Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Impacts of COVID-19 on Childhood Malnutrition & Nutrition-Related Mortality

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31647-0/fulltext?

The Lancet Journal
VOLUME 396, ISSUE 10250, P519-521, AUGUST 22, 2020

Impacts of COVID-19 on childhood malnutrition and nutrition-related mortality

Published:July 27, 2020 DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31647-0

The unprecedented global social and economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic poses grave risks to the nutritional status and survival of young children in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Of particular concern is an expected increase in child malnutrition, including wasting, due to steep declines in household incomes, changes in the availability and affordability of nutritious foods, and interruptions to health, nutrition, and social protection services.

One in ten deaths among children younger than 5 years in LMICs is attributable to severe wasting because wasted children are at increased risk of mortality from infectious diseases.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, an estimated 47 million children younger than 5 years were moderately or severely wasted, most living in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia.

The economic, food, and health systems disruptions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic are expected to continue to exacerbate all forms of malnutrition. Estimates from the International Food Policy Research Institute suggest that because of the pandemic an additional 140 million people will be thrown into living in extreme poverty on less than US$1·90 per day in 2020.
According to the World Food Programme, the number of people in LMICs facing acute food insecurity will nearly double to 265 million by the end of 2020.
Sharp declines are expected in access to child health and nutrition services, similar to those seen during the 2014–16 outbreak of Ebola virus disease in sub-Saharan Africa.

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, UNICEF estimated a 30% overall reduction in essential nutrition services coverage, reaching 75–100% in lockdown contexts, including in fragile countries where there are humanitarian crises.

The accompanying call to action on child malnutrition and COVID-19 from leaders of four UN agencies in The Lancet is an important first step for the international community. Alongside these efforts, the Standing Together for Nutrition consortium, a multidisciplinary consortium of nutrition, economics, food, and health systems researchers, is working to estimate the scale and reach of nutrition challenges related to COVID-19. These efforts link three approaches to model the combined economic and health systems impacts from COVID-19 on malnutrition and mortality: MIRAGRODEP’s macroeconomic projections of impacts on per capita gross national income (GNI); microeconomic estimates of how predicted GNI shocks impact child wasting using data on 1·26 million children from 177 Demographic Health Surveys (DHS) conducted in 52 LMICs between 1990–2018; and the Lives Saved Tool (LiST), which links country-specific health services disruptions and predicted increases in wasting to child mortality.

What do our initial analyses and estimates suggest?
First, the MIRAGRODEP projections suggest that even fairly short lockdown measures, combined with severe mobility disruptions and comparatively moderate food systems disruptions, result in most LMICs having an estimated average 7·9% (SD 2·4%) decrease in GNI per capita relative to pre-COVID-19 projections.
Second, the microeconomic model projections indicate that decreases in GNI per capita are associated with large increases in child wasting.
Our own analyses, based on these estimates applied to 118 LMICs, suggest there could be a 14·3% increase in the prevalence of moderate or severe wasting among children younger than 5 years due to COVID-19-related predicted country-specific losses in GNI per capita. We estimate this would translate to an additional estimated 6·7 million children with wasting in 2020 compared with projections for 2020 without COVID-19; an estimated 57·6% of these children are in south Asia and an estimated 21·8% in sub-Saharan Africa.

Third, when the projected increase in wasting in each country is combined with a projected year average of 25% reduction in coverage of nutrition and health services, we estimate there would be 128 605 (ranging from 111 193 to 178 510 for best and worst case scenarios) additional deaths in children younger than 5 years during 2020, with an estimated 52% of these deaths in sub-Saharan Africa. The range reflects coverage scenarios, as previously described by Roberton and colleagues, using a low of 15% and high of 50% disruption in vitamin A supplementation, treatment of severe wasting, promotion of improved young child feeding, and provision of micronutrient supplements to pregnant women.

Our projections emphasise the crucial need for the actions to protect child nutrition that are urged by the UN leaders in the accompanying Comment. These actions require rapid mobilisation of domestic and donor resources at a time when most national economies are reeling from COVID-19-related losses. In 2017, the Word Bank estimated that $7 billion per year over 10 years is needed to reach the global Sustainable Development Goal nutrition targets. These estimates need to be revised upwards to overcome COVID-19-related setbacks.

The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to increase the risk of all forms of malnutrition. The wasting-focused estimates we present here are likely to be conservative, given that the duration of this crisis is unknown, and its full impacts on food, health, and social protection systems are yet to be realised. The disruption of other health services during lockdowns will further compromise maternal and child health and mortality, and with the deepening of economic and food systems crises, other forms of malnutrition, including child stunting, micronutrient malnutrition, and maternal nutrition, are expected to increase.
Without adequate action, the profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on early life nutrition could have intergenerational consequences for child growth and development and life-long impacts on education, chronic disease risks, and overall human capital formation.

Forthcoming analyses by this consortium will examine a range of diet and nutrition outcomes in women and young children and provide consensus advice on multisectoral actions and resources needed to recover and support optimal nutrition now and into the future.

The work on this study was supported by a grant from the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF). The funders were not involved in the writing of this Comment. RH and MS report grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation unrelated to the topic of this Comment. We declare no other competing interests.
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**Comment**
Others are suffering due to the continuing over-arching actions of governments shuttering businesses and stopping life.
For more perspective:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/08/04/lockdown-deaths-not-covid-deaths/

Coronavirus restrictions will destroy seven times more years of life than lockdowns will save:  https://www.justfacts.com/news_covid-19_anxiety_lockdowns_life_destroyed_saved

Drug overdoses are skyrocketing since lockdowns were imposed:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/07/01/coronavirus-drug-overdose/

“Nationwide, federal and local officials are reporting alarming spikes in drug overdoses — a hidden epidemic within the coronavirus pandemic,” the Washington Post article reads.

Category:

Activism, Uncategorized, Viruses

FREE Webinar: Pediatric Lyme Disease, When You Least Expect It!

https://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/EventLobbyServlet?target=reg20.jsp&referrer=&eventid=2558827&sessionid=1&key=BD6279F7018D8D42845D0EE73E7101F2&regTag=&sourcepage=register  Register Here

lyme_peds_webinar_banner

Title: Pediatric Lyme Disease, When You Least Expect It!

Date: Thursday, August 27, 2020

Time: 12:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time

Duration: 1 hour

Join Quidel and Dr. Robert A. Dracker, MD, MHA, MBA, CPI, Medical Director at Summerwood Pediatrics and Infusacare Medical Services, for an informative and engaging discussion of Lyme and how it affects the pediatric patient population, especially during summer time.

Dr. Dracker served on the NYS Governor’s Council for Blood and Transfusion Services for 17 years, and was the Chairperson and member of the Hematopoietic Progenitor Cell Committee for the New York State Department of Health. He has been Chairman of the Heart, Lung and Cancer Committee for the  Medical Society of New York State from 2015 to the present date. He also serves as a board member of the Office of Professional Conduct for the New York State Department of Health. Dr. Dracker has also served as a member of the Pediatric Advisory Committee of the FDA since 2014 and was the Chairman of the committee from 2018 until June 2019.

_________________

For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/11/11/gestational-lyme-other-tick-borne-diseases-dr-jones/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/07/18/symptom-resolution-in-pediatric-patients-with-lyme-disease/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/08/12/bartonella-american-academy-of-pediatrics/

 

Category:

Lyme, Uncategorized

What You Need to Know – TN Calls for Check on “All Children”

https://parentalrights.org/what-you-need-to-know-tn-calls-for-check-on-all-children/

On August 11, the Tennessee Child Wellbeing Task Force (“Task Force”) published “a guidance document” through the Department of Education “to ensure all children are checked-in (sic) on.” The document calls on localities to mobilize their resources to “connect with each child to verify wellbeing and identify need.”

(BREAKING: While building this alert email we have also been working the phones. First we learned the Guidance Document has been removed from the Department of Education website, and we have now learned the Governor’s office is rethinking whether to put it back up. They need to hear from all Tennessee residents, and we all need to remain vigilant against similar efforts in other states who may choose to follow the example they initially set.)

The guidance document lays out the goal that “ALL Tennessee children will receive a wellbeing check” (emphasis in original, page 1), “child” being defined on page 4 as “birth through the completion of grade 12 if enrolled in school or 18 years of age. School-age children includes those who are enrolled in public schools, private schools, homebound, etc.”

The effort sounds altruistic and good. Who could be against making sure the children are okay?

But every year millions of families are caught up in child welfare investigations, an overwhelming 83% of which turn out to be false.

Why We’re Concerned

This policy guidance is not benign. It radically increases the number of innocent families unnecessarily coming to the attention of an already overloaded and ineffective child welfare system, and it will disproportionately affect the poor and minorities, as well.

It will hurt the poor because poverty is often confused with “neglect.” Nationwide in 2018 (the last year for which data is available), more than 60% of all child removals cited “neglect” as the only reason for intervention. Yet actual, willful neglect is extremely rare. The balance of those cases are families who need help, not separation.

And the policy will disproportionately harm families of color, because these already face an increased level of involvement when compared to their share of the population at large. According to federal government data gathered by the Parental Rights Foundation for 2017, African-Americans and Native Americans make up a portion of the child welfare population in Tennessee that is more than one-and-a-half times their portion of the child population in the state (1.59 and 1.51 times, respectively). Spreading a wider net will only catch more innocent families based only on the color of their skin.

The guidance document exposes a presumption by the Task Force that fit parents cannot be trusted, and that we must rely first and foremost on state and local agents to keep children safe.

This flies in the face of the legal presumption set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court in Parham v. J.R., 442 US 584 (1979), that “natural bonds of affection lead parents to act in the best interests of their children.”

So while the guidance sounds good and purports to be in the interest of children, it would use the closure of Tennessee public schools as an excuse to bring a government agent into contact with every home in the state. And every contact will involve someone trained to look for any excuse to call your family in.

Here are a few things every concerned parent needs to know:

1. The “guidance” comes from the state, but its implementation will depend on the localities, each of which will apply its own procedures. Some may be more onerous than others. Some may ignore the “guidance” completely.

2. “Contacts” listed in the guidance include surveys, emails, phone calls, virtual calls, school-based visits, or home visits. Not all localities will choose to employ home visits, but they are certainly on the list.

3. The data which the Task Force hope to gather includes a “complete roster of all children (birth through grade 12) in the city/district/county,” categorized by whether they are “enrolled in school…, homebound, children too young to attend school, [or] children not enrolled in any school.” The intended scope is not limited to local public school students.

4. Parents have a right under the Fourth Amendment “to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.” This right extends to your privacy and to your children. You do not have to answer questions or let them in.

5. The guidance itself notes that if “the guardian does not provide permission to speak with the child, then the parent, guardian, or care taker (sic) may speak on the child’s behalf.” However, if a parent declines to let the child be interviewed directly, this will be noted and included in the data to be gathered.

6. The guidance makes clear that the preference of the Task Force is for the state or local agent to speak to each child personally and even privately. While the guidance also instructs the agent to accept “No” for an answer (while taking names), the ideal is to speak to the child, as though no parent can be trusted.

This is a breaking story, and one we are watching closely for any new developments. We are concerned, too, that it could be a harbinger of things to come. As society adopts new ways of doing things, many states may look for ways like this to take advantage of the situation.

Take Action

What can you do to halt this overreach into your fundamental rights as a parent?

1. Tennessee parents should reach out to your governor, elected officials, or local school board and express your concerns about these recommendations. You can find contact information through this convenient summary page made available by HSLDA.

(Note: We have learned the Governor’s office has taken the Guidance down and is planning to revisit it before deciding whether or not to put it back up. So do be friendly with your call, but be sure they hear from you.)

2. Stay alert and alert your friends. Share this and similar news items through your email or social media accounts this week to make others aware of what is going on.

3. Give to support this and continuing efforts of ParentalRights.org to protect your parental rights by preserving the presumption that you know your child’s needs better than a state or local agent does.

ParentalRights.org is completely donor-funded. Your gifts in the past have made it possible for us to be here to sound the alarm. With your support we will continue to stand against any threats to your family and to your parental rights.

Sincerely,

Michael Ramey
Executive Director

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**Comment**

I post information from Parentalrights.org because Lyme patients and their children are often singled out and persecuted over how they handle treatment since there is polarization within the medial community on how to treat Lyme/MSIDS.

In the case of a divorce, it’s not uncommon for one spouse to make trouble for the one overseeing the children – just because they can.  This has also happened with the issue of vaccination – one parent wants them vaccinated and the other doesn’t due to pre-existing health issues that puts them at risk for vaccine injury.

The article I posted should concern all of us because it’s another perfect example of government overreach – invading peoples’ homes and creeping on children.  We already have plenty in place to report abuse should it occur but to “check in on” every school aged child is a highly subjective endeavor with each “checker” given unlimited power to take children from their homes.  This is frightening at a major level.

For more on the Parental Rights movement:

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/04/20/why-we-need-the-parental-rights-amendment/A proposed Parental Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (PRA) would provide that:

“the liberty of parents to direct the upbringing, education, and care of their children is a fundamental right.”

By setting a firm constitutional standard to protect these rights, the amendment would provide clear direction for courts, doctors, child welfare workers, and other government officials. Racial bias would diminish as fewer cases are left to the discretion of a judge or other state agent.  Another provision of the proposed Amendment would protect the rights of persons with disabilities.  The proposal states:

“The parental rights guaranteed by this article shall not be denied or abridged on account of disability.”

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/12/29/shining-the-light-on-child-services-why-we-need-the-parental-rights-amendment/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/01/08/sign-petition-to-protect-parental-rights-ama-wants-to-remove-vaccine-decisions-from-parents/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/02/21/parental-rights-in-medical-settings/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/03/05/door-opened-for-international-law-to-override-parental-rights-in-u-s/?

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/10/12/parental-rights-come-from-the-state-says-law-professor-james-dwyer/

Lyme/MSIDS patients; unfortunately, understand this phenomenon all too well.  Children infected with tick borne illness (TBI’s) are not believed and are told it’s all in their heads, https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/06/30/child-with-lymemsidspans-told-by-doctors-she-made-it-all-up/ , they are being lazy, or they just want attention.  Parents are told they have Munchausen syndrome by proxy https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/01/11/sick-shaming-of-lymemsids-patients/ and are accused of child abuse   https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/08/24/dutch-lyme-patients-accused-of-child-abuse/ .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Category:

Activism, Uncategorized

Bartonella: American Academy of Pediatrics

https://pedsinreview.aappublications.org/content/41/8/434

In Briefs

Bartonella

Beth Goodman and Patricia Whitley-Williams
Pediatrics in Review August 2020, 41 (8) 434-436; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1542/pir.2019-0198

This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.

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  1. Beth Goodman, MD*
  2. Patricia Whitley-Williams, MD†
  1. *Department of Pediatrics, Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ
  2. †Department of Pediatrics and Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Infectious Disease, Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ

  • AUTHOR DISCLOSURE

    Drs Goodman and Whitley-Williams have disclosed no financial relationships relevant to this article. This commentary does not contain a discussion of an unapproved/investigative use of a commercial product/device.

Pediatricians are often familiar with cat-scratch disease (CSD), but many are not familiar with the other manifestations of Bartonella infection. The Bartonella genus of bacteria are fastidious and slow-growing gram-negative bacilli. From 1889 to the present, 8 different Bartonella species have been identified, with differing manifestations. This In Brief reviews the illnesses caused by 3 of the more common Bartonella strains: henselae, quintana, and bacilliformis.

CSD, caused by Bartonella henselae, is the most common Bartonella infection, but it is also a “newer” manifestation. CSD was first reported clinically in 1950, yet B henselae was not identified as the etiologic agent until 1983.

In immunocompetent patients, typical (uncomplicated) CSD is characterized by regional lymphadenopathy, the most common manifestation of B henselae infection, along with a history of cat exposure. For most patients with CSD, regional lymphadenopathy is the only symptom. In approximately 30% of patients with CSD, mild systemic symptoms are also present, including low-grade fever, fatigue, and headache. A skin papule, vesicle, or pustule may be present at the presumed site of inoculation, which is often a bite or scratch from an infected cat. Regional lymphadenopathy develops approximately 1 to 2 weeks after the inoculation. The affected nodes are most frequently in the axillary, cervical, and inguinal areas, and the skin overlying the affected lymph nodes is often tender, warm, erythematous, and indurated, consistent with a bacterial lymphadenitis. Approximately 10% of affected nodes suppurate spontaneously.

Atypical (complicated) CSD is a disseminated infection that develops in 5% to 14% of immunocompetent patients and may involve almost any organ system. Ocular manifestations of B henselae occur in 5% to 10% …

(See link for article you can purchase)

___________________

**Comment**

Due to the increasing prevalence of Bartonella, I hope doctors are utilizing articles like this one and learning what to look for.

Here’s 18 pediatric cases of Bartonella in a singular Hawaiian facility:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/06/20/disseminated-cat-scratch-disease-in-pediatric-patients-in-hawaii/

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 adolescent had sudden onset schizophrenia caused by Bartonella:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/03/21/bartonella-sudden-onset-adolescent-schizophrenia-a-case-study/

For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/07/16/5-questions-to-discuss-with-your-physician-when-bartonellosis-is-suspected/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/01/03/bartonella-treatment/

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

 

 

 

 

 

Category:

Bartonella, Uncategorized

Ticks Climb the Mountains: Ixodes Tick Infestation and Infection by Tick-Borne Pathogens

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32723635/

. 2020 Sep;11(5):101489.

doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2020.101489.Epub 2020 Jun 8.

Ticks climb the mountains: Ixodid tick infestation and infection by tick-borne pathogens in the Western Alps

Aitor Garcia-Vozmediano 1, Aleksandra Iwona Krawczyk 2, Hein Sprong 3, Luca Rossi 4, Elisa Ramassa 5, Laura Tomassone 6

Abstract

In mountain areas of northwestern Italy, ticks were rarely collected in the past. In recent years, a marked increase in tick abundance has been observed in several Alpine valleys, together with more frequent reports of Lyme borreliosis. We then carried out a four-year study to assess the distribution and abundance of ticks and transmitted pathogens and determine their altitudinal limit in a natural park area in Piedmont region.

  • Ixodes ricinus (castor bean tick) and Dermacentor marginatus (ornate sheep tick) were collected from both the vegetation and hunted wild ungulates.
  • Tick abundance was significantly associated with altitude, habitat type and signs of animal presence, roe deer’s in particular.
  • Ixodes ricinus prevailed in distribution and abundance and, although their numbers decreased with increasing altitude, we recorded the presence of all active life stages of up to around 1700 m a.s.l., with conifers as the second most infested habitat after deciduous woods.
  • Molecular analyses demonstrated the infection of questing I. ricinus nymphs with B. burgdorferi sensu lato (15.5 %), Rickettsia helvetica and R. monacensis (20.7%), Anaplasma phagocytophilum (1.9 %), Borrelia miyamotoi (0.5 %) and Neoehrlichia mikurensis (0.5 %).
  • One third of the questing D. marginatus were infected with R. slovaca.
  • We observed a spatial aggregation of study sites infested by B. burgdorferi s.l. infected ticks below 1400 m. Borrelia-infected nymphs prevailed in open areas, while SFG rickettsiae prevalence was higher in coniferous and deciduous woods.
  • Interestingly, prevalence of SFG rickettsiae in ticks doubled above 1400 m, and R. helvetica was the only pathogen detected above 1800 m a.s.l.
  • Tick infestation on hunted wild ungulates indicated the persistence of tick activity during winter months and, when compared to past studies, confirmed the recent spread of I. ricinus in the area.

Our study provides new insights into the population dynamics of ticks in the Alps and confirms a further expansion of ticks to higher altitudes in Europe. We underline the importance of adopting a multidisciplinary approach in order to develop effective strategies for the surveillance of tick-borne diseases, and inform the public about the hazard posed by ticks, especially in recently invaded areas.

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**Comment**

Not that ticks can’t climb mountains – but migrating birds probably dropped them there:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/11/07/ticks-on-the-move-due-to-migrating-birds-and-photoperiod-not-climate-change/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/03/09/danish-study-shows-migrating-birds-are-spreading-ticks-their-pathogens-including-places-without-sustainable-tick-populations/

Regarding R. slovaca:

We also identified a case of R. slovaca infection in southern Rhineland-Palatinate. The patient reported a tick bite; the tick was identified as Dermacentor spp. Fever, lymphadenopathy of submandibular lymph nodes, and exanthema at the site of the tick bite developed 7 days later. Serologic examinations by using an immunofluorescent test (Focus Diagnostics, Cypress, CA, USA) showed antibody titers of 64 for immunoglobulin (Ig) M and 1,024 for IgG against rickettsiae of the spotted fever group. These results indicated an acute rickettsial infection. Because of strong cross-reactivity among all species in the spotted fever group, we cannot differentiate between antibodies against R. slovaca and other species in this group.  https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/15/12/09-0843_article

 

 

 

Category:

Anaplasmosis, Borrelia Miyamotoi (Relapsing Fever Group), Ehrlichiosis, Lyme, research, Rickettsia, Uncategorized