Health and Sanity category archive

Via The Japan Times, Lisa Jarvis considers the legacy of the Trump maladministration’s and of Elon Musk’s DOGE in the light of a spreading ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Here’s a bit from her article (emphasis added):

. . . DOGE took a wrecking ball to that network. USAID was shut down practically overnight, which led to Ebola-prevention funding being “accidentally” canceled, as Elon Musk cavalierly noted. Musk at the time claimed it had been restored, but ultimately the health infrastructure was dismantled. Meanwhile, the CDC faced its own steep cuts and the U.S. — which had long been the WHO’s top funder — withdrew from the organization entirely.

While it’s too early to directly blame those cuts for the late detection of the current outbreak, one thing is certain: The decimation of USAID and the U.S.’ exit from the WHO will make containing the spread much more difficult.

Afterthought:

I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that the Trump maladministration and today’s Republican Party do not comprehend the concept of–nor give a tuppence for–the common good.

At the Psychology Today website, Christopher Lane discusses a recent book by Kira Ganga Kieffer, in which Kieffer explores whether (some) vaccine hesitancy in the U. S. may have religious roots.

In these times of measles outbreaks and other incipient infections, methinks his article is worth a look.

Via the Las Vegas Sun, the New York Times editorial board thinks that, under RFK Jr., the prognosis for infectious diseases bright–for the diseases, that is.

Not so much for people.

A snippet (emphasis added):

A vast majority of American children — more than 90% by most estimates — are still vaccinated for measles. But it takes a threshold of 95% to stop the illness from spreading, and in too many communities, the rates are lower than that already or falling fast. In Idaho, just 78.5% of kindergartners were vaccinated for measles last school year. Nationwide vaccination rates for several other diseases — including flu, hepatitis B, rotavirus, Hib, polio and whooping cough — are also down.

Measles are spreading. Per WTKR.com, South Carolina is experiencing its worst outbreak in over three decades. Here’s snippet from their report (emphasis added):

Babies too young to be vaccinated are among the most vulnerable in a measles outbreak. The disease can wreak havoc on their fragile bodies, making them so sick they stop eating and drinking. They can develop pneumonia or brain swelling, and sometimes die.

Babies depend entirely on herd immunity — at least 95% of a community must be vaccinated to prevent measles outbreaks. But dropping vaccination rates have eroded protection in South Carolina and across the nation. In Spartanburg County, the outbreak’s epicenter, less than 90% of students have gotten required vaccines.

This is what happens when science deniers deny science and stupid people believe them.

And we are a society of stupid.

Sam and the crew dissect RFK Jr.’s bogus blather.

Rebecca Watson debunks some bunco.

Or you can read the transcript.

Sam and the crew discuss AOC’s masterful calling out a CVS executive for monopoly practices.