...Marcus Stubbs ENF 002 Mrs. Richardson 1 April 2014 Vaccination Obligations As Americans we are obligated to adhere to certain customs and courtesies. Some are clear cut and defined, like abiding by laws. Others may lie in the moral or ethical category. I believe the vaccine Influenza virus falls into that grey area. With all this attention being brought forward about the pending Influenza epidemic, it makes me wonder what the driving force behind developing a viable vaccine is. Is it for monetary gain, or is it for global immunization? The process of using embrocated chicken eggs in which we cultivate most, to all viral vaccinations is slow and cumbersome, and has been in practice since 1936. There are other processes, but they all...
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...concern--all nations could be affected” (Sands 30). This means that terrorists can easily utilize these methods of destruction to annihilate nations they oppose. With all three of these groups having a present capability and means to attack the United States, the American government needs to have more vigilance of the location and the dangers of these bioweapons. On the other hand, rival nations also pose a threat to biosecurity. For example, Iran has supported the terrorist groups of Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Islamic Jihad and their use of bioterrorism (Sands 31). Many other “rogue states” in the Middle East such as Iran, Iraq, Libya, and Syria have run-ins with terrorist organizations that use bioterrorism. This assistance includes financial aid, weapons, and even specialized training bases (Sands 35). The threat of bioterrorism around the world is a danger to America and its...
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...Through the work of scientists and conservation programs, the black footed ferret has made a lot of progress. Over time, the black footed ferret will continue to recover if captive breeding programs and vaccinations continue. The World Wildlife Fund has worked to restore black footed ferret populations. In 2015, fifteen black-footed ferrets were released into prairie dog colonies. After an outbreak of the plague devastated release sites in 1999, the ferret and prairie dog populations dropped significantly. The WWF provided aid in creating plague management, and in 2013 and 2014, 52 black footed ferrets were released onto a reservation (WWF). The loss of the black footed ferret would not have a large global affect, as it only resides in North American grasslands. Its loss would have a large affect locally because of the black footed ferrets’ influence in its habitat. Without the black footed ferret, the prairie dog population would be affected negatively. The WWF states that the black footed ferret “signifies the health of the grassland ecosystem which they depend on to survive” (WWF). The black footed ferret is a necessity to its environment and the species around...
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...NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA THESIS ANTHRAX VACCINE AS A COMPONENT OF THE STRATEGIC NATIONAL STOCKPILE: A DILEMMA FOR HOMELAND SECURITY by Thomas L. Rempfer December 2009 Thesis Advisor: Second Reader: Stanley Supinski Dean Lynch Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instruction, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302, and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (0704-0188) Washington DC 20503. 1. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave blank) 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 2. REPORT DATE December 2009 3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED Master’s Thesis 5. FUNDING NUMBERS Anthrax Vaccine as a Component of the Strategic National Stockpile: A Dilemma for Homeland Security 6. AUTHOR(S) Thomas L. Rempfer 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, CA 93943-5000...
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...plan to force the drug companies to disclose tests that shed unfavorable lights on their products. They are considering a proposal that would require drug firms to register drug tests at the outset as a prerequisite to have their results published. Discuss the implications of the above proposal. The transparency of research data from clinical trials although not necessarily the panacea, could be a step towards mitigating unnecessary deaths and suffering of patients, waste of resources in terms of redundant research, and waste of taxpayers’ money. As an example, the drug maker Merck concealed that its drug against pain, marketed as Vioxx, had a fatal side effect that causes heart attacks. The use of Vioxx has caused an estimated 100,000 incidents of heart attacks and 10,000 deaths to patients administered with the drug. The Vioxx incident is not the only example of the costs of a blanket policy of secrecy. It is evident that a policy of disclosure would not only prevent widespread public health disaster, but could also serve far-reaching consequences. It is plausible that public access to research data could potentially yield much valuable new information to aid the development of new products by independent scientists and doctors. By making drug companies liable to publish full, unadulterated data from clinical trials, it would open the door for efficacy and safety claims by drug companies to be placed under scrutiny. It allows for an open system of checks and balances...
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...30 Years and Still Going Strong: The AIDS Epidemic COM/150 October 6, 2012 Every 9.5 minutes someone in the United States is infected with HIV. One out of five people don’t even know they been infected. The lives of millions of people have been affected by either AIDS or HIV; either they know someone that has it, or they are living with the disease themselves. AIDS is a worldwide issue that is still relevant to this day. With no viable cure, AIDS is as much of an epidemic in 2012 as it was in the early 80s, the public needs to become more aware and take proper preventative measures to protect themselves and others. June 5, 1981, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) reported of outbreaks of a sickness that had been unknown and resulted in unusual causes of death in the United States. Doctors reported a rare parasitic lung infection, Pneumocystics Carinii Pneumonia, which had been found in five men. This was the beginning of what we now all know as Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Since the start of AIDS and HIV, 25 million people have died worldwide. On the NCBI (2012) website, it states that AIDS has become the 6th leading cause of death amongst people ages 25-44 in the United States, and is the leading cause of death in African American women ages 25-34. AIDS is caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus better known as HIV. Human Immunodeficiency Virus better known as HIV is a virus that attacks the T-cells in the immune system. In a healthy person, the...
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...Facts 1. In the past 60 years, vaccines have helped eradicate one disease (smallpox) and are close to eradicating another (polio). 2. Vaccines currently help prevent more than 2.5 million deaths each year. 3. The impact of child vaccines is magnified when used in conjunction with other health efforts, including with things such as antibiotics, oral rehydration salts, bed nets, and vitamins. 4. New and underutilized vaccines could avert nearly 4 million child deaths under the age of 5 by 2015. 5. Vaccines cause “herd immunity”—if a majority of people in a community have been vaccinated against a disease, an unvaccinated person is less likely to get sick because others are less likely to get sick from and spread that disease. 6. Vaccines helped reduce measles deaths globally by 78% between 2000 and 2008; in sub-Saharan Africa, deaths dropped by 92% in the same period. 7. Vaccines exist that could stop rotavirus and pneumonia, two problems that kill nearly 3 million children under 5 each year. 8. New or improved vaccines are currently being developed for HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and neglected tropical diseases. Researchers estimate that a viable malaria vaccine could be ready for children in the developing world as early as 2015. 9. Not all vaccines are given as shots; vaccines for rotavirus and polio, for instance, are given orally. 10. The GAVI Alliance has supported the immunization of more than 288 million children and as a result...
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...1997) This increase in life expectancy is due to better living conditions, better care for the sick or disabled, and breakthroughs in the pharmaceutical industry. Pharmaceutical companies have been able to aid the pursuit of longevity and health through understanding the mechanics of the human body, disease, and disease treatment and prevention. Treatment and prevention comes in the form of new drugs and consumer products which have been developed over the last century and companies in this vertical expend significant resources on the research and development of them. The main objective in the industry is to improve the quality of life for everyone. There are three main types of pharmaceutical companies: large, small, and generic. Large pharmaceutical companies are established firms that have many approved drugs already on the market. Examples would be Merck, Bayer, Johnson & Johnson, and GlaxoSmithKline. These companies often have significant numbers of Research and Development (R&D) laboratories and manufacturing plants globally. In contrast, smaller pharmaceutical companies are usually more research focused, and often do not have any drugs on the market. Smaller companies in the pharmaceutical industry can also operate as contract manufacturers or contract research firms. Lastly, generic companies, manufacture drugs that are no longer protected by patents. Generic companies are the manufacturers that produce off-brand drugs that consumers may find listed on a pharmacy’s...
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...spreading onto the rest of the body. The fluid filled blisters eventually turns into scabs as the disease progresses. A person who received the chicken pox vaccine can get the virus, but with a mild case of the symptoms such as a low grade fever and less blisters. (CDC 2011) The virus can be spread through the air as when someone who is infected cough or sneezes. The virus can also be transmitted when coming in close contact with someone that is infected. Therefore, an individual who becomes infected would be precaution towards contact, airborne and droplet protocols. A person can be contagious 1 to 2 days prior to visible signs of the virus, such as the blisters showing up. Afterwards, they will remain contagious until the blisters have formed into scabs. Complications to the virus may rise with those that have a weak immune system such as infants or people with HIV/AIDS. Others, such as pregnant woman, are also at a higher risk of complications if coming into contact with the virus. Those complications include dehydration, pneumonia, bleeding problems, infection of either the brain, in the skin, bone, and joints; inflammation of the brain, or toxic shock syndrome. Fatality from the virus can be a result from these complications. Prevention against the disease is mainly in the vaccine. Children are given two doses of the vaccine, one as an infant...
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...To analyze the efficacy of 'Nanopatch Technology' as a potential vaccine delivery system Introduction: More than 17 million people die every year from infectious diseases –most in low resource regions – and many of these lives could be saved by appropriate vaccinations. (UNDP, 1996) Whilst public and private research initiatives continue, to develop novel vaccines for many diseases, the issue of how best to formulate, package, distribute and administer these vaccines across the world remains a significant unsolved problem. Most vaccines have been delivered by the needle and syringe, however this technology has several important disadvantages including needlestick injuries, disease transmission through needle reuse, (Ekwueme et al., 2002) limited thermostability, the need for training/ expertise for administration, lack of targeting to immune rich regions of the body, and the issues of pain/phobia that result in avoidance of medical care in nearly 10% of the population. One of the ways to meet the vaccination challenges worldwide is to engineer better ways of administering vaccines in a simple and effective way to more people than is currently the case (Hickling et al., 2011). Hypodermic needles were first introduced in the 1850s and since then, intramuscular injection of vaccines has been the most popular delivery method due to its ease of administration (Mitragotri, 2005). However, this technology has several disadvantages. Firstly, muscle contains relatively few antigen presenting...
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...AIDS Introduction AIDS is growing by leaps and bounds in the United States. Millions of Americans have been affected by the virus from the ages of 25 and 45. AIDS is the fifth leading cause of death among persons between ages 25 and 44 in the United States, down from number one in 1995. To some people, AIDS is just another epidemic like the common cold and it will go away in time. The AIDS epidemic doesn’t affect everyone in society the same. AIDS is a global epidemic and has threatened the human health and development for many years. There are many ways to prevent the spread of AIDS such as abstinence, educating our youths and adults on AIDS prevention, and political support to find a cure. There are different views on the AIDS problem. One view is the Politicians who believe that people are responsible for their own sexuality; therefore, it’s their responsibility to educate themselves. Second are Christians who believe that religion acts as a deterrent to sexual activity which decreased pre-marital sex. Third are the group of Planned Parenthood and safe sex which believes that if they educate people on the use of contraceptives, it will help diminish pregnancy and the spread of AIDS. HIV and Aids in the United States by age and gender More than half a million people diagnosed with AIDS have died in the USA. Around two-thirds of these people did not live to the age of 45. In 2007, the age group 30-49 years accounted for an estimated 54% of HIV diagnoses, 63% of AIDS...
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...In 1952 HeLa cells became the first living cells shipped through the postal mail. The Tuskegee Institution opened the first HeLa factory that same year. They were a nonprofit organization that supplied cells to laboratories and researchers. Later on the company Microbiology Associates began selling HeLa cells for profit. HeLa cells have been used to conduct thousands of researches and medical discoveries. It is estimated that there has been more than 60,000 studies published using HeLa cells. In 1952, HeLa cells were used to help develop a polio vaccine. These cells were also used to test a variety of other vaccines, which have since saved millions of lives. In 1965, HeLa cells became the first cells ever...
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...2011 Maria Corriveau Final Paper 12/5/2011 2011 Maria Corriveau Final Paper 12/5/2011 Autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation for acute myeloid leukemia: an innovate technique Autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation for acute myeloid leukemia: an innovate technique Autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation for acute myeloid leukemia: an innovate technique 1. Principle of the technique Bone marrow transplantation and peripheral blood stem cell transplantation are procedures that help to restore those stem cells that have been destroyed while going through radiation and/or chemotherapy. There are different types of transplantation: autologous, syngeneic, and allogeneic. Autologous transplantation is defined as the transplantation of owns stem cells. Syngeneic transplantation is when patients received stem cells from an identical twin. Lastly, allogeneic transplantation is when patients received stem cells from a sibling, or a parent, or other individuals not related to the patient as long compatibility is present. Autologous bone marrow transplantation is a technique that was developed for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) as an alternative to allogeneic stem cell transplantation. However, this technique was not very successful. Autologous bone marrow transplantation has been associated with prolonged marrow aplasia resulting in toxicity and mortality. After the failure of this technique, researchers...
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...As we age and the population is constantly change, we the people are more effectuated to our health especially as the technology and social media are the new living standards. As the standard are chaning the, pharmaceutical companies play a significant role in promoting good health. If we are governed to obi by rules and regulation, then it necessary for the Pharmaceutical companies to live up ethical principles and corporate social responsibilities. Although, we tend to turn the blind eye there is tons of violations in pharmaceutical industry that money continues to cover up. This will lead us into a case where, Pfizer failed to keep its commitment to corporate social responsibility as one of the most successful pharmaceutical companies, the choice they made to choose to bear unethical behavior in 1996. “Given the risks and costs of developing a new drug, pharmaceutical companies will jump at oppor- tunities to reduce them, and Pfizer thought it saw one” (Hill, pg 139, 2011). The case in point is the event that Pfizer gave its novel antibiotic “Trovan” to allegedly sick children without the consent of the parents when there was a serious outbreak of meningitis in Kano Nigeria. Pfizer’s choose the risk route and chose to ignore the children’s personal safety in testing. For personal gain and envious reason, this is was a violation of commercial ethics. It is claimed that Pfizer outbreak in Nigeria in urgent need of medical treatment cases on others' insecurity...
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...Media, Medicine and American Expectations What constitutes the media? Changed over time? What constitutes medicine? Health or health culture as alternate name to describe what course encompasses? Bert Hanson – medical breakthrough = social phenomenon * How has promise of medical breakthroughs influenced: media culture and patients expectations relationship between medicine and media place of medicine in American political culture How and why does the medical community use media to communicate with public? Increasingly interdependent spheres w/ differing perspectives on vision of media’s role is in “media-ted” world What makes health “news”? Producing Medical Heroes How and why has American society selected its medical heroes? How has this changed over time? What functions do depictions of heroic doctors (Walter Reed, and House, M.D.) and patients serve? How have fictional medical characters – in novels, Hollywood films, on TV – shaped expectations of medical culture? VD, HIV, and the Media How did the media contribute to the publics perception of venereal diseases and HIV? What images (both visual, and stories told to make a point) came most powerfully to cultural prominence? What were the aims of medical and public health authorities, the state, and media professionals in working to make those images publically visible? What role did the media play in changing public’s image of HIV? Stigmatization, Destigmatization, and Medical...
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