Is the HPV vaccine "weak science?" (Hint: no)
Category: Clinical trials
Shoddy science on a new Discover blog.
Posted by Tara C. Smith at 12:00 PM • 39 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Aetiology
Discussing causes, origins, evolution, and implications of disease and other phenomena.
Profile
Tara C. Smith is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology. Her research involves a number of pathogens at the animal-human nexus. She also writes for The Panda's Thumb and previously for WIRED SCIENCE's Correlations. Please note the views expressed on this site are Dr. Smith's alone and may not be representative of the groups mentioned above.
"...a veritable expert on tawdry cosmetic procedures gone horribly awry..."--Kevin Beck
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Recent Posts
- Great Plains Emerging Diseases Conference
- Infectious disease epidemiology and zombies
- MRSA in pork products: does the "antibiotic-free" label make a difference?
- Castrating sheep with teeth: not a good idea (with video!)
- Is the HPV vaccine "weak science?" (Hint: no)
- Climate change and public health
- Does bestiality increase your risk of penile cancer?
- MRSA found in Iowa meat
- Another advantage of blogging
- Chickenpox parties--just a Facebook friend away
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- sirous on Staph in food--what does it mean?
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- Atif (Mr Epidemiology) on Infectious disease epidemiology and zombies
- Eric Lofgren on Infectious disease epidemiology and zombies
- Alyson Kelvin on Infectious disease epidemiology and zombies
- Deborah on Scarlet fever--past and present
- afrika mangosu on MRSA in pork products: does the "antibiotic-free" label make a difference?
- david on Fecal transplants to cure Clostridium difficile infection
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Infectious Disease Series
Clinical trials:
BBC apologizes for promotion of misleading HIV denial film, "Guinea Pig Kids"
Category: AIDS/HIV
HIV denialists caught lying again. Shocking.
Posted by Tara C. Smith at 3:10 PM • 49 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The discovery of highly virulent XDR-TB
Category: AIDS/HIV
A small research study in South Africa led to the discovery of one of the most deadly pathogens around today.
Posted by Tara C. Smith at 3:15 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Antivirals as a treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome?
Category: Clinical trials
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is one of those nebulous diseases that's really more of a diagnosis of exclusion than anything else. As the name suggests, it's characterized by overwhelming fatigue--often so much so that patients can barely get out of...
Posted by Tara C. Smith at 2:05 PM • 20 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
STDs and circumcision update
Category: General Epidemiology
If the last circumcision post caused a lot of heat, this news is likely to cause even more of an uproar worldwide. From NBC News comes word that the NIH will be announcing shortly that they're stopping two trials looking...
Posted by Tara C. Smith at 11:00 AM • 94 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The failure of alternative medicine
Category: General Epidemiology
I previously blogged an editorial by NBC medical correspondent Robert Bazell, where he told scientists to "quit whining" about intelligent design and instead work on teaching "values." While I agreed with him there on the science (he made it clear...
Posted by Tara C. Smith at 10:00 AM • 208 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
"Scaling up"
Category: AIDS/HIV
One catchphrase that permeated the conference this past week was "scaling up." I just want to wrap up my posting here with a brief discussion of what that is, and what that means as far as HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment....
Posted by Tara C. Smith at 3:10 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Mommy knows best...in this case, at least
Category: General Epidemiology
If you're a parent, I'm sure you've had all kinds of people give you advice in myriad different areas. Many of them may be in-laws or friends or relatives with children themselves; or they might be strangers in the street...
Posted by Tara C. Smith at 11:15 AM • 13 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Magnets "zap" headaches
Category: General biology
...according to a new Nature News story. Migraine sufferers might soon be able to block an imminent attack using a device that targets the brain with a powerful magnetic field. The technique, called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), triggers activity in...
Posted by Tara C. Smith at 8:00 AM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The potential of papilloma virus vaccines
Category: Cancer epidemiology
I discussed the so-called "cervical cancer vaccine," a multivalent vaccine protective against several strains of the human papilloma virus previously here. In the new issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, there's a perspective on the vaccine, and...
Posted by Tara C. Smith at 12:00 PM • 11 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
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