Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Medical assistant Yasmin Tellez preps a Modetna COVID-19 vaccination at Globeville s Clinica Tepeyac. Jan. 26, 2021. Experts say vaccination efforts will have to quicken to stay ahead of viral mutations.
Behind the recent drop in Colorado s COVID-19 case numbers is a persistent growth in the number of viral variant cases detected that have the potential to mess with everything from in-person school to the re-opening of the economy.
The variants have turned the effort to vaccinate Coloradans into a race to develop immunity before the virus has morphed itself significantly enough to evade the vaccines.
“I m nervous about the variants,” said Dr. Anuj Mehta, a pulmonologist with National Jewish Health and Denver Health, who serves on the Governor’s Expert Emergency Epidemic Response Committee. “I m just concerned that the variants could potentially fuel another surge.”
(1)
Circulating cell-free mRNA in blood reflective of NAFLD/NASH liver pathology
PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ Molecular Stethoscope, Inc., a precision medicine biotechnology company, announces publication of its human proof-of-concept study describing the stratification of NAFLD/NASH patients with clinically relevant and advanced liver fibrosis using the company s Next-Generation cell-free mRNA Liquid Biopsy Technology Platform. The study titled Non-invasive Stratification of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease by Whole-transcriptome Cell-free mRNA Characterization was published in the
American Journal of Physiology -
Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, a journal of the American Physiological Society. The first author is Naga Chalasani, M.D., Professor of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Interim Chair in the Department of Medicine at Indiana University in the USA. Dr. Chalasani is the leading author of the AASLD Practice Guidelines for the diagnosis and
City of Berkeley must continue work with advocacy groups to aid unhoused communities
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has uprooted life as we know it. Our community has faced unprecedented challenges, but for our unhoused neighbors, the pandemic has further amplified already-existing issues. People experiencing homelessness in Berkeley continue to be affected by water insecurity and encampment sweeps.
Although water insecurity burdened individuals experiencing homelessness prior to the pandemic, many could rely on public libraries and college campuses for drinking and hand-washing water. This is no longer the case. Being deprived of basic sanitation during a pandemic is cruel, especially when unhoused individuals are frequently unable to social distance or receive reliable health care. Inadequate access to sanitation resources has devastated unhoused communities before, notably in San Diego where the city’s neglect led to a deadly two-year hepatitis A outbreak. The city of Berk
University of California Health (UCH) and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) are launching an innovative data modeling consortium to ensure public health policy makers have timely, relevant analysis and insights to support pandemic-related decision making.
The University of California Health-CDPH COVID Modeling Consortium is a regular forum in which nearly 150 UC faculty in epidemiology, infectious diseases, economics, statistics, computer science, ecology and data modeling work with CDPH modelers and public health experts to develop information to inform the pandemic response in California. Through the consortium, researchers will provide updated analyses and discuss new developments in COVID-19, and State public health leaders provide input about the types of analyses that will be most meaningful in thoroughly understanding the health-related patterns and economic impact of COVID-19 in California. Researchers will use the platform to share results of their ongoing a
Challenging abortion disinformation online
The debate over medication abortion restrictions has gained greater attention in recent months related to COVID-19 and national changes to abortion access. Rapidly changing legal restrictions, the cost of abortion and abortion stigma and shame prompt many people to go online to seek information on abortion. In light of currently heightened reliance on technology during COVID-19 restrictions and long-standing political polarization creating social and practical barriers to abortion access, online abortion information poses substantial opportunities and challenges to public abortion knowledge and access.
Medication abortion has been found to be a safe and effective method of pregnancy termination and is currently approved for use up to 70 days of pregnancy in the United States. But its use remains an area of political conflict in the United States reflecting the polarizing and politically charged status of abortion in the U.S. overall.