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Entries in Popular Culture (53)

Contagion shows bird flu is still alive in the Hollywood psyche (good!)

Posted on Friday, July 15, 2011 at 10:06AM by

Scott McPherson in 1918 pandemic, Contagion, Matt Damon, Politics and government, Popular Culture, Steven Soderberg, bird flu, influenza, influenza and infectious diseases |

1 Comment

Hello, whatever-is-left-of-my-personal-blogosphere! I know I have not blogged on disease in quite some time. For that, I plead guilty, with an explanation.

My day job -- my career as an incomparably-talented and world-renowned IT leader -- has been very demanding over the past year or so. Plus, to be honest, I think I have been suffering from "post-pandemic shutdown."

I know other bloggers have been dealing with the aftermath of the H1N1 swine flu pandemic. We all have sort of branched out to engage other diseases. But influenza is what got me into blogging, and influenza is still at the core of all disease bloggers' interest.

We are all grateful that H1N1/2009 was the relatively mild event that it was. But we also know that another pandemic always lurks around the corner, behind the building and out of view. We also know that at least one pandemic each century is a real humdinger, death-wise.

Nonetheless, like Y2K before it, the H1N1/2009 pandemic was surely viewed by the global mainstream media as a sort of nonevent. Never mind how much work we all put into preparedness. never mind how much money went into culling poultry (and compensating farmers worldwide). never mind how much Tamiflu and Relenza we stockpiled around the world. And never mind how much went into drilling exercises and preparedness messages into our citizens' heads.

So it was a great and pleasant surprise to stumble upon this trailer for the upcoming film Contagion. I am a huge film buff, and I was reading about the progress of filming the Max Brooks zombie masterpiece World War Z in Malta and Scotland when I saw a link for a trailer for some film called Contagion.

WHOA!

This is what we thought we would see from Hollywood back in 2006 and 2007. Instead, we got the passable but still pedestrian Bird Flu: Fatal Contact Movie of the Week. How this film's existence got by me is unknown, me being such a big EOTWAWKI (End of the World as We Know It) film kinda-guy. Especially with it being a BIRD FLU MOVIE!

The film is directed by Steven Soderberg, he of the Oceans (Clooney-Pitt) movies and Out of Sight, The Limey, Traffic, and Erin Brockovich. It stars Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Lawrence Fishbourne. After watching this trailer, I think we can agree that this should be one helluva scary film. Listen closely to Fishbourne's character deliver one of the best lines in recent cinematic history. Post a comment and let me know which line I am talking about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sYSyuuLk5g

CDC warns of zombie apocalypse!

Posted on Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 10:26AM by

Scott McPherson in CDC, Politics and government, Popular Culture, influenza and infectious diseases, walking dead, zombie apocalypse |

Don't miss AMC's The Walking Dead Sunday, Oct. 31 at 10PM Eastern

Posted on Thursday, October 28, 2010 at 11:19AM by

Scott McPherson in AMC, Frank Darabont, Popular Culture, Robert Kirkman, The Walking Dead, influenza and infectious diseases, zombies |

WTF? Wall Street firms get swine flu vaccine before you do

Posted on Thursday, November 5, 2009 at 02:54PM by

Scott McPherson in Politics and government, Popular Culture, influenza and infectious diseases |

2 Comments |

1 Reference

Today's news coming out of Wall Street was so preposterous I had to read it three times before it really sunk in. Here, I will let you read it yourself. From the AP:

Large NYC employers getting swine flu vaccine

By KAREN MATTHEWS (AP) – 55 minutes ago

NEW YORK — Some of New York City's largest employers — including Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs and big universities — have started receiving doses of the much-in-demand swine flu vaccine for their at-risk employees.

The government-funded vaccine is being distributed to states, where health departments decide where to send the limited doses. In New York, health officials are allowing businesses with onsite medical staff to apply for the vaccine.

Doctors for large companies can ask for the vaccine along with other doctors but must agree to vaccinate only high-risk employees like pregnant women and those with chronic illnesses, said Jessica Scaperotti, a spokeswoman for New York City's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Last month, the city began offering vaccine to schoolchildren, as well as pediatricians and obstetricians who asked for it. Scaperotti said only half of the pediatricians in New York City have requested vaccine

"As the vaccine became more available we expanded it to adult providers," Scaperotti said. She called the large employers "a great avenue for vaccinating people at risk."

But a critic said Wall Street firms shouldn't have access to the vaccine before less wealthy Americans.

"Wall Street banks have already taken so much from us. They've taken trillions of our tax dollars. They've taken away people's homes who are struggling to pay the bills," union official John VanDeventer wrote on the Service Employees International Union Web site. "But they should not be allowed to take away our health and well-being."

The union has about 2 million members, including health care workers.

The swine flu vaccine has been in short supply nationwide because of manufacturing delays, resulting in long lines at clinics and patients being turned away at doctor's offices. The vaccine started trickling out in early October, and there are now nearly 32 million doses available.

The government, which ordered 250 million doses, has recommended that the limited supply go first to high-risk groups: children and young people through age 24, people caring for infants under 6 months, pregnant women and health care workers.

Swine flu — which scientists call the 2009 H1N1 strain — is widespread throughout the country now, much earlier than seasonal flu usually hits.

Nationwide, about 90,000 sites are expected to receive vaccine — mainly hospitals, clinics, doctors' offices, county health departments and pharmacies.

Other big New York City employers that have received doses of the vaccine include Columbia University, Time Inc., the Federal Reserve Bank and several hospitals. The distribution was first reported by Business Week.

Goldman Sachs has received 200 doses and Citigroup has received 1,200, health officials said. So far, 800,000 doses have been delivered to 1,400 health-care providers in New York City, including public schools, pediatricians and hospitals.

Citigroup, "like many other large New York City employers, has partnered with the Department of Health to act as a distribution site for the H1N1 vaccine through the company's health clinics," the company said in a statement Thursday. "The vaccine is being provided only to employees in high-risk categories as defined by the CDC."

Goldman Sachs spokesman Ed Canaday said Thursday that the city's health department "decides in its sole discretion who receives the H1N1 vaccine — both the amount and timing."

"Goldman Sachs, like other responsible employers, has requested vaccine and will supply it only to employees who qualify," Canaday said.

While vaccinating children is a top priority for health officials, Scaperotti said only half of the pediatricians in New York City have asked for it.

Some pediatricians' offices that have received the vaccine, though, said the supply is not meeting the demand.

Manager Linda O'Hanlon at Uptown Pediatrics in Manhattan, said the office has received 500 doses so far — not enough for a practice with almost 7,000 patients.

"We have about 800 appointments" set up for patients who want to get vaccinated, she said.

Associated Press writers Stephen Barnard and Sara Lepro in New York City and Valerie Bauman in Albany, N.Y., contributed to this report.

Gee, I wonder just how many toddlers and children ages 2 to 24 that Goldman Sachs will find in their corporate HQ? I am not one to ordinarily agree with unions, but I think the head of the union quoted in the story hit the nail upon the head.

There have been myriad stories, including one in the New York Times, about New Yorkers waiting hour upon hour to get their children vaccinated. Just Google 'vaccine delay shortage" and you'll get national and local stories by the hundreds.

So children get passed by while Wall Street fatcats get vaccine? Just exactly what target group do they belong to, overweight, bloated, overpaid executives?

This adds to a vaccine credibility problem entirely of the Obama Administration's creation. They have succeeded in creating a caste system for vaccine. And I do not care how many hundred doses Citigroup or other banking firms got and how small that might be compared to the general public. Perception is reality.

If Wall Street bankers want vaccine, they can bloody well stand in line for it with the rest of humanity.

Intranasal and Novartis H1N1 vaccines still not for egg-sensitive people

Posted on Thursday, September 17, 2009 at 05:08PM by

Scott McPherson in Politics and government, Popular Culture, influenza and infectious diseases |

5 Comments

Recently, I was sitting in my dentist's chair when an assistant remarked she could not receive flu vaccine due to her allergy to eggs and egg products.

I listened intently and replied,

"Cauuuuuuggggggwwwwwllllllhhhhhh. MMmmmugggggggwwwaaaaaawwwwaaahhh."

After the assistant removed all the stuff in my mouth, I then translated: I would check this out and get back to her.

Well, I happened upon the insert to the monovalent H1N1v vaccine manufactured by Medimmune. Medimmune manufactures a live virus, intranasal vaccine principally for youth, and they are one of the four FDA-approved pandemic vaccines.

But I noticed this entry:

4 CONTRAINDICATIONS
4.1 Hypersensitivity
Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine Live, Intranasal is contraindicated in individuals with a history of hypersensitivity, especially anaphylactic reactions, to eggs, egg proteins, gentamicin, gelatin, or arginine or with life-threatening reactions to previous influenza vaccinations.

Likewise, I also saw this factoid:

------------------------------DRUG INTERACTIONS-------------------------------
• Antiviral agents active against influenza A and/or B: Do not administer Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine Live, Intranasal until 48 hours after antiviral cessation. Antiviral agents should not be administered until 2 weeks after Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine Live, Intranasal administration unless medically necessary.
(7.2)

So, you have to be off Tamiflu and Relenza for at least two days prior to accepting this vaccine into your schnozz. Probably because FluMist is live virus, and the antivirals might kill the virus before it helps you.

Finally, immunocompromised persons should not receive the vaccine intranasally.

5.4 Altered Immunocompetence
Administration of Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine Live, Intranasal, or FluMist live virus vaccine, to immunocompromised persons should be based on careful consideration of potential benefits and risks. Although FluMist was studied in 57 asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic adults with HIV infection [see Clinical Studies (14.3)], data supporting the safety and effectiveness of FluMist administration in immunocompromised individuals are limited.

I had never realized that FluMist was not for persons with sensitivity to eggs. So in the event others thought as I did (or did not), this is offered as a helpful; and potentially lifesaving reminder.

Buit wait, you say! Wasn't there word Novartis was making a vaccine from cells, rather than eggs, and they had whipped up a whopping ten liters of vaccine?

That's what the media ballyhooed. But again, directly from the Novartis package insert:

CONTRAINDICATIONS
•
History of systemic hypersensitivity reactions to egg proteins, or any other component of Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine, or life-threatening reactions to previous influenza vaccinations. (4, 11)

So there you go. None of the four vaccines can be taken by persons sensitive to eggs. I am unsure how much of the US population falls into that category, but I am betting it is a significant number. Better save the antivirals for them! Easpecially persons with egg allergies and under age 50.

Scott

PS. I will try to blog from the CIDRAP Summit in Minneapolis. Mostly, I hope FLA_MEDIC and I get around to some used book and comic stores! FLA_MEDIC should be quite the celebrity after this is all said and done! He is appearing with Robert Bazell of NBC News, one of my favorite correspondents, and Katie Couric's producer. The print editors are no slouches, either.

I think I will tell Mike some Katie Couric stories when she was a cub reporter at Channel 4 in Miami and I ws running for office......

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