WHO to use 'mpox' for monkeypox to tackle stigma

Health teknoiot - The World Health Organization said on Monday it would start using a new preferred term, "mpox", as a synonym for monkeypox and urged others to follow suit after receiving complaints that the current name for the disease was racist and stigmatising.

"Both names will be used simultaneously for one year while 'monkeypox' is phased out," the WHO said in a statement.

The WHO launched a public consultation process to find a new name for the disease earlier this year and received more than 200 proposals. The US, which was among the countries and bodies supporting the name change, welcomed the announcement.

monkeypox

"We must do all we can to break down barriers to public health, and reducing stigma associated with disease is one critical step in our work to end mpox," said US Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.

One of the more popular public suggestions was "mpox" or "Mpox", put forward by men's health organisation RÉZO among others. Its director said at the time that the removal of monkey imagery helped people take the health emergency seriously.

Some ideas were farcical such as "Poxy McPoxface" which alluded to Boaty McBoatface - the choice of a public vote on the name of a British polar research vessel, before a decision to give it another name - Sir David Attenborough.

The WHO said global experts settled on "mpox" after considering the scientific appropriateness, extent of current usage as well as pronounceability among other factors.

Mpox, discovered in 1958 and named after the first animal to show symptoms, mostly spread in a group of countries in west and central Africa until this year.

Around 100 countries where mpox is not endemic have now reported outbreaks of the viral disease.

The WHO has a mandate to assign new names to existing diseases under the International Classification of Diseases.

Generally, it seeks to avoid associating any disease or virus with a country, region, animal or ethnic group.

Last year, it assigned the letters of the Greek alphabet to new coronavirus variants to stop a practice of linking them with specific countries.

Reference: Malaysianow

Unintended Pregnancy May Increase Risk of Postpartum Depression, Study Finds

Health.com - The risk of experiencing symptoms of postpartum depression (PPD) may be higher in women who give birth resulting from unintended pregnancies, according to a study published in Social Science & Medicine. While women who conceive via fertility treatments may not be at an increased risk, the type of treatment used to conceive may impact outcomes.

The prevalence of PPD, defined as a major depressive episode during the postpartum period, is an estimated 13% in the United States, and the condition can be debilitating to mothers. PPD also affects their children and entire family system, and lately, it has been more directly addressed by medical organizations via policies and recommendations.

Identifying key risk factors is a priority in PPD research and can help shape initiatives for prevention, treatment strategies, or policies and practices related to PPD. Most factors of interest in PPD research are biological, including hormone changes and a genetic predisposition, or contextual, such as mental health history, pregnancy intention, or stress.

Photo illustration by Pixabay

As fertility treatments have been used more often to conceive, determining the risk of PPD with these methods has become important. The study aimed to determine the prevalence in PPD in 4 groups: women who conceived spontaneously and unintentionally, women who conceived spontaneously and were unsure if they wanted to conceive, women who conceived intentionally while using fertility treatments, and women who conceived spontaneously and intentionally.

A secondary aim of the study was to explore the impact of specific fertility treatments— including fertility-enhancing medications prescribed by a doctor only, insemination procedures with use of fertility-enhancing medications, or assisted reproductive technology (ART)—on PPD risk. Research in this context has often focused on the impact of the social experience of infertility and its potential effects on PPD risk.

“Many fertility treatments alter hormones, such as progesterone and estrogen. These alterations are occurring in the preconception period and early in pregnancy,” the authors wrote. “The literature, to our knowledge, has not investigated how these early hormonal manipulations may or may not impact postpartum mental health, and it is unclear whether there are physiological pathways for how they may do so.”

Data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (2012-2019), which is a cross-sectional survey given to women throughout the United States who have recently given birth, were used to assess PPD risk across the study cohorts.

A total of 125,702 women in the study sample conceived spontaneously and intentionally; 70,505 had unintended pregnancies; 40,527 were unsure about their pregnancy intention; and 6943 conceived with fertility treatments. Overall, 13.9% of the women in the study sample had symptoms of PPD.

In an adjusted regression analysis, women who conceived unintentionally had higher odds of PPD than those who conceived spontaneously and intentionally (odds ratio [OR], 1.32; 95% CI, 1.26-1.39; P = .01). Those who conceived unintentionally were also more likely to experience PPD vs those who were unsure about their intention to conceive (OR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.23-1.38; P < .01). However, women who conceived while on fertility treatments were not at higher odds of elevated PPD symptoms (OR, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.84-1.10; P = .61).

The analysis of fertility treatment type and PPD outcomes included 2210 women. Fertility-enhancing drugs were used by 31.4% of the group, 14.9% used medicated insemination, and 53.7% used ART. An adjusted logistic regression model showed that women using fertility-enhancing drugs were at a higher risk of PPD compared with those using ART (OR, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.24-3.24; P < .01). Those using medical insemination had similar odds as the ART group.

The findings suggest that pregnancy intention, rather than fertility treatment use or type of fertility treatment, may have the greatest impact on PPD from among the variables considered in the study. The authors note that US reproductive policies making abortion access more difficult may lead to increased rates of PPD, as there is an increase of unintended children carried to term. Screening for PPD, especially in those with unintended pregnancy, is an important step in identifying those who are at an increased risk.

“While the experience of undergoing fertility treatments can be stressful, based on a nonclinical sample of women who recently gave birth in the US, our results suggest that women who conceived with fertility treatments were not at a higher risk of PPD,” the authors wrote. “Women who had unintended and unsure pregnancies were more likely to have elevated PPD symptoms relative to those who had spontaneous, intended pregnancies.”

Reference

Barber GA, Steinberg JR. The association between pregnancy intention, fertility treatment use, and postpartum depression. Soc Sci Med. Published online October 13, 2022. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115439

Link reference: AJMC

Indonesia's Sriwijaya Air plane suspected to have crashed with more than 60 on board; search and rescue under way

 A Sriwijaya Air plane was suspected to have crashed on Saturday (Jan 9) with more than 60 people on board, said Indonesian authorities. 

The plane had been en route to Pontianak in West Kalimantan province.

A spokesperson from the Indonesian transport ministry said the commercial flight SJY182 took off at about 2.45pm WIB and was scheduled to land in Pontianak at 4.15pm. 

"The control tower's last contact with the plane was at 3.40pm before the contact was lost," said the spokesperson in an exchange on WhatsApp. 

A flight tracker map showing Sriwijaya Air Flight SJ182 after it took off from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. (Image: Twitter/Flightradar24)

Sriwijaya Air, which has about 19 Boeing jets that fly to destinations in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, told CNA that there were 62 passengers on board, including 40 adults, 7 children, and three infants. A total of 12 airline employees were on the plane including six who were operating the flight.

The head of the national transport safety committee, Soerjanto Tjahjanto, said in a press conference at about 10pm Sunday night that all the passengers were Indonesians. 

"That's why we haven't notified other countries, apart from the US (as the plane was a Boeing)," he said.

Many journalists have flocked to Jakarta's Soekarno Hatta airport where officials have set up a crisis centre. No word if family members of those on board are here too. pic.twitter.com/y2EwkJhszM

— Nivell Rayda (@NivellCNA) January 9, 2021

FlightRadar24 tweeted that the plane had lost more than 10,000 feet of altitude in less than one minute, just four minutes after departing from Jakarta.

The aircraft is a 27-year-old Boeing 737-500, according to registration details included in the tracking data.

A Boeing spokeswoman said: "We are aware of media reports from Jakarta, and are closely monitoring the situation. We are working to gather more information".

SEARCH AND RESCUE OPERATION 

Surachman, a local government official, told Kompas TV that fishermen found what appeared to be the wreckage of an aircraft in waters north of Jakarta and a search was underway. Other channels showed pictures of suspected wreckage.

"We found some cables, a piece of jeans (sic) and pieces of metal on the water," Zulkifli, a security official, told CNNIndonesia.com.​​​​​​​

Rescue agency official Agus Haryono told Reuters that debris suspected to be from the aircraft was found in the waters north of Jakarta, but did not confirm that it was from the flight. 

In a press conference on Saturday evening, Transport Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said: "At 5.30pm western Indonesian time, the president gave us the order to go all out on the search and rescue operation. Of course Basarnas is on it."

Agus said 50 people were taking part in the search and that they would keep searching into the night.

Basarnas' deputy for search and rescue operations and preparedness, Bambang Suryo Aji, also said in a press conference that teams had been deployed to an area around the Laki and Lancang islands in northern Jakarta, where the plane was believed to have crashed.

Soerjanto said the authorities would interview fishermen who claimed to have seen the plane crashing.

"Whether it's true or not, we'll see tomorrow," he said. 

Several family members have come to Soekarno Hatta airport and were ushered inside. #sriwijayaair pic.twitter.com/PbaXzWnte0

— Nivell Rayda (@NivellCNA) January 9, 2021

Also speaking at the late-night press conference with Soerjanto was transport ministry spokeswoman Adita Irawati, who said that the plane seemed to have deviated from its route shortly before going missing.

The air traffic controller tried to contact the plane but it disappeared just seconds later, she said. 

Television footage showed relatives and friends of people aboard the plane weeping, praying and hugging each other as they waited at Jakarta’s airport and Pontianak’s airport.

Founded in 2003, Jakarta-based Sriwijaya Air group flies largely within Indonesia.

The airline has had a solid safety record until now, with no onboard casualties in four incidents recorded on the Aviation Safety Network database, though a farmer was killed when a Boeing 737-200 left the runway in 2008 following a hydraulic problem.

The Boeing 737 is the world's most-sold family of aircraft and has undergone several makeovers since it entered service in 1968.

The 737-500 is two generations of development before the most recent 737 MAX, which has been embroiled in a worldwide safety crisis following crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia. It does not use the software system implicated in those crashes.

Nonetheless, experts say planes such as Sriwijaya's leased 737-500 are being phased out for newer fuel-saving models. Civil jets typically have an economic life of 25 years, meaning they become too expensive to keep flying beyond that compared to younger models, but they are built to last longer.

Source: channelnewsasia

Revealed, this is the reason the discovery of the Covid-19 vaccine can be fast

Healthale.com - Advances in technology have led to the discovery of vaccines, including those for Covid-19, to be done faster than in the past.

"In ancient times, of course, you had to get the pure agent first. After that it was reproduced, and then it was only prepared as a vaccine. That took a long time. Today, technology has made it possible for us to do it quickly. There is no need for disease agents anymore and it can be made synthetic, so it can be very fast. In the past, it took a long time to find the seeds. Nowadays it only takes one or two months to find the seeds, "said Prof. Ngurah Mahardika, Virologist at Udayana University, recently.

Prof. Ngurah Mahardika said there are at least four types of vaccines that are differentiated based on their basic ingredients. The first is based on a pure virus that is killed so that it is not harmful to humans, some are based on DNA or mRNA, the third is an adenovirus-based vaccine, and the last is a protein-based vaccine.

"This variety of vaccine bases has advantages and disadvantages, of course, such as the deadly virus-based vaccine currently being tested in Indonesia is the most common type, so the regulations for use are much more concise. Meanwhile, DNA-based and adenovirus-based vaccines do not have examples circulating in the community. the regulation takes a long time, "explained Prof. Ngurah Mahardika.

Although technology is accelerating the discovery of new vaccines, a key factor that should not be ruled out in the procedure is ensuring the level of safety. Basically, vaccine researchers and developers do not compromise on aspects of quality, usability, and safety, including the safety of the Covid-19 vaccine which is to be discovered, must be guaranteed.

Credits: Pixabay

"For the safety aspect, it starts from the pre-clinical phase, which is tested on animals, then Phase I which involves human volunteers, Phase II which involves hundreds of volunteers, and Phase III which involves thousands of volunteers. In all phases, aspects of safety and usability are a concern. It is serious. Especially in Phase III, when it involves thousands to tens of thousands of people, "explained Prof. Ngurah Mahardika.

It doesn't stop there, after being circulated in the community, vaccines will continue to be monitored and contested continuously to ensure the safety of the vaccines in circulation later. It should also be noted that Indonesia is very likely to develop a Covid-19 vaccine independently. However, cooperation during the Covid-19 pandemic as it is today is not taboo. The cooperation aims to obtain high-quality data. Researchers and scientists in Indonesia also open domestic study data to contribute to world science and receive positive input from foreign researchers.

"Without cooperation, I think we are capable, but to achieve rapid progress it is deemed necessary by way of cooperation between countries and world science," concluded Prof. Ngurah Mahardika.

In addition to the news that vaccines can be found sooner, other good news comes from the Covid-19 cure rate as of November 1, 2020, which continues to increase. The recovery rate of all Covid-19 cases reached 82.84%. The rate of recovery and completion from isolation increased from the previous week, namely 80.51%. Then tracing and testing as of November 1, 2020, reached more than 4.5 million specimens and many of them were negative.

Keep in mind, #pakaimasker, #jagajarak at least 1 meter, and #cucitangan with soap is still the best preventive measures to date. We need to continue to be disciplined in practicing this 3M step in a package in order to avoid disease

Source: cnbcindonesia

The country finds cases of rare H1N2 swine flu in humans

Canadian health authorities on Wednesday (4/11/2020) reported the first case of humans infected with a rare type of swine flu virus, namely H1N2. The case was detected in the western province of Alberta in mid-October.

"This is the only case of influenza reported in Alberta so far this flu season," wrote the statement quoted from the page South China Morning Post, Thursday (5/11/2020).

The statement said the unnamed patient was experiencing mild influenza-like symptoms. However, it didn't take long after being examined, the patient recovered quickly.

Local health officials said there had not been an increased risk of transmission to residents in the vicinity of the area where the virus was found.

H1N2 swine flu

Since 2005, there have only been 27 cases of people infected with H1N2 in the world. This virus is different from H1N1 which is commonly found in humans.

According to local health officials, this virus cannot be transmitted to humans by consuming meat or products containing pork. This is a rare type of flu in humans.

"This is a rare type of flu in humans. It is usually acquired from exposure to infected pigs and is not known to spread easily from person to person," said Canada's Head of Public Health Theresa Tam via her Twitter account.

Related to this virus, investigations into its origins are still being carried out by Canadian health officials. This is also to ensure that this virus does not spread, spread, and become a transmission cluster.

Source: detikhealth

Number of South Korean Residents Died After Flu Vaccination Increases

At least 13 South Koreans have died after receiving flu vaccine shots in recent days, according to official state media reports and local media. This situation raises concerns about the safety of vaccines, even though authorities rule out the link between vaccine safety and human deaths after vaccines.

Health authorities on Wednesday said they had no plans to suspend a free flu vaccine injection program of about 19 million people after a preliminary investigation of the six fatalities found no direct link to the victims' deaths from the vaccine.

Credits: Flickr

No toxic substances are found in vaccines. At least five of the six people investigated had an underlying illness, officials said.

Officials have reported nine people died after getting the flu shot. Yonhap news agency reported four other people died on Thursday.

The fatalities, including a boy aged 17 years and a man in his 70s, came just a week after the free flu vaccination program for teenagers and the elderly had restarted. The program was suspended for three weeks after it was found that about 5 million doses, which need to be refrigerated, had been exposed to room temperature while being transported to medical facilities.

The flu vaccine in South Korea comes from a variety of sources. South Korean flu vaccine manufacturers include local producers GC Pharma, SK Bioscience, and Ilyang Pharmaceutical Co, along with French pharmaceutical companies Sanofi and Britain's GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). 

South Korean flu vaccine distributors, including LG Chem Ltd and Boryung Biopharma Co. Ltd., which is part of Boryung Pharm Co. Ltd.

GC Pharma, LG Chem, SK Bioscience, and Boryung declined to comment on any deaths after receiving flu shots. Meanwhile, Ilyang Pharmaceutical, Sanofi, and GSK could not be reached for comment.

South Korea has extended its seasonal vaccine program this year to ward off potential complications of the Covid-19 outbreak and reduce the burden on hospitals during winter. Officials say 8.3 million people have been inoculated with the free flu vaccine since the program resumed on October 13, and there have been reports of about 350 cases of adverse reactions to the vaccine.

The highest number of deaths related to seasonal flu vaccination was six in 2005, according to the Yonhap news agency. Officials say it is difficult to make comparisons with previous years because more people are taking the vaccine this year.

The Difference Between Corona Virus vs Norovirus, Which Is More Dangerous?

Corona virus infection has not been resolved, but the world must be careful in facing the Norovirus attack. Norovirus infection was actually found in Indonesia in early 2019 and the report was published in the Journal of Medical Virology in May 2020.

"Of the 91 stool samples examined, it turned out that 14 samples or 15.4 percent contained norovirus. The research samples carried out in early 2019 were taken from several hospitals in Jambi City," wrote the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Prof. Dr. Dr. Ari Fahrial Syam, SpPD (K) , in a release received by detikcom.

Research on Norovirus was carried out by Dr. Juniastuti, et al, from the Institute of Tropical Disease, Airlangga University. With this case, what is the difference between the Corona virus and the Norovirus? Which is more dangerous?

Quoted from the journal What Makes a Foodborne Virus: Comparing Coronaviruses with Human Noroviruses, the Corona virus and the Norovirus equally affect human life. Foodborne refers to food that has been contaminated with bacteria or viruses that pose a risk to human health if eaten.

Here are the differences between Corona virus vs Norovirus:

1. Durability

In the journal written by Dan Li, et al., The Corona virus has a weaker resistance than Norovirus. Norovirus defenses better against common disinfectant practices.

These hygiene practices include the use of alcohol, chlorine and ultraviolet on food, hands and eating utensils. This practice is commonly applied before eating to maintain cleanliness.

2. Opportunities for spreading through food

This article, published through the US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, discusses the possibility of the Corona virus being a foodborne virus. Corona can indeed survive in food and packaging without losing its infectious ability.

As a result, the chances of spreading the Coronavirus through food (foodborne transmission) are lower than the Norovirus . The Corona virus spreads through droplets and possibly through the air, so it is advisable to wear masks as a preventive measure.

3. There is no evidence of the spread of the Corona virus through food

In the article it is explained, Corona virus infection has never been found related to food consumption. In addition, the Corona virus has never been detected through food.

But regarding this fact, Dan Li, et al, stated not to let down their guard against the Corona virus. The virus is relatively new, so it is possible to discover new things related to Corona.

4. Different deployment routes

The Corona virus infects the respiratory system differently from the Norovirus which attacks the human digestive organs. Norovirus follows the fecal-oral transmission route before entering the body.

Until now there has been no evidence that the Corona virus follows fecal-oral transmission such as Norovirus or other foodborne viruses. This route of distribution will be explained through the findings of further research.

5. Coronavirus Vs Norovirus, which is more dangerous?

Corona virus and Norovirus infections are both at risk of harming humans even though they have different methods. Corona virus passes through the respiratory system, while Norovirus passes through food and digestive organs.

Therefore, everyone is obliged to take preventive measures by always maintaining cleanliness and strengthening the immune system. For the prevention of the Coronavirus, the defense is added to the use of masks every day while on the move.