Ah, Science Daily… I so enjoy this site. Today, I found a lot of interesting news, but this was share-worthy. It’s an article entitled Major Swine Flu Outbreak At US Air Force Academy, Unique Opportunity To Study Virus Behavior and details some interesting things about the virus that were learned through an outbreak at USAFA.

What I found most noteworthy is the fact that the body continues to shed the virus far longer than anticipated. I cannot say (as I am no expert) if this is atypical of the typical seasonal flu variants or not, but the report showed that 19% of the infected were still shedding viable H1N1 virus a full day after becoming asymptomatic.  That does not mean they are absolutely still contagious, but it is possible, and this news may well change the way we think about returning to work after a bout of the flu.

It’s an interesting article, give it a look-see.

Jim

On the fence about whether or not to get vaccinated for the swine flu? Well, here’s a great article that Revere posted on Effect Measure that argues the reasons to get the vaccination. I consider Revere’s opinion quite highly when it comes to information about this disease because unlike so many other sources, Revere is a doctor who specializes in this stuff. You want the best information from the most reliable medical source? I’m thinking an epidemiologist might just have more information than say some hippie mommy net telling you that a clean colon will prevent death.

In fact, I have to assume that most children in the highest risk groups probably have some of the cleanest colons going.

Continue reading →

Well holy crap, that’s some interesting news. As ever, I was perusing my Science Daily today, and I read this article¬†entitled Sten Cells Which ‘Fool Immune System’ May Provide Vaccination For Cancer. Just reading that gives me a warm and glowing smile. And it just further shows that stem cells are evil and all scientific examination of their potential benefits should be immediately halted, because¬†God gave us cancer for a reason.

Essentially, a group of researchers in both the US and China have been using human embryonic stem cells to trigger an anti-tumor response:

The team vaccinated laboratory mice with human embryonic stem (hES) cells and discovered a consistent immune response against colon cancer cells. The team witnessed dramatic decline in tumor growth within the immunized mice. This revealed that immunized mice could generate a strong anti-tumour response through the application of hES cells.

And later in the same article:

“Although we have only tested the protection against colon cancer, we believe that stem cells might be useful for generating an immune response against a broad-spectrum of cancers, thus serving as a universal cancer vaccine.” ” concluded Dr. Bei Liu.

Looks like we’re getting closer to a cure every day.

Jim