Maryn McKenna makes a critical, yet neglected point about the recent whooping cough (pertussis) outbreaks that have been hitting California–one that emphasizes that vaccination not only protects the vaccinated, but everyone else:

Between a day job as Scary Disease Girl and a childhood spent moving between continents, I am pretty much the most vaccinated person on [...]

On T1-weighted images, epidermoids are generally slightly hyperintense or isointense relative to gray matter. The lesions are usually isointense relative to CSF on T2-weighted images, but they may be slightly hyperintense. The center of these lesions usually has an internal architecture with areas of heterogeneity. Enhancement of portions of the rim may be seen after [...]

The anopheles mosquito, Anopheles gambiae, is the primary vector for human malaria. Mosquitoes in general, the A. gambiae included, find their prey by tracking body odor exuded from the breath and skin. Apparently, the composition of body odor determines A. gambiae’s preference for one individual over another. It has been known for [...]

Source: Geron CorporationDate: July 30, 2010
Summary:
Geron Corporation announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has notified the company that the clinical hold placed on Geron’s Investigational New Drug (IND) application has been lifted and the company’s Phase I clinical trial of GRNOPC1 in patients with acute spinal cord injury may proceed.
The [...]

What may be the first investigation to actually measure the ambient levels of thirdhand smoke and compare them with levels of secondhand smoke, a new study published in the current issue of Tobacco Control reports that concentrations of particulate matter in thirdhand smoke were 100 times lower than in secondhand smoke, measured in the same [...]

Cervical Pott’s disease is unusual. Furthermore, CVJ tuberculosis has been reported to affect 0.3% to 1% of all Pott’s disease patients. This is a 9year old boy with potts spine with cranial migration of the odontoid process and retropharyngeal abscess. Note the impingement of brainstem with odontoid process.  The occipito-cervical junction, a transitional zone between [...]

I’ve been a staunch defender of the ethical use of animals in research over the years. However, one area of animal research that I’ve always thought should be held to the highest standard is primate research. If there’s one area of animal research that requires the most justification, it’s research using primates as animal models. [...]

A new study published online ahead of print in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research finds that electronic cigarettes require higher intensity puffing than conventional cigarettes and concludes that this may result in adverse health effects.
According to the study: “Except for one brand, higher vacuums were required to smoke e-cigarettes than conventional brands. Smoke/aerosol density [...]

Nancy Snyderman isn’t helping.
Don’t get me wrong. I like the fact that NBC’s Chief Medical Editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman is a staunch defender of vaccination. She’s one of the rare talking head doctors on TV who pulls no punches when going after the anti-vaccine movement, so much so that the big macher of the anti-vaccine [...]

Source: University of Hawaiʻi at MānoaDate: July 28, 2010
Summary:
Researchers at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) have discovered a gene that is essential to keeping stem cells healthy. The gene, hypoxia inducible factor 1, helps keep levels of telomerase constant. Telomerase is an enzyme that is critical [...]