#medical crisis

[zimtgruen]

We are running out of antibiotics. Sham Jaff tells us in her newsletter “what happened last week” why that's a global crisis

What happened

Antibiotics are losing their power (meaning, we are becoming resistant to them), and the world is running out of new antibiotics, says the World Health Organization (WHO). That means we’re heading toward a future where even a small cut could be deadly again.

Refresher: What are antibiotics?

Antibiotics are medicines that kill or stop the growth of bacteria. Before antibiotics, even a small cut or infection could be deadly. Today, they save millions of lives, and are used to treat bacterial infections like pneumonia, urinary tract infections (UTIs), strep throat, and tuberculosis.

Why this matters: The WHO says that antibiotic resistance (AMR) is killing more than one million people a year (some say the number is much higher), and expects that number to surpass cancer as the top cause of death by 2050. For comparison: As of 2022, around ten million people died of cancer.

As with everything, not everyone is affected equally—it affects some people much worse than others, specifically children in poorer countries. A study in The Lancet found that nearly all children under 5 who die from AMR-related infections are from low- and middle-income countries, and children living in African countries below the Sahara desert are 58 times more likely to die from antibiotic resistance than children in wealthy countries.

Tell me more

There are many factors leading to antibiotic resistance.

We don't use antibiotics right. Many people take antibiotics without prescriptions or for the wrong illnesses (e.g., viruses like the flu). Doctors sometimes overprescribe broad-spectrum antibiotics, which kill too many bacteria—including the good ones—allowing resistant ones to take over. This happens everywhere; in Germany, too.

Not everyone has good healthcare. Many people in low-income countries can’t afford full antibiotic treatments, leading to incomplete doses that make bacteria resistant. Fake or low-quality antibiotics are also a problem.

Farm animals are loaded with antibiotics. Farmers use massive amounts of antibiotics on animals to make them grow faster. These drugs leak into water, soil, and food, creating resistant bacteria.

Dirty water. Dirty water and lack of sanitation help spread resistant bacteria. Handwashing alone could reduce infections dramatically.

How is AMR diagnosed?

It looks like a normal infection at first—fever, swelling, or pain—but doesn’t get better with antibiotics. Diagnosing AMR requires lab tests, where bacteria are exposed to different antibiotics to see which ones they survive. Some hospitals use DNA testing to check for resistance genes—but not every country has access to this tech. The earlier AMR is caught, the better the chance of treating it.

Dig deeper: Global Press Journal reporters investigated AMR in seven countries—showing how antibiotic resistance is already a daily nightmare in places like Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Puerto Rico. For example, in Zimbabwe, 93% of the population in the country has no access to health insurance, half of all Ugandans find it difficult to pay for their medical visits, and in Puerto Rico, "there is a belief that any little thing can be solved with antibiotics," one says.

What can be done?

Governments need better laws to control antibiotic sales.

Hospitals & doctors must stop overprescribing antibiotics.

People need to stop demanding antibiotics for colds and flu.

The food industry must cut antibiotic use in animals.

But—and this is important—AMR is much more urgent in poorer countries. Wealthy nations can afford new treatments. Poorer ones face the worst consequences. Without global action, AMR will widen global health inequalities even more.

"Fun" fact: Alexander Fleming—the scientist who discovered penicillin—warned us about this in 1945. He predicted that if we weren’t careful, antibiotics would stop working because of overuse. He was right. Now, we have to decide if we’re actually going to fix it.

[reasoningdaily]

Fake Brazilian doctor treated 30 patients at hospital before revealing she bought $8 degree online

A Brazilian woman pretending to be a doctor treated nearly 30 patients at a hospital before she revealed she purchased an online degree for $8.

Mirian Santana, 27, was arrested Monday — her first day on the job at a facility in Coroados, São Paulo.

By the time she was placed in cuffs, she had already treated 30 adults and children, according to G1.

Other health care professionals became suspicious and checked her registration number, which belonged to an actual doctor.

When confronted at the hospital, Santana admitted to buying the document online, the local outlet said.

She later told police that she was a speech therapist earning around $802 a month. Police did not confirm her profession, according to G1.

Santana was arrested for illegal exercise of a profession, ideological forgery, use of a false document, danger to life and attempted embezzlement.

The alleged criminal was taken to Tupi Paulista, where she will be held while Civil Police investigate, according to G1.

[santaclaralocalnews]

The Bay Area is home to some of the best children’s hospitals in the country, attracting families from all over the world who are dealing with life-threatening illnesses. Many of these families are far from home and far from the support systems that they need to help manage the battle they are facing. That’s where There With Care comes in. Read complete news with svvoice.com.

[dearyallfrommatt]

I can tell you what's happening in Mississippi. Hospitals, especially ones in rural areas, are closing at a dizzying pace. Some places in the Delta are two hours away from emergency medical care. Even for the ones that stay open, funds are getting slashed and there's no room for advancement. My cousin's daughter works in administration and pretty much any similar job she'd take in another facility would be a pay cut of at least twenty grand.

And then there's the fact that most people can't afford insurance that fully covers them and their families. The state government actively fights against expanding Medicare and thinks it's more important to get people off of it than worry about helping folks. We are among the highest in the nation in uninsured people and medical debt, as well.

Doctors and hospitals and nurses are overwhelmed. It takes forever to get an appointment or to receive meds or even medical equipment in the mail because they're all overwhelmed. No one has the money for anything and it isn't like we're getting healthier. The people that run things don't give enough of a shit because they've never given that much of a shit for hoi polloi, and the rest of us are too damn beaten down by the state being itself.

That's what's wrong with Mississippi. It doesn't have to be this way, either.

Why would you listen to a Red State on health care? The evidence is in. They lost. AGAIN.

[reasonsforhope]

"A large clinical trial in South Africa and Uganda has shown that a twice-yearly injection of a new pre-exposure prophylaxis drug gives young women total protection from HIV infection.

The trial tested whether the six-month injection of lenacapavir would provide better protection against HIV infection than two other drugs, both daily pills. All three medications are pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP) drugs.

Physician-scientist Linda-Gail Bekker, principal investigator for the South African part of the study, tells Nadine Dreyer what makes this breakthough so significant and what to expect next.

Tell us about the trial and what it set out to achieve

The Purpose 1 trial with 5,000 participants took place at three sites in Uganda and 25 sites in South Africa to test the efficacy of lenacapavir and two other drugs.

Lenacapavir (Len LA) is a fusion capside inhibitor. It interferes with the HIV capsid, a protein shell that protects HIV’s genetic material and enzymes needed for replication. It is administered just under the skin, once every six months.

The randomised controlled trial, sponsored by the drug developers Gilead Sciences, tested several things.

The first was whether a six-monthly injection of lenacapavir was safe and would provide better protection against HIV infection as PrEP for women between the ages of 16 and 25 years than Truvada F/TDF, a daily PrEP pill in wide use that has been available for more than a decade.

Secondly, the trial also tested whether Descovy F/TAF, a newer daily pill, was as effective as F/TDF...

The trial had three arms. Young women were randomly assigned to one of the arms in a 2:2:1 ratio (Len LA: F/TAF oral: F/TDF oral) in a double blinded fashion. This means neither the participants nor the researchers knew which treatment participants were receiving until the clinical trial was over.

In eastern and southern Africa, young women are the population who bear the brunt of new HIV infections. They also find a daily PrEP regimen challenging to maintain, for a number of social and structural reasons.

During the randomised phase of the trial none of the 2,134 women who received lenacapavir contracted HIV. There was 100 percent efficiency.

By comparison, 16 of the 1,068 women (or 1.5%) who took Truvada (F/TDF) and 39 of 2,136 (1.8%) who received Descovy (F/TAF) contracted the HIV virus...

What is the significance of these trials?

This breakthrough gives great hope that we have a proven, highly effective prevention tool to protect people from HIV.

There were 1.3 million new HIV infections globally in the past year. Although that’s fewer than the 2 million infections seen in 2010, it is clear that at this rate we are not going to meet the HIV new infection target that UNAIDS set for 2025 (fewer than 500,000 globally) or potentially even the goal to end Aids by 2030...

For young people, the daily decision to take a pill or use a condom or take a pill at the time of sexual intercourse can be very challenging.

HIV scientists and activists hope that young people may find that having to make this “prevention decision” only twice a year may reduce unpredictability and barriers.

For a young woman who struggles to get to an appointment at a clinic in a town or who can’t keep pills without facing stigma or violence, an injection just twice a year is the option that could keep her free of HIV.

What happens now?

The plan is that the Purpose 1 trial will go on but now in an “open label” phase. This means that study participants will be “unblinded”: they will be told whether they have been in the “injectable” or oral TDF or oral TAF groups.

They will be offered the choice of PrEP they would prefer as the trial continues.

A sister trial is also under way: Purpose 2 is being conducted in a number of regions including some sites in Africa among cisgender men, and transgender and nonbinary people who have sex with men.

It’s important to conduct trials among different groups because we have seen differences in effectiveness. Whether the sex is anal or vaginal is important and may have an impact on effectiveness.

How long until the drug is rolled out?

We have read in a Gilead Sciences press statement that within the next couple of months [from July 2024] the company will submit the dossier with all the results to a number of country regulators, particularly the Ugandan and South African regulators.

The World Health Organization will also review the data and may issue recommendations.

We hope then that this new drug will be adopted into WHO and country guidelines.

We also hope we may begin to see the drug being tested in more studies to understand better how to incorporate it into real world settings.

Price is a critical factor to ensure access and distribution in the public sector where it is badly needed.

Gilead Sciences has said it will offer licences to companies that make generic drugs, which is another critical way to get prices down.

In an ideal world, governments will be able to purchase this affordably and it will be offered to all who want it and need protection against HIV."

-via The Conversation, July 3, 2024

[ana-bananya]

‼️URGENT: $1,700 Needed to Save Elaf's Aunt!

Current progress: $22,104/$23,804 (urgent short term goal)

Elaf's campaign is vetted on SudanFunds

Elaf's family was able to afford evacuation to Egypt, but their family is now experiencing a medical emergency. They need urgent help to save their aunt's life!

Elaf's aunt was diagnosed with brain stem hematoma and has been saying at the ICU in the hospital. The bleeding from her brain has affected her respiratory system and she has had to be put on a ventilator to help her breathe.

The hospital is demaning $1,700 from Elaf's family. The doctors already stopped giving Elaf's aunt medicine and the family is afraid they will shut off the ventilator too if they are unable to pay.

Elaf's aunt will die if she is taken off the ventilator. The family urgently needs to reach $23,804 to continue her treatment. Elaf gave the update about their aunt 2 days ago and there has only been 2 donations since!

Please donate and share, there is no time to waste!

Tagging for reach. Please share if you see this. Thank you

@fullmusicbardsquared @cheonmaneechan

@sundung @ihavenopeopleskills @thevvickerman

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[meramyst18]

If you ever feel depressed about climate change (which I felt like that many many times), and you feel that no matter what you do it will not matter, so at the end, why should try? Just remember that that is exactly what big corporations want. If they don't have people speaking out and holding them accountable for what they're doing, then they're just gonna keep messing up the planet and fill their pockets even more.

Right now, more than ever, giving up is not something we can do. Not everything is lost, but the media doesn't show that because that will encourage people to actually do something.

It's easier to say "you know what, stop trying because the planet is gonna die anyways, duh" instead of saying "many governments are transitioning to clean energy, suing polluting companies, making more environmental advances, and cleaning up the oceans, so you should too!"

The media wants to discourage you, and if you are one of the influencers or people saying "give up", you are part of the problem too.

Keep fighting, keep recycling, keep thrifting, keep boycotting greed corporations, keep eating less meat, keep informing and most importantly, keep being hopeful! Hope, love and compassion are our stronger weapons, never forget that.

[zylahbee]

being a disabled environmentalist is hard.

i care so much and i wish i could aim for things like zero waste. but i just cant, doing something like that would be ignoring my health needs.

its quite isolating, because i try to find tips and environmental swaps but often they just arent possible for me to use/do and then i feel guilty for that.

even though i know its not my fault and i cant help it, it just triggers my inner ableism and i blame myself for being this way.

[punkitt-is-here]

some photos from the DnD games ive been playing recently

[triptychofvoids]

the beach episode

[mothsakura]

artstyle crisis with grandpa.....................................

[rottenpumpkin13]

I feel like being angsty. And since you mentioned crate training earlier, how do you think that went with Sephiroth when he was growing up before Rhadore? I'd imagine that Hojo did a number on him back when he was still young and vulnerable. But would Hojo risk the health and safety of what is essentially the most endangered species on Gaia just to be THAT much of an abusive asshole? There's only so much abject misery a small child can physically take. Was Hojo capable of showing mercy?

Hojo once said "Better to scar the mind than mar the flesh" when talking about Aerith, and that perfectly encapsulates how he treats the specimens he finds physically valuable, but wants to bend into submission. There's no way he didn't test Sephiroth's physical limits when he was still very young, learning exactly how far he could push him and to what extent.

This is what involved the significant experimentation and pain, which is where the medical abuse came in (if square makes this canon I'll combust).

I think Hojo tested Sephiroth's endurance and inflicted pain to conduct further tests, but never aimed for physical abuse that would "scar the flesh" because he viewed Sephiroth as something precious that he couldn't risk harming too much. But it's in the way a scientist views his most prized, successful experiment—one he owns, not in a fatherly way. What makes it tragic is how closely these two povs intertwine 🫠 ANYWAY.

I think he used of a form of psychological conditioning (abuse, in this case) similar to crate training, keeping everything within the boundaries of what Sephiroth could endure. He controlled aspects of Sephiroth's life, like how long he could go without food or water to test his limits. By confining Sephiroth and regulating every aspect of his existence—food, water, bathroom breaks, sleep, etc—Hojo could've easily bent Sephiroth into submission.

Food Control: Restricting access to food would lead to hunger, making him more compliant out of desperation. The tragic part is that Sephiroth's Jenova cells give him an incredible capacity to go without food, water, and sleep (see: Nibelheim). Just imagine how long that poor child must've gone without food/ water at a time.

Sleep Deprivation: Limiting sleep would cause fatigue, confusion, weaken his will and ability to resist, which would effectively make him easier to influence.

Isolation: Confining him to a small room deprived him of human interaction and likely exacerbated feelings of loneliness that were already there. This would cause him to become more helpless and eventually dependant on Hojo. DEPENDANT ON HOJO.

Bathroom Restrictions: I don't even want to touch this one, you get the picture. Think losing further control of his own body.

Positive reinforcement: I think I mentioned this in the other post, but in crate training, they give dogs a reward, something to encourage the behavior the trainer wants and to make compliance easy. This would work well on Sephiroth given how it's clear he deprived him of comfort, but I think what Hojo "rewarded" Sephiroth was the locket with Lucrecia's photo. Although now that I think about it, if this is the case, it's really unlikely he gave it to him out of nowhere. Sephiroth would have had to work for it.

I'm now even more depressed, thanks Alto 😂

Honestly even if Hojo was able of showing mercy to other people, children, his own child, he didn't see Sephiroth like that. He wasn't a son. He wasn't a person. He ingrained it into Sephiroth's head that he was nothing more than a weapon for Shinra, a lap dog as Genesis would later put it. And where do you put dogs? Right here:

[baldwinheights]

[jjcre8]

✩˚｡⋆ 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐋.

Below is a list of sentence starters themed around being in the hospital. Sorted into categories of the hospital staff , the patient , & the loved ones. Feel free to change pronouns as needed. Do not add to the list , & always reblog from the source.

TW. HOSPITAL , MEDICAL EMERGENCIES , MEDICAL CRISIS , MEDICAL ENVIRONMENT.

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐅𝐅.

“ I'm going to tell you what I tell every young doctor. Hopefully you'll be the first to listen. On your day off, get as far away from this place as you can. Go someplace where you feel most like yourself. ”

" You've been at it for hours. It's slowing down, you should go get some rest. "

" This place is like a madhouse. It's like everyone decided today was they day to get injured. "

" We're gonna make sure you're as comfortable as possible. You're in good hands. "

"It's going to be okay. We have some of the best doctors and nurses in the country working here.

" We'll, probably keep you overnight. Just to be safe. "

" I think it's best that we don't jump to conclusions just yet. "

" You suffered a major accident. You're lucky to be alive. "

" In my professional opinion ... Surgery is the best option I'm afraid. "

" It's a long shot but I think it's the best chance you have at a full recovery. "

" This isn't my first 48 hour shift ... I'll be fine. Promise. "

" Right now, we need to be talking about what to do, if they don't make it. "

" The surgery was a success! You can be happy to know you'll be back on your feet in no time. "

" It's not gonna be the same. You'll have to work harder ... But you'll live. "

" I became a doctor/nurse to save a life. So that's what I'm gonna do. "

" Sir/Ma'am?! You can't be back here! You need to be checked in to see any patients here! "

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓.

" I'm in this hospital bed. I'm barely conscious. Delirious. Drowning in my own blood. And all I can hear myself think is ' Today's the day. Today's the day you die ' "

“ I'm not gonna die in a hospital where the nurses aren't even hot. ”

" Is there anything else that you can do? "

" So what's the damage Doc? Am I gonna live? "

" I hate hospitals. It's nothing but people sitting around , waiting for some old guy to come give you the news you don't wanna hear. "

" I'm pretty sure it's a requirement that all hospitals serve crappy food. Don't be such a baby. "

" As soon as you get walking around, the sooner you can get out of here. Sound like a fair trade? "

" So that's it then? There's nothing you can do? "

" Can I at least get something besides pudding? "

" I hate hospitals. It's always so bleak.

" Listen, I appreciate everything you've done, but I'm fine. So draw up those discharge papers and I'll be on my way.

" I can't believe I'm finally getting out of here! "

" Give it to me straight Doc. How bad is it? "

" If I have to have another iv put in I'm gonna go crazy. "

" Can I at least get up and walk around? "

" I'm actually feeling really good this morning. "

" You guys really don't have to hang around here and watch me lay here feeling sorry for myself. "

" I'll be fine on my own. You guys shouldn't have to stay cooped up here too. "

" I just need something for the pain. An aspirin would be at least some help. "

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐃 𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐒.

" They're gonna be okay … Right Doctor? "

" As soon as you get walking around, the sooner you can get out of here. Sound like a fair trade? "

" I'm not going anywhere. So stop insisting. I'm staying. "

" The doctor's said you'll be fine in a few days. Just gotta stay here and rest so they can an eye on you. "

" You've been out for a long time. "

" Had us worried for a second. Glad to see you're awake. "

" You were banged up pretty bad. "

" Doctor's say we're lucky we got you here when we did. Otherwise we could have lost you. "

" Don't scare me like that ever again. I thought I lost you. "

" You don't know how happy I am to see you awake. "

" It's gonna be okay. I'm gonna be right here when you get out. "

" You're gonna stay in that bed, and do what the doctor's said. I'm not taking no for an answer. "

" I'm gonna go down to the cafeteria. Want me to sneak something back for you? "

" I don't mind hanging around. I'd just be worrying about you at home. "

" I'm fine right here with you. So stop asking okay? "

" I'm right here with you. Okay? "

" We can get through this. "

[onlytiktoks]

This is what they are mad about;