Health Care

‘There are viruses just waiting in the wings’: how do we stop the next pandemic?

Covid detector gadget can sniff out virus in crowded room in 15 minutes

So it detects when everyone is infected, rather than before?

Countries like Australia and the United Kingdom have independent boards that evaluate a new drug’s effectiveness and set a price based on that estimated value.

Actually, they set the amount they’re willing to pay. And sometimes they don’t get the drug therefore. For the price is still negotiated, even if one offer is set……

Or, as we might also put it, mad. So:

Fellow climbers knew him as Long John Silvester on account of his bedraggled hair, wonky teeth and gangly frame – brought about by Marfan syndrome, a genetic disorder that contributed to his weak heart and weaker kidneys.

Marfan, eh? So, what do the doctors say about that?

Physical activity
The American Heart Association made the following recommendations for people with Marfan syndrome with no or mild aortic dilation:[48]

Probably permissible activities: bowling, golf, skating (but not ice hockey), snorkeling, brisk walking, treadmill, stationary biking, modest hiking, and doubles tennis.
Intermediate risk: basketball (both full- and half-court), racquetball, squash, running (sprinting and jogging), skiing (downhill and cross-country), soccer, singles tennis, touch (flag) football, baseball, softball, biking, lap swimming, motorcycling, and horseback riding.
High risk: bodybuilding, weightlifting (non-free and free weights), ice hockey, rock climbing, windsurfing, surfing, and scuba diving.

Hmm. So he then goes and spends his life climbing the Himalayas then paragliding over them.

Nothing quite like screaming “Fuck You!” at a genetic disability, is there?

How Glorious.

There’s also the question of what is causing the decline in sperm counts. If we take seriously the idea that environmental pollutants are hostile to sperm production, we would expect to see the starkest declines among men living in the most polluted environments. It is well established that the global poor – ie those predominantly (but not exclusively) living in the “other” countries – bear the greatest burdens of environmental pollution. Yet the authors and the media have instead jumped to frame the crisis as one facing “western” men; what is ignored is the fact that the study’s data was insufficient to draw any conclusions for men in the “other” category.

Depends which pollutant.

That’s just simple logic.

Here it’s important too. What’s the most likely pollutant that would affect sperm levels? Endocrine disruptors. What’s the biggest source? Women pissing the remains of the pill into the then reprocessed water supply. Where’s this load likely to be highest? In the rich western countries.

Not saying that’s definitively right – just that the logic being used above ain’t right either.

The root cause of pandemics – the destruction of nature – is being ignored, scientists have warned.

The argument then going on to be well, everyone should spend tens of billions $ the way we want.

Except the pandemic wasn’t caused by the violation of nature, was it? Rather. the violation of good sense….meaning that the answer is to stop humans being stupid, a much more difficult task.

Where is the Marshall Plan for the NHS?
The non-Covid healthcare crisis calls for radical steps to save lives and ensure the system is fit for purpose

Sounds good to me, let’s get the Americans to invest in it all.

Doctors hit back at NHS bosses over orders to see patients face-to-face

The particular joy being:

The BMA said the change by health officials was “tone deaf”, suggesting it had been issued in reaction to media coverage “rather than based on the needs of the profession”.

They don’t even bother to fake a concern for the needs of patients, do they?

Non-NHS healthcare providers given £96bn in a decade, says Labour
Exclusive: Analysis reveals amount of money flowing to for-profit firms, voluntary groups and not-for-profits

It might be they’ve charged that much for services rendered but we don’t normally think of that as “given” do we?

Further, as that’s well under 10% of the NHS budget it’s not enough.

Thousands of UK doctors are planning to quit the NHS after the Covid pandemic because they are exhausted by their workloads and worried about their mental health, a survey has revealed.

Almost one in three may retire early while a quarter are considering taking a career break and a fifth are weighing up quitting the health service to do something else.

They didn’t ask about those taxes on pensions pots. We do actually know this is a problem, we really are over the Laffer Curve peak here.

Wonder why they didn’t ask? Maybe because we do actually know this is a problem, we really are over the Laffer Curve peak here?

Boris Johnson’s government has been accused of corruption, privatising the NHS by stealth, operating a “chumocracy” and mishandling the pandemic and climate crisis, by Sir David King, a former government chief scientist.

“I am extremely worried about the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, about the processes by which public money has been distributed to private sector companies without due process,” he told the Guardian in an interview. “It really smells of corruption.”

Who in buggery would buy it?

Given that, you know, it loses £150 billion a year?

Now, the idea that someone should be paid to do the operations is out there. But why is paying Circle or someone to do a hip replacement rather than some NHS team to do it selling off the NHS? It’s still health care treatment free at the point of use…..

Public Health England insists that we’ve an epidemic of child obesity:

A software mistake caused a Tui flight to take off heavier than expected as female passengers using the title “Miss” were classified as children, an investigation has found.

The departure from Birmingham airport to Majorca with 187 passengers on board was described as a “serious incident” by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB).

Apparently not then. For if all were given that obese weight then this wouldn’t have happened, would it?

According to the UCL results, published this week, the number of people who have protection against the virus either through vaccination or previous infection will hit 73.4 per cent on April 12 – enough to tip the country into herd immunity.

What’s the next problem then?

The new abouttobeOAP compuslory morning exercise centres will be alongside the A1, A2, A3 and A4…….for London. Other areas we’ll get to.

Someone having grasped that post-retirement and soon after it death makes the government a fortune.

Med3000 was originally the placebo used in a clinical trial of another of Futura’s erectile dysfunction gels, which scientists had been working on for more than a decade. That gel failed in the study, whereas the dummy treatment, Med3000, yielded “statistically significant and clinically meaningful” improvements. Futura decided to focus its efforts on the placebo gel instead.

The placebo worked better than the drug under trial……

One shot of the Pfizer vaccine gives inadequate protection to cancer sufferers, new research suggests.

OK.

“Our data provides the first real-world evidence of immune efficacy following one dose of the Pfizer vaccine in immunocompromised patient populations.”

You don’t say. Vaccines work with the immune system, those whose immune system ain’t working well don;t respond to vaccines all that well. Or, at least, worse than those with better immune systems?

People with long Covid urgently need help. Why can’t we access it?
Joanna Herman
I had high hopes when Boris Johnson announced £10m for long Covid clinics. Five months on, I’ve yet to be referred to one

How about – “Because the NHS is crap?”

The NHS is to send text messages to 400,000 people, asking them to book a coronavirus jab, with reminders for those who do not come forward.

As part of efforts to boost uptake, text invitations will be sent to those aged 55 and over, with a link to reserve an appointment at a mass vaccination centre or pharmacist.

Health officials stressed that invitation letters would continue to be sent, and that those who preferred not to travel to the sites could wait to be invited by their GP.

But they said the move could allow the programme to move more quickly through the age groups, reacting to changing vaccine supplies and filling empty slots.

Sending texts about appointments is apparently such a new idea that it can only be implemented as part of pandemic measures.

According to findings released on Monday, the prevalence of antibodies was 23% in the states of Lagos – which is home to more than 16 million people –
…
Up to now the country has recorded just 1,800 deaths from Covid

Measurement difficulties or just not very dangerous?