Where's the petri dish thread?

[Overlander]

well that....and shellfish is disgusting

Leave my blackened shrimp out of this

[RainbowsandUnicorns]

Today's edition of WTF!?!?!?!?
Part of WTF is A LOT of $$$$ so I guess that kind of answers my question.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/12/health/p ... index.html

[Shirley]

Hey Randy, as our virology expert extraordinaire in residence, would you mind deigning to share your thoughts on the

Nipah Virus outbreak in India, where government officials are racing to contain the illness that has killed two people so far, and infected at least five?

tia

[jhawks99]

Who knew yeast could be bad?

https://www.wkyt.com/2023/10/24/several ... 1EvSPHtqPw

[Shirley]

Who knew yeast could be bad?

https://www.wkyt.com/2023/10/24/several ... 1EvSPHtqPw

When I saw "UK", I thought United Kingdom, dammit.

It's primarily a problem for immunosuppressed patients in hospitals, but It's becoming more common, which isn't good.

CDC:

In general, C. auris is not a threat to healthy people. CDC typically does not recommend screening or testing family members. Family members should use alcohol-based hand sanitizer or wash their hands before entering and leaving a patient’s room and before and after contact with the patient or a patient’s medical devices.

If a family member or someone else with frequent contact with a patient with C. auris needs to receive care at a healthcare facility, they should tell the healthcare provider.

Patients and family members should talk to a healthcare provider or the facility’s management if they are concerned about infection protection and control.

Risk Factors

C. auris mostly affects patients with severe underlying medical conditions and requiring complex medical care. Patients with invasive medical devices like breathing tubes, feeding tubes, catheters in a vein, or urinary catheters tend to be at increased risk for getting C. auris and developing an infection.

Healthy people without these risk factors, including healthcare workers and family members, have a low risk for getting infected with C. auris...

[jhawks99]

This is the hospital where Mrs. 99 worked for the last dozen years.

[DCHawk1]

Oh.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-heal ... pneumonia/

Chinese hospitals have been “overwhelmed with sick children” as an outbreak of pneumonia escalates in cities across the country, including Beijing, according to reports.

ProMed – a large, publicly available surveillance system which monitors human and animal disease outbreaks worldwide – issued a notification late on Tuesday detailing a reported epidemic of “undiagnosed pneumonia” in children.

It was a ProMed alert in late December 2019 that brought a mystery virus later named Sars-Cov-2 to the attention of many doctors and scientists, including senior officials at the World Health Organization.

The latest post, based on a report from the Taiwanese outlet FTV News, said that hospitals in the capital Beijing and Liaoning – almost 500 miles northeast – were struggling amid an influx of children sick with pneumonia.

“Many, many are hospitalised,” Mr Wei, a Beijing citizen, told FTV News. “They don’t cough and have no symptoms. They just have a high temperature (fever) and many develop pulmonary nodules.”

[KUTradition]

it’s a bioweapon!!!!

yet another plandemic lol

[ousdahl]

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cz67Y8AyxWa ... BiNWFlZA==

[TDub]

China population density is too damn high

[Shirley]

If only our resident infectious disease expert Randi was here to give us the skinny.



dammit

[KUTradition]

ugh

A recent study published by the journal, Ecotoxicology and Public Health evaluated the amount of microplastics found in a food between two different types of plastic cutting boards. Carrots were chopped on a cutting board made with polypropylene, and another with polyethylene. Scientists evaluated what the total exposure would be per person when using these types of plastic cutting boards. At the end of the study, they found these plastic cutting boards resulted in 1,114 microplastic particles (pieces of plastic less than 5 millimeters long) on the carrots each time the board was used. This means a plastic cutting board could generate 15 milligrams of microplastics per cut, and around 50 grams a year — the equivalent of 10 plastic credit cards.

[RainbowsandUnicorns]

NICE!

https://wgntv.com/health/world-health-l ... han-covid/

[Overlander]

Just in time for the election?

[TDub]

seems a little like fretting about "the big one' earthquake that's going to devastate the west coast.

Is it possible, yes. Is it probable? also yes. In our lifetimes? who knows? is it predictable? no.

Sensational stories sell. But, we can't get bogged down by constant worry of catastrophe.

[TDub]

obviously some people need to in order to be better equipped to stymie the damage and deal with the aftermath. But, for the average person these stories of impending doom don't really accomplish much.

[KUTradition]

you’ve definitely got a point about sensationalism selling (or getting clicks or whatever), but i’m kinda shocked at your response given everything that’s transpired over the past 5 years

the obvious but notable difference between natural disasters and pandemics, is that we have a pretty solid understanding of how pandemics arise (and how to get at reducing our susceptibility), and how to best mitigate their effects after their emergence

imo, the broader public needs to be aware of such things so we don’t elect people (again) that do things like dismantle the infrastructure intended to deal with such threats, or generally undermine our response and mitigation efforts

hope for the best, plan for the worst

[Shirley]

you’ve definitely got a point about sensationalism selling (or getting clicks or whatever), but i’m kinda shocked at your response given everything that’s transpired over the past 5 years

the obvious but notable difference between natural disasters and pandemics, is that we have a pretty solid understanding of how pandemics arise (and how to get at reducing our susceptibility), and how to best mitigate their effects after their emergence

imo, the broader public needs to be aware of such things so we don’t elect people (again) that do things like dismantle the infrastructure intended to deal with such threats, or generally undermine our response and mitigation efforts

hope for the best, plan for the worst

Sadly, I fear that ship has sailed.

Republicans have been undermining our institutions for decades and Trump has nearly finished the job. He weaponized the pandemic in an effort to avoid responsibility, and his cult bought it hook, line, and sinker. (For evidence, one only needs to see the way Randy and Psych refer to a public servant like Anthony Fauci, or how latent anti-vaccination sentiment has skyrocketed. It makes absolutely no sense.) So, now, as soon as the first mention of a new variant or infectious agent is mentioned and the subject of masks comes up, the propaganda machine springs into action and cynical interests do what they do, divide us for their gain.

It is beyond fucked, and one of the reasons I don't miss practicing medicine as much as I would otherwise.

[KUTradition]

you’ve definitely got a point about sensationalism selling (or getting clicks or whatever), but i’m kinda shocked at your response given everything that’s transpired over the past 5 years

the obvious but notable difference between natural disasters and pandemics, is that we have a pretty solid understanding of how pandemics arise (and how to get at reducing our susceptibility), and how to best mitigate their effects after their emergence

imo, the broader public needs to be aware of such things so we don’t elect people (again) that do things like dismantle the infrastructure intended to deal with such threats, or generally undermine our response and mitigation efforts

hope for the best, plan for the worst

Sadly, I fear that ship has sailed.

Republicans have been undermining our institutions for decades and Trump has nearly finished the job. He weaponized the pandemic in an effort to avoid responsibility, and his cult bought it hook, line, and sinker. (For evidence, one only needs to see the way Randy and Psych refer to a public servant like Anthony Fauci, or how latent anti-vaccination sentiment has skyrocketed. It makes absolutely no sense.) So, now, as soon as the first mention of a new variant or infectious agent is mentioned and the subject of masks comes up, the propaganda machine springs into action and cynical interests do what they do, divide us for their gain.

It is beyond fucked, and one of the reasons I don't miss practicing medicine as much as I would otherwise.

the climate ship has also largely sailed…that doesn’t mean i (or anyone else) should stop trying to highlight the issue

[Shirley]

you’ve definitely got a point about sensationalism selling (or getting clicks or whatever), but i’m kinda shocked at your response given everything that’s transpired over the past 5 years

the obvious but notable difference between natural disasters and pandemics, is that we have a pretty solid understanding of how pandemics arise (and how to get at reducing our susceptibility), and how to best mitigate their effects after their emergence

imo, the broader public needs to be aware of such things so we don’t elect people (again) that do things like dismantle the infrastructure intended to deal with such threats, or generally undermine our response and mitigation efforts

hope for the best, plan for the worst

Sadly, I fear that ship has sailed.

Republicans have been undermining our institutions for decades and Trump has nearly finished the job. He weaponized the pandemic in an effort to avoid responsibility, and his cult bought it hook, line, and sinker. (For evidence, one only needs to see the way Randy and Psych refer to a public servant like Anthony Fauci, or how latent anti-vaccination sentiment has skyrocketed. It makes absolutely no sense.) So, now, as soon as the first mention of a new variant or infectious agent is mentioned and the subject of masks comes up, the propaganda machine springs into action and cynical interests do what they do, divide us for their gain.

It is beyond fucked, and one of the reasons I don't miss practicing medicine as much as I would otherwise.

the climate ship has also largely sailed…that doesn’t mean i (or anyone else) should stop trying to highlight the issue

Oh, absolutely.

"hope for the best, plan for the worst"

What are the chances that if Biden or Democrats add an appropriation to a future spending bill that includes the stockpiling of respirators, masks, gowns, syringes, etc., etc., in anticipation of the next pandemic, some "fiscally responsible" republican and Faux News won't make it the subject of a "wasteful spending" meme on the news, that plays for days?

The first rule of responding to any real pandemic: Overdo everything immediately because the penalty for failure is too high and you can always back off, has likely been rendered impossible in the future thanks to Trump and Republicans.

But then, only the people who deserve it will die, according to Randy, so that's some consolation.