information

Fake health information can take many forms. For example, it may be misleading content that distorts facts to frame an issue or individual in a certain context. Or it may be based on false connections, where headlines, visuals or captions don’t align with the content. Despite this variation, such content often shares a few common characteristics that make it seem believable and more shareable than facts.

https://theconversation.com/why-we-fall-for-fake-health-information-and-how-it-spreads-faster-than-facts-250718

It is time for the attacks on our health to STOP!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Do We Need Another Pandemic?

Most of us remember the Covid pandemic and most remember it only because they got some free money…..but the fact is and the question is ‘can it happen again’?

As long as we are remembering the last pandemic we will recall that the accusation is that it came from a research lab in Wuhan China….and that thought brings me to this bit of info….

It’s been five years since we first started hearing about a contagion out of China called the coronavirus, and now there’s word of a new virus causing concern. The Guardian reports that cases of human metapneumovirus, or HMPV, have been surging in the northern part of the country, especially among children, though Chinese health officials are downplaying talk of another pandemic. More:

  • What is HMPV? Per the Cleveland Clinic, the illness is a respiratory disease that’s similar to RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus. Symptoms usually mimic those of the common cold (cough, fever, runny nose, sore throat, etc.), but it can also lead to worse infections and spur bronchitis or pneumonia. Young children, the elderly, and immunocompromised people are especially at risk.
  • Viral footage: The Economic Times notes that videos are circulating showing a “scary scene” in China’s hospitals, with coughing patients in masks “crammed” in waiting rooms, with one social media post claiming hospitals are “overwhelmed.”
  • Response: A spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, however, didn’t seem alarmed on Friday, simply noting, per the Guardian: “Respiratory infections tend to peak during the winter season. The diseases appear to be less severe and spread with a smaller scale compared to the previous year.” Some experts also agree that the apparent spike in cases may simply be explained by better detection techniques.
  • Outside of China: Neighboring countries are keeping tabs on the illness, with Hong Kong and India already reporting multiple cases, per the Independent. Cambodia and Taiwan are also monitoring the situation.
  • Precautions: There are no vaccines yet available for HMPV, nor any specific antiviral treatments, per Live Science. So far, health experts are offering the same advice they’d give to anyone with a cold: Stay home if you’re sick (or wear a mask if you must interact with the public), wash your hands often, and practice “good cough and sneeze etiquette,” an infectious diseases expert tells the Guardian.

This may be nothing to panic about just yet but it does need to be watched and we should be prepared.

Then a little closer to home….the Bird Flu….most of us have heard about this simply because our eggs are so damn expensive…..but the fact is it can jump species to humans…..and that means yet another potential pandemic waiting…..and even more deaths….

A patient hospitalized in Louisiana last month with severe illness caused by bird flu has become the first person in the US to die from H5N1. The Louisiana Department of Health reported the death Monday, saying the person “was over the age of 65 and was reported to have underlying medical conditions.” Officials said the patient, who had the nation’s first case of severe illness caused by bird flu, had been in contact with sick birds in a backyard flock, the Washington Post reports. The department said it had “identified no additional H5N1 cases nor evidence of person-to-person transmission.” It said that due to “patient confidentiality and respect for the family, this will be the final update about the patient.” The first 60 cases of bird flu illnesses in the US have been mild, a CDC official said, and all of those patients recovered. 

This yet another panic in waiting…..please be prepared for any eventuality.

Guard the toilet paper well!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

New ‘Bug’ On The Horizon?

We all remember the dark days of the Covid thingy…..and now out of China could there be a new worry?

As with Covid starting in China a new bug has escaped the just 90 miles off the Coast of the US….

More than 20 people returning to the US from Cuba have been infected with a virus transmitted by bugs in recent months, federal health officials said Tuesday. None have died, and there is no evidence that it’s spreading in the United States. But officials are warning US doctors to be on the lookout for the infection in travelers coming from Cuba and South America, the AP reports. Here’s a look at the illness and what sparked the alert:

  • What is Oropouche virus? Oropouche is a virus that is native to forested tropical areas. It was first identified in 1955 in a 24-year-old forest worker on the island of Trinidad, and was named for a nearby village and wetlands. It has sometimes been called sloth fever because scientists first investigating the virus found it in a three-toed sloth, and believed sloths were important in its spread between insects and animals.
  • How does Oropouche virus spread? The virus is spread to humans by small biting flies called midges, and by some types of mosquitoes. Humans have become infected while visiting forested areas and are believed to be responsible for helping the virus make its way to towns and cities, but person-to-person transmission hasn’t been documented.
  • How many cases have there been? Beginning late last year, the virus was identified as the cause of large outbreaks in Amazon regions where it was known to exist, as well as in new areas in South America and the Caribbean. About 8,000 locally acquired cases have been reported in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, and Peru. Some travelers have been diagnosed with it in the US and Europe. The CDC said Tuesday that 21 US cases have been reported so far—20 in Florida and one in New York— all of whom had been in Cuba. European health officials previously said they had found 19 cases, nearly all among travelers.
  • Are there other concerns? In Brazil, officials are investigating reports that infections might be passed on from a pregnant woman to a fetus — a potentially frightening echo of what was seen during Zika outbreaks nearly a decade ago. The CDC has recommended that pregnant women avoid non-essential travel to Cuba and suggested all travelers take steps to prevent bug bites, such as using insect repellents and wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants.

Please do not rush out and buy up all the toilet paper….this is just an FYI to let my readers know what is lurking just offshore.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Lock The Bastards Up!

A departure from my usual Sunday posts….but this is just too important to wait for later….

This country is choke full of a/holes that steal from people that truly need assistance…..the pandemic was no different.

Greed is just too string for some to resist.

The ‘pandemic crimes unit’ is fully investigating all sorts of theft of pandemic funds to be used to help the people and businesses cope with the lack of income in the trying times……

The federal government has a revised estimate of the amount of money the US unemployment insurance program lost through fraud during the pandemic: $45.6 billion. Criminals collected the money between March 2020 and April 2022 through such tactics as using the Social Security numbers of dead people, CNN reports. The estimate released Thursday by the Labor Department’s inspector general replaces the one issued a year ago of about $16 billion, per the Washington Post. Kevin Chambers, who leads pandemic-related enforcement for the Justice Department, called the findings “unprecedented fraud.”

The government distributed the money to businesses and individuals to try to strengthen the economy during the coronavirus outbreak. President Donald Trump approved $3.1 trillion in funding in 2020 and President Biden another $1.9 trillion in 2021. Unemployment fraud was so widespread that federal investigators have barely made a dent two years into the process, per the New York Times. The government announced Thursday it has now charged 1,000 people with crimes related to jobless benefits committed during the pandemic. Hundreds of people are working on fraud cases in the offices of 21 inspectors general, and other agencies are involved. President Biden last month signed legislation doubling the statute of limitations to 10 years for some pandemic-related fraud, promising thieves that the government will find them.

The hero of Mississippi, Brett Favre, is one of those creeps that in on the theft of pandemic funds…..he too needs to be locked up but will not….he will skate as he always has in the past.

These people, if found guilty, need to made to pay a heavy price for their disregard of the needs of those in trouble during the pandemic.

Enjoy your Sunday….be well and be safe…..

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–29Nov21

I know that Covid has become a passe topic these days…..50 the population think it is all a government ploy and the other half worries about their friends and families……so I thought I would bring my readers up to date on the variants and the international stage……

Almost two years after the first cases were detected in Wuhan, China, the fight against the coronavirus continues—and authorities are worried that a new variant detected in South Africa could be a major setback. The variant, currently known as B.1.1.529, has mutations that could make it more infectious and reduce the effectiveness of vaccines, scientists say. CNBC reports that the World Health Organization has scheduled a meeting on the variant for Friday. It if is declared a variant of interest or a variant of concern, it will be assigned a Greek letter name. The “Mu” variant first detected in Colombia was designated a variant of interest in August, making “Nu” the next letter in line. More:

  • Why scientists are worried. While many COVID variants die out, the latest one has an unusually high number of mutations and believed to be behind a steep rise in infections in South Africa, the AP reports. Joe Phaahla, the country’s health minister, said Thursday that there has been an “exponential” rise in cases over the last four or five days. Cases have also been detected in Botswana, Hong Kong, and Israel.
  • “A big jump in evolution.” The variant was detected after scientists investigated a surge in infections in the Johannesburg area, the New York Times reports. “This variant did surprise us—it has a big jump in evolution, many more mutations than we expected, especially after a very severe third wave of Delta,” said Tulio de Oliveira, director of the KwaZulu-Natal Research and Innovation Sequencing Platform.
  • New travel restrictions. European countries quickly imposed restrictions on travel from southern Africa as news of the variant emerged, the BBC reports. The UK has banned flights from six countries: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, and Eswatini.
  • “The most worrying we’ve seen.” Dr Susan Hopkins, a top medical adviser to the British government, described the variant as “the most worrying we’ve seen” due to high transmission levels, per the Guardian. South African officials are “saying that their transmission rates, the R value that they have in Gauteng around where this was first found, is now 2, which is really quite high and we’ve not seen levels of transmission like that since right back at the beginning of the pandemic, because of all of the mitigations and steps we’ve taken,” Hopkins said.
  • Stock markets sink. The Financial Times reports that stock markets in Europe and Asia dropped sharply Friday, with airline stocks among the hardest hit. Oil prices are also down and the Dow Jones is set to open down 800 points.

This pandemic is far from over…..and it seems to point to  a long range spread once again.

Watch This Blog!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Another Variant (Oh Goody)

Just in time for the holiday season.

Here we go again…..another problem with the Covid thing….this time in South Africa

The world got an unwanted new arrival on Friday: Omicron. Here’s the latest on the worrisome new COVID variant:

  • New name: After an emergency review, the World Health Organization on Friday declared the emerging strain of COVID a “variant of concern,” reports the Washington Post. The variant, first detected in South Africa, was dubbed Omicron, named after a Greek letter in keeping with other variants such as Delta.
  • Travel restrictions: The US will restrict travel from South Africa and seven other African nations: Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Malawi. The restrictions are to start Monday, reports Politico.
  • ‘Most worrying’: Much is unknown about the strain, but researchers fear its large number of mutations will help it spread easily and perhaps better evade vaccines. For now, the variant is the “most worrying we’ve seen,” says Susan Hopkins, an adviser to Britain’s Health and Security Agency. So far, no cases have been reported in the USFound in Europe: The first case of the new variant has been detected in Europe, adding to worries about how far the strain already has spread. The Guardian reports that Belgium confirmed a case of the variant in an unvaccinated woman with no travel links to South Africa or neighboring countries. Authorities say the woman developed mild symptoms 11 days after traveling from Egypt to Belgium via Turkey. The only other known cases outside southern Africa are in Israel, where a traveler who had returned from Malawi is now in isolation, and Hong Kong, where two travelers tested positive while in hotel quarantine.

  • Seeking answers: Fauci says the variant has more than 30 mutations to its spike protein, which “are raising some concern, particularly with regard to possibly transmissibility increase, and possibly evasion of immune response.” Fauci says officials have arranged talks Friday between American scientists and their South African counterparts. “We want to find out, scientist-to-scientist, exactly what is going on,” he says.

    Restrictions elsewhere: More than a dozen countries in Europe and Asia have halted or restricted travel from countries in southern Africa, and the European Commission has urged all EU members to put an “emergency brake” on travel, the New York Times reports. Earlier Friday, Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN that there is “no indication” the variant has arrived in the US, but “we’re rushing now to get that scientific data.”

And just in time for Christmas…..

Watch The Blog!

Be Well and Be safe

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–01Nov21

Have you been to the store lately for groceries?

There are plenty of empty shelves and a limited amount of products to choose from…..this began with the pandemic (so we are told) then in my area a hurricane hit making products in short supply we were told that people from Louisiana were driving over and buying up the stuff (this did not ring true to me) then we are told that there were not enjoy drivers to deliver stuff but a local chain here has little problem stocking their shelves so if this small enterprise can did it why not a national stores?

This is a problem that is not going way….especially if Sen. Hawley has anything to do with it….

Sen. Josh Hawley (R–Mo.) has a plan to address the current supply chain issues bedeviling the American economy.

He wants to make them permanent.

In an op-ed for The New York Times published Friday, Hawley uses the temporary supply chain problems as an excuse to push for a permanent expansion of federal power over the affairs of private businesses. We must “fundamentally restructure our country’s trade policy,” Hawley demands, and that means injecting both the Pentagon and Commerce Department bureaucrats into companies’ purchasing decisions. Under the terms of a bill that Hawley is proposing, any product determined to be “critical for our national security and essential for the protection of our industrial base” would have to have at least 50 percent of its value made in the United States.

Why is it necessary for the government to get significantly more involved in the system of global trade that’s allowed Americans to enjoy unparalleled prosperity in recent years? Because “the global pandemic has exposed this system for what it is—a failure,” Hawley writes.

One must assume that if the lights in his home went out due to a storm, Hawley would respond by declaring electricity to be a mistake and demanding that the government require homes to be lit with candles and gas lamps. After all, what is the electrical grid but a complicated supply chain that leaves Americans woefully dependent on production and distribution systems (power plants, substations, and lines) that they do not fully control? Better to produce your own lighting, right? If that means you have to live without television or the internet, well, those are just the trade-offs required to achieve self-sufficiency.

Josh Hawley Wants to Make the Supply Chain Crisis Permanent

I have thought that Hawley was a joke and nothing he has done in 2021 has changed my mind…..and the people of Missouri ought to be smart enough to know what an embarrassment this toad is and will continue to be.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

Covid Side Effect

Closing Thought–28Oct21

I know….I know…..there has been TMI on the pandemic….I mean ….really?

I decider that this side effect should be reported since the government spent decades convincing the public that this ‘addiction’ was ruining our health…..

The side effect I speak of is smoking.

The pandemic wasn’t good for America’s lungs in more ways than one. CNN reports that cigarette sales ticked up for the first time in two decades, per the FTC’s annual Cigarette Report. The increase was a nominal one—just 0.4%—but it marks a reversal in the downward trend we’ve been seeing since 2000. In 2020, some 203.7 billion cigarettes were sold to wholesalers and retailers in America, up by 8 million from 2019. Smokeless tobacco sales also inched up, from 126.0 million pounds in 2019 to 126.9 million pounds in 2020.

The FTC report didn’t provide any theories on the uptick, but CNN reports the rise aligns with other changes in consumer behavior during the pandemic, such as increased consumption of alcohol. NPR flags an April 2020 report from Bloomberg that noted Q1 sales for Marlboro-maker Altria were up due in part to “bulk purchases—what the company calls ‘pantry loading,'” suggesting consumers were stocking up on more than toilet paper. But NPR reports the trajectory isn’t likely to stay upward. Nielsen data suggests that is the case, with Bloomberg reporting that for the four-week period ending Oct. 9, cigarette volumes were down 9.4% as compared to the same time last year.

Booze and smokes are a side effect that for me is understandable.

Be Well……

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Another Covid Victim

There is so much bad news around our pandemic…..the many deaths….the people that we know and love are gone……the drag on our economy in so many forms……now we are told that the nation’s inequlity has grown during our battle with the virus……

Stock ownership is more concentrated than ever, Federal Reserve data show, with the wealthiest 10% of households owning 89% of US stocks. The stocks differential is reflected in the growing wealth inequity, CNBC reports, with 1% of Americans holding 32% of wealth, also a record. “The top 1% own a lot of stock, the rest of us own a little,” said Steven Rosenthal of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. During the pandemic, the 1% added more than $6.5 trillion in corporate equities and mutual fund wealth, and while the bottom 90% picked up $1.2 trillion.

Concentration increased despite the fact that more people own stock now. Robinhood, for example, has posted more than 10 million new accounts over the past two years. But the new accounts, often held by younger investors, are small, averaging about $4,500 at Robinhood. So when the market goes up, those accounts profit much less than those of wealthy investors with many shares. “Many of the younger investors also bought in at higher prices, compared to bigger investors who have been in the market for years and see larger gains,” Rosenthal said.

The wealth inequality is clear across the board. The richest 10% also own 45% of US real estate, 54% of pension entitlements, 85% of private businesses, and 34% of consumer durable goods, per the Street. The stock market is behind most of the wealth creation and increased inequality during the pandemic; it’s risen almost 40% since January 2020. Stocks accounted for almost 70% of the gains in wealth by the nation’s richest 1% over the past year and a half, per CNBC.

Just more depressing news……more ways for this cancer of inequality  to keep the people from achieving what has been called “the American Dream”…..

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Why Would Anyone Take A Horse Pill?

That is the question that has plagued me since I heard bout those people that would prefer to take a horse laxative over being vaccinated…..those that ignore medical advice and do something stupid like a pill designed for animals.

How do I get into the head of such a person?

After trying to explain this stupidity I still had no grasp on the thinking of these people.

Then I read this piece…..

Some Americans who are reluctant to get vaccinated believe they are living through a very different pandemic — one where the approved Covid-19 vaccines are ineffective and dangerous, and where a long list of “miracle cures,” ivermectin among them, are critical to patients’ health and safety.

From the outside, these positions can seem not just dangerous but incoherent. What would lead a person to say they won’t take a vaccine approved by federal regulators, then take an off-label medication because they read about it online?

Of course, not all Americans who are reluctant to get vaccinated have embraced supposed miracle cures: The reasons that people give for not getting a Covid-19 vaccine are varied and complex. But over the past year, among some refusers, a community of intense vaccine denialism has developed and created a sort of psychological scaffolding to support their views. As a group, the most fervent vaccine deniers construct and perpetuate an alternative narrative of the pandemic. And when inconvenient facts — from a news report to a friend’s or relative’s decision to get vaccinated — challenge that narrative, they give them a place to take refuge.

This phenomenon has its origins in America’s political polarization. One of the best predictors of whether someone is resistant to getting the Covid-19 vaccine is whether they identify as a Republican, and we know those partisan bonds are powerful. But they are not sufficient to explain the intransigence. Most Republicans have gotten the vaccine by now, but about 12 percent of Americans say they will never get vaccinated under any circumstances. (Roughly six in 10 of those people are Republicans, but a small minority of Democrats also say they won’t get the vaccine.)

It’s this community of hardcore refusers that have closed ranks and created an insular world meant to perpetuate their beliefs.

https://www.vox.com/coronavirus-covid19/22686147/covid-19-vaccine-betadine-hydroxychloroquine-ivermectin-trump-conspiracy

An interesting article but it still did not help me to get my head around the ignorance that is running rampant in the country.

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”