Swine flu
Bill Maher is a science denialist
Bill Maher, a rather liberal talk show host, has recently been joining the anti-vaccination crowd, adding his voice to the Hollywood centered vaccination denialists. He is a typical science denialist, ignoring the vast wealth of science, research and publications, to make statements, in this case about promoting pseudoscience in his dismissal of the value of vaccines. Moreover, Mr. Maher spends time denying he is a denialist, which usually is an indicator that one is a denialist.
Interestingly, Maher is usually in sync with my feelings about global warming and evolution denialists, who use pseudoscience and outright denial to "prove" that there is no global warming or evolution. Usually, skeptics or anti-denialists (one day we need to get this terminology right) are consistent, we dismiss pseudoscience outright. I have no clue why he has chosen this particular pseudoscience and quackery to support, but maybe he just thinks Jenny McCarthy knows more than real scientists. Read More...
Interestingly, Maher is usually in sync with my feelings about global warming and evolution denialists, who use pseudoscience and outright denial to "prove" that there is no global warming or evolution. Usually, skeptics or anti-denialists (one day we need to get this terminology right) are consistent, we dismiss pseudoscience outright. I have no clue why he has chosen this particular pseudoscience and quackery to support, but maybe he just thinks Jenny McCarthy knows more than real scientists. Read More...
Debunking H1N1 Vaccine Myths
The internet is a wonderful place for getting information. But it's also a disaster in finding good information. The problem is that if you read medical facts on the internet, you tend to give equal value to both scientifically supported and outright pseudoscientific statements. I read a few posts on Facebook, which seems to be the modern world's gossip center, that spouted all sorts of conspiracy theories and ridiculous myths about the H1N1 Vaccine. Read More...
Swine flu remedies
Sometimes, I just read the most awful pseudoscience with respect to swine flu, or the H1N1 flu variant. I had to read this woo over at Daily Kos, a liberal blog site. Let's review the authors "claims":
- Get sleep. OK, this is probably a good piece of advice for anyone. But there is no evidence whatsoever that sleep has any influence on subsceptiblity to infections. However, I won't be too critical of this advice, because sufficient sleep is important.
- Eat right. Once again, good advice. The author mentions shiitake mushrooms, but the evidence is only in animal models, and even there, the in vivo results required an unorthodox method to detect a change. The author mentions zinc, the effect of which has already been discredited. The rest of the claims are similar. No real research supporting it, or actually showing it doesn't work.
- Stay hydrated. Once again, good advice. But it's not going to do anything to prevent you from getting the flu.
- Exercise. The author makes two specious and unsupported claims. First, a little exercise strengthens your immunity, but, second, too much exercise makes you more subsceptible. Well, there's some evidence that aerobic exercise does improve immunity to certain infections. But it doesn't say anything about "too much." Of course, I would contend a healthy cardiovascular system through vigorous aerobic exercise would be worth the risk of a flu.
- Some woo about foods to eat if you do get the flu. None of it works. The flu will take its course, so it's important not to infect others, and if there are serious secondary infections, the patient should seek treatment.
Point-of-care diagnostics and the flu
I am enamored of the point-of-care (POC) diagnostics market. It is clear that these tests bring benefits to patients, physicians and managed care. Influenza A H1N1 (apparently, the pork industry does is not fond of the swine flu label) may open a huge opportunity for rapid testing for flu.
Quidel Corporation (NASDAQ GS: QDEL) manufactures and markets a rapid (less than 10 minutes from swab to results) diagnostic kit for Influenza A and B (and differentiates between the two). As Quidel states, they are not sure if it detects the swine flu strain. The test should be used for any patients that present with influenza symptoms, because a positive result may rule out other types of infections (and should involve contacting a local health department), although a negative result (if the test does not identify the swine flu type) may not rule out the disease. Read More...
Quidel Corporation (NASDAQ GS: QDEL) manufactures and markets a rapid (less than 10 minutes from swab to results) diagnostic kit for Influenza A and B (and differentiates between the two). As Quidel states, they are not sure if it detects the swine flu strain. The test should be used for any patients that present with influenza symptoms, because a positive result may rule out other types of infections (and should involve contacting a local health department), although a negative result (if the test does not identify the swine flu type) may not rule out the disease. Read More...
Swine flu–don't panic
Apr/30/09 00:02
With respect to the swine flu, I want to repeat myself, once again–Don’t Panic.
Yes, the World Health Organization revised the pandemic alert for swine flu from 4 to 5. They did this to urge vaccine manufacturers to prepare a new vaccine, to warn governments to prepare in advance, and to request that government surveillance be heightened.
This does not mean that we will be returning to the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918, where more than 20 million people died worldwide. We are healthier, there are no major wars such as World War I, we have a better healthcare system, we have more focus from governments, and we have better treatments. Read More...
Yes, the World Health Organization revised the pandemic alert for swine flu from 4 to 5. They did this to urge vaccine manufacturers to prepare a new vaccine, to warn governments to prepare in advance, and to request that government surveillance be heightened.
This does not mean that we will be returning to the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918, where more than 20 million people died worldwide. We are healthier, there are no major wars such as World War I, we have a better healthcare system, we have more focus from governments, and we have better treatments. Read More...
Swine flu
Apr/29/09 15:34 Filed in: Pharmaceuticals | Pseudoscience | Vaccines | Healthcare Policy | Evidence based medicine
Well, actually I’m not going to say too much about swine flu, except that my initial impression is that it’s not that much different from other types of flu in terms of severity. For example, during the 2007-2008 flu season, there were 83 pediatric mortalities in the US that resulted from influenza infections. In other words, like a lot of diseases that we think are minor, there are serious health consequences that often fly “under the radar.” There is a certain fascination with this disease because of where it started (Mexico), conspiracy theories, and for other reasons that are beyond my ability to understand. I am personally not concerned, because, as I mentioned above, the morbidity of the infection probably is similar to other types of influenza.
There are a number of bloggers who are passing along sage and sane advice. Basically, don’t panic. Wash your hands. And that’s about it for really good medical information.
Of course, the woo-meisters have weighed in with their useless advice. I won’t even begin to explain the logical and scientific fallacies of colon cleansing, but it isn’t going to either prevent or lessen the severity of swine flu. Read More...
There are a number of bloggers who are passing along sage and sane advice. Basically, don’t panic. Wash your hands. And that’s about it for really good medical information.
Of course, the woo-meisters have weighed in with their useless advice. I won’t even begin to explain the logical and scientific fallacies of colon cleansing, but it isn’t going to either prevent or lessen the severity of swine flu. Read More...