revere
Posts by this author
November 4, 2009
It's being described as a "dramatic settlement" that will set a pattern for the nation. Let's hope so, because the agreement reached yesterday by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC) and hospital player Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) sounds like just…
November 3, 2009
A reader asked an offline question that is general enough to post about (NB: I try to respond to as many questions as I can, but I'm traveling and can't keep up, so in most cases I won't be able to respond. I also don't hand out personal medical advice over the internet, something I consider bad…
November 2, 2009
Some people find posts like this tiresome. There are so many things that need doing and so little time and resources to do them. Adding to the list makes our eyes glaze over. I understand. But that doesn't make this any less of a Big Deal.
Last week CDC was notified of another 22 pediatric deaths…
November 1, 2009
When swine flu began there was a hue and cry in some quarters to shut the border to prevent the virus from taking root in the US. It seems fairly clear, now, that by the time we detected the virus, in late April, it had already situated itself in the US -- assuming that it didn't start here in the…
November 1, 2009
We are otherwise occupied, but fortunately DemFromCT has a great status report on swine flu up at DailyKos. I suggest you also follow the first link to his piece at The Arena, although reading after his astute observations is not for the faint-of-heart. The politicization of this issue by…
November 1, 2009
So what about the good things we owe to religion? Architecture. Painting. Atheism. But especially music. I happen to be especially partial to Bach's B-minor Mass, but what follows isn't exactly chopped liver. Rory Gallagher was an Irish blues guitarist who lived hard and died hard, at age 47 of…
October 31, 2009
Statins for influenza are in the news again, this time because of a paper given at the Annual Meeting of the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA). We'll get to it in a moment, but first a little background.
Statins are cholesterol lowering drugs that are taken by tens of millions of people…
October 30, 2009
One frequently hears claims that the current swine flu pandemic has been exaggerated because there are "only" 1000 or so deaths, while seasonal flu is estimated to contribute to tens of thousands of deaths a year. There are two reasons why this is not an apt comparison. We've discussed both here…
October 29, 2009
One of the by-products of the brouhaha (here, here) over The Atlantic article on vaccines was some interesting issues raised by the way the Knight Science Journalism Tracker handled it (here, here). If you aren't familiar with KSJ Tracker, it's a site that does "peer review" of science journalism.…
October 28, 2009
Medical institutions in the US northeast have always been competitive, and Harvard has always been toward the top of the list in that category. I don't mean just competitive to get into. I mean competitive, period. I went to another big research medical school in the northeast in the sixties and we…
October 27, 2009
On Saturday we posted our take on The Atlantic magazine article by Shannon Brownlee and Jeanne Lenzer. It's a major story in the November issue, a banner across the top of the cover page reading: Swine flu: Does the vaccine really work? We tried to ignore it. People kept asking us to comment on it…
October 26, 2009
CDC is again warning parents not to send your children to a swine flu party. The idea is to provide them with immunity, like used to be done with chickenpox parties. It's pretty hard to believe this is a live issue and CDC admits it doesn't have evidence that any have actually occurred. When it…
October 25, 2009
Al Franken may have made his name as a comedian on Saturday Night Live, but as a Senator (D-MN) he's a force to reckon with. In this clip from hearings this week he nails a witness from the right wing Hudson Institute pimping for the health care industry. Her claim? That health care reform would…
October 25, 2009
R. Crumb has an illustrated version of the Book of Genesis out in graphic novel format. It's gotten rave reviews from both the skeptic and non-skeptic sides of the house. Consider this, from Greta Christina at Alternet:
Crumb's Genesis emphasizes biblical accuracy -- he's a non-believer, but he has…
October 24, 2009
I keep getting asked about the Atlantic Magazine article, Does the Vaccine Matter? by Shannon Brownlee and Jeanne Lenzer, two reporters whose particular bias is that we as a nation are "over treated." As a generalization that's probably true, and finding examples isn't hard. Unfortunately by taking…
October 23, 2009
While we don't yet know with certainty the relative contributions of the three most likely modes of transmission for influenza (large droplets, small aerosols of viral laden material that remain suspended in the air for hours or days, inanimate objects like door knobs or desk tops), it is certain…
October 22, 2009
A reader (h/t MVD) sent me this link to a "CBS News Exclusive," Study Of State Results Finds H1N1 Not As Prevalent As Feared. As far as I can see the main aim was to raise CBS News's profile and gain readership. That's what news organizations do. We hope they do it by good journalism. I think this…
October 21, 2009
We've gotten the question here fairly frequently: If antivirals (Tamiflu, Relenza) for swine flu work best when given early but shouldn't be given to people who aren't really that sick, how do you balance waiting for them to get sick and have the drugs not work well with giving it when you don't…
October 20, 2009
When swine flu appeared, the pork producers were keen to say there was no connection or relationship between pigs and swine flu (even though the virus's genetic segments were all of swine origin). They didn't want anyone to call it swine flu, giving rise to the celebrated naming controversy. But…
October 19, 2009
Monday morning, start of week three of the official flu season (which began October 4). CDC's scientific spokeswoman on the flu, Dr. Anne Schuchat has said we are seeing "unprecedented" flu activity for this time of year, including an unusual toll in the pediatric age group. What does "…
October 18, 2009
We've been traveling again (and offline), so we'll limit this to a few comments to put recent news into the context of things we talked about here recently (an excellent up-to-date status report can be found by DemFromCT at DailyKos). A good article by Rob Stein of the Washington Post highlighted…
October 18, 2009
I will be the first to concede that religion can be extremely interesting (although not to me). My general rule of thumb is that virtually any topic is interesting once you really get into it, and religion is no exception. One can study it from within its own logic and set of doctrines (theology or…
October 17, 2009
The vaccine problem as seen from a different angle:
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Ron Paul Interview
October 17, 2009
We hate to write posts like this. The Reveres lost a friend and the battle against HIV/AIDS lost a Field Commander this week when Steve Lagakos, his wife Regina and his mother were killed in a horrific head on collision on their way back from his summer home in New Hampshire, where they celebrated…
October 16, 2009
Via Crof's blog (invaluable, as always) I learned of the decision of Massachusetts state health officials to vaccinate state prisoners before the rest of the population:
Prison officials warn that inmates could quickly spread the flu if not inoculated -- particularly those in high-risk groups such…
October 15, 2009
I've been asked a number of times why I am bothering to get both flu vaccines this year (the seasonal flu trivalent vaccine and the swine flu vaccine when it is my turn). I am in the older age group (last in line for swine flu vaccine) and it is my group that is hit the least hard from the swine…
October 14, 2009
I don't fly as much as I used to but I still fly too often for my likes and when the cart comes around for the free beverages it's either orange juice "with no ice" or a bloody mary mix "with no ice." I rarely drink water, but if I did, I would never drink the water out of a pitcher, as offered to…
October 13, 2009
The online publication of three papers and a commentary yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA; free access, links at bottom of post) provides some further data on what demand for critical care resources might be from the current swine flu pandemic. One paper reports on…
October 12, 2009
I agree with one thing that Paul JJ Payack, president and chief word analyst of The Global Language Monitor says:
“At this point it is becoming increasingly difficult to engage in any form of public dialogue without offending someone’s sensitivities, whether right, left or center.” (Paul Payack,…
October 11, 2009
If you are hesitating to be vaccinated for swine flu this year, perhaps this post will help you make up your mind. If it does, I hope it pushes you to get vaccinated, but whatever persuasion we attempt here will only be from a recital of what we know of the epidemiology of this pandemic. Because it…