#outbreak of diarrhea

[kick-a-long]

Stuff like this is why I get so pissed off at accusations of genocide and apartheid.

Why would a genocidal country pause a war to vaccinate at least 90% of Gaza kids against polio as soon as the first case of a two year old paralyzed by type 2 poliovirus is confirmed? If they wanted gazans wiped off the earth they would keep the war going and vaccinate Israeli kids and citizens. If they wanted them dead they would never vaccinate “the enemy.” Russia wouldn’t do that.

I see you dickheads in the comments, “it’s for optics! Plus they must be worried about Jews getting it from them! That’s the only reason they want to vaccinate anyone. Plus vaccines are poison even checked by the WHO! They probably have autism in them!”

If it’s an apartheid why would Palestinians have access to the same places and bodies of water as Israelis? And if they don’t why would Israel vaccinate. The Regan administration didn’t respond to the HIV outbreak in the 80s because they hated gays and drug users and wanted them sick, spreading it, and most importantly dead. During peace time to their own citizens.

All Israel would have to do is ignore the outbreak.

Vaccines work. Polio is one of the most devastating diseases a kid can get. There’s no medication that can stop the damage once you get the virus. Lil kids die from diarrhea, are paralyzed for life and if they’re immune system doesn’t stop the paralysis at their legs it climbs up their bodies and once it hits their diaphragm (the muscle that lets you breath right under your rip cage) kids as young as a few months old to their teens will die from lack of air. Both are the absolute worst and most painful ways a person can die. Waking nightmare delusions from dehydration and low oxygen on top of the physical pain.

Nazis infected Jews with this shit intentionally to study how polio affects children. Israel is stopping in the middle of a war to end the polio outbreak when they are still trying to rescue kids so young they have spent the majority of their lives on earth in Hamas captivity. And after only one kid was confirmed with polio type 2, the one that causes paralysis.

How can it be a genocide or an apartheid when they are literally helping safeguard Palestines next generation of kids?

[agoodflyting]

Good Omens Historical Trivia That's Haunting Me Today...

So we all know A.Z. Fell & Co is located on the fictitious Whickber Street in Soho and was established in 1800.

Aziraphale has run the shop ever since then and was in contact with Crowley at least until the 1820's when they took their little jaunt to Edinburgh and Crowley got sucked down the tube slide to Hell. They meet up again no later than the 1860's, when Crowley asks for Holy Water.

Stands to reason that between the 1820's and 1860's Aziraphale was in Soho doing Aziraphale things. Running his bookshop. Eating tiny cakes

Yeah... you know what else was going on in Soho during that time?

The worst cholera epidemic in London history.

If you don't know, cholera is a deadly bacterial infection caused by drinking contaminated water. Prior to the 1850's humans weren't really sure what caused cholera, but they knew it was terrifying and also that it was absolutely epidemic in big cities.

TW: this is gross - The main symptoms of cholera are agonizing stomach pain and non-stop watery diarrhea, eventually leading to the skin turning blue due to the thickening of blood from severe dehydration. Patients can lose more than 20% of their body weight in hours as they quite literally evacuate every drop of water in their bodies until they die of heart failure. - OK gross part over

Cholera symptoms show up as short as 5 hours after infection and could kill within as little as 12 hours. Cholera was especially terrifying because of how quickly and painfully it killed you, and because the patient maintained mental clarity up until the point of death. More than half of the people who contracted cholera died within a few days after consuming the bacteria-contaminated water.

And guess what water had cholera bacteria in it?

The public water pump on Broad Street in Soho in August of 1854

And this wasn't one of those epidemics that starts slowly and drags on. It hit like a bomb. It killed 600 Soho residents in ten days.

That's roughly 60 people a day in a 3-4 block area. Most of them died at home because the disease struck too quickly for them to to make it to a hospital. Survivors described hearses stacked with coffins 4-5 high going down the street nonstop all day long during the outbreak. Entire families were wiped out overnight.

What does that have to do with Good Omens?

Aziraphale's book shop was right in the epicenter of this outbreak.

Neil Gaiman has been pretty free about the fact that Whickber Street is a thinly veiled expy of the real Berwick Street in Soho.

This is a famous map showing the 1854 Soho Cholera epidemic. I highlighted Berwick Street and the public water pump that was the center of the contagion. The black bars (I circled a few in blue) on the map designate deaths. The thicker the black bar, the more people died in that particular house.

51 people died the week of the cholera outbreak on Aziraphale's Street alone.

Cholera was one of those diseases that provoked a lot of panic, not just because of how fast and painful it was, but because of the way it didn't follow common conventions about class or age. Children died while the elderly survived (often because the elderly had no one to gather water for them). Lower class houses were spared while their middle class landlords died. Churches were packed that week, because people in Soho had no idea who would get sick next. The epidemic pretty much burned itself out in a week and a half, since by that point everyone who drank the water had already died. I have to wonder what our resident Angel was up to during that time. Obviously cholera can't hurt him, but that's his neighborhood. There's no way hundreds of people, including entire families with children, are dying painfully in his neighborhood and Aziraphale doesn't notice. That means that in between this scene:

And this one:

Aziraphale would have watched one of the worst disease outbreaks in London history play out right outside his front door. I feel like there's great potential for a good story there if anyone better than me wants to write it.

[northgazaupdates]

18 April 2024

Environmental engineer Dr. Tamer Al-Najjar describes the Hepatitis C outbreak in north Gaza, with which he himself and his family are afflicted. The following was entered into a machine translation software and as such is bound to have some flaws, but the main ideas are still clear. Dr. Al-Najjar’s condition continues to worsen, and he has asked for prayers for his recovery.

He writes,

Since it has become a personal and family guest, I would like to update the official description of hepatitis C, so that the world knows it in its realistic form!

Regardless of its symptoms that I will mention, its basic definition begins with its causes. It spread among us after six months of total war and complete annihilation against us, after the complete destruction of the infrastructure, including sewage and water, and after the spread of thousands of tons of solid waste and rubbish. sanitation in the streets, roads and holes resulting from the bombing that did not stop, and after the spread of sewage among people and under their feet everywhere, and preventing any civil effort from exercising its work in reducing these massive disasters and targeting crews, devices and equipment, and killing all ideas of progress regarding this matter. After the inhuman conditions we have been living through for months...

From here, we were all infected. From here, and because of the previous set of reasons, as a result of the continuous aggression, the barbaric war, and the prevention of the entry of the necessary capabilities and tools...we were infected with hepatitis and it spread among us. And it spread everywhere!

As for its symptoms, it is a very harsh condition that we go through, old and young, in which we experience all the symptoms of the terrifying world, high temperature, severe diarrhea, severe colic, nausea and profound fatigue, fatal vomiting, blocked appetite, a feeling of suffocation to a large extent, with complete isolation from the surroundings for fear of infection.. .

[fairyniceyeah]

💎 I love my team, I love my crew (Part 3/7)

Title from Super (SEVENTEEN)

ILMTILMC Part I ILMTILMC Part II

Summary: Priority is to get the sick members comfortable.

CW: emeto, diarrhea in the context of illness, nightmares

Sickies: Woozi/Jihoon + Joshua + Seungkwan + Minghao + S.Coups/Seungcheol Caretakers: Hoshi/Soonyoung + Wonwoo + DK/Seokmin + Vernon + Jun + Jeonghan + Mingyu + Dino/Chan

💎🐯

“Shh, he just fell asleep”, Wonwoo whispered, holding his index finger to his lips to indicate quiet. Soonyoung nodded in agreement and walked over to them as silently as possible. It was cute, really. Jihoon was sprawled all over Wonwoo’s lap, effectively trapping the rapper under him. His hair was braided back in a french braid - the dancer hadn’t even known Wonwoo knew how to do that - and he was wearing his pajamas. In sleep, the producer looked so young and peaceful, if not for the paleness and the flush on his cheeks. 

And the fact that they were still in the bathroom with the smell of sickness heavy in the air.

“How is he?”, Soonyoung asked quietly and knelt down next to Wonwoo, watching Jihoon breathe deeply. He was sound asleep - hopefully he would stay that way. From what Soonyoung had heard the producer had really gone through it during the afternoon.

“Hasn’t thrown up in about maybe thirty minutes, I’d reckon. I managed to get him into clean clothes and take some fever reducers and the antiemetic he normally takes for his migraines. He basically passed out on me after that”, Wonwoo explained and sighed. “He’s really not feeling good. Anyways, what was that meeting about?” 

“Shua-hyung, Cheollie-hyung and Minghao-yah are also sick”, Soonyoung explained, watching as Wonwoo frowned in concern, “it’s likely a very contagious stomach flu. We split into teams to take care of the sick members … as long as we still can.”

Soonyoung was well aware that his voice was trembling. If he was honest, he was terrified. An outbreak of illness had not been on his mind when they had left the harbor two days ago. Even more so, they had been happily playing table tennis without a care in the world only hours ago. 

Now it was evening and nearly one-third of the members were down. 

“It’s going to work out, Soonyoung-ah”, Wonwoo comforted him, though Soonyoung knew him well enough that there was doubt in his voice. 

“Why don’t we lay Jihoonie down on a bed? You both can’t be comfortable like this”, Soonyoung suggested. He itched to do something to help.

Wonwoo nodded and sheepishly added: “I think I lost feeling in my ass about twenty minutes ago.”

It was a bit awkward to lift Jihoon, even with his small frame and low weight - even lower now after he had been throwing up for hours - in the cramped bathroom but they managed. Wonwoo nearly fell when standing up, even his legs seemingly asleep.

“Let’s put him on Dino’s bed”, Wonwoo whispered, gesturing with one hand to the stuffed otter that was decorating one of the two lower bunk. Soonyoung, who had lifted Jihoon to his chest, raised his eyebrows. The other lower bunk was clearly Jihoon’s, the only bed completely empty of stuffed animals or multiple pillows. “He said he threw up on his bedding. I don’t think any of us even had time to take care of that.”

Soonyoung grimaced and nodded, waiting for Wonwoo to pull back the covers so the dance leader could lay down his precious burden. Jihoon stirred a bit when he came in contact with the mattress and both older members held their breath in hopes he’d fall back asleep. Jihoon sighed in his sleep, pulled the stuffed otter to his chest and curled up. It was adorable really. 

They covered him back up and Soonyoung couldn’t resist snapping a quick picture and sending it to the group chat. When he was better Woozi would likely kill him but for now Soonyoung thought the rest of the members might need a pick-me-up and Jihoon was very cute. Like a kitten. There was a reason why Carats called the 96-liners the cat-line.

“He will not like that”, Wonwoo commented but Soonyoung saw him save the picture to his gallery anyways. So he just shrugged. “Let’s get the bedsheets clean, I guess?”

Wonwoo nodded and then said: “Why don’t you stay with Jihoonie? I have been cooped up in the bathroom for some time, I need to walk around a bit.”

“Yeah, sure, if you don’t mind”, Soonyoung agreed easily. He didn’t really want to leave Jihoon’s side anyways.

“Nah, it’s fine.”

💎⚔️

“Oh, it’s you”, Seungkwan whispered, a bit dejectedly, when Seokmin entered the sleeping cabin he shared with Joshua, Mingyu and Wonwoo.

“Thank you. That doesn’t hurt at all”, Seokmin said, only slightly offended and closed the door. The room was now only illuminated by the light coming in even through the curtains. It took a few seconds for Seokmin’s eyes to adjust to the relative darkness but then he spotted Joshua laying down on his bed, eyes closed and breathing deeply, seemingly asleep. There was a bucket by his head.

As Seokmin looked around he nearly missed the dark silhouette sitting on the floor, leaning back against the bed across from Joshua’s. Seungkwan had his head bowed, knees pulled to his chest. Something was off.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that, hyung”, the youngest vocalist whispered, “I just hoped for Jeonghannie-hyung or Cheollie-hyung. I … I don’t feel good.”

Dread electrified Seokmin’s whole body. No, this was going wrong too quickly. Did they have to add Seungkwan to the list of sick members this shortly after Seungcheol-hyung? Seokmin didn’t like to admit it but he was terrified. He didn’t have a problem with helping sick members even if they were throwing up, which wasn’t what everybody could stomach, but caring for two sick members on his own? No, that would not work. There was a reason why they had decided on teams of two after all.

Seokmin shook himself. He didn’t have time to worry about that. He had a dongsaeng to cuddle. Careful to not stub his toes in the dark, Seokmin made his way to Seungkwan and knelt down beside him, pulling the youngest BSS member against his side. Immediately Seungkwan curled into his arms, sighing constantly.

“What’s wrong, Kwan-ah?”, Seokmin asked worriedly, inconspicuously feeling the younger’s forehead. Seungkwan was warm, maybe a bit warmer than usual, but Seokmin couldn’t tell if it was a fever. He hoped they had a thermometer somewhere because even if it wasn’t a fever yet it would turn into one for sure. 

“I feel nauseous”, Seungkwan mumbled, “I mean I saw Woozi-hyung and Joshua-hyung throw up but I don’t think this is just sympathy.”

Seokmin hummed, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “Do you want to go up to the deck, see if some fresh air helps?”

Seungkwan sighed but nodded. Seokmin stood up and then pulled the younger to his feet. Seungkwan swayed for a moment but gained his balance before Seokmin got too worried. 

But now that Seungkwan was standing, clutching the back of Seokmin’s shirt did the older vocalist realize he would have to split himself in two if he wanted to help Seungkwan up to the deck and keep an eye on Joshua at the same time. Well, Joshua was asleep. Maybe he could get a manager to keep an eye on him while he was with Seungkwan. Decision made, Seokmin took Seungkwan’s hand in his and gently led him out of the room.

“What about hyung?”, Seungkwan asked worriedly, swallowing after.

“He’s asleep. I’m sure we’ll find somebody who can look after him soon.”

They had barely taken a few steps into the direction of the stairs that would lead them up to the living room hallway and then consequently out on deck when they ran into Vernon.

“Hey”, the rapper greeted them, carrying a stack of clothes in his arms. Seokmin winced, understanding instantly what had happened. 

“Nonie”, Seungkwan whispered and rushed to his best friend, basically throwing himself into his arms. Vernon nearly dropped the items he was carrying but managed to hold onto them and wrap Seungkwan into his arms at the last second. Worriedly, he looked over Seungkwan’s shoulder at Seokmin.

Before the older vocalist had a chance to explain, Seungkwan whimpered: “Don’t feel good, Nonie.”

Understanding bloomed on Vernon’s face, closely followed by worry. “Have you been sick?”, he asked, pulling away to muster his other half. Seungkwan shook his head. 

“Feel like I might though”, he mumbled. Vernon sighed and rubbed his arm. He was surprisingly unfazed by the sickly member considering his squeamishness but then again Vernon could push past his distaste for vomit when Seungkwan was involved.

“I was about to take him up to the deck and see if that helps”, Seokmin explained, “but uh, actually, could you do that? We left Shua-hyung alone…”

“Yeah, let’s go”, Vernon replied, sneaking his arm around Seungkwan’s waist to support him on the short walk, “we just need to stop by Jun and Minghao.”

“Thanks, Nonie”, Seokmin said. “Feel better, Kwan-ah.”

The two left quickly and Seokmin turned around to go check on Joshua, feverishly hoping that his absence had not been noticed.

When he pushed the door open, guilt washed over him. Joshua was awake, sitting on the bed with his head in his hands. He truly had chosen the moment nobody was there for him to wake up. Hearing the door, Joshua turned to look at Seokmin. Even with the low light spilling inside, he winced and squeezed his eyes shut but not before Seokmin was able to see the tears in his eyes.

“Hyung”, he breathed and rushed over, “how are you feeling?”

“My head”, Joshua whispered, “it hurts so badly, Min-ah.”

“Do you want to try medication?”, Seokmin offered, feeling a bit helpless. Sure, he had seen the older members take care of Joshua and Woozi when they were in the grasp of a migraine but he felt seriously out of his depth now.

“I don’t know if I can keep them down”, Joshua admitted, “where are Hannie or Cheollie?”

Seokmin winced. Should he tell Joshua or not? Worry wouldn’t help the American but then again, keeping him in the dark was also not realistic. “We’re having a bit of a problem”, Seokin started to explain, wincing as he realized his first sentence was a big understatement. “A lot of members are sick at the moment. The medic said it’s likely norovirus. Next to you, Woozi-hyung, Minghao and Seungcheol-hyung are sick. Seungkwan might be too.”

“Oh.” Joshua looked stunned. 

“Yeah.”

They were silent for a few seconds until Joshua was seemingly hit with another bout of pain. He closed his eyes and pressed his palms against his forehead, groaning. Seokmin internally panicked but knew he couldn’t really afford to. He spotted the ice pack that must have fallen off of Joshua when he woke up and grabbed it. It was still mostly cold. Relieved, he lifted it and took Joshua’s hands into his own to free his forehead. The hold Joshua had on his hand was painfully tight but it lessened a bit when the ice came into contact with his burning skin. They sat there, at the edge of the bed, for a few minutes with Joshua just breathing. Seokmin didn’t know what to do but be silent support. 

Finally Joshua took one last deep breath in before asking: “Painkillers? They are with my bag, I think.”

Seokmin scrambled to his feet, happy to have something to help. He spotted the blister and within a minute he had gotten Joshua to drink a bit of water along with the pills. 

“Do you want to lie back down?”, he asked then. 

“No”, Joshua choked out, “I think I feel better sitting up. Even my head. Min-ah, I’m sorry, but can you hand me the bucket just in case?”

Worriedly Seokmin bent down and lifted it up into his hyung’s lap. Joshua mumbled a small “thanks” and bent over it, one arm coming to rest on the rim and his head laying down on it. Seokmin, not sure how else to comfort him, just ran his hand up and down his back.

Watching his hyung nauseously bent over a bucket, occasionally swallowing down gags was not subject to his entertainment tax. Seokmin looked away, staring into the mostly dark room not that the sun had apparently started to set. He wondered how Seungkwan was faring. How Seungcheol and Woozi and Minghao were doing. Had any of the other members started to feel the effects of sickness already? Did he himself? He hadn’t paused yet to actually check in with his body on how he was doing. 

Seokmin took a deep breath himself, trying not to freak himself out. But as he closed his eyes and focused on his head and stomach, he felt fine. There was no upset, nothing bothering his body except for maybe a tiny sunburn on his shoulders. 

The vocalist was torn out of his thoughts by the sound of a nearly silent gag. He opened his eyes just in time to see a watery mouthful of vomit rush out of Joshua’s mouth into the bucket. There went the medication. 

Joshua heaved a few times, Seokmin able to feel his back ripple under his hand but he brought nothing else up. It caused the vocalist to wonder if Joshua was empty and had nothing else to throw up in his system or if he had managed to keep himself from vomiting up more. 

Then Joshua was whimpering, silent tears streaming down his face.

Now Seokmin couldn’t contain the panic anymore. “Hyung?”, he asked, rushing to put the bucket down and wrap the older in his arms. Joshua just shook, face buried in Seokmin’s shoulder. “What’s happening?”

“It hurts so much, Min-ah”, Joshua sobbed.

💎😸

“Xiao Ba, please let me in”, Jun begged, knocking on the bathroom door for the umpteenth time. Minghao hadn’t exactly … made it to the bathroom before his stomach had rebelled for the third time that day. The younger was terribly embarrassed and Jun got it, he really did. He’d feel humiliated too if he had soiled himself in front of another member even in the throes of illness. But it had caused Minghao to lock himself in the bathroom, sobbing so loudly and violently that Jun feared he would pass out due to dehydration before Jun managed to coax him out. Vernon appearing to help out had been as much of a curse as a blessing. Getting him to grab new clothes made everything just a tiny bit easier for Jun.

Yet, he was becoming terribly sick - pun not intended - of staring at the door for minutes on end, without being able to help his dongsaeng. He was just glad that a kind manager had cleaned the bathroom earlier and had even thought of putting a trash can inside. Plus, he had informed Jun of what he had done which had reassured the dancer a lot.

“Eissa, I know you are embarrassed”, Jun said defeatedly in Chinese - so very grateful for the bit of privacy it granted them - and let his head thunk against the wood, “but I promise you gege isn’t judging you or is angry or whatever you are thinking. You’re sick. It happens. Please, let me help you, baby.” 

The lock firmly stayed in the occupied position. 

Jun sank down to his knees and sat down awkwardly on the ground. It promised to be a long wait.

A minute passed. Two. Five. Ten. 

Just as Jun was about to knock on the door again Vernon appeared, his arm slung around a pale looking Seungkwan. Jun scrambled to get to his feet, his hand immediately coming up to feel Seungkwan’s clammy cheek. He didn’t seem overly warm. But the paleness and especially the quietude made it obvious that Seungkwan was not feeling well.

“Oh, love, you too?”, Jun cooed.

“Haven't thrown up yet”, Seungkwan muttered. He looked like he would any moment now. Jun kept that thought to himself. 

“We wanted to go outside, see if it helps a bit”, Vernon explained. Jun nodded in agreement. At least it couldn’t hurt. 

“Go, go”, he said, ushering them to the door leading them outside, taking the change of clothes from Vernon in the same movement. He watched them trudge outside, Vernon never letting go of his best friend. 

The ship was built with the hallway having a row of windows showing the deck outside, with the living room separated by a wall and the door outside and the bathroom on opposite short ends, with a tiny alcove with the stairs down to the sleep level. So Jun was able to watch them stand by the railing a bit longer, his only pastime. It was cute really, how Vernon was fussing over the vocalist.

A manager approached the two maknaes and conversed with Vernon for a moment, looking worried. Both of them started when suddenly Seungkwan leaned forward and presumably threw up over the railing. Jun couldn’t see but if it wasn’t obvious from the way Seungkwan was bent forward, his back moving with the retches, it was by Vernon brushing his fringe back and looking at the manager with panic. 

Jun was brought out of his worries when Jeonghan and the medic emerged from the living room, both looking unhappy. 

“How is Cheollie-hyung?”

“How is Minghao-yah?”

Jeonghan and Jun asked the questions nearly simultaneously, both chuckling a bit at the situation despite it not actually not being that funny. It was the small things helping them keep their sanity. 

“Chan-ah and Mingyu got him”, Jeonghan replied. “He fell asleep on the couch, his fever is pretty high. Hyukjae-ssi…” - he gestured at the medic - “...is going to check out what medications we have available and the managers are trying to figure out a way to sail back. Apparently one of the managers with a sailing license is sick too, so we are not sure how to proceed. I wanted to go check on Shua and Jihoonie after this.” 

“And Seungkwan, I guess”, Jun said, nodding his head in the direction of the sick member now sitting down with his back to the railing and Vernon and the manager kneeling beside him. Jeonghan sighed.

“And Seungkwan.”

“Minghao is … well, he’s pretty embarrassed”, Jun said, slightly awkward. He didn’t want to tattle on his dongsaeng but he knew Minghao needed help soon. And Jun, despite his closeness to him, was slowly doubting he’d get Minghao out of the bathroom any time sooner.

“Poor him”, Jeonghan sighed. They all stopped when the sound of coughing took up. Minghao was throwing up again. 

“He’s throwing up and having diarrhea, right?”, the medic asked. Jun nodded.

“Fever?”

“Maybe a slight one.”

“He’s going to be dehydrated soon, if he isn’t already. Can you try to get him out? I have at least a few IV’s and he will likely need one if he can’t keep any fluids inside”, the medic said.

Jun nodded. “I’ll try.”

💎🐕

Mingyu wished himself back in time. Arguing with Seokmin over a lost table tennis match was so much better than seeing their members succumb to the sickness one by one. He most certainly wasn’t a big fan of puking and watching over Seungcheol after said leader had just spewed his stomach onto the floor and had fallen asleep clutching the plastic bag in his hands … Mingyu had to admit he wished he was somewhere far away. 

Dino had curled up with a gloom look on his face by the leader’s head and was absently running his hands through Seungcheol’s hair. Mingyu himself had sat down on a chair further away, burying his head in his hands. He wanted to help but he’d also rather stay far far away.

“Hyung?”, Dino asked, sounding a bit concerned. He probably knew how Mingyu was feeling. The rapper had never hid the fact that vomit grossed him out. He just felt bad for burdening the maknae.

“Hm?”, he asked, lifting his head.

“Can you go get an ice pack from the kitchen? Cheollie-hyung is burning up”, Dino requested and then added with a wink: “And while you’re there, why don’t you check if we have ingredients for juk or galbitang? I’m sure the members will appreciate some light meals soon.”

It was a beautiful out. They truly had the best maknae. Minguy nodded and nearly stumbled into the doorway on his way to the kitchen. Inside he met a stylist noona, boiling water on the stove.

“Hello Mingyu-ssi”, she greeted with a smile, “I thought I could prepare some tea for the sick ones.”

“Thank you, noona. It’s very nice of you. I’m going to bring an ice pack to Cheollie-hyung and then maybe we can cook together?” Anything to get his mind of the sickness spreading and the noona was nice.

Mingyu returned to the living room just in time to find Dino trying to soothe an agitated Seungcheol. The leader was deeply asleep, it seemed, but trapped in a nightmare. He was tossing and turning, sweat pouring out of every pore and he seemed to be crying. 

It tore at Mingyu’s heart strings to see their mat-hyung like that. Normally Seungcheol was emotionally so strong and while he had cried in their presence before - how could he have not in all the time they’ve known each other? - it hadn’t been this desperate for a long time, not since his anxiety was at its worst. 

It had been years and years ago when Seungcheol had admitted to Mingyu during a sleepless night in a shared hotel room that part of the reason for his insomnia was the fear of nightmares. Mingyu had woken up to a crying and kicking leader, completely lost in the scenarios his brain came up with. Even with Seventeen famous and successful, Seungcheol had never been able to shake the fear of disbandment, the fear of losing his members like they had lost Doyoon, MingMing, Dongjin and Samuel before debut.

“Hyungie”, Mingyu whispered and within seconds he was on his knees in front of the couch, stroking back Seungcheol’s hair and trying to reduce his subconscious fears. 

“I don’t know what happened”, Dino said, eyes blown wide, “he just started crying in his sleep.”

It was no wonder that Dino was so scared. He had likely never seen Seungcheol like this. It had been terrifying for Mingyu back then too, not knowing what to do when his friend wouldn’t wake up from his terror. Now Mingyu knew to gently rub his arms and talk to him, so that Seungcheol woke up feeling comforted not trapped when held down (which had been a mistake Mingyu had only made once).

“Nightmare. He’s had them since forever”, Mingyu explained. He felt bad that Seungcheol was going through this but he was also glad he could finally help. “Hold the ice pack to his forehead. Here. I’m gonna try to wake him up.”

Dino nodded and took the ice pack from Mingyu, nearly dropping it with his shaking hands. 

“Don’t be scared, Chan-ah. I know it looks scary but Cheollie-hyung is gonna be fine, you’ll see.”

It took a few minutes of soothingly rubbing Seungcheol’s arm to stimulate him and whispered reassurances and comforting words before the general leader slowly calmed down and his eyes blinked open. Tears were still leaking out the corners of his eyes and he looked to be in pain but he was awake. The terror was gone, still his hands came up to clutch at Mingyu’s shirt.

“Ming’?”, Seungcheol whispered, his raspy voice swallowing down the last part of his name. He sounded so exhausted and his eyes, while open, were glazed over. Mingyu cupped the leader’s face and brushed a falling tear away with his thumb. Seungcheol’s skin was burning.

“I’m here, hyung. You’re okay. It was just a nightmare.”

“Nightmare?”, Seungcheol repeated, sounding young and lost. “I don’t … ‘gyu, I feel sick.”

Mingyu had no idea why the situation didn’t make him want to run away. If anything he wanted to stay closer to his hyung and comfort him, even if he threw up. There was so much vulnerability in his voice and such child-like innocence.  

“It’s okay, we got you, hold on a sec if you can”, Mingyu promised even when Dino threw him a confused and concerned look. 

The younger rapper helped Seungcheol move his feet off the couch and lifted the leader’s upper body into his embrace, so that Seungcheol was basically slumped against his chest. Dino quickly provided them with the plastic bag that Seungcheol nearly immediately lifted to his lips. The leader seemed exhausted and all his energy seemed to be going towards staying awake. His hands were shaking and Dino had to help him keep holding the bag open. 

It took only a few seconds until Seungcheol started expelling more of his stomach contents, the bag quickly growing full. Mingyu held Seungcheol tightly, fearing the leader would fall over if he didn’t. One of his hands came down to press softly against Seungcheol’s stomach, hoping that it would help the leader’s pain.

Watching Seungcheol throw up was disgusting, the sight, sound and smell, everything a bit too much, but Mingyu couldn’t put his own comforts over his sick leader’s. And if he got sick, he got sick. He probably would get infected in the near future anyway. There was no way out.

It took a painful few minutes until Seungcheol stopped vomiting and by then he was so weak that he just fell back against Mingyu, curling up in his lap and softly crying again. Dino took the bag from his hands, tied it off and set it to the side. 

“Hyungie?”, he asked, brushing back Seungcheol’s fringe. “Do you want to rinse out your mouth?”

Seungcheol shook his head. “Tired”, he whispered, more tears leaking from his eyes. “My head hurts. I just want to sleep. I don’t even know why I’m crying.” The last sentence was accented by an adorable pout that would have sent Mingyu squealing in any other situation. 

“I think it’s the fever”, Mingyu mumbled, leaning down to press his lips to hot skin. “We need to get you cooled down.”

“I’ll get more ice packs”, Dino suggested and scurried off. Mingyu just continued rubbing his stomach, it seemed to comfort the leader at least a bit. 

ILMTILMC Part IV

Masterlist links: Fairy's Full Masterlist Fairy's Masterlist - SEVENTEEN

[antidrumpfs]

Lauren Boebert's Shooter's Grill has been replaced by Tapatios Family Mexican Restaurant

Shooters restaurant had its origins in a simple concept: what if Hooters but guns? It started because a man died downtown. According to the Congresswoman, he was beaten to death outside of her business and that sparked her motivation to carry a firearm with her for protection. In reality, he died from a drug overdose and was a block away from the storefront.

Shooters made headlines a few times over the course of its nearly decade-long run, and almost never for the reasons you’d want to be in the news if you ran a restaurant. In 2017, Boebert’s business was the source of a widespread food poisoning outbreak after she set up shop at the Garfield County fair and served pork sliders out of a temporary location that was not properly permitted. At least 80 people got sick, with many experiencing nausea and bloody diarrhea.

The restaurant lost $226,000 over 2020. Closing the doors on Shooters for good was tough for Boebert. She told the Glenwood Springs Post Independent that “we were like a family,” and that “Shooters, for any employee, was their life. We lived and breathed it every single day.” Employees seem to disagree. According to a report from Mother Jones, Boebert was a “monster” who regularly criticized employees and failed to pay on time — and often just paid directly from the register instead of issuing paychecks. That’s certainly one way to treat family.

[follow-up-news]

Sudan has been stricken by a cholera outbreak that has killed nearly two dozen people and sickened hundreds more in recent weeks, health authorities said Sunday. The African nation has been roiled by a 16-month conflict and devastating floods. Health Minister Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim said in a statement that at least 22 people have died from the disease, and that at least 354 confirmed cases of cholera have been detected across the county. Ibrahim didn’t give a time frame for the deaths or the tally since the start of the year. The World Health Organization, however, said that 78 deaths were recorded from cholera this year in Sudan as of July 28. The disease also sickened more than 2,400 others between Jan. 1 and July 28, it said. Cholera is a fast-developing, highly contagious infection that causes diarrhea, leading to severe dehydration and possible death within hours when not treated, according to WHO. It is transmitted through the ingestion of contaminated food or water. The cholera outbreak is the latest calamity for Sudan, which was plunged into chaos in April last year when simmering tensions between the military and a powerful paramilitary group exploded into open warfare across the country.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

A ballooning E.coli outbreak connected to Calgary-area daycares is sending dozens of children to hospital, some with serious complications, and sparking concern among parents and doctors alike.

According to Alberta Health Services (AHS), 128 cases of an E. coli strain that can be particularly dangerous for young kids have been identified so far and 25 children are in hospital.

In addition, three patients have already been released and three more are being treated in other provinces.

What is most worrisome, doctors say, is that nine children have been diagnosed with a severe complication that can force kids into dialysis treatment.

"This is not the typical type of E. coli that causes maybe a day or two of watery diarrhea, or 'traveller's diarrhea,' that some people talk about," said Dr. Stephen Freedman, an ER physician at Alberta Children's Hospital and professor in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary.

This particular strain is a type of E. coli 0157. It is known as shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) because it secretes a toxin that can lead to serious organ damage, often targeting the kidneys. [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @politicsofcanada, @abpoli

[millerflintstone]

Symptoms of Listeriosis (Listeria Infection)

Symptoms usually start within two weeks after eating food contaminated with Listeria but may start as early as the same day or as late as 10 weeks after. Mild symptoms may include a fever, muscle aches, nausea, tiredness, vomiting, and diarrhea. If the more severe form of listeriosis develops, symptoms may include headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions.

[doberbutts]

Sorry you've apparently become The Rabies Guy overnight lol. But since you have, and it was absolutely a childhood special interest/fear of mine that's 👉👉 laid dormant 👉👉 for quite some time, would you happen to know (if you're not sick of rabies asks by now)-

1) why is the rabies vaccine itself so much cheaper and easier to make and administer in dogs and cats than for humans? Obviously part of the cost equation is just that demand dictates production scale and its easier to educate and avoid in the human relationship to rabies, but it's interesting to me that we don't treat it like tetanus or other relatively-rarer and somewhat avoidable/environmental risks we do still vax for, and that are produced at scale accordingly and so are cheaper. I've heard the other factor of low demand is that it's also a pretty rough vaccine for people that work in relevant professions that *do* have to get it to receive (and is even worse if you have to get it after being potentially exposed). It doesn't seem that way for pets though? I'd be interested to hear if you have any insights into all that from the vetmed side.

2) are you aware of any changes that the recent mRNA vax advancements of recent years may be bringing to the way we approach the rabies vaccine in pets or people? That'd be cool and interesting!

Thanks! Hope people aren't being too rabidly annoying in your notifs lol

1: There's a couple different factors here:

To my knowledge the human rabies vaccination and the dog rabies vaccination and the cat rabies vaccination and the hoofstock rabies vaccination are all slightly different from each other with different methods of creation and ingredients and dosing. This will contribute to the difference in cost.

Simply put, animal medicine is often cheaper than human medicine because human medicine has inflated prices due to hospital and insurance markups. In other words, if your human hospital scaled the cost of services the way your dog's hospital does, and health insurance wasn't a thing that exists, the price would be astronomical. If you ever go to an ER and get fluids, compare the "before insurance" price of just your room and bag of saline and catheter to what your vet charges for the same thing.

The animals we vaccinate for rabies do experience a lot of the same side effects, but animals are stoic and do not often complain about the side effects. Lethargy, muscle aches, low grade fever, vaccine-site soreness and localized reaction (swelling, redness), depression, and irritability are all common side effects of the rabies vaccination in our domesticated animals. Usually these side effects resolve within 24 hours but can last in rare cases up to a week. Less commonly, vomiting, diarrhea, facial swelling, and trouble breathing, but those are more allergic reactions than side effects. This is why a lot of anti-vaxxers don't want to vaccinate their pets for rabies, it does put a lot of stress on the immune system and thus can result in some pretty dramatic symptoms. It's just that "1 to 7 days of feeling shitty every couple years" is a significantly preferable outcome to "rabies outbreak".

Post-exposure prophylaxes is something else entirely- immunoglobulin is administered in addition to the vaccination to give your body a running start on the whole "don't let rabies get to my brain" thing. This is not an option for exposed domesticated animals, so not only is this very expensive but it is also human-exclusive because immunoglobulin is not cheap or easy to get ahold of and thus all of it that we have is dedicated to human cases.

Remember, in countries with robust vaccination protocols for domesticated pets and a culture of keeping their domesticated animals contained and away from wildlife, human deaths are fairly rare and are caused by rabies virus are almost exclusively caused by encounters with wildlife, which is why in those countries the chosen path is "tell people to stop touching animals they can't verify vaccine status of" and not "vaccinate everyone". The US has maximum like 5 human deaths due to rabies per year. Compare that to India, where vaccine availability is not as good and there is a very serious loose, wandering dog problem, and that number soars to 21,000 human deaths due to rabies per year. If 21,000 humans in India are dying from rabies, what percentage of them are receiving an incomplete post-exposure prophylaxes (usually incomplete due to expense) and what are the numbers for people who were able to complete the series (largely those who either can afford it or who chose serious debt over a grisly death)? We need that immunoglobulin to help the people we can still save from rabies exposure, so it's not really available in large amounts to be experimenting with pets every time a dog picks a fight with a fox or raccoon.

(Also the problem is that rabies bites tend to cause severe trauma, which you can't really deliberately cause severe trauma to an animal in a laboratory ethically, and even if you could you can't do it to easily handled animals like mice because as said before most rodents can't survive that level of trauma for very long before they just die, and researchers very do not want to deal with the potential of handling known rabid dogs, so that's sort of at a standstill as far as studies go)

(Also also, the Milwaukee Protocol costs $800,000 to attempt to save a single person and as discussed has a significant failure rate, so if people aren't getting PEP due to expense, they very can't afford the incredibly expensive experimental treatment that's more likely to kill them than save them either, so it's not like with that amount of deaths we've gotten a lot of people trying anything more than strapping that person down and waiting for them to die)

In addition, of those 21,000 deaths, over 96% of them are caused by bites from dogs. This means that if we fix the loose, wandering dog problem, rabies cases should plummet very similarly to the way they did in the US when we started enforcing our own rabies protocols. There are programs in place to fix this problem but it is multifaceted in origin and not as simple as one might think. As said before, dogs are the #1 rabies vector in the world, even if rabies is technically a "bat virus". The only reason we blame bats here in the US is because we fixed the dog problem. Not every country has been able to do that.

So... very much a complex problem with not a very easy solution. This costs a lot of money and countries just do not have the funds to pour into experiments solving a disease that's more or less 100% fatal when they could just as easily tell people to stop touching animals that aren't vaccinated.

2: The only change I'm aware of is that there's an ongoing attempt to create a single-dose rabies and chemical castration vaccine as a one-and-done to help countries like India and others with loose wandering dogs, which will both cut down on the dog population because they won't be able to breed, and also will cut down on rabies infections within the dog population that currently exists. They have not yet been successful. Again, resolving the problem of the packs of unvaccinated dogs living in close proximity to humans will significantly reduce the instance of rabies deaths in humans as well, since that is the leading cause of rabies spread to humans at time of writing worldwide.

[feminist-space]

Aug. 2, 2024 / Source: The Associated Press

By The Associated Press

"A deadly food poisoning outbreak has led to the recall of more than 7 million pounds of popular Boar’s Head deli meats made at a plant in Virginia.

U.S. health officials are investigating the outbreak of the bacteria listeria that began in May. Two people have died and nearly three dozen were hospitalized in 13 states.

Listeria poisoning is caused by a particularly resilient type of bacteria that can survive and grow even during refrigeration, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Here’s what you need to know:

How can listeria get into deli meat?

Listeria bacteria thrive in moist environments, including soil and water and decaying vegetation and are carried by some animals. The hardy germs are typically spread when food is harvested, processed, transported or stored in places that are contaminated with the bacteria. When the bacteria get into a food processing plant, they can be tough to eradicate.

Many of the people in the outbreak reported eating meats sliced at grocery store deli counters. During the investigation, listeria was detected in an unopened loaf of Boar’s Head liverwurst at a Maryland store; the Agriculture Department said further testing showed the same strain was causing illnesses in people.

Popular Deli Meat Maker Boar Head's Recalls 7 Million Pounds Of Meat After Listeria Outbreak

Boar's Head meats are displayed at a Safeway store on July 31, 2024 in San Rafael, California. Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

How does listeria make people sick?

People are sickened with listeria poisoning when they eat foods contaminated with the bacteria. Symptoms can be mild and include fever, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. More serious illness can include headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions.

Listeria poisoning is tricky, because symptoms can start quickly, within a few hours or days after eating contaminated food. But they also can take weeks or up to three months to show up.

Those most vulnerable to getting sick include the very young, people older than 65 and those with weakened immune systems or who are pregnant.

Does cooking kill listeria?

Listeria can survive and grow in food even when it’s refrigerated, but the bacteria can be killed by heating foods to “steaming hot,” or 165 degrees Fahrenheit (74 degrees Celsius), the CDC says. People who are most at risk for illness should avoid the products or heat them before eating.

Most deli meats, however, are eaten cold. Because listeria can survive under refrigeration, it’s important to clean and sanitize any surfaces, including refrigerator drawers and shelves, that may have come in contact with the products, the CDC says.

What should I do if I have the recalled deli meats?

Many of the products recalled by Boar’s Head are meats meant to be sliced at grocery store deli counters, though some prepackaged meats are included in the recall."

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazil: Illegal Mining Regains Strength, and Malnutrition Becomes Part of the Routine for Yanomamis

Folha was in the Auaris region, which is near Venezuela and is one of the main focuses of the current stage of the humanitarian crisis

The reactivation of illegal mining fuels the humanitarian crisis among the Yanomamis, impacting access to food and leading to successive malaria outbreaks in the territory. The malnutrition of Yanomami children is as visible as the exploitation of gold, and they are directly proportional.

Auaris is currently one of the main health crisis hotspots. Access to communities is through two-hour flights, making it difficult for assistance and evacuations; mining is spreading in the region without repression by regulatory agencies, security forces, and the military; there is cooptation of adult indigenous people, impacting crop production. It is common for children to be malnourished and with malaria at the same time, in addition to a high incidence of opportunistic hunger-related diseases: pneumonia, diarrhea, anemia, and parasitic infections.

Continue reading.

[mariluphoto]

BREAKING:

There is a dangerous and unusual outbreak of the "Shigella" bacteria among IDF soldiers in Gaza. Massive cases of diarrhea and intestinal disease have been recorded. They are literally shitting in their pants. I'm officially calling them the Israel Diarrhea Forces.

(via. rosypirani)

[willowreader]

Covid is spreading like crazy this summer. Here is the latest on the variants and the symptoms to watch out for.

If you do suspect you've contracted COVID, here are some symptoms you might experience, according to the CDC:

Cough

Sore throat

Runny nose

Sneezing

Fatigue

Headache

Muscle aches

Altered sense of smell

Congestion

Fever or chills

Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

Nausea or vomiting

Diarrhea

[supermariomamafucker]

mass outbreak of diarrhea reported on the chris jericho cruise

[darkmaga-retard]

A good tiny step, a public relations ploy given the UN's failure to stop the carnage — or something even more sinister: "Is Israel engaging in biological warfare against the Palestinians?"

Sam Husseini

Sep 01, 2024

In October 2023, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared: “No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel. Everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly.'”

In November 2023, Middle East Eye reported in “Former Israel general says 'severe epidemics' in Gaza would help Israel win the war”:

“A retired senior Israeli general has said that Israel should not ‘shy away’ from permitting the outbreak of severe epidemics amongst Palestinians in southern Gaza as it will bring Israel ‘closer to victory.’ “‘The international community warns us of a humanitarian disaster in Gaza and of severe epidemics,’ retired Major General Giora Eiland, the former head of Israel’s National Security Council, wrote Sunday. “‘We must not shy away from this, as difficult as that may be. After all, severe epidemics in the south of the Gaza Strip will bring victory closer and reduce casualties among IDF soldiers.’ “Eiland went on to say that the Israeli government must take a ‘harder line’ against the US and rule out discussions about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza until all the hostages held in the besieged enclave are released. “The opinion article elicited an endorsement from far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who said, ‘I agree with every word.’”

Zeiad Abbas Shamrouch, executive director of the Middle East Children’s Alliance, told me in November: “Due to Israel cutting off some of the supply of water and destroying key water infrastructure and storage tanks, people are being forced to drink water from unsafe sources. Dehydration and waterborne diseases are spreading and medicine is running out. There are outbreaks of chickenpox, scabies and diarrhea due to the shortage of water.”

The BBC reported in May that “Half of Gaza water sites damaged or destroyed, BBC satellite data reveals.”

[starlightshadowsworld]

05.12.2023 Israeli Defence Forces Soilders (IDF) have been hit by an outbreak of gastrointestinal diseases and food poisioning.

Apparently a lot of the food companies like McDonald's are donating to the IDF, aren't being stored properly.

Leading to "an extraordinary rise" in these diseases. With many soilders occupying Gaza suffering from high fevers, diarrhea, vomiting etc.

And there's talk that many will be made unfit for combat because of it.

One of the most sophisticated and funded militaries in the world... And they don't know how a fridge works.