#DISEASES

[sugas6thtooth]

[typhlonectes]

[wachinyeya]

400,000 new cases of tuberculosis (TB) were estimated to have been prevented by these rats, whose sense of smell would make a bloodhound take notice. As the number-one killer among infectious diseases worldwide, many of those 400,000 can be translated into lives saved.

“Not only are we saving people’s lives, but we’re also changing these perspectives and raising awareness and appreciation for something as lowly as a rat,” said Cindy Fast, a behavioral neuroscientist who coaches the rodents for the nonprofit APOPO.

“Because our rats are our colleagues, and we really do see them as heroes.”

APOPO uses giant pouched rates to sniff out traces of TB in the saliva of patients. In parts of Tanzania, a saliva smear test under a microscope by a human may only be 20-40% effective at detecting TB.

By contrast, a giant pouched rat like Ms. Carolina, a now-retired service rat who worked for APOPO for 7 years, raised the rates of detection on TB samples by 40% in the clinic where she worked.

It would take 4 days for scientists to analyze the number of samples that Carolina could screen in 20 minutes. For that reason, when Carolina retired last November, a party was thrown at the clinic in her honor, and she was given a cake.

TB is sometimes thought of as a thing of the past—a disease for which doctors used to prescribe “dry air,” leading modern humors to muse at the antiquated, pre-antibiotic medical advice.

But it remains the number-one cause of death globally from a single infectious pathogen, and Tefera Agizew, a physician and APOPO’s head of tuberculosis, told National Geographic that once people see what the nonprofit’s rodents can do to slow the spread, they “fall in love with them.”

3,000 times in her career did Carolina detect one of the six volatile compounds that can be used to identify Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and she got a hero’s send off to a special compound to live out the rest of her days with her closet friend and sniffer colleague Gilbert, in a shaded enclosure dubbed “Rat Florida.”

“We’ve made special little rat-friendly carrot cakes with little peanuts and things on it that the rat would enjoy,” Fast said. “Then we all stand around and we clap, and we give three cheers, hip hip hooray for the hero, and celebrate together. It’s really a touching moment.”

[theonion]

As a mother, I put my parenting decisions above all else. Nobody knows my son better than me, and the choices I make about how to care for him are no one’s business but my own. So, when other people tell me how they think I should be raising my child, I simply can’t tolerate it. Regardless of what anyone else thinks, I fully stand behind my choices as a mom, including my choice not to vaccinate my son, because it is my fundamental right as a parent to decide which eradicated diseases come roaring back. The decision to cause a full-blown, multi-state pandemic of a virus that was effectively eliminated from the national population generations ago is my choice alone, and regardless of your personal convictions, that right should never be taken away from a child’s parent. Never.

Full Story

[incognitopolls]

The Global North/Global South classification comes from the UN.

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[kuiperoid]

The Internet Archive saves the day again

[friendraichu]

"Public health functions best when its experts are allowed to communicate the work that they do in real time, and that's not happening," said Kevin Griffis, who served as the director of communications at the CDC until March. "That could put people's lives at risk."

[awesomecooperlove]

🧬💉⚰️

[ds9slut]

Me after watching House M.D

[redux-iterum]

Hi I hope this question is okay. How is sickness handled in the Clans? Do they isolate sick cats or do they spend extra time cleaning and caring for them? Do they have any religious rituals or “medicines” that they use?

As a side note, I heard that cats eat grass when their stomach is upset to help them vomit and now I’m imagining Horoa’s Savannah and all of that grass… Great Horoa, destroyer of monsters, wraiths, and Tummy Hurt!

I sincerely cannot remember if we discussed this here or I'm just remembering the old Redux, but I'll tell you now just in case.

Sickness is dealt with carefully. A cat with something like a cough or other disease their Clanmates can catch is usually settled somewhere outside of camp, close enough to hear their Clanmates' voices but positioned so they can't infect anyone else. The Clans don't have medicine, so that's the best they can do. It's an intensely uncomfortable experience, given how social these kitties are.

In the case of an injury, they vaguely know that a wound that is kept clean and not strained will heal better. They can't set a bone, but they can lick a wound or cool it in water, and that's not too bad for them. If a wound gets infected, there really isn't anything they can do but pray for the cat to recover - or, in the most drastic of situations, take them to the humans in the hopes that they'll treat them.

As for the grass thing: this is correct, and I can verify it because my own cat keeps fuckin' doing that and then being baffled that he vomited on my carpet, Jupiter. These cats do the same. They'll eat grass (occasionally other plants) to induce vomiting. It's not pleasant, but it does help.

[sugas6thtooth]

[wiirocku]

Psalm 103:2-5 (NASB1995) - Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

[silence37]

Finished recording 9th chapter of my New Earth audio novelisation. Now the editing begins...

[whoops-all-neurodivergency]

fellow disease enjoyer??? [i realize how odd that sounds, im just very into epidemiology]

THE WAY I JUST STOOD UP

i enjoy diseases sooooo much they are FASCINATING especially rabies and the bubonic plauge those are probably my favorites (not in a weird way) but all of them are cool and YES I AM A FELLOW DISEASE ENJOYER AND I WANT TO BE AN EPIDEMIOLOGIST SO BAD I HAVE AN ENTIRE TAB FOLDER IN MY COMPUTER OF EPIDEMIOLOGY JOB INFO AND

*folds hands together calmly* would you like to yap about diseases with me

[thequeenofsastiel]

I'm spending a lot more time outside than usual due to school, and it's absolutely wild to me that almost no one wears masks indoors anymore. Like, we all existed through the pandemic, right? We all remember the nurses and doctors having breakdowns over the trauma of watching so many people die and getting crushed with patients 24/7? We all remember the refrigerated trucks full of dead bodies? That over a million Americans died, and at least 7 million worldwide(though estimates of the actual toll is between 18 and 33 million)? Why is everyone so careless about diseases now? We know that, due to human activity, pandemics are going to become more and more commonplace.

Just. Please. Wear a mask indoors. I know it's annoying and inconvenient. But it keeps the old, disabled, and very young safe. Please endure the annoyance of masks so they don't die. Please care.

Please.