Staph-Infection.org

First of all, the United Nations program on HIV and AIDS recently released recalculated numbers on the AIDS epidemic. The new numbers are down more then 6 million then previously thought. The revised number is an estimated 33.2 million people are currently living with HIV.

The majority of these infections are in sub-Saharan Africa. Nearly 68% of HIV infected people live in sub-Saharan Africa. Even more shocking is 76% of all HIV deaths occurred there.

The announcement made by the UNAIDS is good news. It however doesn’t mean we can stop carrying. It’s good to know that 6 million less people are infected with AIDS then we thought. I think it also shows that preventative measures are working around the world.

The bad news is that the disease is concentrated in the mostly black and impoverished countries. It’s easy to think that HIV doesn’t affect you. The statistics of this region really show the problem. Only 10% of men and 12% of women have been tested for HIV. Only 1 out of 10 people is receiving the antiretroviral medication needed to survive with Aids.

It’s obvious that outreach programs aimed at the region are not working. No, doubt these programs are doing good they just aren’t doing enough good. This is mainly due to a lack of interest and funding in the area. More money is needed in the region for education. The locals are still afraid to be tested. I would only have to guess that this is related to their lack of information about the disease.

It’s going to require millions of dollars to launch a full-fledged attack on HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. The people need to be educated, tested and then treated. Hopefully the education part will help prevent farther spread of the disease in the area.

Aids is easy to forget about, especially living in countries were the disease isn’t exactly commonplace. However, the facts about one of the most destructive epidemics in human history are astounding.

Aids has killed an estimated 25 million people and another 40 million are currently infected. The disease infests countries that don’t have the funding and education for prevention and treatment. That to me, is what makes the fight against Aids so important. Most of these people have no options. Aids is a death sentence unless antiretroviral medication is made available. A weeks supply of antiretroviral pills costs about five dollars a week. The pills are taken twice daily and can put life back into someone who isn’t far from death. People around the world are dieing because they can’t afford the medication.

Another very important medication is nevirapine. This medication can prevent the spread of Aids from mother to child during birth. How many more children have to be born into this world with a potential death sentence? It’s huge if we can prevent a child from entering this world with the devastating disease.

My World Aids Day promise is to post more Aids related content on this site.

A month ago the United Nations announced that the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu may be more common in Europe then they first thought. Well, add another to the growing list of countries that have reported new cases of bird flu this year in Europe.

Romania is lucky number seven. The outbreak killed 31 bird and lead to 49 birds being killed to control the outbreak. The last outbreak of bird flu in Romania ended in July 2006.

The bird flu has lead to the death of 300 million birds in 60 countries. Some of the poultry died directly as an effect of outbreak and the others were killed to prevent the spread.

So far only 335 people have been infected with the virus, 3/5 cases were deadly. All the cases are a result of direct contact with infected birds. It’s feared that the virus may transform into something that can be more easily transfered from human to human.

Adding to the concerns, is the fact that the virus is now being carried by healthy birds. The healthy birds, although infected, show no signs. This allows the virus to move even more effectively.

Defiantly something I’ll be keeping an eye on, updates to come.

During a press conference Health Minister Chen Zhu announced that China estimates nearly 700,000 will be infected with HIV or aids by the end of the year. This is an increase of 50,000 compared to the end of last year.

According to VOA News 45 percent of the infections will come from heterosexual transmission, 42 percent due to intravenous drug use and the rest from homosexual activity.

Tamiflu has accepted the FDA’s recommendation to add extra warnings on the drug’s box.

Tamiflu still takes a strong stand that the side-effects can be caused by the flu itself. The drug already contains warnings of psychiatric problems in a very small percent of people who take the drug.

The warning will be expanded to include that death has been reported after taking the drug. The deaths associated with Tamiflu are for the most part considered “abnormal”. It’s really hard to tell if this “abnormal” behavior is caused by the drug or the illness itself.

On Monday the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation donated 100 Million to the Rotary Foundation. The Rotary Foundation plan to match the 100 Million through fund raising in the next few years.

The reaming four countries were Polio is prevalent are Pakistan, India, Afghanistan and Nigeria. The Rotary Foundation plan on spending 100 million in the first year alone to fund vaccination projects in these countries.

Polio is close to being eliminated world wide. Only 2,000 cases were reported worldwide. That number of actual cases is obviously much higher due to unreported cases.

Polio is often something we forget about in the United States. It has been eliminated after a preventive vaccine was found in the 1950s. At it’s peak in the United State’s it paralyzed 20,000 American’s in one year.

I’ll work on getting more information about Polio on this website….

I reported earlier this week that Tamiflu was under investigation. The FDA panel that reviewed the case has made suggestions to add warning labels to the drug.

It was pointed out that the “unusual behavior” has also been documented in people who didn’t even take the drug. This would suggest the side-effects may be directly related to the flu itself.

Tamiflu representatives oppose the added warning label. They say there is absolutely no data that supports Tamifu is causing the unusual behavior. It’s hard to tell what is caused by the flu itself and what is caused by Tamiflu.

The flu kills 36,000 yearly, in the United States.