#or infectious diseases

[cynically-optomistic]

I dont think there should be a time frame on panic actually

[dsudis]

Help win cleaner indoor air!

The Airborne Act (H.R. 9000) creates incentives to clean up indoor air! It offers tax credits to commercial building owners for conducting indoor air quality assessments and making upgrades to ventilation and air filtration.

Indoor air quality upgrades can reduce substantially airborne diseases—protecting our health and decreasing health care expenses, lost wages and lost productivity.

[thehappyvet]

Where do people get this misconception that every single wildlife case at a vet clinic is euthanased so it's better to not take them in even if they're obviously hurt or sick and in need of treatment?!?!

Friendly reminder that a member of the public should not be able to easily pick up or catch a wild animal. We are not in a disney movie. If you can pick it up*, 80% of the time its extremely hurt or sick.

Wildlife, and most animals for that matter, do not show pain as humans do. That does not mean they are not in pain and suffering.

Veterinarians only euthanase wild animals that are suffering from extreme injury or illness, or animals that would stress themselves to death in a hospital setting that cannot be released and survive in the wild with their issue.

We do euthanase some animals, but that's because it's the best welfare decision for that animal and its specific problem.

Maybe trust the professionals trained in providing treatment to animals instead of some Karen on Facebook who demonises vets because she can't understand a bird with multiple wing and shoulder fractures is very unlikely to regain flight and return to the wild and her plan of keeping it means it will live a life of chronic pain and suffering.

*Disclaimer: If you live in a country where diseases such as rabies are endemic, you should not handle wildlife at all if you are not trained or vaccinated. This post is not recommending members of the public handle wildlife in any country.

[reasonsforhope]

"Since it was first identified in 1983, HIV has infected more than 85 million people and caused some 40 million deaths worldwide.

While medication known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, can significantly reduce the risk of getting HIV, it has to be taken every day to be effective. A vaccine to provide lasting protection has eluded researchers for decades. Now, there may finally be a viable strategy for making one.

An experimental vaccine developed at Duke University triggered an elusive type of broadly neutralizing antibody in a small group of people enrolled in a 2019 clinical trial. The findings were published today [May 17, 2024] in the scientific journal Cell.

“This is one of the most pivotal studies in the HIV vaccine field to date,” says Glenda Gray, an HIV expert and the president and CEO of the South African Medical Research Council, who was not involved in the study.

A few years ago, a team from Scripps Research and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) showed that it was possible to stimulate the precursor cells needed to make these rare antibodies in people. The Duke study goes a step further to generate these antibodies, albeit at low levels.

“This is a scientific feat and gives the field great hope that one can construct an HIV vaccine regimen that directs the immune response along a path that is required for protection,” Gray says.

-via WIRED, May 17, 2024. Article continues below.

Vaccines work by training the immune system to recognize a virus or other pathogen. They introduce something that looks like the virus—a piece of it, for example, or a weakened version of it—and by doing so, spur the body’s B cells into producing protective antibodies against it. Those antibodies stick around so that when a person later encounters the real virus, the immune system remembers and is poised to attack.

While researchers were able to produce Covid-19 vaccines in a matter of months, creating a vaccine against HIV has proven much more challenging. The problem is the unique nature of the virus. HIV mutates rapidly, meaning it can quickly outmaneuver immune defenses. It also integrates into the human genome within a few days of exposure, hiding out from the immune system.

“Parts of the virus look like our own cells, and we don’t like to make antibodies against our own selves,” says Barton Haynes, director of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute and one of the authors on the paper.

The particular antibodies that researchers are interested in are known as broadly neutralizing antibodies, which can recognize and block different versions of the virus. Because of HIV’s shape-shifting nature, there are two main types of HIV and each has several strains. An effective vaccine will need to target many of them.

Some HIV-infected individuals generate broadly neutralizing antibodies, although it often takes years of living with HIV to do so, Haynes says. Even then, people don’t make enough of them to fight off the virus. These special antibodies are made by unusual B cells that are loaded with mutations they’ve acquired over time in reaction to the virus changing inside the body. “These are weird antibodies,” Haynes says. “The body doesn’t make them easily.”

Haynes and his colleagues aimed to speed up that process in healthy, HIV-negative people. Their vaccine uses synthetic molecules that mimic a part of HIV’s outer coat, or envelope, called the membrane proximal external region. This area remains stable even as the virus mutates. Antibodies against this region can block many circulating strains of HIV.

The trial enrolled 20 healthy participants who were HIV-negative. Of those, 15 people received two of four planned doses of the investigational vaccine, and five received three doses. The trial was halted when one participant experienced an allergic reaction that was not life-threatening. The team found that the reaction was likely due to an additive in the vaccine, which they plan to remove in future testing.

Still, they found that two doses of the vaccine were enough to induce low levels of broadly neutralizing antibodies within a few weeks. Notably, B cells seemed to remain in a state of development to allow them to continue acquiring mutations, so they could evolve along with the virus. Researchers tested the antibodies on HIV samples in the lab and found that they were able to neutralize between 15 and 35 percent of them.

Jeffrey Laurence, a scientific consultant at the Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) and a professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, says the findings represent a step forward, but that challenges remain. “It outlines a path for vaccine development, but there’s a lot of work that needs to be done,” he says.

For one, he says, a vaccine would need to generate antibody levels that are significantly higher and able to neutralize with greater efficacy. He also says a one-dose vaccine would be ideal. “If you’re ever going to have a vaccine that’s helpful to the world, you’re going to need one dose,” he says.

Targeting more regions of the virus envelope could produce a more robust response. Haynes says the next step is designing a vaccine with at least three components, all aimed at distinct regions of the virus. The goal is to guide the B cells to become much stronger neutralizers, Haynes says. “We’re going to move forward and build on what we have learned.”

-via WIRED, May 17, 2024

[thecrashcourse]

Premiering today at 12 pm ET: the first ever Crash Course Lecture! Join us and guest lecturer John Green in the live chat as we learn about the history and science of #tuberculosis and how we can #StopTB

Crash Course Lectures are individual long-form videos that dive deep into a topic in a multidisciplinary way. As always at Crash Course, we embrace curiosity. We hope learners of all kinds enjoy these lectures, and that you are inspired to continue learning about the topic even after the video ends!

[nando161mando]

COVID denialism and misinformation has led to Olympic athletes not even washing their hands because they wrongly think it will help them become more resistant against disease.

There is no evidence handwashing weakens your immune system. There is no evidence that adopting unsanitary practices makes your immune system stronger. But there is a lot of evidence that handwashing and other precautions protects you and others from infectious diseases, especially in risky environments like bathrooms.

https://www.reddit.com/r/HermanCainAward/

https://www.sorryantivaxxer.com/

[x-x-angel]

What if I just.. yes this is a new Handplates infection au called Necrophobia (The fear of corpses and dead things), in this au the skele brother’s encounter these 2 doppelgängers roaming around the lab while testing, there is a gaster doppelgänger that is unidentified,

Handplates by @zarla-s

[chronicsheepdeprivation]

There's a possible effective treatment for the Amphibian Chytrid Fungus!

This fungus has been the cause of devastating mass deaths and extinctions in several frog species but now we have a way to help combat it!

[sizzlingsandwichperfection-blog]

Me and my friends have a monthly game night, where we play a game or competition, and the loser has to make a donation to a charity of the winners choosing. Next month is gonna be racing Go-Karts, and I've got this in the bag. Are there any TB related charities you would recommend I send my friends to?

YES. The folks leading the charge at expanding treatment access are:

The Stop TB Partnership

MSF

Partners in Health

The Treatment Action Group (which was founded by ACT UP but has now expanded to seek better treatment for people living with TB as well as HIV).

[3dfeels]

at this point i think i own wolfwood as my own personal cowboy character

[macgyvermedical]

Incubation Periods List

Hi all!

The following is a list of incubation periods for various infectious diseases for all your writing needs. An incubation period is the amount of time between exposure to an infectious agent (bacteria, virus, protozoa or prion) and the person having the first symptoms of the resulting illness. Knowing this is helpful in creating a timeline for your story.

Anthrax: Incubation period of 1-60 days

Avian Flu: Incubation period 3-9 days

Botulism: Incubation period 12-72 hours

Chikungunya: Incubation period 3-7 days

Chlamydia: incubation period 7-21 days

COVID-19: Incubation period 5-10 days

Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease: Incubation period 10-20 years

Dengue: Incubation period 5-7 days

Diphtheria: Incubation period 2-5 days

Ebola: Incubation period 2-21 days

Hantavirus: incubation period 1-8 weeks

Hepatitis A: incubation period about 28 days

Herpes: Incubation period 2-12 days

Herpes Zoster/Varicella (Chickenpox): Incubation period 14-16 days

Herpes Zoster (Shingles): Incubation period- technically none, as this is a reactivation of the virus that causes chickenpox

HIB: Incubation period 2-10 days

HIV: Incubation period 1-6 weeks to prodrome, approximately 10 years to AIDS

Influenza: Incubation period 1-4 days

Legionnaires Disease: Incubation period 5-6 days

Leprosy: Incubation period 9 months to 20 years

Lyme Disease: Incubation period 3-30 days

Malaria: Incubation period 7-30 days

Measles: Incubation period 10-12 days

Meningitis, Bacterial: Incubation period 2-10 days

Meningitis, Viral: Incubation period 3-10 days

Monkeypox: Incubation period 1-2 weeks

Mumps: Incubation period 16-18 days

Norovirus: Incubation period 12-48 hours

Pertussis: Incubation period 7-10 days

Plague: Incubation period 2-8 days

Pneumococcal Pneumonia: Incubation period 1-3 days

Polio: Incubation period 7-10 days

Q-Fever: Incubation period 2-3 weeks

Rabies: Incubation period 20-90 days

RSV: Incubation period 4-6 days

Smallpox: Incubation period 7-17 days

Syphilis: Incubation period 10-90 days

Tetanus: Incubation period 3-21 days

Tuberculosis: Incubation period 2-10 days

Typhoid: Incubation period 6-30 days

Typhus: Incubation period 1-2 weeks

West Nile Virus: Incubation period 2-6 days

Yellow Fever: Incubation period 3-6 days

Zika: Incubation period 3-14 days

[slavhew]

28/01/2024

stars don't twinkle moon doesn't shine

big thanks to @nahrgles for finishing this for me after i hit a wall with colors bg and effects- chromatic aberration blew my fkn mind

pre edit transparent version under cut because i spent too much time cleaning it loll

[spearslug-box]

Hey!! Rainworld infection AU!!!! (Body horror warn under cut)

:3

[wolfythewitch]

Wolfy you infected me i'm starting to become obsessed with the bible and Greek mythology what have you done /lh

This is the funniest outcome

[reasonsforhope]

Cancer

“Starting at home, a study last year found that US cancer deaths had declined by 33% since 1991. This is equivalent to around 3.8 million people alive thanks to various efforts to combat the disease family.

The report was authored by the American Cancer Society, and published in the journal CA. American Cancer Society CEO Karen Knudsen called the drop “truly formidable,” while the report attributed the fall to the development of better treatments, the reduction in smoking habits, and earlier detection methods.

Just between 2019 and 2020, cancer death rates dropped 1.5%, while the deployment of the HPV vaccine was correlated with a 65% drop in cervical cancer rates from 2012 through 2019 among women in their 30s.

The report also found that not only are death rates falling, but 5-year survival rates for detected cancers have increased 68% among all diagnoses made between 2012 and 2018.

Guinea Worm Disease

Cancer research often involves cutting edge medical research, but across West Africa and India where cutting edge medicine is not widely available, human determination has succeeded in nearly eradicating Guinea Worm disease.

There are records of this truly unpleasant parasite affecting human health going back thousands of years, and in 1989, there were nearly 1 million cases globally.

But in 2022, this unwelcome waterborne guest created just 15 cases worldwide—a decline of 99.998%, and almost all 15 of those cases occurred in Chad.

This monumental turnaround was not the result of some experimental vaccine, but simple education, teaching people how to avoid drinking contaminated water, when and where this mostly seasonal parasite is likely to be found, and how to treat water to purify it of the Guinea worm.

Ebola

Other than Chad, Guinea Worm disease was also found in Uganda, which produced another medical milestone with the successful eradication of a recent Ebola outbreak.

The outbreak began in September, driven on by the incurable Sudan strain of the virus. It was the worst outbreak in 20 years, but even though there is no vaccine for the Sudan strain, the health authorities managed to contain it to just two administrative districts, and 142 confirmed cases.

“The magic bullet has been our communities who understood the importance of doing what was needed to end the outbreak, and took action,” said health minister Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng Ocero last Wednesday.

Vaccine trials involving Oxford University are currently underway for the Sudan strain, but until that time, health authorities received congratulations for their swift actions, and were thanked for the “lessons learned.””

-via Good News Network, 1/19/23

[nando161mando]

Most of you are going as this for Halloween. And it doesn't even require a costume.

https://www.reddit.com/r/HermanCainAward/

#COVID #COVIDisNotOver #COVIDisAirborne #COVID19 #eugenics #ableism