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What is ‘sloth fever’ and how can I avoid it when traveling to South America?

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International authorities are warning of “sloth fever.” Despite its name, you can’t catch it from sloths. Instead, it’s best to avoid contact with mosquitoes and biting midges.

So how can Australians protect themselves from sloth fever when traveling to South and Central America? And how does “sloth fever” compare to other mosquito-borne diseases like Zika?

What is sloth fever?

Sloth fever is attributable to Oropouche virus and is formally referred to as Oropouche viral disease or Oropouche fever.

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The virus is orthobunyavirusIt due to this fact belongs to a special family of viruses than the flaviviruses (which include dengue, Japanese encephalitis and Murray Valley encephalitis viruses) and alphaviruses (chikungunya, Ross River virus and Barmah Forest virus).

Oropouche virus was first identified in 1955. It is named after the village in Trinidad and Tobago where the one that contracted it lived. first isolated from lived.

Symptoms include fever, severe headache, chills, muscle pain, joint pain, nausea, vomiting, and rash. This makes it difficult to distinguish it from other viral infections. About 60% of individuals infected get sick with the virus.

Is no specific treatment and most individuals get better in lower than a month.

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However, serious symptomsincluding encephalitis and meningitis (inflammation of the brain and the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord) have been reported occasionally.

What is happening with this latest epidemic?

In July Pan American Health Organization issued a warning after two women from northeastern Brazil died from Oropouche virus infection, the primary death related to the virus.

There was also one fetal death, one miscarriage, and 4 cases of newborns with microcephaly, a condition characterised by an abnormally small head, that occurred while pregnant. This situation is paying homage to Zika virus outbreak in 2015–2016.

Oropouche has historically been a major problem in America. However, the disease lost its importance after subsequent outbreaks of the epidemic. chikungunya AND Zika from 2013 to 2016 and recently, dengue.

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How does Oropouche virus spread?

Oropouche virus has has not been well researched compared to other insect-borne pathogens. We still don’t fully understand how the virus It’s spreading.

The virus is transmitted primarily by blood-sucking insects, particularly midges (especially ) and mosquitoes (potentially multiple species , , , and ).

We consider the virus circulates in forest areas, with primates, sloths, and birds being the essential suspected vectors. In urban outbreaks, humans are carriers of the virus, and blood-sucking insects infect others.

Share of midges (blood-sucking insects) in Australia they’re wrongly called “sand flies”) makes the transmission cycle of Oropouche virus somewhat different from that of viruses spread solely by mosquitoes. The kinds of insects that spread the virus may additionally differ between forested and urban areas.

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Midges are much smaller than mosquitoes, but can still spread pathogens corresponding to Oropouche virus.
A/Prof Cameron Webb (Health Pathology NSW)

Why is Oropouche virus becoming more common?

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) within the United States recently issued a warning on the growing cases of Oropouche in America. The variety of cases is increasing outside areas where it was previously found, corresponding to the Amazon basin, worrying authorities.

More than 8,000 cases of the disease have been reported in countries including Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia and Cuba.

There have been reports of travelers in Cuba and Brazil becoming infected after returning to the country. Europe AND North Americaappropriately.

While changing climate, deforestation and increased human movement may partly explain the rise in cases and the geographic spread of the virus, but there could also be something else at play.

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Oropouche virus seems to have greater potential genomic reassortmentThis means the virus may evolve more rapidly than other viruses, potentially leading to more severe disease or increased transmission.

Other kinds of orthobunyaviruses have been shown to undergo genetic changes, cause more severe illness.

Should Australia be anxious?

Without more information on the role of local midges and mosquitoes within the spread of Oropouche virus, it is difficult to assess how great a risk it poses to Australia.

The risk of an infected traveller bringing the virus back to Australia is low. Very few cases of Zika have been reported in travellers from South or Central America return to Australia. Dengue is rarely reported from these travelers.

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The biting insects most significant in spreading the virus in America are usually not present in Australia.

Although the chance is small, authorities need to concentrate on potentially infected travelers getting back from South and Central America and remember that appropriate test protocols to detect infection.

Australia has own local orthobunyaviruses Although these bacteria are known to cause infections, the health risk is considered to be low.

What can travellers do to protect themselves?

There are not any vaccines or specific treatments for Oropouche virus.

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If you’re traveling to South and Central American countries, take appropriate steps to avoid mosquito and midge bites.

Mosquito repellents containing diethyltoluamide (DEET), picaridin, and lemon eucalyptus oil have been proven to be effective in reducing the results of mosquito bites and are expected to be effective against midge bites as well.

You can further reduce your risk by wearing long-sleeved shirts, long pants, and closed shoes.

Sleeping and resting under mosquito nets impregnated with insecticide will help, but you’ll need nets with much finer meshes, as midges are much smaller than mosquitoes.

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Although Australian authorities haven’t issued any specific warnings, CDC AND European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control warn that pregnant women should discuss travel plans and potential risks with their doctor.



This article was originally published on : theconversation.com
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Health and Wellness

Why pain assessment at 10 is difficult

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“This is really sore,” said my (Josh) five-year-old daughter, swaying a broken arm within the emergency department.

“But on a zero scale, how do you assess your pain?” The nurse asked.

The face of my daughter, fire to tears, deepened his confusion.

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“What does ten mean?”

“Ten is the worst pain you can imagine.” She looked much more surprised.

As a parent and a scientist with pain, I witnessed how our seemingly easy, well -intentional pain assessment systems can fall flat.

What are the scales of pain for?

The commonest scale has existed in 50 years. He asks people to evaluate pain from scratch (without pain) to 10 (normally “the worst pain you can imagine”).

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He focuses on one aspect of pain – its intensity – to quickly understand the patient’s entire experience.

How much does it hurt? Are you getting worse? Does treatment make it higher?

Grades could be useful to trace the intensity of pain in time. If the pain goes from eight to 4, it probably signifies that you’re feeling higher – even when someone’s 4 are different than yours.

The research suggests a two -point (or 30%) reduction in chronic pain in pain normally reflects the change makes a difference in on a regular basis life.

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But this common upper anchor within the assessment scales – “the worst pain you can imagine” – is an issue.

People normally seek advice from their previous experiences when assessing pain.
Sascean on Mother / Okensach

A narrow tool for complex experience

Consider my daughter’s dilemma. How can someone imagine the worst possible pain? Does everyone imagine the identical? Research suggests that they usually are not. Even Children think very individually about this word “pain”.

People normally – and comprehensible – anchor their pain assessments in their very own life experiences.

This creates a dramatic variety. For example, a patient who has never had serious injuries could also be more willing to provide high grades than the one who had serious burns before.

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“No pain” may also be problematic. A patient whose pain has gone back, but who stays uncomfortable may get stuck: there is no number on a zero scale to 10, which may capture their physical experience.

Increasingly, pain scientists recognize an easy number cannot capture complex, highly individual and multi -faceted experience, which is pain.

Who we’re, affects our pain

In fact, pain assessment They are under influence How much pain disturbs an individual’s each day activities, as they’re nervous, their mood, fatigue and the way it is in comparison with their strange pain.

Other aspects also play a job, including the patient’s age, gender, cultural origin and language, reading and counting skills, and neurodiwe.

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For example, if a clinician and patient speak different languages, it might probably exist Additional challenges Communication about pain and care.

Some people neurodivergent may interpret the language more literally or process sensory information differently than others. Interpretation of what people communicate About pain requires a more personalized approach.

Impossible assessments

Still, we work with available tools. There is evidence People use the size of zero-to ten pain to attempt to convey far more than simply Paer’s “intensity”.

So when the patient says “it’s eleven out of ten”, this “impossible” assessment probably communicates with something greater than severity.

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Perhaps they wonder: “Does she believe me? What number will help me? “A whole lot of information is crowded on this single number. This patient probably says: “This is serious – help me.”

We use quite a few other communication strategies in on a regular basis life. We can grimace, moan, move less or in a different way, use richly descriptive words or metaphors.

Collecting and assessing such a complex and subjective information on pain may not all the time be feasible since it is difficult to standardize.

As a result, many pain scientists still largely depend on the assessment scales, because they’re easy, efficient and turned out to be reliable and necessary in relatively controlled situations.

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But clinicians may use this other, more subjective information to construct a more complete picture of an individual’s pain.

How can we higher communicate about pain?

There are strategies to unravel Language or cultural differences In how people express pain.

Visual scales are one tool. For example, “directed on a scale of pain” asks patients to decide on a facial features to convey pain. This could be especially useful for youngsters or individuals who don’t feel comfortable at all with counting and the flexibility to read, or in a language utilized in the healthcare environment.

The vertical “visual analog scale” asks an individual to mark pain on the vertical line, a bit like a picture “Filling” with pain.

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Bar level, from greenery at one end to red at the other, with different faces underneath.
Modified visual scales are sometimes used to beat communication challenges.
Nenadmil/Shutterstock

What can we do?

Healthcare employees

Time to consistently explain the size of pain, remembering that The way you phrase matters.

Listen to the story behind the number, because the identical number means various things for various people.

Use the rating as a startup to get a more personalized conversation. Consider cultural and individual differences. Ask for descriptive words. Confirm your interpretation within the patient to be sure you might be each on the identical side.

Patients

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To higher describe the pain, use the size of numbers, but add context.

Try to explain the standard of your pain (smoking? Pulsating? Styling?) And compare it with previous experiences.

Explain the influence of you pain – each emotionally and the way it affects your each day activities.

Parents

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Ask the clinicist to make use of the permissible pain of youngsters. They are there Special tools developed for various age groups reminiscent of “He will turn to pain“.

Pediatric health specialists are trained to make use of vocabulary suitable for age, because children develop their understanding of the number and pain otherwise after they grow.

Starting point

In fact, scales won’t ever be great measures of pain. Let’s see them as participating within the conversation to assist people communicate about deeply personal experience.

This is how my daughter did – she found her method to describe her pain: “I think that when I fell from monkeys, but in my arm instead of my knee, and it’s not better when I stay.”

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From there, we tried to treat with pain effectively. Sometimes words work higher than numbers.

This article was originally published on : theconversation.com
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Health and Wellness

Muni Long shares how lupus influences her everyday life

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Muni Long shares how lupus influences her everyday life

Ghettos

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When the singer Muni Long doesn’t bless us with timeless hits, he fights lupus pain behind closed doors. Chronic autoimmune disease causes exacerbation that affects every person otherwise. For the 36-year-old, symptoms sometimes appear in her skin, she said in an exclusive interview.

“[People with lupus] You have small characters, right? Like my fingertips, blue will change. My skin will be really pale, “says Long. “I’ll start looking great white. It’s hard to imagine because I’m brown. But literally my skin becomes like a light, gray color. “

Around 1 out of 250 Black women will develop lupus during their lives and experience it more seriously. While Long can manage some flashes and proceed to occupy their day by day lives, some disrupt its entire schedule.

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“Recently, I had to cancel my football performance in university football on January 18, because I had development because of some personal items,” Long explained.

The two -time Grammy winner also needed to take preventive measures in order that her lupus doesn’t negatively affect her ability to sing. When the singer joined Chris Brown as an opener to his route 11:11 last summer, she needed to take some means to stop her symptoms.

“Please, turn off the air when I come to the building. I am not a diva, but literally, if I am too cold, I start coughing and I will not be able to sing, “he divides Long. “And then, when I get off the stage, I have to lie down immediately and surround the covers and steam in hand.”

Despite the proven fact that he’s a star, Long faces similar challenges as other black women in regards to the healthcare system. Black women often encounter significant health differences in relation to other racial groups. This can fluctuate from receiving unfair treatment after ignoring when causing problems related to pain or discomfort.

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“As a black woman, when I go to the doctor, they never listen,” said Long, asked how lupus influences her everyday. “They don’t believe you. It is difficult for them to say, “Hey, I’m in pain.” They are like: “Ok, cool. Go, get this blood work. “

She continued: “I am like:” OK, but it would take you per week [to get the results back.] I’m in tormenting pain. Is there anything you’ll be able to do? And then it just becomes something prefer it as in the event that they put your list away [something] For example: “Oh, you are asking for medicines.” It is in order that such difficult navigation with the way in which the healthcare system is configured. “

For now, the singer focuses on managing the extent of stress, because this may cause her flares.

“The point is that I really have to not let people stress me, which is difficult because people get into my nerves,” says Long with amusing. “So the best tool I have is just relaxing and not doing anything I don’t want to do. We make every effort to make sure that such things have not happened and before I enter the space, I can be as convenient as possible. “

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Other stars that were open about their rolling journeys are Toni Braxton, Nick Cannon and daughter Snoop Dogga, Cori Broadus.

This article was originally published on : www.essence.com
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New research shows that over 3,000 beauty and hair products sold to black women are toxic. Did your tested and highways make a cut?

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If you are fascinated by referring the range of products on the shelf in the lavatory, you may start by throwing the entire.

AND New study By Environmental work group (EEC) In cooperation with the founded black, completely natural online market BLK + GRN Over 3000, or almost 80%, were found, personal hygiene items sold to black women contain at the very least one toxic ingredient.

“I think most people believe that if something has reached the store, they must be safe. It’s just not true – said the founder of BLK + GRN, Kristian Edwards In the last film About the report.

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“Everyone deserves access to safe products,” wrote Friedman. “The purpose of the report was to equip consumers with knowledge about chemicals in their personal hygiene products.”

Friedman emphasized among the most harmful product components, including the discharge of formaldehyde, isotiazolinone and an undisclosed smell. Explained that preservatives releasing formaldehyde may cause skin reactions and ultimately expose consumers to formaldehyde, a carcinogen. Meanwhile, Friedman noticed that undisclosed fragrances might be any of the 300 different potentially dangerous ingredients with cancer and reproductive health problems. Half -lasting products The results, comparable to relaxors and hair dyeing, are not very disturbing.

After the primary have a look at ListMany consumers can hurry to throw away all their potentially causing cancer shelf. However, Edwards noticed within the film that this list was not intended to cause “fear”.

Understanding this suggested compromise. If there may be a high-level product, with which you absolutely cannot part-nutrition with the outcomes that you have got taken years, or sunscreen that softened your gearbox-to threaten something different with a high level, from which your routine is less dependent.

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“Black women are often between a stone and a difficult place,” Edwards continued. “To adapt, they must use these products with all these toxic ingredients in them.”

The Skin Deep Database EEC launched in 2004 takes labor in the method for consumers. The online resource includes dozens of products assessed on the idea of their ingredients, safety and regulatory information.

The latest study, published in February, is an update of the 2016 EEC study, which was checked whether there was a significant change in toxicity of products with specific demographic markings. In 2016, the report was analyzed by just over 1000 products. Despite finding almost 80% of products sold to black women, it still incorporates at the very least one toxic ingredient, Friedman confirmed that there was some improvement in almost a decade; However, toxicity persists.

The report also appears as one other related to black personal care, it’s headers. Last month, Consumer reports He stated that the ten hottest synthetic hair brands contain toxic chemicals.

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Friedman claims that the trail forward should “prioritize further research, better safety standards and increased transparency from producers, ultimately supporting the market in which black women can confidently choose products without an additional burden on the disorientation of exposure and health results.”

It was visible for Halle Berry when she saw Adrien Brody on the Red Oscars carpet

(Tagstranslate) black hair products

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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