MUENCHHAUSEN
AN ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER ABOUT
ENVIRONMENT,
RENEWABLE RESOURCE TECHNOLOGY,
AND RELATED TOPICS
By BOOTSTRAP PRESS, INC.
BETHESDA, MD
JJGREENBARON(at)VERIZON.NET
OCTOBER 24, 2014
==============================================================
WELCOME!
The Green Baron (TGB) welcomes
one and all who take the time to read Muenchhausen. He aims to “tell it
like it is” as much as possible, and avoid advocacy and ideological positions.
There are enough of those to go around in other publications.
The
Green Baron also welcomes comments from anyone who may read Muenchhausen.
Please send comments to the e-mail address above.
NOSOCOMIAL
INFECTIONS
On
September 24, TGB had the honor of making (or actually remaking) the
acquaintance of Tom Frieden, who leads the federal Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC, Atlanta, GA), on the occasion of a National Press Club (NPC) luncheon.
During his presentation, he asked those assembled what the biggest human infectious
disease threat might be (1). Among the choice of sources were zoonotic
(vectored from animals, including invertebrates) and nosocomial (contracted
during hospital care). TGB raised his hand and guessed zoonotic. Yes, zoonotic-vectored
diseases do present a major threat, but TGB guessed wrong. The answer Frieden
had in mind was nosocomial. One reason nosocomial-source infections present what
he deems to be the greatest threat is that such infections may well be caused
by bacteria that have developed resistance to one or more antibiotics. Salient
examples are methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and
vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE). Moreover, some of these “bugs” become
resistant to multiple drugs, so the physician’s armamentarium may be much
diminished.
Frieden. Warned of nosocomial infection dangers.
There
may be some hope for a “pushback” against such resistance, dim and distant
though it may currently be. Some researchers at the Hebrew University Medical
Faculty (Jerusalem, Israel) and other laboratories may be in the process of
revealing the molecular/genetic means by which some bacteria develop drug
resistance (2). Much work remains to be done, but it is good to learn
that perhaps a start in this direction has been made. TGB plans to follow the
progress of this work diligently.
THE
EBOLA SCARE
Often,
when one sees the word “scare”, one perceives exaggeration. In this case,
however, the Ebola scare is indeed a scare, at least potentially. Ebola is a
hemorrhagic fever by which, generally, the patient loses all one’s bodily
fluids and his/her organs fail. The mortality rate for this disease is pegged
at 50% to 90%; TGB prefers to consider the latter figure. The peer-reviewed
literature and the popular press contains mountains of information and commentary
on Ebola for those who wish to delve deeper.
Ebola
fever is named after the River Ebola, a river in what is now the Democratic
Republic of Congo, which flows into the Congo River. Reputedly the disease was
discovered in the vicinity of that river; however, it also is told that the
discoverer(s) were a bit hazy about their geography, and the disease actually
was first detected in humans near another river mistaken for the Ebola. The
disease is zoonotic, said to be vectored by fruit bats, and from those bats, to
primates that customarily were sources of “bush meat” that is widely consumed
in many regions of sub-Saharan Africa. Given that bush meat sometimes is
smuggled into the United States by some travelers from Africa, TGB is
astonished that Ebola has not appeared in the US until recently, and even then
by travelers from West Africa already so afflicted.
The
virus—a filovirus shaped like a string or wire—looks like a string which contains
a knot that resembles simple knots one learns to tie if one is a boy scout or a
beginning military trainee. The race is on to develop vaccine(s) to immunize
humans against Ebola. This effort is on fast track and appears promising, with
some scientists positing that an effective vaccine might be marketable by late
2015. There also exists a medication—currently in very short supply—known as “ZMAPP”,
that seems to be effective against Ebola in its earlier stages. ZMAPP is said
to be synthesized from a species of tobacco (Nicotiana tabaka). ZMAPP
apparently helped cure two missionary physicians who had contracted the disease
in Liberia, one of three countries in which Ebola has spread widely. The other
two countries are Guinea (Conakry) and Sierra Leone. Another approach to
attacking the disease in its earlier stages is to transfuse into the patient
antibodies from a person with compatible blood type who has recovered from
Ebola. One of the cured physicians contributed such antibodies to a nurse in
Dallas, TX, who had contracted Ebola from a patient (who subsequently died) who
had traveled to Dallas from Liberia. The current news is that the nurse has
recovered at the National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, MD), who is to return
to Dallas to regain her strength. Perhaps an antibody “bank” can be developed
from blood contributions from recovered Ebola patients.
Ebola virus. Note the knot at one end.
Ebola
currently is transmitted by direct contact with human body fluids and wastes.
The virus does not seem able to travel from human to human by passage through
air. However, medical science fears the possibility that the Ebola virus might
mutate so that it would be transmissible via coughing and sneezing much as
colds and influenza are spread.
BOOTSTRAP
PRESS
Bootstrap
Press is located in Bethesda, MD. TGB is its current president, although given
his advancing age (he is now 80), he may seek a responsible person to take it
over one day. Bootstrap Press is a nonprofit entity that concerns itself with
environmental, energy, and (more recently) health topics.
1.
Frieden, T. Presentation at National Press Club (Washington, DC), Sept. 24,
2014.
2.
Siegel-Itzkovich, J. Health scan: How stubborn bacteria avoid antibiotics. Jerusalem
Post online, Jan. 25, 2014. http://www.jpost.com/Health-and-Science/Health-scan-How-stubborn-bacteria-avoid-antibiotics-339349.
