Tag: Infectious disease

Diagnostic Reflections
At the end of a long and storied career I reflect upon making a medical diagnosis. No reflection is one way to diagnose a vampire.

Serologies
“You keep using those words: positive serology. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

Should We Fear the Monkeypox?
A recent outbreak of monkeypox is likely containable, but people are understandably concerned.

The CDC and WHO Have Reported an Unusual Cluster of Severe Pediatric Hepatitis Cases
An unusual cluster of severe liver disease in children is being reported around the world. The cause isn't entirely clear, but it may be an uncommon presentation of a common viral infection that isn't COVID-19.

Germ theory denial in the age of the COVID-19 pandemic
As hard as it is to believe, in the middle of a global pandemic that's claimed so many lives and so thoroughly disrupted society, there are people who still deny germ theory. How can this be?

Preventing The Next Pandemic
Scientists saw the pandemic coming, but world leaders failed to listen. How can we prevent and minimize the next one?

COVID-19 “super-spreaders” and “super-spreading events”: The controversy
Evidence is emerging suggesting that COVID-19 does not spread equally. A minority of infected individuals seem to spread the virus easily to many people, while most infected individuals spread it to few others or no one at all, likely through a combination of circumstance, environment, and possibly biology. Why is this, and what does it mean for coronavirus containment strategies?

Is COVID-19 transmitted by airborne aerosols?
A recurring debate about COVID-19 bubbled up late last week, when a group of scientists announced an as-yet unpublished open letter to the World Health Organization arguing that COVID-19 transmission is airborne and urging it to change its recommendations. What is this debate about, and, if coronavirus is airborne, should we be more scared?

Wrong About Polio: A Review of Suzanne Humphries, MD and Roman Bystrianyk’s “Dissolving Illusions” Part 1 (the long version)
This is a longer version of my post on Friday, November 9th, 2018. It is a lengthy discussion of why Suzanne Humphries, MD and Roman Bystrianyk's book Dissolving Illusions misrepresents the dangers of polio, one in a series of posts that should comprehensively show the problems with their claims. It covers far more than just polio, but is worthwhile for those interested...
A Pox on All Our Houses
‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy; Thou art thyself, though not a Monkeypox. What’s Monkeypox? It is nor hand, nor foot, Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part Belonging to a man. O, be some other name! What’s in a name? That which we call an orthopoxvirus By any other name would sicken as much; So Monkeypox would, were...