The Emergence of Mpox

 

The World Health Organization has declared mpox a health emergency. This is not a pandemic. The cases seem to be mostly in African countries. Mpox does cause concern considering the world just came out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Public health policy was not improved and the globe cannot handle another crisis of that magnitude. The difference with mpox is that a vaccine exists. When COVID-19 appeared there was not a vaccine for it. Mpox is classified as orthopoxvirus. The means of transmission is by animals making it zoonosis based. Monkeys and rodents are thought to be the carriers. Mpox can be spread through bodily fluids. Mpox has various symptoms. Rashes, fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes, headaches, muscle aches, and respiratory difficulties are common symptoms. The outbreak was first detected in 2022. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is now fighting an epidemic. Concern could be premature. Mpox is a rare virus and would not reach the same level of the 2020 pandemic. Mpox is not a s lethal. Mpox can be fatal if  medical treatment is not given. Infections from mpox can spread throughout the body. Africa has managed an Ebola virus outbreak in 2014 and a Marburg virus epidemic in 2005. Mpox can be contained with proper public health measures. 

The Use of Paxlovid For COVID-19

 

The anti-viral drug Paxlovid is available for use. There are tight controls of the medication. The intent of its creation was to help people with severe COVID-19. Some patients may have extreme reactions to particular vaccines and a pill could be a solution. The debate comes with what was stated previously. The vaccines produced were safe and effective, so Paxlovid is unnecessary. Booster shots exist for fighting new variants. Pfizer has been producing mRNA vaccines to fight COVID-19. If the mRNA technology is truly effective, Paxlovid  would not be needed. The only time for such a drug would be in emergency situations. Paxlovid is two drugs which contains nimatreviler and ritonavir. The complication comes with individuals on multiple medications. All of them are going to interact in the body. A patient would have to tell their doctor of  all the medications they take. They would then have to determine a way to avoid  harmful effects from the interactions between medications. The recommendation for Paxlovid is that anyone 12 and up can be given the drug. Those who are 50 or with comorbidities can be given Paxlovid. What Pfizer appears to be doing is putting a product out on the market for the sake of profit. No reports of adverse effects have appeared. Considering Pfizer did not test their vaccines for transmission, distrust from the public remains. A person who was vaccinated could still spread the virus. The CDC reported that COVID-19 deaths spiked in December of 2023. This was not due to the lack of medications or treatment. The healthcare system is on the verge of collapse. Medicine price remains too high for a population with stagnant wages. Pharmaceutical corporations need more regulation to prevent unethical business practices. The long term effects of Paxlovid are not known. The fact the drug got FDA approval demonstrates that it is pharmaceutical  corporations dictating public health policy. 

The Development of Proteins From The mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines

 

The mRNA vaccines have unintended side effects. What has been discovered by virologists is that the mRNA vaccines are creating proteins in cells. The report makes some concerned about the safety of using mRNA vaccines. So far, there is no indication that mRNA vaccines can produce abnormal proteins. The goal of certain pharmaceutical corporations is to apply mRNA technology beyond vaccines. Corporations should bot dictate public health policy. The reason the pandemic became such a crisis is that officials were making decisions in relation to business interests. The effects of the mRNA technology might not fully be known. The hope is that the vaccinated will not have future health conditions. The ribosomes of the body act as the builder of proteins. RNA provides instructions to ribosomes for protein production. The ribosome examine the mRNA. The codons have to provide information on the amino acid in the protein. What mRNA technology does is use an artificial version of RNA. The artificial RNA carries new directions for a specific protein in the cell. An immune response is created by means of the spike protein. The obstacle is that the artificial mRNA can be attacked by the cell. The concern about frameshifted proteins emerges. The consensus is that the frameshifted proteins are no threat. One problem is that virologists did not consider that it could be if too many vaccinations are given. Getting a booster shot for every single COVID-19  variant is not practical. If a person was previously vaccinated and had COVID-19 they would have hybrid immunity. Using mRNA technology for other treatments or therapies would not be advised until a clear understanding of  the long term effects are known. 

Dr. Anthony Fauci Discusses Masks (2020)

 

When the Covid-19 pandemic began Dr. Fauci asserted masks were not necessary. At the time there was not a vaccine available and masks were one option for protection. However , studies conducted in 2023 concluded masks offered a low level of protection. That does not mean they did not work. Social distancing and vaccination offered much more effective protection. When the interview was conducted in March of 2020  vaccines were not available. Dr. Anthony Fauci telling people not to wear a mask was negligent. The shortage of personal protective equipment was the government's biggest failure. The reason Fauci spread this misinformation is because healthcare workers were effected by the mask shortage. Instead ineffective public health policies were enacted. Lockdowns and zero Covid-19 policies did not stop the spread. Mask mandates did little to defeat the pandemic. If masks were not as effective as social distancing, quarantines, or basic hand washing mask mandates were not necessary. Anthony Fauci's misinformation  caused more confusion and harm during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Ebola Detected In Uganda

 

Uganda has detected the Ebola virus in its borders. The information brings fears of the outbreak  in Liberia around 2014. The outbreak then spread throughout West Africa.  The Democratic Republic of  the Congo also experienced an outbreak in 2018. The recent outbreak is believed to be a new strain. That makes it difficult to develop a vaccine to prevent further infections. The COVID-19 pandemic has not ended. Even though there are enough vaccines to fight the disease, the healthcare systems might not be ready to handle another major crisis. The World Health Organization is tracking developments. Some virologists are debating whether or not this is another type of virus. The strains detected in the DRC and Sudan are classified as Ebola virus. It has not been confirmed that this is a new type of virus different from Ebola. Outbreaks of Ebola have ended without vaccines. Quarantines, surveillance, strict hygiene practices, and well equipped healthcare teams have contained outbreaks. Uganda did have a 2012 outbreak  of Ebola virus, but this did not become a pandemic. Isolating and providing quality medical treatment to the infected is the best way to prevent further spread. These techniques will have to be used if vaccines cannot be produced fast enough. The new virus might still be classified as part of the arterivirus group. 

The Appearance of MonkeyPox Virus

 

The World Health Organization has declared MPV a public health concern. This might be an overreaction considering COVID-19 has the ability to be more lethal. The pandemic has not ended and energy should be concentrated on that outbreak. MPV's fatality risk is estimated to about 3 % to 6%. The disease does not have the same potential for a massive public health crisis. The virus is classified as an orthopoxvirus genus and part of the poxviridae family. At the moment there are over 16, 500 cases reported from a total of 74 countries. The virus has a similarity to smallpox, but the degree of severity is lower. The  number of cases is lower than that of COVID-19 so declaring a public health emergency of international concern could be premature. The reasoning is to have proper precaution. However, this can only induce international panic among the world population . The virus can spread through body fluids, contaminated  items, or be respiratory based. The symptoms of the disease include lesions, headaches, fever,  swelling of the lymph nodes, muscle pain, sore throat, and coughing. Seeing as it is infectious enclosed spaces make it easier  to spread. It has been reported a significant number of cases have been reported in gay men who are very sexually active. The fear is that this will be similar to the failed public health response to AIDS. The origin of these outbreaks remains a mystery. The accidental release from gain of function research has been suggested. Other theories is that animals carrying multiple viruses came into contact too much contact with humans. The World Health Organization still has not confirmed origins of the MPV outbreak. 

Austria Imposes Lockdown On The Unvaccinated

 

Anti-lockdown protests in Austria that took place in early 2021 

Austria is imposing lockdown on the unvaccinated. This policy will  cause much civil unrest. Europe is seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases. Anti-lockdown protests spread throughout Germany and Austria as the measure was causing more stress on the population. Forcing vaccination will not make people compliant. That results in more resistance. COVID-19 is not going to be defeated by mass vaccination. People who are vaccinated can also spread the virus. Countries with high vaccination rates are showing an increase in cases. COVID-19 has an ability to mutate into multiple variants. Austria wants to get infections down, but isolating the unvaccinated will do little to protect public health. The vaccines do protect against severe illness and death. The vaccines do not have the ability to wipe out the disease like smallpox. If more variants emerge, at some point booster shots could become ineffective. Greece also seeks to put the unvaccinated in lockdown. Segregating the unvaccinated is not going to end the pandemic. The pandemic could end when more of the world population attains herd immunity or the disease becomes endemic. Austria's public health policy should not be replicated. Lockdowns were not effective at dealing with pandemic. Domestic abuse, mental health decline, and economic deterioration were the results of a failed strategy . Austria intends to do this once more, but it will not produced the objective of controlling the disease.   

New Viruses Found In 15,000 Year Old Tibetan Glacier Ice

 

Viruses can survive in cold weather. Researchers and virologists discovered new viruses previously unknown in a Tibetan glacier ice . The samples were obtained from the Guliya Ice Cap. The discovery could explain the evolution of viruses. The ice is 15,000 years old, which provides a long history of biological information. Genetic codes were uncovered for 33 viruses. Only four were identified  and twenty eight were novel or unknown. Viruses appear to like cold environments according to the data collected. The origin of viruses might have been from plants and the soil not animals or humans. Scientists  used an ultra-clean method ( clean surface decontamination procedure)  to avoid contamination or being infected . The concern is what happens when global temperatures increase. Heat will cause glaciers to melt and could enable viruses to be exposed. A growing concern is over gain of function research and the hazards of manipulating viruses. Microbes have the ability to thrive in extreme environments. The ice samples provide details of the function of viruses over time. What is now confirmed is that climate can impact microbes as well.