Notices by Dr. Lucky Tran :verified: (luckytran@med-mastodon.com), page 2

This was avoidable.

We need better COVID vaccines, Long COVID treatments, climate solutions & more.

But at a time when we need to fund science most, the government is cutting science agency budgets.

A $9B cut to the NSF, $7B cut to NASA, & cuts also to EPA, USGS & NIST.

https://www.science.org/content/article/final-u-s-spending-bills-offer-gloomy-outlook-science

It’s official: The CDC has weakened its COVID isolation guidelines, in a move that goes against the science, encourages disease spread, and prioritizes corporate interests, making it easier for bosses to exploit workers.

Link: https://wapo.st/49zV8ZZ

“Even now, we estimate that at least 90% of Gaza’s children under the age of five are affected by one or more infectious diseases, and that 70% have had diarrhea in the past two weeks — a 23-fold increase compared with the 2022 baseline.” https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/26/opinions/israel-gaza-rafah-children-aid-unicef-russell

I can't stress enough how downplaying COVID has emboldened the far right.

When you tell people "you do you" or say that schools don't need public health protections, you shift the Overton window, making it easier for anti-vaxxers to say it's fine to spread measles.

Six students have measles in an outbreak at a Florida elementary school.

How did Florida's health department respond?

Their Surgeon General sent out a letter that supports parents sending unvaccinated children to school during the outbreak and doesn't recommend vaccination.

It’s shameful that the US has vetoed UN Security Council resolutions calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza THREE TIMES.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us-casts-third-veto-un-action-since-start-israel-hamas-war-2024-02-20/

This something AI will never be able to recreate.

“Keith Haring died of AIDS aged 31 on 16 Feb 1990. His last piece of art, Unfinished Painting, was deliberately incomplete, reflecting the devastating, unquantifiable loss to the arts due to AIDS.” -Matthew Hodson

Two years ago, we wrote in the Guardian: "The CDC is beholden to corporations and lost our trust."

With today's news about the CDC weakening COVID isolation guidance, likely influenced by corporate interests, this statement continues to sadly hold true.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/03/peoples-cdc-covid-guidelines

"The virus is rampant. We’re still in a pandemic. There’s a lot of complacency at the individual level, and more concerning to me is that at the government level.

"Using masks for respiratory pathogens that transmit through the air is a no-brainer—plus vaccination, plus distancing, plus improving ventilation."

We don’t know everything about this virus. Even in year five, there’s still a lot of research that needs to be done."

- Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/rampant-covid-poses-new-challenges-in-the-fifth-year-of-the-pandemic/

Scientists estimate that climate change has killed 4 million people since the turn of the century, and this is likely a huge undercount.

But as the researchers say, a big problem is that "nobody is counting it, and nobody is moving in the direction of counting it.”

https://grist.org/health/climate-change-has-killed-4-million-people-since-2000-and-thats-an-underestimate/

"No cervical cancer cases have been detected in women who have been fully vaccinated against HPV, Public Health Scotland has revealed."

Vaccines work!

https://news.stv.tv/scotland/no-cervical-cancer-cases-detected-in-women-who-had-hpv-vaccine-public-health-scotland-study-finds

"Go to an old cemetery. See all the baby graves from before the 1950s & 60s? After that, hardly any. That's when people started vaccinating their children against deadly childhood diseases. If you're unsure what to do to protect your kids, the answer is literally written in stone." — Michael Okuda

Without vaccines, many transmissible diseases were once an early death sentence. People are so quick to forget how fortunate we are to have access to them.

Almost one million people (combined) marched for a ceasefire today in London and Washington DC. Wow.

Normalize virus reports like weather reports. We appreciate weather reports even if they bring us bad news, as they help us plan ahead and avoid accidents.

We need to stop being in denial about airborne viruses spreading. Sharing data helps us prepare and makes our lives easier.

“Emergency departments in Italian hospitals are in chaos and on the verge of collapse. The worst situation is in Rome where more than 1,100 patients are waiting to be admitted. The rise in hospital admissions is due to an increase in respiratory diseases.” https://www.euronews.com/2024/01/03/italian-hospitals-collapse-over-1100-patients-waiting-to-be-admitted-in-rome

#COP28 was a historic success... for its oil executive president and the fossil fuel industry

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/15/cop28-president-sultan-al-jaber-says-his-firm-will-keep-investing-in-oil

The UN climate summit officially acknowledging that fossil fuels cause global warming for the first time is no reason for celebration. It's ridiculous this didn't happen decades ago. Acknowledging a problem exists without seriously committing to solve it is a catastrophe. #COP28

This is unethical. Bosses are forcing employees to come into work sick with active COVID. This is why labor organizers need to incorporate public health into their demands.

The coronavirus is still killing 1,000 people in the US every week. Get your updated vaccine and wear a mask. COVID is not over.