You may wish to read: Ebola, Rats, Lice, and History, and Hans Zinsser Part 1 Ebola, Rats, Lice, and History, and Hans Zinsser Part 2 Ebola, African Doctor, and HIV, Part 3 Ebola: Fire head of CDC ? Why I Support Dr. Anthony Fauci COVID-19 and The Satan Bug, a John Sturges Movie While dogma … Continue reading Ebola, Hantavirus, Influenza, and Friends
Matthew Herper’s article in Forbes, “Ebola, Ethics, And The New Normal Of Scary Germs” is good journalism. It’s centered around an article by Borio and Cox, in the New England Journal of Medicine, “…arguing that despite the hopes of some public health experts, both vaccines and drugs will need to be tested against control groups that … Continue reading Ebola Vaccines, Medical Ethics, and Manslaughter
Until the discoveries of Louis Pasteur, which were given clinical interpretation by Joseph Lister, physicians killed practically everyone they touched. If they didn’t get them with dirty hands or fleas, blood-letting did it. Some palliative medications, still used today, are based on poisons such as arsenic or belladona. But in the old days, the distinction … Continue reading Ebola, Public Health, and Sloppy Thinking Part 1
Writing for CNN, Dr. Ford Vox asserts “Why CDC chief must go”. This is a great day for Dr. Vox. He gets to have a piece on CNN, his profile is raised, and he becomes a greater public figure than he already is. He has a great publicity photo. It is not such a great … Continue reading Ebola: Fire head of CDC ?
CNN: An African doctor is treating Ebola with an off-the-shelf HIV drug. See the Wiki: lamivudine. Dr. Gorbee Logan’s claimed success rate would make any biotech startup blush with pride. Quoting, Kundu and the other 12 patients who took the lamivudine and survived, received the drug in the first five days or so of their … Continue reading Ebola, African Doctor, and HIV, Part 3
And so, the caution inspired by Swine Flu Fiasco of 1976, with 25 deaths and 500 illnesses, and some delayed mortality, is a significant impediment in the response to Ebola. Although other reasons can be cited, such as safety profile concerns that affect all vaccine development, the Swine Flu Fiasco is special. It had a … Continue reading Ebola, Rats, Lice, and History, and Hans Zinsser Part 2
With the new CDC prediction on Ebola spread, with a “worst case” of 1.4 million by January, it seems appropriate to revisit the role of disease in shaping history, medical ethics, the limitations of institutional judgment, and the limitations of models in general. Hans Zinsser’s classic, Rats, Lice, and History was published in 1935. By … Continue reading Ebola, Rats, Lice, and History, and Hans Zinsser Part 1
In the days of the Soviet Union, the opacity of the Kremlin gave rise to the specialty of Kremlinology. The tools of the trade were politics and personality. The health of the subjects was addressed in the most general terms. The new Kremlin affords more access to all but the most guarded sanctums. Yet Kremlinologists … Continue reading Putin Disappears; Illness a Factor?
(CNN) Johnson & Johnson pauses Covid-19 vaccine trial after ‘unexplained illness’. The J&J vaccine is described here: Ad26.COV2-S (JNJ-78436735) Vaccine Description. Quoting, The JNJ-78436735 vaccine leverages Janssen’s AdVac and PER.C6® technologies. These are the same technologies Janssen used to develop and manufacture the Company’s Ebola vaccine, Ad26.ZEBOV. AD26 is the specific strain of adenovirus. Quoting from AdVac , ADVAC® VIRAL VECTOR TECHNOLOGY Adenoviruses are a … Continue reading (CNN) Johnson & Johnson pauses Covid-19 vaccine trial after ‘unexplained illness’
In the U.S., government is the activity of the political establishment Politics is not the only establishment. Dr. Fauci is a member of the scientific establishment. The start of The Enlightenment is marked by some as the year 1637 with René Descartes’ Discourse on the Method. Thus begins the genesis of modern thought, and the … Continue reading Why I Support Dr. Anthony Fauci