Science on their side

Finally having had enough of anti-vaxxers (and their death threats and fake reviews, and intimidations), physicians are fighting back.

[D]octors and other health care providers are beginning to link arms virtually in an organized effort to defend not only each other, but also vaccines themselves, which they see as essential to their mission.

Techs: Don’t miss TechU

Pharmacy technicians of Georgia: Don’t miss out on the big event this May just for you! It’s he first annual TechU conference, networking, education, and golf event.

It’s a full day designed by Georgia’s pharmacy techs for Georgia’s pharmacy techs. It’s a great way to get some CE credits, meet your peers, talk about the job, and chill, all for $30 thanks to our amazing sponsors. (It’s $50 for non-members, though.)

Check out GPhA.org/techu for all the details and sign up now!

CoviD-19 tests in the U.S.: Another speed bump

Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse for America’s coronavirus response, here comes this doozy: There’s a shortage of the chemicals needed to test for the virus.

The growing scarcity of these “RNA extraction” kits is the latest trouble for U.S. labs, which have struggled to implement widespread coronavirus testing in the seven weeks since the country diagnosed its first case. Epidemiologists and public health officials say that the delayed rollout, caused in part by a botched CDC test, has masked the scope of the U.S. outbreak and hobbled efforts to limit it.

And yes, we’re way behind the rest of the world and hospitals are starting to be concerned.

More CoviD-19 notes

• Tell me something I don’t know: It’s officially a pandemic.
• “We’re sure you’ll be fine”: The CDC now says cheap, loose-fitting surgical masks are an “acceptable alternative” to proper N95 masks — not because they work as well, but because there’s a shortage of proper equipment.
  • Nurses, for one, are Not Happy at All.
• “We’re sure it’ll be fine”: The FDA has halted all food, drug, and medical device inspections outside the U.S. until at least April.
• 5.1 days: That’s the apparent incubation period. So if you’re exposed, you need to wait at least that long to see if symptoms emerge.
• Compassionate use: Gilead’s experimental drug remdesivir is being used in Washington State, even though it may not be effective — it’s the current frontrunner for treatment.
• Stay safe: There might be blood shortages as people stay home and don’t donate.

Quick and interesting medical news

• Average birth weight in the U.S. has been going down — but it might simply be due to more C-sections and inducements.
• A second person, also British, has been cured of HIV.

Big step for flu vaccine

A potential universal flu vaccine, Flu-v, has passed another trial (its fourth). But not any trial — a “randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, single-center phase 2b clinical trial.”

It seems to be effective in a general sense — i.e., it ‘promoted antibody responses and immune system changes.’ Next up: Testing to see whether it will actually protects against the various flus.

Medical shocker out of Boston

Boston University researchers: “Healthy lifestyle reduces risk of disease, death“. No, there really isn’t much more to the story.