Archive for the ‘research’ Category

Disseminated Cat Scratch Disease in Pediatric Patients in Hawaii

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7260883/

. 2020 May 1; 79(5 Suppl 1): 64–70.
PMCID: PMC7260883
PMID: 32490388

Disseminated Cat Scratch Disease in Pediatric Patients in Hawaii

Scarlett Carmen Johnson, MD, Jessica Kosut, MD, and Natascha Ching, MD

Abstract

Cat scratch disease is known to be a generally benign, self-resolving illness associated with non-specific symptoms, including lymphadenopathy, fever, fatigue, anorexia, and headaches. However, it can also cause disseminated disease with a wide range of manifestations, including liver and spleen microabscesses, osteomyelitis, encephalitis, and uveitis.

Eighteen pediatric cases of disseminated cat scratch disease at a single center in Hawaii are described. This case series emphasizes the importance of disease recognition and use of appropriate diagnostic tools and disease management. The disease burden of pediatric patients with disseminated cat scratch disease in the state of Hawaii has a high incidence and should be considered in pediatric patients with prolonged febrile illnesses.

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**Comment**

This is important because few doctors will consider Bartonella in pediatric patients.  Like the article states, most doctors consider Bartonella to be a benign, self-resolving disease when nothing could be further from the truth.  In fact, I’d go as far to say it can be as bad as Lyme if not worse.  It’s very tenacious.

For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/category/bartonella-treatment/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/04/24/human-bartonellosis-an-underappreciated-public-health-problem/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/11/14/bartonella-vs-borrelia-key-differences-you-should-know/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/02/06/uh-study-shows-hawaii-kids-more-vulnerable-to-bartonella/  University of Hawaii study shows Hawaii keiki are more than three times more likely to get severe forms of cat scratch disease than mainland kids.

This is an interesting finding.  I wouldn’t blame only cats. Bartonella can be transmitted from many, many things:

Mode of Transmission: Arthropod vectors including fleas and flea feces, biting flies such as sand flies and horn flies, the human body louse, mosquitoes, and ticks; through bites and scratches of reservoir hosts; and potentially from needles and syringes in the drug addicted. Needle stick transmission to veterinarians has been reported. There is documentation that cats have received it through blood transfusion. 3.2% of blood donors in Brazil were found to carry Bartonella in their blood. Bartonella DNA has been found in dust mites. Those with arthropod exposure have an increased risk, as well as those working and living with pets that have arthropod exposure. 28% of veterinarians tested positively for Bartonella compared with 0% of controls. About half of all cats may be infected with Bartonella – as high as 80% in feral cats and near 40% of domestic cats. In various studies dogs have close to a 50% rate as well. Evidence now suggests it may be transmitted congenitally from mother to child – potentially leading to birth defects.

**On a personal note**

If my husband and I have symptoms – they are typically Bartonella symptoms. After years of treatment, we both use Berberine, which has served as a wonderful maintenance treatment for both of us:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/05/05/good-news-for-bartonella-patients-identification-of-fda-approved-drugs-with-higher-activity-than-current-front-line-drugs/

 

Category:

Bartonella, research, Treatment

Fifty-Four Scientist Have Lost Their Jobs As a Result of NIH Probe Into Foreign Ties

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/06/fifty-four-scientists-have-lost-their-jobs-result-nih-probe-foreign-ties

The National Institutes of Health has been investigating grantees suspected of not disclosing their links to foreign institutions, notably in China.

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH

Fifty-four scientists have lost their jobs as a result of NIH probe into foreign ties

By Jeffrey Mervis

Some 54 scientists have resigned or been fired as a result of an ongoing investigation by the National Institutes of Health into the failure of NIH grantees to disclose financial ties to foreign governments.

In 93% of those cases, the hidden funding came from a Chinese institution.

The new numbers come from Michael Lauer, NIH’s head of extramural research. Lauer had previously provided some information on the scope of NIH’s investigation, which had targeted 189 scientists at 87 institutions. But his presentation today to a senior advisory panel offered by far the most detailed breakout of an effort NIH launched in August 2018that has roiled the U.S. biomedical community, and resulted in criminal charges against some prominent researchers, including Charles Lieber, chair of Harvard University’s department of chemistry and chemical biology.

“It’s not what we had hoped, and it’s not a fun task,” NIH Director Francis Collins said in characterizing the ongoing investigation. He called the data “sobering.”

(See link for article)

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**Comment**

  • There are 399 scientists “of possible concern” to NIH
  • The FBI has fingered 30% of them
  • An additional 44 have been flagged by their own institutions and of these, 63% came out “positive”, 19% negative, and 18% pending
  • 70% (133) of the researchers had failed to disclose to NIH the receipt of a foreign grant
  • 54% had failed to disclose participation in a foreign talent program
  • 9% hid ties to a foreign company
  • 5% of cases involved a violation of NIH’s peer-review system
  • 4% had an undisclosed foreign patent

For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/03/28/espionage-trade-theft-3-charged-in-china-related-cases-21-vials-stolen-nearly-smuggled-out-of-the-u-s-to-china/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/04/26/sars-cov2-biological-weapon-update-with-professor-boyle-another-must-see-video-showing-fauci-behind-funding-china-to-do-covid-19-research/  This article also discusses Charles Liebner and his expertise in nanotechnology and the possible connection to COVID-19.

Excerpt:

So, it’s SARS, which is genetically engineered biowarfare agentto begin with. Second, it has gain-of-function properties, which makes it more lethal, more infectious. It has HIV in there. That was confirmed by an Indian scientist … and it looks like nanotechnology [has been used] … An MIT scientist who did a study found that it traveled 27 feet through the air. And that, I guess, was in lab conditions.

Category:

Activism, research

Heparin As A Therapy For COVID-19: Current Evidence and Future Possibilities

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32519894/

. 2020 Jun 10.

doi: 10.1152/ajplung.00199.2020.Online ahead of print.

Heparin as a Therapy for COVID-19: Current Evidence and Future Possibilities

Joseph Alan Hippensteel 1, Wells B LaRiviere 2, James F Colbert 1, Christophe J Langouët-Astrié 1, Eric P Schmidt 1
Affiliations expand

Abstract

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), the clinical syndrome associated with infection by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has impacted nearly every country in the world. Despite an unprecedented focus of scientific investigation, there is a paucity of evidence-based pharmacotherapies against this disease. Due to this lack of data-driven treatment strategies, broad variations in practice patterns have emerged. Observed hypercoagulability in COVID-19 patients has created debate within the critical care community on the therapeutic utility of heparin. We seek to provide an overview of the data supporting the therapeutic use of heparin, both unfractionated and low molecular weight, as an anticoagulant for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Additionally, we review preclinical evidence establishing biological plausibility for heparin and synthetic heparin-like drugs as therapies for COVID-19 through anti-viral and anti-inflammatory effects. Finally, we discuss known adverse effects and theoretical off-target effects that may temper enthusiasm for the adoption of heparin as a therapy in COVID-19 without confirmatory prospective randomized controlled trials. Despite previous failures of anticoagulants in critical illness, plausibility of heparin for COVID-19 is sufficiently robust to justify urgent randomized controlled trials to determine the safety and effectiveness of this therapy.

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**Comment**

Heparin has also been used successfully for Lyme/MSIDS in many patients.  While not curative, it does help many symptoms for those who suddenly find they have hyper coagulation.  My husband used it and it made a huge difference.  He has since successfully switched to

Interestingly, heparin used prophylactically has prevented Lyme in vitro:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/02/05/non-anticoagulant-heparin-as-a-pre-exposure-prophylaxis-prevents-lyme-disease-infection/

Excerpt:

The drug heparin is structurally similar to these GAGs and inhibits Bbsl attachment to PGs, GAGs, cells, and tissues, suggesting its potential to prevent LD. However, the anticoagulant activity of heparin often results in hemorrhage, hampering the development of this compound as LD PrEP.

 

 

 

 

Category:

research, Treatment, Viruses

All-Cause Mortality During COVID-19: No Plague & A Likely Signature of Mass Homicide by Government Response

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341832637_All-cause_mortality_during_COVID-19_No_plague_and_a_likely_signature_of_mass_homicide_by_government_response

All-cause mortality during COVID-19: No plague and a likely signature of mass homicide by government response

Technical Report (PDF Available) · June 2020 with 12,644 Reads

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.24350.77125
D. G. Rancourt

Ontario Civil Liberties Association

Abstract
The latest data of all-cause mortality by week does not show a winter-burden mortality that is statistically larger than for past winters. There was no plague. However, a sharp “COVID peak” is present in the data, for several jurisdictions in Europe and the USA. This all-cause-mortality “COVID peak” has unique characteristics:
  • Its sharpness, with a full-width at half-maximum of only approximately 4 weeks
  • Its lateness in the infectious-season cycle, surging after week-11 of 2020, which is unprecedented for any large sharp-peak feature;
  • The synchronicity of the onset of its surge, across continents, and immediately following the WHO declaration of the pandemic
  • Its USA state-to-state absence or presence for the same viral ecology on the same territory, being correlated with nursing home events and government actions rather than any known viral strain discernment.

These “COVID peak” characteristics, and a review of the epidemiological history, and of relevant knowledge about viral respiratory diseases, lead me to postulate that the “COVID peak” results from an accelerated mass homicide of immune-vulnerable individuals, and individuals made more immune-vulnerable, by government and institutional actions, rather than being an epidemiological signature of a novel virus, irrespective of the degree to which the virus is novel from the perspective of viral speciation.

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For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/04/14/wuhan-lab-got-3-7-million-from-u-s-government/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/04/26/sars-cov2-biological-weapon-update-with-professor-boyle-another-must-see-video-showing-fauci-behind-funding-china-to-do-covid-19-research/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/06/11/nobel-prize-winner-on-the-coronavirus/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/05/14/bioweapon-labs-must-be-shut-down-scientists-prosecuted/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/05/20/cdc-crimes-possible-sherman-provisions-clayton-acts-violated/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/05/21/redfield-birx-can-they-be-trusted-with-covid/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/05/12/shedding-light-on-the-dishonorable-record-of-dr-fauci-a-real-mengele/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/05/08/time-to-fire-dr-fauci-and-dr-tam/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/04/02/coronavirus-if-they-lied-then-why-wouldnt-they-lie-now/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/04/03/cdc-centers-for-damaged-credibility/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/04/16/israeli-study-reveals-covid19-lockdown-was-pointless/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/06/03/testing-for-covid-19-neither-necessary-nor-effective-covid-19-on-its-way-out/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/06/15/new-research-shows-majority-may-already-have-resistance-to-covid-19/

Category:

research, Viruses

Co-infections Among COVID-19 Patients: The Need for Combination Therapy With Non-Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Agents?

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1684118220301274

Co-infections among patients with COVID-19: The need for combination therapy with non-anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents?

Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Abstract

Co-infection has been reported in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome, but there is limited knowledge on co-infection among patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The prevalence of co-infection was variable among COVID-19 patients in different studies, however, it could be up to 50% among non-survivors. Co-pathogens included bacteria, such as

  • Streptococcus pneumoniae
  • Staphylococcus aureus
  • Klebsiella pneumoniae
  • Mycoplasma pneumoniae
  • Chlamydia pneumonia
  • Legionella pneumophila
  • Acinetobacter baumannii
  • Candida species
  • Aspergillus flavus
  • viruses such as influenza, coronavirus, rhinovirus/enterovirus, parainfluenza, metapneumovirus, influenza B virus, and human immunodeficiency virus

Influenza A was one of the most common co-infective viruses, which may have caused initial false-negative results of real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

Laboratory and imaging findings alone cannot help distinguish co-infection from SARS-CoV-2 infection. Newly developed syndromic multiplex panels that incorporate SARS-CoV-2 may facilitate the early detection of co-infection among COVID-19 patients. By contrast, clinicians cannot rule out SARS-CoV-2 infection by ruling in other respiratory pathogens through old syndromic multiplex panels at this stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, clinicians must have a high index of suspicion for coinfection among COVID-19 patients. Clinicians can neither rule out other co-infections caused by respiratory pathogens by diagnosing SARS-CoV-2 infection nor rule out COVID-19 by detection of non-SARS-CoV-2 respiratory pathogens.

After recognizing the possible pathogens causing co-infection among COVID-19 patients, appropriate antimicrobial agents can be recommended.

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**Comment**

This would explain why COVID-19 does not resemble a simple virus, just as Lyme disease doesn’t present identically from individual to individual. Lyme/MSIDS is also best treated with combination therapy; however, most regular practitioners follow the antiquated and unscientific CDC treatment guidelines which haven’t worked for over 40 years (which in a nutshell is 21 days of doxycycline for all despite body weight and coinfections).

With each day there seems to be more and more similarities to Lyme/MSIDS in that cases are complex and individual. Medicine needs to acknowledge and embrace this complexity:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/04/26/cdc-playbook-learning-from-lyme/

This also explains why things like antibiotics and anti-parasitics work.  The pathogen list did not include tick-borne pathogens but should, as undoubtedly many of these people could very well have undiagnosed infections that COVID-19, much like vaccines, can reactivate latent infections: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/12/02/scottish-doctor-gives-insight-on-lyme-msids/

Category:

Candida, Mycoplasma, research, Treatment, Viruses