Latest news with #Kuritzkes
Boston Globe
03-03-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
Six things we got wrong about COVID-19
To some, those changes read like flip-flops and contributed to a sharp decline in Americans' trust in science. But revisions like those are normal, experts said. 'This was a completely new disease,' said Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes, chief of infectious diseases at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Scientists based their initial recommendations on COVID-19's similarities to other viruses. And they prioritized saving lives, preventing hospitals from being overwhelmed and preserving protective equipment for essential workers. Scientists did, however, miss an opportunity to educate the public about uncertainty and to admit they could be wrong, Kuritzkes said. Advertisement We talked with infectious disease experts about early misconceptions about COVID-19 and how our understanding of the disease evolved from early 2020 until today. A woman walked out of JP Licks on Beacon Hill after grabbing take out a day after Governor Charlie Baker issued a stay at home advisory for all non-essential workers on March 24, 2020. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff MISCONCEPTION: COVID poses a low risk to the general public Though scientists said early on the In the early months of the pandemic, scientists assumed COVID would behave like other coronaviruses and mainly spread through close, prolonged contact. As studies emerged showing COVID was mainly transmitted through aerosols, guidance changed and the risk to Americans was understood as higher. 'Science advances by incorporating new information as it emerges, resulting in changes to recommendations,' said Kuritzkes. That doesn't mean people should be skeptical of scientists, but aware that information — and diseases — can evolve. For example, while the bird flu currently poses a low risk for humans because it hasn't spread from person-to-person, experts said the risk could change as time goes on and the virus acquires new mutations. MISCONCEPTION: COVID is not airborne Dr. Peter Hotez of Houston's Baylor College of Medicine said global scientists initially declaring that COVID was not airborne was the 'single biggest mistake that was made.' In March 2020, the World Health Organization posted on Twitter, now known as X: 'FACT: #COVID19 is NOT airborne,' adding that virus particles are 'too heavy' to hang in the air. Later, Advertisement FACT: The To protect yourself: -keep 1m distance from others -disinfect surfaces frequently -wash/rub your 👐 -avoid touching your 👀👃👄 — World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) Experts said early recommendations about the virus were based on other coronaviruses, not the one that causes COVID-19. 'There's not many true airborne respiratory viruses that are transmitted [like COVID],' Hotez said. WHO didn't recognize the virus as airborne until late 2021. Misconception: You need to wash packages and groceries Initial belief that COVID mainly spread through close contact with large droplets led many to wash and disinfect anything that came in from outside, including packages and food, a practice Hotez called 'pretty much a waste of time.' In a YouTube Reflecting back on the video now, VanWingen said his advice came at a time when officials were working to 'flatten the curve' and operating with 'aggressive caution as things became more clear.' 'This was the first big pandemic that many of us in the healthcare field had to struggle through,' he wrote in an email to the Globe. 'Science was happening in real time at a fast pace as we worked to understand the virus and its impact.' While some COVID transmission could be linked to droplets, it turned out that this was a 'minor mode of transmission' compared to aerosol spread, according to Kuritzkes. Advertisement State Representative Chynah handed out face masks at Nubian Station in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, MA on April 29, 2020. Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff MISCONCEPTION: People don't need to wear masks Partial knowledge of how COVID spread was also linked to The recommendation went viral with a February 2020 Tweet from then-Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who wrote, 'Seriously people — STOP BUYING MASKS! They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching Public health officials largely started recommending masking for everyone in early April 2020. Still, officials said earlier masking recommendations could have had a 'pretty profound impact' on the virus' spread. 'If there had been guidance and widespread adoption of masking early on, it is possible that many fewer people might have become infected,' Kuritzkes said. He added that an earlier appreciation of the ability of masks to prevent COVID could have also limited some of the widespread closures of businesses. Physician Alister Martin received one of the first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine from RN Jennifer Lisciotti at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA on December 16, 2020. Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff MISCONCEPTION: Vaccines will take years to create COVID-19 vaccines — which were first The speed at which the COVID vaccine was developed has been a In reality, the reason for the shortened timeline was that mRNA vaccines had been in the works for years before COVID erupted. 'We were extraordinarily lucky, and we're lucky that there had been a substantial investment in basic vaccine technology,' Kuritzkes said. Advertisement In 2023, two scientists were awarded the MISCONCEPTION: The pandemic will end when we reach herd immunity Now, experts agree society never reached 'herd immunity' as it was thought of initially. That's because vaccines and previous infections did not stop the virus from spreading, as initially believed. Vaccine makers also had trouble creating updated shots quickly enough to keep pace with the virus's evolution. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said vaccines provide 'incredible protection' against the virus in the first two months. But as immunity starts to fade, people become susceptible to COVID once again. 'What wasn't understood was the concept of waning immunity that we saw with other coronavirus vaccines,' he said. Vaccines did, however, make COVID-19 far less severe and allowed many of us to put the pandemic behind us. A young girl takes in a memorial in the front of Amaral's Central Market in Fall River on April 25, 2020. A beloved family-run business in Fall River, it has seen three members of the family die this month from COVID-19. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff Emily Spatz can be reached at
USA Today
07-02-2025
- Health
- USA Today
Foodborne botulism is a rare, life-threatening condition. These are the signs to look for.
Foodborne botulism is a potentially deadly condition that's caused by eating food contaminated with botulinum toxin, a potent toxin that attacks the body's nervous system. The disease is incredibly rare; in 2019, there were 21 reported cases of foodborne botulism across the U.S., according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Botulism is treatable, but it's important to catch it early. As botulinum toxin moves through your body, it can lead to muscle paralysis, difficulty breathing, and in severe cases, death. Knowing the signs of botulism can be life-saving. Here's everything experts need you to know. What is Clostridium botulinum? Clostridium botulinum is a bacterium that produces botulinum toxin, the neurotoxin that causes botulism, says Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes, Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Clostridium botulinum can be found throughout nature, often on the surfaces of fruits and vegetables, per the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. Luckily, exposure to Clostridia rarely makes you sick. It's only under certain conditions that bacteria like Clostridium botulinum, and occasionally Clostridium butyricum and Clostridium baratii, are able to grow spores that make botulism toxin. These bacteria thrive in the absence of air, and tend to germinate in environments that have low acidity, sugar and salt, per the CDC. Where is Clostridium botulinum most commonly found? Self-canned and self-preserved foods are particularly susceptible to Clostridia growth, says Shonna McBride, an associate professor of microbiology and immunology, and expert of clostridium, at the Emory University School of Medicine. If the spores of Clostridium botulinum are living on your fruits, vegetables or whatever else you intend to preserve, and you haven't sufficiently sterilized your canning equipment, you leave the door open for the bacteria to produce the toxin, explains McBride. These days, incidences of foodborne botulism linked to commercially-canned goods have become extremely rare, Kuritzkes says. This is largely because food processing plants have routine inspections that check cleanliness and sterility standards. You can't see, smell or taste botulism toxin, so it can be difficult to identify when contamination has occurred, per the CDC. A potential sign, however, is if you see a can that's visibly bulging, notes McBride. As the bacteria multiplies, it produces gas – so much so that it can sometimes stretch a metal can. What is the healthiest fruit?This one has cognitive and cardiovascular benefits. What symptoms does foodborne botulism cause? 'Botulism toxin is quite potent, so even ingesting a small amount of the toxin can have serious effects,' says Kuritzkes. When the toxin enters the body, it gets absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract, and begins targeting the nerves. When your nerves aren't able to communicate with each other, your muscles enter a state of flaccid paralysis, says McBride. According to Dr. Scott A. Weisenberg, an infectious disease specialist and medical director of the Travel Medicine Program at NYU Langone Health, key signs of foodborne botulism include: Trouble swallowing and speaking, changes in vision, general muscle weakness and difficulty breathing. These symptoms typically appear between 12 to 36 hours after you've ingested the toxin, although they could pop up as early as four hours after exposure, per the World Health Organization. Good to know:Is tonsillitis contagious? Here's what you need to know about this common condition. Can you fully recover from botulism? When botulism is left untreated, your body enters a state of complete respiratory paralysis, possibly leading to death, says Kuritzes. Five percent to 10% of botulism cases are fatal, per the WHO. However, you can make a full recovery from the disease if it's caught early, which is why it's important to get to a hospital if you're having botulism-like symptoms. Botulism antitoxin neutralizes botulinum toxin, preventing it from causing further damage to your nerves. However, it isn't able to repair any existing damage, and in severe cases, people will need to be intubated to help them breathe. Eventually, the toxin will dissipate, but symptoms can persist for months, says McBride. Again, it's important to underscore that botulism is extremely rare. However, to reduce the likelihood of ever experiencing it, exercise safe food handling and storage practices, recommends Weisenberg. For people preparing canned foods at home, this is especially important, he says.
