Coronavirus infections continue: #TrumpVirus

 Reported in The Week:  the U.S. hits a grim pandemic milestone.  

In fact, the U.S. surpassed 200,000 coronavirus related deaths this week, the last week in September 2020, just days after Donald Trump publicly challenged the Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) scientific advice about wearing masks and its timeline for a Covid-19 vaccine. Moreover, Trump said the CDC director, Dr. Robert Redfield had been "confused",  when he told Congress (under oath) that that a vaccine likely will not be "fully available" until the summer or fall of 2021.  (Pinocchio!) 

Trump stupidity in his own words!

Nevertheless, Donald Trump insisted that a vaccine could be approved as soon as October, 2020, with 1000 million doses ready by the end of the year. Concern about the political pressure being exerted on the CDC grew after the agency published and then removed new guidelines warning that the virus can be transmitted via respiratory aerosols- tiny particles that can linger in the air- as well as by larger respiratory droplets that fall quickly to the ground.  Donald Trump gave his (botched!)response to the pandemic as being "A-plus" and, at a packed rally in Ohio, where few were waring masks, he falsely said the Covid-19 "affects virtually nobody" except the elderly people with heart problems.

Meanwhile, Minnesota, Montana, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Wyoming and Utah set record highs for morbidity, with a seven day average of new confirmed cases and 21 other states saw increases in infections.  In fact, Olivia Troye, a former coronavirus task force adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, spoke out emphatically against Trump's handling of the pandemic, saying he showed a "flat-out disregard for human life" and cared only about his re-election. Troye, whom the White House called a "disgruntled ex-staffer", claimed that Trump once said, "Maybe this Covid thing is a good thing," because, "I don't have to shake hands with these disgusting people", meaning his supporters.

What the editorials said: #TrumpVirus

Mourning the 200,000 (++) dead, said The Washington Post, "and be angry- very angry".  The tragedy has been worsened by Donald Trump, who minimized the threat, refused to mobilize a large-scale government response, dismissed the importance of mask wearing and prodded the GOP run states to reopen before the viral spread was under control.  "Nothing more could have been done", Trump has said about coronavirus casualties. But, there is work to do.  "Wear a mask. Social distance. Wash your hands. And vote", wrote The Post. 

What the columnists said:

Tragically, the Trump administration is letting, "politics distort science", said Claudia Wallis in ScientificAmerican.com. Leaked emails have revealed how political appointees at the Department of Health and Human Services have tried to slow the release of data that contradict Trump, including a negative report on the fake cure hydroxychloroquine, the malaria drug that Trump touted as a Covid-19 therapy, and information about children spreading the virus. With scientific findings being run, through a political "distortion field", will the public be able to "trust federal assessments about the coronavirus treatments and the vaccines?," she wrote.

Here is the reality check:

The U.S. is trapped in a pandemic "death spiral", said Ed Yong in TheAtlantic.com.  Influenza season 2020-21, is approaching, which will make it harder to identify Covid-19 symptoms, and winter is not far away, which will pack people indoors. Our failure to build testing capacity and hire enough contact tracers means that many parts of the U.S. could see a repeat of the horror that New York City suffered in the spring 2020. Tragedy-numbered Americans might, "stop treating the pandemic as the emergency that it is," and, instead, accept thousands of daily deaths as "the unthinkable normal." #TrumpVirusGenocide, IMO.

Vaccines save lives echo

Echo opinion published in NJPenn.com a newsletter published by the Camden New Jersey Haddonfield Friends School:

I was shocked as an educator, mother, and elected official to hear about the bogus debate in regard to vaccines on the heels of the measles outbreak in California.  

(Also, measles in Maine- U.S. measles outbreak spreads to Maine, 25th state to report case. Reuters Reports - Maine became the 25th U.S. state to confirm a case of measles amid the country's worst outbreak of the disease in a quarter century, as state medical officials on Wednesday reported that a child was infected but is now fully recovered.)

Let’s be clear–first, there is no debate. Vaccines save lives!

Second, the science is strong and indisputable: there is absolutely no link to the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism or brain damage.

Furthermore, you can make no mistake about it: the public’s health is compromised every time someone opts to not vaccinate their child.

Measles itself is one of the most contagious airborne diseases on the planet. In fact, according to the Center for Disease Control, if one person has it, 90 percent of the people close to that person who are not immune will also become infected. Measles is a disease that can reap horrific consequences on children and anyone else that is infected by it.

Taking a step back into history, prior to the creation of a vaccine, measles would kill 6,000 people a year. Even after the vaccine was developed, the disease still was responsible for hospitalizing 48,000 a year and killing 400 to 500 individuals on an annual basis.

This was until the federal government made a push to completely eradicate the disease through nationwide inoculation. This was achieved 15-years-ago in 2000, but fast-forward to 2013, and, according to the World Health Organization, our MMR vaccination rate has fallen to 91 percent.

To put this in perspective: there are several third-world nations with a better rate of vaccination than our country, which is striking, and should be reversed.

Did you know that 59 percent of the patients with measles in California are adults? I say this to stress that you are never too old to get vaccinated; in fact, the federal government did not start requiring two doses of MMR until 1989, so if you only had one shot, you should consult with your doctor to see if another dose of the vaccine is necessary.

In addition, as a nation, we have access to a safe alternative to stop devastating diseases, unlike other countries where healthcare workers are killed for vaccinating members of their society–my point being that the luxury of keeping yourself healthy and safe from diseases like measles is not afforded to all global citizens.

As a society, we are dependent on herd immunity because there are segments of our population that are unable to be vaccinated. These are individuals who cannot be immunized, including infants; individuals who have medical conditions making them immunocompromised; and a small number of people who are allergic to the vaccine.

In the state of New Jersey we have had one reported case of the measles, but I believe, as a public health official, we need to have a constant dialogue about this issue to thoroughly discredit anyone who undermines our herd.

Here at the Camden County Health Department, we carry the MMR vaccine at our health clinics that are open to the public every day during the work week. Appointments can be made by going to our website at www.camdencounty.com/health or calling (856) 931-2700.

Please know this is not a debate and the science is clear in regards to vaccines. They are pertinent to our public health and critical to the health of our children.

Carmen Rodriguez is a Camden County freeholder and liaison to the Camden Department of Health & Human Services, Board of Social Services and Department of Children’s Services. She also serves as supervisor of Bilingual Education for the Camden City School District.

Republicans cut intervention programs to care for epidemic drug addictions

Republicans seems to enjoy cutting health safety net programs where needy and low income people are helped; but now everybody is "shocked-shocked" because America is seeing a horrific drug abuse epidemic. If Republicans supported substance abuse treatment programs, instead of cutting funds to Medicaid programs, the response to this epidemic would be rapid and many lives would be saved. Shame on the Republican budget cutters! Many drug abuse deaths are preventable with rapid referrals and interventions, when people in need can access these services. 
But, its urgent for the programs to be funded!

Drug overdose treatment by emergency services is the most expensive way to respond to morbidities and mortalities related to substance abuse.

Instead of rapid interventions, emergency servcies are picking up the extraordinary cost of responding to the growing public health damage caused by drug addiction. Often, during the emergency response, the outcomes have been expensively fatal; becauses screening, brief intervention and referrall for treatment (SBIRT) before the crisis would've been more efficient and effective. 

A report in The Daily Beast by Zachary Siegel: 

Deaths from heroin and opioid pain-killer overdoses increased 

sharply in 2014, by 14 percent, according to a 

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention report.  

The 2014's record number of opoid overdose deaths continues 

an upward trend the CDC has tracked over the past several years. 

The CDC reports that heroin-related deaths have tripled 

since 2010 and that almost a half-million 

Americans died from drug overdoses between 

the years 2000 and 2014.

SBIRT: Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment
(SBIRT) is a cost effective and evidence-based practice used to identify, reduce, and prevent problematic use, abuse, and dependence on alcohol and illicit drugs. The SBIRT model was incited by an Institute of Medicine recommendation that called for community-based screening for health risk behaviors, including substance use. (This evidence-based intervention sure beats the cost and dismal outcomes of emergency transport and treatments.)

Unfortunately, many effective drug treatment programs rely on providing rapid access to those who need the services, when they need it. Cutting Medicaid benefits, as many states have done, and the budgets of worthy provider agencies, has allowed the addiction epidemic to become a danger to our society. Drug addiction impacts the abuser, the families of the abusers and the communities where the victims receive the illegal substances. Pubic safety expenses to capture the sellers of illegal drugs are, likewise, costly. 

Meanwhile, Republicans continue offering tax cuts to the rich and they support "corporate welfare". Indeed, it seems like Republican don't support any social policy to improve the human condition, except to offer "charity" (whatever that means). As a political party, Republicans have abandoned the concept of "compassionate conservatism". Instead, they've become the conservatives who don't care about compassion.

America's drug problem is worse than the public is being told. Nevertheless, Republicans continue to deny emperical evidence provided about practically any subject. Therefore, it will take a continual die-off of drug abuse victims to prove the Republicans wrong minded political austerity progams are responsible for killing people.

Ebola is dangerously infectious - appears resistant to infection control puts caregivers at risk

Health care workers are especially well trained about how to practice infection control protocols. Consequently, it's very alarming to learn today, October 12, about a nurse at Texas Presbyterian in Dallas, who tested positive for the dangerous Ebola virus infection, after having cared for Mr. Thomas Eric Duncan who died from the disease last week.  

As a nurse myself, I suspect the Ebola virus is more virulent than the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) or any other infectious disease experts understand.  

Unfortunately, the nurse who now has the Ebola diagnosis was wearing protective gear throughout her time caring for the deceased Mr. Duncan because he had already been diagnosed.

The nurse was involved in Duncan's second visit to the hospital, when he was admitted for treatment, and was wearing protective gear as prescribed by the CDC: gown, gloves, mask and shield.

The nurse had "extensive contact" on "multiple occasions" with Duncan, Dr. Tom Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, said Sunday.

Therefore, "At some point, there was a breach in protocol, and that breach in protocol resulted in this infection," he said at a news conference Sunday.

A "close contact" who knew the nurse has been "proactively" placed in isolation, reports CNN.

The hazardous materials unit of the Dallas Fire Department has cleaned up and decontaminated the public areas of her apartment complex, Mayor Mike Rawlings said. Police are keeping people out of the area and are talking to residents nearby.

Although the experts who are evaluating this most recent Ebola exposure are seeking a breech of protocol as a cause, the fact remains that the caregivers are contracting the disease, in spite of using infection control procedures. Physicians and nurses are contracting the Ebola virus infection, when we know how to implement isolation and infection control procedures. 

In my opinion, there must be some kind of poorly understood virulence associated with transmitting Ebola. 

Perhaps any exposure at all to the bodily fluids of an infected Ebola patient puts a person at high risk, more so than touching alone. This means, being exposed to an infected person's sweat, sneezing, urine, blood, semen, saliva or any product associated with these fluids. Evidently, dumping a patient's urine, starting an IV or even giving a bed bath must create a very high risk of exposure, regardless of the infection control precautions taken to prevent the spread of the disease.

If caregivers are at risk while caring for Ebola patients, there's no doubt about how the disease will spread. Family members will try to fill the caregivers' gap and they will undoubtedly become ill doing so....and so forth.  Therefore, the only way I can foresee for stopping the  spread of Ebola is to isolate the patients as quickly as possible and minimize any exposure to the bodily fluids of the person who is ill. This means, don't draw blood or dump urine unless it's absolutely vital to do so. Urine can be dumped once very  24 hours rather than every 8 -10 and blood doesn't need to be drawn at all. Meanwhile, it's essential to develop a vaccine to prevent the future outbreaks of this lethal Ebola virus.  

Public health money, of course, is needed to stop Ebola from becoming a pandemic. Also, government corruption in African nations contributed to this now out of control outbreak. 

Of course, my dear readers, money and competent government control of the problem are the subjects of other blogs.....