Arquivo para a ‘Recursos comuns’ Categoria
The resilient pandemic and the possible future
05
Sep
The Covid 19 pandemic continues in declines followed by
stability, as in Brazil in the last week, around 120 deaths and 10,000 known cases of virus infection.
Last week we highlighted the alert of several scientists that the next pandemic could be that of fungi, one of the biggest reports on this subject, which collects data, cases and several researchers in many countries, was published on August 6 by National Geographic.
It begins with a case of a 48-year-old smoker who went to Johns Hopkins Medicine hospital in Maryland (USA) where infectious disease specialist Shmauel Shoham, while investigating a possibility of cancer, detected a common Aspergillus fungus in the infection.
Then he cites India, where at a certain moment of Covid 19 a large number of invasive and quite deadly fungal infections, with a black mold caused a violent wave of deaths, which was reported worldwide, there is also the case of Candida auris, infection virulent fungus that transmits through the blood and came out of nowhere, as are fungi that depend on other organisms and infections for food.
According to the magazine of the five million species of existing fungi, only 120 thousand are known and studied, and of these only a few hundred can harm human beings.
With fungicides used in extensive agriculture, mortality rates from invasive fungal infections are estimated to grow by up to 50%, which translates, according to the magazine, to up to 1.6 million deaths and $7.2 million of medical costs per year, and given the challenge of accurate diagnoses is certainly an underestimated number.
Experts caution is the ability of fungi to evolve into microbes with increasing selective pressures that force them to adapt and a growing population of susceptible humans.
The fungi primarily attack agricultural production, but the liberal use of the medicinal equivalent for humans also poses unintended threats, warn experts in the report.
The report ends by stating that the threat of fungal pathogens has historically been underestimated and calls for greater study and preventive control in the area.
Reference:
Humans are not prepared for a pandemic caused by fungal infections (nationalgeographic.com)
Libraries and Wars
31
Aug
In the 1950s, shortly after the Second World War, the Brazilian
documentation magazine translated and published an article by Carl Hastings Milan on the Wars and the loss of documents and libraries.
He had been director of the Birmingham Public Library, where he opened the first branch of services for African American authors and readers, the article is available online and shows a face of the war for libraries in reference to the previous post we made on this blog.
The transcriptions into Portuguese were made by Sylvio do Valle Amaral and the original article follows the war in September 1944, published in The Annals of The American Academy of Political and Social Science in Philadelphia.
The article begins by indicating the interruption and discontinuity of journals and publications during wartime, in addition to the material loss and lack of exchange of many documents.
The author emphasizes this loss where: “London publishers and booksellers lost millions of volumes in 1940-41. Several famous British scholarly libraries, and dozens of public ones, were damaged or destroyed. Several European countries, Russia, China, in addition to the Philippines, have suffered or are now experiencing a similar fate, but the saddest is yet to come” (MILAN, 1950, p. 50).
In advance many works were taken or hidden from German libraries, but the destruction and looting represent a cultural attack according to the “infamous” author who was credited to Hitler, it is important to look at this for history so that it does not repeat itself now.
Among the author’s denunciations is that also in the defeat: “Newspapers recently reported the burning of books in Naples, before the withdrawal of the Nazi army” (idem, p. 50), and thus a part of history is erased, regardless of of what those documents represent, they are an important cultural testimony of a time, which, because it is outdated, is subject to criticism, but there is no right to erase it, they are cultural documents.
It reestablishes the role of libraries, now also in crisis due to a distorted view of digital technology that we also post here, but the author says for that time: “Basic to the reestablishment of intellectual activity throughout the universe, is the reorganization of libraries” and ignoring this is a crime against the cultural preservation and memory of the people.
After emphasizing cooperation and support for libraries in Latin America and elsewhere, countries discuss the training of librarians:
“Despite the common recognition, in the United States and abroad, of the imperfections of our methods in preparing young men and women for library work, a surprisingly large number of students from abroad come to this country at normal times to obtain what schools of this specialty can offer” (MILAN, 1950, p. 53)
Milan, C. H. As bibliotecas, os intelectuais e a Guerra, trad. Sylvio do Valle Amaral. Rio de Janeiro: REVISTA DO SERVIÇO PUBLICO, AGOSTO DE 1950 (original in 1944).
Residual Covid and absence of protocols
15
Aug
Covid remains low but stable with a moving average of deaths
above 200, and registering in the last few days close to 300 daily deaths, the number of cases is slowly decreasing, around the 30 thousand known cases daily.
The protocols continue to treat it as a common disease, with very little care, in some environments, with most environments, even poorly ventilated, poorly supervised.
Reports and protocols are published only as a bureaucratic duty, in practice they are rarely observed, it is at the personal discretion or of some zealous sanitary or administrative official.
The World Average of cases was last week at 899,983 out of 770,230, showing that also worldwide there is a certain “stability”, but considering the low numbers is ignoring the possibility of new cases and variants appearing.
The number of cases and deaths worldwide, can be observed as a weaker fifth wave and with a tendency to fall, but looking at the moving average numbers of deaths around 200 thousand is worrying and should still be under strong protocol care.
The WHO emergency committee for the Pandemic has been issuing notes since the beginning of July maintaining the state of Public Health Emergency of Internal Interest, noting the growth of infection rates in some countries and warning for the maintenance of vaccination. .
In a July note, the Committee expressed: “concern about sharp reductions in testing, resulting in reduced surveillance coverage and quality, in addition to fewer genomic sequences being submitted to open access platforms. This impedes assessments of current and emerging variants of the virus and is translating into less ability to interpret trends in transmission and to adjust public health measures.”
Local governments however do not seem to be alert to the level that the WHO asks.
Covid 19 from the networks point of view
08
Aug
Social networks imply a relationship with their closest neighbors
that are considered as vertices of the networks, and the propagation of the virus is seen as the possibility of a node of the network transmitting to another, as the theory of small worlds (small words) states that each person (each node) is separated from the other, by just six steps of separation, transmission is evident.
Whatever the strategy, testing should always be present, but the cost makes many not adopt this protocol, not knowing who is infected and how to prevent and isolate the virus.
The strategy of isolating environments is not efficient, although keeping environments open and ventilated is a good protocol, in closed environments it does not mean that the viruses are more in certain environments, of course except for the contaminated treatment environments where it is evident that the virus is present. , the Japanese strategy is to hospitalize only serious cases.
Thus, several strategies adopted can be more or less effective, the Chinese is the most obvious, which is zero tolerance, the lockdown, if everyone is isolated there is no transmission, but the Japanese is one of the smartest, and the numbers prove, that is to identify the nodes most susceptible to the contagion of serious cases, so the risk groups are the most monitored and tested there.
According to Japanese infectious disease specialist Sachio Miura, from the Nagasaki University School of Medicine, those with mild symptoms are advised to treat at home, thus avoiding a rush to hospitals, where overcrowding of patients becomes a breeding ground, which in the theory of networks would be called hubs, from which networks proliferate and transmit in smaller steps.
The different health bodies always have specialists in diseases, but the protocol strategy must be thought of globally (in a network), the number of cases and deaths has dropped only because the virus is less lethal, but lethality could be avoided with smart strategies.
International Day of Friendship
30
Jul
The date of International Friendship Day was established by the
UN to remember solidarity between peoples, respect for diversity and I make a special repost of content from this blog in this regard:
The philosopher Plato defined friendship as “the reciprocal predisposition that makes
two beings equally jealous of each other’s happiness”, Augustine of Hippo affirmed that “being a friend merges us in the friendship of being; friends are one soul” and Aristotle seems to merge the two thoughts: “friendship is a soul with two bodies”.
It was Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics dedicated two books to the study of philia and friendship, who defined friendship in three types: for interest, that for pleasure, for interest and true friendship, the first is easy to identify because it is the pursuit of mutual pleasure, the second because they are useful to each other, and the third, it is possible between good men because they desire good for its own sake and do not place pleasure or interest above friendship.
In chapter IXI the Peripatetic philosopher states:
“Perhaps we can say that there is nothing strange about breaking a friendship based on interest or pleasure when our friends no longer possess the attributes of being useful and pleasant; in fact we were friends with those attributes, and when they disappear it is reasonable not to continue in love. ” (Aristotle, IX, 3, 1165b) .
In the chapter “The partner and the neighbor” of the book “History and Truth” by Paul Ricoeur he will talk about the difference between these relationships, he talks about charity: “Charity doesn’t need to be where it appears; it is also hidden in the humble and abstract post office, the social security; it is often the hidden part of the social”, Paul Ricoeur, Le socius et le Prochain (1954).
We are reminded by the philosopher that just as institutions can only have corporate relationships, they can also have interpersonal relationships, of affection and solidarity and that make them less cold and less bureaucratic, where one sees not a client or a service more, but a neighbor in which one may be interested.
It is not by chance that it is a chapter of History and Truth, because the truth is only established between true and close friends, and if they are partners, it will only be to be closer.
The Twinkl website referenced this post in function of this date, thanks for the reminder.
War and famine
26
Jul
War is not just a dispute over markets and measuring “ideals”,
it is above all an atrocity on a scale, if murder is reprehensible why wouldn’t it be a war? during the Serbia/Bosnia war I asked a Serbian activist why she wanted to destroy Bosnia, she told me that they were historical factors that would be difficult to explain, but she said that her country was a “victim” of bombings that had no justification.
Such is hatred, intolerance and the absence of dialogue, often concealed with docile words to win public opinion, but every war has as its principle some atrocity, some unjustifiable hatred and some cultural intolerance (it can be of many types), not there is no other way to go back other than repentance (on both sides of course) and acknowledging that they chose the worst way, of course, and then sitting down at the table.
One of the consequences, already inevitable, even if there is an agreement for Ukraine’s grain exports, will be the lack of grains on the world market, as shown in the chart above, the country at war is responsible for 42% of sunflower oil in global exports. , 16% of corn, 10% of barley and 9% of wheat (2019 data, see graph) as Russia exports fertilizer and gas to Europe.
There was an agreement mediated by Turkey, but due to the war it is a fact that part of the production was lost and the price of food has already risen worldwide, the current crop will be exported, but little or nothing can be said about future crops, good part of the population left Ukraine, including in rural areas.
It is difficult for a process of regression, apparently throughout the world the confrontation and cultural and social hatred has spread, even among those who should proclaim peace.
Last week we explained the importance of friendship and empathy between men for a true spirituality, which can help civilization in this difficult process.
There is only one way, to change the climate of empathy, peace and solidarity among people, so that politicians and leaders who grow up around hatred may lose ground.
Covid in decline and WHO shifts focus
25
Jul
With the number of deaths above 200 in Brazil, Covid is still a
concern, since the number of cases has dropped below 50 thousand ‘which shows a downward trend, but care protocols and care with protocols are still necessary. .
The World Health Organization (WHO) in a document released this Friday (22/07) announced that a new global strategy to increase vaccine coverage against Covid-19, especially among the most vulnerable populations with comorbidities and advanced age, where aims to reach 100% vaccinated.
The strategy is correct because as the virus circulates, new variants may appear, and as it is very difficult to reach 100% of the population or to lockdown, it is an effective strategy.
Monkey smallpox represents a new concern, the number of cases is growing worldwide, and in Brazil there are already more than 600 cases, now with internal transmission, but the number of cases is increasing worldwide.
Transmission can occur either through close contact with injuries or through bodily fluids, respiratory droplets and contaminated materials such as personal clothes and bedding, and according to health agencies, , between human beings in physical contact between close people who are symptomatic.
Precautions therefore must be to avoid contact with contaminated materials and close people who show symptoms.
Covid on the rise and missing protocols
27
Jun
Although the rhetoric is about the use of masks, distancing
and sanitizing alcohol gel, the ideal would be a serious policy of testing, in practice, the number of cases increases and there is no control.
The moving average of cases in Brazil is already the highest since March 11 when it recorded 46,895, now it stands at 46,137 with a daily total of 69,231, and with the number of deaths at 347, data from the 23rd because weekend data usually be incomplete, and we have also posted that the likely number is likely to be higher due to tests done in pharmacies and asymptomatic.
The number of deaths, with a variation of 8% in relation to 14 days ago, indicates a trend of stability, in total this indicates that despite the number of cases increasing the lethality is decreasing in percentage, so there is no increase in the lethality of the disease. current active strain.
The outlook is for milder weather until mid-July when a cold wave returns, it may indicate a less infectious period, if the trend continues at the end of July there may be a new high in the current wave, waiting for the new strains are no longer lethal.
According to the newsletter of the Fiocruz Genomic Network (Brazil), the BA.2 variant of the omicron is the dominant one with 63.3% of the samples between June 3 and 16 in Brazil, while the XQ variable (XAG*) appeared in 79 samples, which indicates already a mutation in progress.
The variant XQ was renamed XAG according to the revisions of the Pangolin lineage classification system, in the world there are about 100 lineages of the Omicron BA type.
According to the researchers, cases of reinfection by Sars CoV-2 occur frequently, due to the circulation of variants of concern (VOCs) and so care and protocols must be maintained, not just in rhetoric or on paper only.
Between the clearing and the dark
07
Jun
There must be effective forces fighting for peace, unfortunately a good
part of the western media is polarized and is incapable of making a sensible reflection on the horrors and folly of war, not because of ignorance of its effects, the two wars have already shown, but because of of childish and fanatical behavior on both sides.
The threat of closing embassies in Russia, the missiles already fired in North Korea, the war that is increasingly bloody in Ukraine, with heavier and more lethal weapons, is heightened by the media that goes Between the clearing and the dark
About embassies, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a joke (in bad taste in my view) of dedicating the song “We are Never Ever Getting Back Together”, by Taylor Swift, to Putin, meaning that they will never be completely separated. .
It is clear that Russia has turned to Eastern Europe and dreams of an enlarged Russian federation, while China has never stopped dreaming of Taiwan’s recovery, and North Korea can be another piece in this war that advances with “care” , but it seems to have a dark purpose.
The clearing, in the context in which it was developed by Heidegger, means an opening in the middle of the forest, in the middle of the darkness, where being must emerge, and what is appropriate for modernity is also appropriate for a moment of a world war seen in a horizon, because it is opposed to beings, economic, social and even political materialities, thus appears Being, life and its logic, its “lebenswelt”, as Husserl would say.
There is a shadow, or a darkness that runs through the minds of humanity, war does not seem to be what it is: a serious civilizational danger, the end of arguments and dialogues, the denial of the Other as a Being, of its culture and its options and convictions, and this is darkness.
The biblical reading says: if the salt becomes tasteless, with what will we salt it? It will be of no use to anything else, but to be thrown away and trampled underfoot by men (Mt 5:13), there must be light and wisdom.
Peace is always possible and desirable if we have tolerance and understanding with the Other.
Covid in global fall and new disease
23
May
The WHO announced a worldwide drop of 21% in world infections,
in Brazil it remains at a slight increase and is already worrying, but the biggest health concern is the emergence of monkeypox.
In the case of Covid 19 in Brazil, hygienic care and disease protocols are still needed.
The endemic started in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in 2016, there were also cases in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Central African Republic and Nigeria, which suffered the biggest recent outbreak, data indicate that a recent increase in incidence was the interruption of vaccination against the disease. smallpox in 1980, and now cases have appeared in Europe, with local infections and the first cases in the US.
A 26-year-old Brazilian who passed through Portugal and Spain, countries that already have several cases of infections, was diagnosed in Germany, is isolated in a clinic and has mild symptoms.
Clinical differentiation between monkeypox and smallpox and chickenpox (a hepervirus and not a pox virus) is difficult as medical reports, PCR (polymerase chain reaction) examination or electron microscopy are necessary to detect the infection, there is no safe treatment , however, the disease is not lethal, its rapid expansion in Europe is already a global health concern.
The treatment indicated is that of simian smallpox, supportive, data from cases in Africa indicate that the smallpox vaccine is effective in 85% of cases as the disease is linked to the smallpox virus.
The image posted above is courtesy of the Public Health Image Library of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (PHIL), American Prevention Center Image Library.
