Christopher J Lipowski on LinkedIn: High H5N1 Influenza Levels Found in Mice Given Raw Milk from Infected… (2024)

TWiV 1116 (This Week in Virology): Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin; "In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin delves highly pathogenic H5N1 biology including its circulation in New York City, being able to infect cells within mammary glands and why testing is not supported before reviewing the recent statistics on SARS-CoV-2 infection, how vaccination reduced deaths and hospitalizations associated with COVID-19 and how to take off PPE to reduce virus transmission, discussing the guidelines for spring administration of COVID vaccines boosters, the emergency use application of a pre-exposure prophylactic, a drug interaction database and the global phase 3 trail of a novel antiviral, continues to dispel the myth of viral rebound, when to use steroids and the benefits of convalescent plasma, what do when healthcare workers succumb to SARS-CoV-2 infection, reminisces about when available monoclonal antibody therapies were effective, and discusses muscle training/exercise for treatment of PASC/long COVID and the use of RNase for its treatment. For more information about long COVID-19 listen to TWiV 1088."; May 25, 2024, MicrobeTV: https://lnkd.in/eGnHAriK

Researchers Map Neural Connections Key to Wakefulness in the Human Brain; "Human consciousness requires a person to be both awake and aware. While neuroscientists have learned a great deal from research about the underlying brain networks that sustain awareness, surprisingly little has been known about the networks that keep us awake.Now, an NIH-supported team of researchers has mapped the connectivity of a neural network they suggest is essential for wakefulness, or arousal, in the human brain. According to the researchers, this advance, reported inScience Translational Medicine, is essential for understanding human consciousness. It may also lead to new ways of understanding what happens in the brain when people lose consciousness, with potentially important implications for treating those who have entered a coma or vegetative state."; Dr. Monica M. Bertagnolli, May 23rd, 2024, NIH Director's Blog: https://lnkd.in/eRRJfFV4

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Ottawa Hospital paid $500K to auditor for lawsuit that never went to trial; "Theaudit that led to an Ottawa Hospital lawsuit,with explosive allegations about a fraud conspiracy involving its contractors and two hospital managers, cost taxpayers more than $500,000, according to new information obtained by CBC.The hospital has fought CBC's efforts to obtaininformation about the true costborne by the public for a case that began in 2016 and was settled more than four years laterwithout going to trial.A CBC appeal under Freedom of Information legislation resulted inaccess only to the cost of the audit itself, however.This likely represents only a small portion of the total costof the suit, including legal fees and any settlements, according to lawyer and forensic auditor David Debenham."They spent a lot of money on this, and the question is, is it well spent?" he said."Did they get value for money? We have no way of telling."; Amanda Pfeffer·CBC News·Posted: May 24, 2024: https://lnkd.in/eUkqADWr

Drug-resistant Trichophyton fungus represents emerging threat in US | CIDRAP: "In a newJAMA Dermatologyreport, researchers describe 11Trichophyton indotineainfections in New York City from May 2022 to May 2023. The fungus represents a new emerging public health threat that causes extensive tinea infections often unresponsive to terbinafine, a first-line oral antifungal.T indotineaecauses an extensive rash composed of plaques, found on the trunk, extremities, and groin. In recent years, several outbreaks in South Asia have been documented, with the rash unresponsive to standard antifungal treatments, both oral and topical.Cases have been found all over the world, however, including in the United States. The country confirmed the first two cases of the infection in May 2023, but retrospective reviews suggest the earliest confirmed US isolate was from 2017."Despite increased US spread, cases are likely underrecognized due to lack of awareness," the authors wrote."; CIDRAP, May 17, 2024: https://lnkd.in/es7qkWRk

Ground-level Ozone Pollution; "Ground-level Ozone Basics; U.S. EPA: https://lnkd.in/ehvXxXYy

Matters Microbial #41: Giant Bacteria:Not All Are Small! with Esther Angert; "Today, Dr. Esther Angert of Cornell University joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss the role her research collaborators have had studying truly gigantic bacteria, and the adaptations these enormous microbes must make to their size!"; MicrobeTV, May 23, 2024: https://lnkd.in/ePFgaUz5

What happens when 10,000 people lose their family doctor all at once; "The impact of Canada’s primary-care crisis is being felt acutely in Sault Ste. Marie Ont., where 10,000 people will be cut off from their family doctor at the end of May. CBC’s Nick Purdon breaks down the Group Health Centre’s de-rostering and what it means for patients."; CBC News, The National, May 22, 2024: https://lnkd.in/e7veBiwN

Yersinia pestis can infect the Pawlowsky glands of human body lice and be transmitted by louse bite; "Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, is a highly lethal vector-borne pathogen responsible for killing large portions of Europe’s population during the Black Death of the Middle Ages. In the wild,Y.pestiscycles between fleas and rodents; occasionally spilling over into humans bitten by infectious fleas. For this reason, fleas and the rats harboring them have been considered the main epidemiological drivers of previous plague pandemics. Human ectoparasites, such as the body louse (Pediculus humanus humanus), have largely been discounted due to their reputation as inefficient vectors of plague bacilli. Using a membrane-feeder adapted strain of body lice, we show that the digestive tract of some body lice become chronically infected withY.pestisat bacteremia as low as 1 × 105CFU/ml, and these lice routinely defecateY.pestis. At higher bacteremia (≥1 × 107CFU/ml), a subset of the lice develop an infection within the Pawlowsky glands (PGs), a pair of putative accessory salivary glands in the louse head. Lice that developed PG infection transmittedY.pestismore consistently than those with bacteria only in the digestive tract. These glands are thought to secrete lubricant onto the mouthparts, and we hypothesize that when infected, their secretions contaminate the mouthparts prior to feeding, resulting in bite-based transmission ofY.pestis. The body louse’s high level of susceptibility to infection by gram-negative bacteria and their potential to transmit plague bacilli by multiple mechanisms supports the hypothesis that they may have played a role in previous human plague pandemics and local outbreaks."; David M. Bland, Dan Long, Rebecca Rosenke, B. Joseph Hinnebusch PLOS BIOLOGY, May 21, 2024: https://lnkd.in/eCtYdaus

2024 Mpox news, bird flu raw milk dangers and CDC vaccine recommendations for travel to Saudi Arabia; "What are the symptoms of Mpox? Who is high risk for monkeypox? Is raw milk illegal? When is Hajj 2024? Are there long term effects of meningococcal disease?Our guest is AMA's Vice President of Science, Medicine and Public Health, Andrea Garcia, JD, MPH. American Medical Association CXO Todd Unger hosts."; American Medical Association, May 22, 2024: https://lnkd.in/e4BaWP46