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Time of India
an hour ago
- Health
- Time of India
Patients visit Tamil Nadu dental clinic for checkup, get infected with deadly disease: 8 of 10 die
How did it happen? Live Events What is neuromelioidosis? Fever Headache Slurred speech Blurred vision In some cases, facial paralysis What did officials do? What else did they find? (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel A shocking new study published in The Lancet has revealed that eight people died after getting infected with a rare and deadly brain infection called neuromelioidosis . The source of the infection? A dental clinic in Vaniyambadi town in Tamil Nadu 's Tirupattur district The outbreak happened in 2023 but was not reported by any government agency. The infection was linked to unclean dental practices, according to a joint investigation by doctors from CMC Vellore , ICMR-NIE, and Tamil Nadu's Directorate of Public study found that a surgical tool called a periosteal elevator was used to open a saline bottle, which was later loosely closed. The same bottle was reused for other patients. At least 10 people got infected, and eight of them died, making the fatality rate 80%.Dr Angel Miraclin Thirugnanakumar from CMC Vellore, the lead author of the study, said the bacteria entered through nerve pathways when the infected saline was used to clean patients' mouths. This allowed the bacteria to reach the brain testing showed that the bacteria had a gene that attacks the brain more is a severe infection of the brain and spinal cord caused by a bacteria called Burkholderia pseudomallei . This bacteria is usually found in contaminated soil and water in tropical include:Between July 2022 and April 2023, researchers found 21 cases in total. Of these, 10 patients had visited the dental clinic, and 9 people died overall. Most cases were from Tirupattur who visited the clinic died faster, from symptoms to death in just 16 days, and from hospital admission to death in 9 days. In contrast, the only person who died without visiting the clinic took 56 days after symptoms started and 38 days after 9 May 2023, CMC reported the rise in cases. Four days later, Tamil Nadu health officials held a meeting with hospitals and clinics in the region. A team of doctors began investigating the before they could collect samples, the dental clinic was disinfected and shut down after public complaints. Still, scientists managed to find the bacteria in a sample from the saline bottle. Other unopened saline bottles were who did not visit the dental clinic mostly showed swelling in the salivary gland, cheeks, or lymph nodes. But those who did visit had more serious symptoms like face swelling and soft tissue infections, likely due to swallowing the contaminated T S Selvavinayagam, Tamil Nadu's director of public health, said the outbreak has now been contained. 'This is a reminder for all healthcare workers to follow proper infection control practices ,' he from TOI
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
RFK Jr. Floats Ban On Federal Scientists Publishing In Medical Journals
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Wednesday he's planning to ban government scientists from publishing in established medical journals, which are some of the most important ways doctors spread knowledge and advance patient care. Kennedy made the comments on the Ultimate Human podcast to host Gary Brecka, a fellow vaccine skeptic and anti-fluoride conspiracy theorist. 'We're probably going to stop publishing in The Lancet, New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA and those other journals because they're all corrupt,' Kennedy said, listing off some of the biggest medical journals and claiming they're controlled by the pharmaceutical industry. 'Unless these journals change dramatically, we are going to stop [National Institutes of Health] scientists from publishing there, and we're going to create our own journals in house,' he continued, claiming that those will 'become the preeminent journals.' The Lancet, the New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA were all established in the 1800s and say they're viewed by tens of millions of people annually. Kennedy also claimed that the 'medical cartel' has 'transformed' the NIH, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services into 'sock puppets' for the pharmaceutical industry. His remarks come a week after the White House released a Kennedy-spearheaded report saying prescribed pharmaceuticals could be to blame for chronic disease in children. Kennedy's podcast appearance also comes a day after he announced the CDC would no longer advise regular COVID-19 boosters for children and pregnant women. RFK Jr. Says COVID Shot Will No Longer Be Advised For Healthy Kids, Pregnant Women RFK Jr.'s MAHA Report Goes After Vaccines, Prescription Meds, Food Supply RFK Jr. Says He's Exploring A Crackdown On This Perfectly Safe Medication
Miami Herald
10 hours ago
- Science
- Miami Herald
Elusive, endangered predator spotted on trail camera in Chile, photos show
An elusive and endangered predator was recently spotted in Chile, delighting conservation officials. The creature — known as a Darwin's fox — was recorded by a camera trap in the Cutipay Wetland Nature Sanctuary, about 500 miles south of Santiago, according to a May 22 news release from the Ministry of Environment. While reviewing footage from the camera in April, officials noticed three images, dated to Dec. 30, that showed a dark-colored animal trudging through the undergrowth. After officials consulted with experts, it was confirmed to be a Darwin's fox, described as a one-of-a-kind and notoriously hard to spot inhabitant of the South American nation. Iconic and elusive species Distinguished by its dark fur, pointed ears and solitary behavior, the animal has intrigued scientists for generations. The vulpine creature was first described by Charles Darwin in 1834 on Chile's Chiloé Island. According to his notes, he noticed a fox sitting on rocks near the shore, observing nearby officers. 'I was able, by quietly walking up behind, to knock him on the head with my geological hammer,' the famous naturalist wrote, according to The Lancet. The specimen was later displayed in a museum. But, in the decades that followed, the animal was believed to be a subspecies of the South American gray fox. It wasn't until 1996 — after biologists studied its DNA — that Darwin's fox was determined to be its own distinct species, according to The New York Times. Nowadays, it is classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. And, the vast majority of the species' population is believed to live on Chiloé, where Darwin encountered his specimen. The populations on the mainland are significantly smaller and more dispersed. But, the recent sighting in Cutipay — a poorly studied region — expands the species' territory. In fact, the area could play a pivotal role in connecting various populations and facilitating the species' movement, officials said. Environment Minister Maisa Rojas applauded the discovery, saying it shows the importance of conservation policies. That said, the recent images of the fox also bring to light new threats that the species could face in the area. The primary threat is the existence of domestic dogs, which could attack the endangered foxes and potentially transmit diseases. Invasive animals — such as mink — as well as deforestation, forest fires and unregulated construction could also negatively impact the species. With this in mind, Alberto Tacon, a regional environmental official, emphasized the need to protect the forests in Cutipay and the animals that inhabit them. Google Translate was used to translate a news release from the Chilean Ministry of Environment.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
RFK Jr. Denigrates Privately Funded Medical Research
President Donald Trump's second administration has targeted government spending in various forms. One example is federal funding for medical research: Trump has cut at least $1.8 billion in funding for grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), according to an analysis published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), and his annual budget proposal would cut NIH funding even further. On its own, this scenario is not as alarming as some may say. Private companies spend more on medical research per year than the federal government. But this week, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took a shot at private funders as well—raising the question: Who does the administration think should fund medical research? "NIH has $46 billion that it allocates to science every year," Kennedy said on an episode of the podcast The Ultimate Human. "Unfortunately, that system has been corrupted through a number of different vectors, so the people who get the money tend to be people who have been approved by the industry." Kennedy called the current system "an old boys' network," where private actors fund studies primarily dedicated to preserving pharmaceutical companies' profits. "The private funding is coming from industries," he added, who "write the outcome before they write the study, in many cases." While Kennedy briefly allowed that "that also happens in the public sphere," he placed the majority of the blame squarely on the private sector, and he targeted medical journals for punishment. "We're probably going to stop publishing in The Lancet, The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, and those other journals because they're all corrupt," he charged. "Unless these journals change dramatically, we are going to stop NIH scientists from publishing there, and we're going to create our own journals in-house." Ironically, The Lancet's biggest and most infamous scandal involved a 1998 study determining a link between the MMR vaccine—routinely given to inoculate children against measles, mumps, and rubella—and autism spectrum disorders. The Lancet later retracted the study and its author was stripped of his license to practice medicine. "The claim that vaccines cause autism has been comprehensively debunked," wrote Ronald Bailey for Reason. Nevertheless, Kennedy apparently still believes it, saying as recently as July 2023, "I do believe that autism comes from vaccines." In April, Kennedy appointed David Geier, a vaccine "skeptic," to head a government study on the potential links between vaccines and autism. Steven Black, head of the Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center, told The New York Times in 2005 that Geier and his father, a physician who has since been stripped of his medical license, practiced "voodoo science," adding, "The problem with the Geiers' research is that they start with the answers and work backwards"—exactly what Kennedy now accuses pharmaceutical companies of doing. Of course, medical journals are not perfect. "Medical journals often contain poor science," according to a 2006 article from The Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. "The journals have, for example, published many reports of treatments applied to single cases and to series of cases, which rarely allow confident conclusions because of the absence of controls." But it's foolish for Kennedy to suggest the corrupting element is business, and that doing everything from within the federal government would fix the incentive structure. "If government funds research, it must decide which projects to fund, allowing political forces to influence the choice," Jeffrey Miron and Jacob P. Winter wrote at the Cato Institute in 2023. "President George W. Bush limited federal funding for stem cell research that used human embryos in response to pressure from anti-abortion forces. The recent affirmative action case against Harvard is a legal issue because Harvard accepts federal research funding. The National Institute on Drug Abuse has been criticized for displaying bias in favor of drug prohibition." Miron and Winter argued that privately funded research not only saves the taxpayers money but actually goes further than government grants: "Between 2010 and 2019, 200 organizations received 80 percent of National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF) grants, whereas the top 200 recipients of private funding received only 33 percent of donations. Scientists have explained how private funding has enabled them to explore new ideas, adjust budgets, and avoid lengthy bureaucratic approval processes." NSF found in 2022 that over the previous two decades, federal money fell from 60 percent to 40 percent as a share of total research spending, meanwhile "the share funded by business has increased." In 2022, while 40 percent of research was funded by government, 37 percent was funded by business. In 2018, two of every three dollars spent on medical research and development came from private businesses, three times what was spent by federal agencies. The Trump administration has made NIH grants a target for potential cuts. Despite breathless reporting of the potential consequences, private sources account for a similar portion of total research and development dollars, and a much larger portion of medical funding in particular. But for Kennedy to attack privately funded research while the administration he works for cuts publicly funded research, it's worth asking where they expect the money to come from. The post RFK Jr. Denigrates Privately Funded Medical Research appeared first on
The Hill
11 hours ago
- Health
- The Hill
Kennedy takes on ‘conflicts of interest' in medical journals
The Big Story Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to prohibit government scientists from publishing work in medical journals and instead publish work in new 'in-house' publications. © The Hill, Greg Nash During a Tuesday episode of the podcast 'The Ultimate Human,' Kennedy threatened to stop government scientists from publishing in journals like The Lancet, the New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA because they are beholden to the pharmaceutical industry. All three of those journals have published original, peer-reviewed research for decades and contribute to the distribution of scientific information across the planet. Kennedy called the journals 'corrupt,' adding that they only spread propaganda from pharmaceutical companies and are no longer scientifically credible. The forthcoming 'in-house' journals will replace the trio as the pre-eminent scientific journals. 'They are going to become the pre-eminent journals, because if you get NIH funding it is anointing you as a good, legitimate scientist,' he said. The podcast episode aired the same day Kennedy announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would stop recommending the COVID-19 vaccine to children and pregnant women. Kennedy's comments also come a week after the Trump administration released its long-awaited MAHA report, which contradicted several medical conventions related to vaccines and medications previously deemed safe to use. Kennedy has long believed that medications like vaccines and psychiatric drugs are overused in the U.S. and causing some health problems among children. In the report, the Trump administration expresses concern over American children taking too many medications, noting that more children are taking stimulant drugs, antidepressants, antipsychotics and asthma medication than they did 30 years ago. 'There is a concerning trend of overprescribing medications to children, often driven by conflicts of interest in medical research, regulation, and practice,' the report reads. 'This has led to unnecessary treatments and long-term health risks.' Welcome to The Hill's Health Care newsletter, we're Nathaniel Weixel, Joseph Choi and Alejandra O'Connell-Domenech — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here. Essential Reads How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond: Even low levels of lead exposure may worsen academic performance: Study Academic achievement among adolescents may be affected by early childhood lead exposure at much lower levels than previously assumed, according to a new study. Just a small climb in blood concentrations of this toxic metal — still within the range currently deemed acceptable by public health agencies — was associated with worse performance on standardized tests, scientists found in the study, published Wednesday in Environmental … Texas Senate approves bill strictly defining man and woman based on reproductive organs The Texas Senate has sent legislation to Gov. Greg Abbott (R) that would strictly define genders across state law based on male and female reproductive organs — potentially creating new hurdles for transgender and intersex Texans whose gender identity would revert to the sex they were assigned at birth in state records. Abbott spokesman Andrew Mahaleris confirmed to The Hill on Wednesday that the governor plans to approve the … Missouri Supreme Court leaves abortion ban in place Abortion is now banned in Missouri again after the state's highest court overturned two lower court rulings blocking its abortion ban. The Missouri Supreme Court ruled a district judge used the wrong standard in two rulings — one in December and another in February — that allowed abortions to resume in the state. Abortion has been almost entirely banned in Missouri since the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade. Missourians … In Other News Branch out with a different read from The Hill: Senate Democrats preview Medicaid messaging in new ad The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee rolled out a new ad hitting Senate Republicans over President Trump's legislative agenda as the upper chamber prepares to take up the bill. Around the Nation Local and state headlines on health care: What We're Reading Health news we've flagged from other outlets: What Others are Reading Most read stories on The Hill right now: Trump responds to TACO trade criticisms: 'You call that chickening out?' President Trump on Wednesday bristled when asked about a new Wall Street term based on his tendency to reverse his tariff threats, defending his approach … Read more Trump pardons former GOP Rep. Michael Grimm amid clemency spree President Trump on Wednesday took a slew of clemency actions, including pardoning former Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) and commuting the sentence of … Read more Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters here
