None dare call it monkeypox

The WHO has officially renamed monkeypox to mpox because the name apparently has “some negative connotations and stigma associated with it.”

Left unchanged are buffalopox, camelpox, canarypox, chickenpox, cowpox, dogpox, fowlpox, goatpox, horsepox, mousepox, pigeonpox, quokkapox (!), rabbitpox, sealpox, sheeppox, squirrelpox, swinepox, and turkeypox.

You’ll still be able to search the ICD for monkeypox, and there are no legal implications.

Time for DHA to check its mailbox

Last week we told you about the letter — led by Georgia Representative Buddy Carter — being sent to the Defense Health Agency, asking for it to come to a December 7 listening session and, well, listen.

Sure, Tricare has invited independent pharmacies back into the fold, but it’s still offering low reimbursements — sometimes lower than the wholesale price of the meds. Carter et al. ain’t having it, calling that an “impossible choice” for both community pharmacies and Tricare beneficiaries.

The letter (see it here) has officially been sent to Lt. Gen. Ronald Place, who will hopefully respond….

HIV be upon you

Fruitcake, ugly ties, Veiny Cheese of the Month Club — there are plenty of unwanted gifts being given. HIV doesn’t have to be one of them.

You can help, o pharmacy professional!

GPhA is offering “Getting PrEPared for the holidays,” a new CE course on HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis — a live webinar tonight from 7:30 – 8:30pm. It’s part of our holiday season “Unwanted Gifts” series of courses.

Grab an hour of CE on a hot topic before the year is out. Check out the details at GPhA.org/unwanted, sign up, and join us tonight!

Future vaccines

The latest potential universal flu vaccine

This one comes out of the universities of Pennsylvania and of Pittsburgh, and is based on the same mRNA technology as today’s Covid vaccines.

In tests in mice, the team found that the animals generated antibodies specific to all 20 strains of the flu virus, and these antibodies remained at a stable level for up to four months.

The team also created mRNA vaccines for specific flu strains, and those protected the mice (and, later, ferrets) even better.

All this is good news for mice and ferrets, but previous tests of “universal flu vaccines” have failed when it came to humans, so as always, wait and see.

UTI vaccine (for rodents)

If you have a mouse or rabbit and worry about it contracting a UTI, good news! Duke researchers have developed a vaccine to prevent UTIs by training the immune system to attack UTI-causing bacteria.

[T]he vaccine delivery method was found to elicit an immune response in the urinary tract due to similarities between the mucous membranes lining the urinary tract and the mouth. The pills the team created were administered under the tongue and are dissolved in saliva.

Even better, no pesky injections needed (and we know how vicious rabbits can be). The vaccine comes in a shelf-stable pill that dissolves under the tongue.

Next up: human trials.

Lamarck continues to laugh in his grave

If you give a rat ifosfamide, it’s going to ask you to keep an eye on its children and grandchildren^*.

It seems that young (rodent) patients that received chemotherapy have children and grandchildren that are more susceptible to disease. “[T]his is one of the first-known studies showing that susceptibility can be passed down to a third generation of unexposed offspring.”

What’s to be done for patients? Not much.

Given this study’s implications, the researchers recommend that cancer patients who plan to have children later take precautions, such as using cryopreservation to freeze sperm or ova before having chemotherapy.

^* And a cookie

Needles in the brain

How do you attack brain tumors without killing the (rather important) tissue around them? If you’re a University of Saskatchewan biomed engineer, you stick long needles into patients’ skulls and electrocute the tumors. (But you don’t put it that way, of course.)

The important piece of info: Glioblastoma cells “can be killed with a smaller electrical field than would kill surrounding healthy tissues.”

The bonus prize: The technique also disrupts the blood-brain-barrier, allowing anti-cancer drugs to be delivered in lower, targeted doses.

The next step: Combine the treatments into a viable one-two electricity/immunotherapy punch.

ICYMI: Oyster health warning

We try not to fetish-shame here at Buzz, but there are apparently people who willingly eat raw oysters. If you know someone like that, during the next visiting hours make sure they avoid eating any, lest they discover the joys of sapovirus^*.

Georgia is one of 13 states where the FDA says restaurants have been sent shipments of contaminated oysters.

The good news is that it only applies to oysters harvested from South Korea’s Designated Area Number II. The bad news is that you have no idea what that means.

^* There are no joys of sapovirus.

Named for Pandora (as in “Pandora’s Box”)

Once again we learn that today’s scientists simply do not read enough science-fiction or watch enough horror movies.

The latest gaffe: French scientists have “reawoken” a 48,500-year-old pandoravirus from melting permafrost in Russia’s Yakutsk region (see map). They’ve isolated several other ancient viruses, but have not yet revived those.

The team introduced the viruses into a culture of live amoebae, showing that they were still capable of invading a cell and replicating.

Their goal, they say, is to reawaken these microbial threats so they can be studied before they awaken on their own.

Science marches on

“Genetically modified tobacco plant produces cocaine in its leaves” (“…which could help people manufacture the drug for scientific study.”) Mm hmm.

Next up: “THC-producing gene grafted into kudzu.”