from the should-also-check-the-topless-beaches dept.
New study details from http://www.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-rio-superbacteria-exclusive-idUSKCN0YW2E8 "Exclusive: Studies find 'super bacteria' in Rio's Olympic venues, top beaches":
"Scientists have found dangerous drug-resistant "super bacteria" off beaches in Rio de Janeiro that will host Olympic swimming events and in a lagoon where rowing and canoe athletes will compete when the Games start on Aug. 5.
The findings from two unpublished academic studies seen by Reuters concern Rio's most popular spots for tourists and greatly increase the areas known to be infected by the microbes normally found only in hospitals."
[...] The super bacteria can cause hard-to-treat urinary, gastrointestinal, pulmonary and bloodstream infections, along with meningitis. The CDC says studies show that these bacteria contribute to death in up to half of patients infected.
[...] Waste from countless hospitals, in addition to hundreds of thousands of households, pours into storm drains, rivers and streams crisscrossing Rio, allowing the super bacteria to spread outside the city's hospitals in recent years.
[...] These bacteria are opportunistic microbes that can enter the body, lie dormant, then attack at a later date when a healthy person may fall ill for another reason.
[...] Super bacteria infect not only humans but also otherwise-harmless bacteria present in the waters, turning them into antibiotic-resistant germs.
The Zika thing seems bad, but this sounds imminently deadly to athletes and provides the potential for the Olympics to rapidly spread these infectious super-bugs around the world.
I don't like being 'alarmist', but this appears to be a likely, credible threat to world health. How logical is it to be concerned about this? Are Soylents aware of any good, practical way for participants and attendees to the Olympics in Brazil to reduce the risk of exposure and infection and then spreading this? Are you planning on attending?
Other Soylent discussion on Zika / Olympics:
- Why Concerns for Global Spread of Zika Means Rio de Janeiro's 2016 Olympics Must Not Proceed"
- Maybe "It's Not the Zika Virus".
Related Stories
The Zika Virus is triggering all sorts of fear in much of the warmer areas of south and central America, and recently spreading to the US via semen of a man who visited the area. (There are only 31 cases of the virus being found in the US to-date, all from travelers.)
The fear is caused by linkage to microcephaly birth defects, but so far the science behind that linkage is unproven.
The World Health Organization is becoming alarmed:
"The level of concern is high, as is the level of uncertainty," WHO’s director general Dr. Margaret Chan said. "We need to get some answers quickly."
Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare autoimmune disorder that can lead to life-threatening paralysis also seems to be linked with the Zika.
But this isn't the first outbreak of the Zika virus. Its been around for decades. And prior outbreaks did not exhibit any linkage to Microcephaly or Guillain-Barre.
[Continues.]
The Harvard Public Health Review has posted a "Special Commentary on the Zika Virus and Public Health Concerns." Amir Attaran, DPhil, LLB, MS. Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa has submitted a thought-provoking article, Off the Podium: Why Public Health Concerns for Global Spread of Zika Virus Means That Rio de Janeiro's 2016 Olympic Games Must Not Proceed.
Brazil's Zika problem is inconveniently not ending. The outbreak that began in the country's northeast has reached Rio de Janeiro, where it is flourishing. Clinical studies are also mounting that Zika infection is associated not just with pediatric microcephaly and brain damage, but also adult conditions such as Guillain-Barré syndrome and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, which are debilitating and sometimes fatal.
Simply put, Zika infection is more dangerous, and Brazil's outbreak more extensive, than scientists reckoned a short time ago. Which leads to a bitter truth: the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games must be postponed, moved, or both, as a precautionary concession. [emphasis added] There are five reasons.
[Continues...]
University of Sheffield and Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) scientists have discovered several new related (dinuclear RuII) compounds which visualize and kill gram-negative bacteria, such as E. coli (note - no word on whether it works on synthetic E.coli)
Bacteria are classified generally by what type of staining works on them using a method developed in the 1800's by Hans Christian Gram. 'Gram-negative' bacteria retain a stain color that shows them as a pinkish red coloring, these bacteria have cell walls that make it difficult to get drugs into them and many gram-negative bacteria have become significantly or even completely resistant to available drug treatments.
A new drug in the difficult gram-negative space is particularly important. Drug resistant bacteria already cause the deaths of over 50 thousand people a year in the US and EU alone, and as many as 10 million people a year could die worldwide every year by 2050 due to antibiotic resistant infections.
Doctors have not had a new treatment for gram-negative bacteria in the last 50 years, and no potential drugs have entered clinical trials since 2010.
The new drug compound has a range of exciting opportunities. As Professor Jim Thomas explains: "As the compound is luminescent it glows when exposed to light. This means the uptake and effect on bacteria can be followed by the advanced microscope techniques available at RAL.
"This breakthrough could lead to vital new treatments to life-threatening superbugs and the growing risk posed by antimicrobial resistance."
The studies at Sheffield and RAL have shown the compound seems to have several modes of action, making it more difficult for resistance to emerge in the bacteria.
Better yet
Mammalian cell culture and animal model studies indicate that the complex is not toxic to eukaryotes, even at concentrations that are several orders of magnitude higher than its minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC).
The researchers plan to test the compounds against additional multi drug resistant bacteria next.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2016, @09:13AM
After super bacteria kill off all the star athletes, losers will become winners.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2016, @09:28AM
Winners do deals. And winners get rich. While sad little losers just sit there and bitch.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2016, @09:35AM
(stolen from Jimmy Kimmel)
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2016, @09:33AM
What is the purpose of having the WHO if they aren't going to do their job. The olympics are GAMES, non-essential entertainment. The World Health Organization's only concern should be the health of the individuals and not the financial stake of the host country and the games they will host. The Rio olympics should have been moved months ago and/or postponed. This is an unbelievable shitstorm where nobody seems to have any common sense, least of all the agency whose only concern should be our health. In the end its all about them dolla-dolla bills y'all. The WHO has lost all credibility by stating the risk is minimal or worth it. What I find even stranger is the seeming lack of boycotts by any of the participants. Was our cold-war blood-feud with the ruskies really a better reason to boycott than potentially deadly health risks?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2016, @09:45AM
"UN Admits Extortion Behind Removal of Saudi Arabia From Child Killer Blacklist" [soylentnews.org]
UN❤＄
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Monday June 13 2016, @09:47AM
What is the purpose of having the WHO if they aren't going to do their job. The olympics are GAMES, non-essential Entertainment.
Panem et circenses, my friend. In our society, sports and mindless entertainment are supremely important - much more than the risk global contagion, solving global warming or investing in renewable sources of energy.
Even without Zika and superbugs, just look at the staggering environmental costs of ferrying millions of people in and out of Rio for 2 weeks of show. Sporting events are pathetic and shameful.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2016, @10:40AM
So what would be worthwhile to ferry people around for? Or should people just never move around?
(Score: 1) by kurenai.tsubasa on Monday June 13 2016, @05:01PM
Yes, but, panem et circenses are profitable! You're looking at this from the wrong angle! :)
Global contagion: profits for doctors! Who cares about human suffering when there's money to be made from it! Just think of all that juicy aid money that will be flowing all over the place! Profits for the administrators of non-profit orgs!
Global warming: profits for the military industrial complex! Somebody has to police all those refugees!
Renewable energy: hmm, not many profits here for the big players. Meh.
just look at the staggering profits! of ferrying millions of people in and out of Rio for 2 weeks of show
FTFY! Profits for transportation companies, especially airlines! Profits for local construction companies! Profits for local officials! Tourism profits! So profit! Such money! Wow!
(Where the wealth is being created here I cannot tell you.)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2016, @09:56AM
The World Health Organization's only concern should be the health of the individuals and not the financial stake of the host country and the games they will host.
BwaaaaaaaaaaHaahaahaahaahaaaaa Hoooooooohoooohaaaaahhaaahaaahhaaa... heh.. heh... ahum
It's so cute that you still think professional sports is about athleticism...
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Monday June 13 2016, @04:01PM
This can't be surprising for anyone paying attention. There is no government body anywhere whose integrity is sacrosanct. Everywhere, for every one of them, corruption rules. The people who float to the head of those agencies are only interested in looking for their own personal payday. They don't care one whit about what's good for other people. And why would they do any different? There are none at the highest levels of decision-making in the entire world who hold themselves to any high standard or who will demand it of others.
Integrity is the rarest of commodities anymore. Good guys are on the run. Evil rules. In the Olympics as in life and everywhere.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2016, @09:47AM
The PTB rely on HUMAN FLESH in the FOOD SUPPLY to maintain their human appearance
Human flesh exists in a lot of foods today. Sometimes it makes the news. These are PTB slip ups, and/or conditioning this reality.
They rely on the consumption of human flesh to retain their human appearance. They all have the same scent. They exist from the bottom to the top of the pyramid. Some are bums, some are middle/upper class, some are those dancing for you on TV, in a web of deceit to keep your mind and body occupied.
If you want to try and let one of them know that you know what they are, you might say to them:
"This hamburger is really quite human"
(inhale deeply) "This planet is filled with creatures which all smell the same"
"I hope you enjoyed your flesh burger"
"How long did your last regeneration period last?"
"What office do you work for?"
############### COPY PASTE THIS EVERYWHERE AS MODS DELETE IT BECAUSE THEY KNOW IT'S TRUE! ###############
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2016, @09:53AM
Jews eat human flesh because it tastes just like Kevin Bacon.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Monday June 13 2016, @11:58AM
If you ignore the politics, I made the mistake of visiting the wrong state park this weekend, both the beach and boat launch had warnings posted that in the fall it closes because of toxins from blue green algae can sicken or kill humans and dogs. I guess the fertilizer runoff builds up all summer until you can practically walk across the lake on the slimy algae. On the bright side its early in the season so the lake is merely disgustingly green and kinda smelly. We didn't go into the water although some people did.
Anyway if there's no politics involved people seem quite capable of not sickening themselves.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2016, @12:36PM
provides the potential for the Olympics to rapidly spread these infectious super-bugs around the world.
I fail to see how the current millions of tourists already visiting Brazil every year don't already rapidly spread these infections around the world. What's so different this time?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday June 13 2016, @05:41PM
What's so different this time?
Someone looked. No offense to the story, but probably every previous Olympic games location in the world has superbugs as well, if you look hard enough.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2016, @07:10PM
Probably every big modern city sewer has them... luckily most of the time they have to trade in some other useful capability when they acquire this kind of resistance against commonly used antibiotics - less efficient metabolism, less tolerance against other environmental conditions. (Resistance means that either the normal points of attack in their biochemical machinery are deformed, or some part of it has been repurposed to degrade or expell the poison. Neither is useful in the absence of high doses, so they will be outgrown by "weaker" guys unless you go looking for them by nuking everybody else in the soup)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2016, @01:44PM
I have to wonder if the large numbers of people visiting from all over the world and spreading pathogens is the "catastrophic event" that the ultra-wealthy powers that be have been "waiting" for to help strengthen their choke hold on the world as the commoners demand to have more of their rights taken away in exchange for "protection".
(Score: 1) by OrugTor on Monday June 13 2016, @01:48PM
Nope.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by FakeBeldin on Monday June 13 2016, @02:31PM
There's been a few mishaps around preparing for hosting major events. E.g. in sports:
- FIFA: world cup countries (Qatar: summer temperatures, workers dying; Russia: politics, war)
- Olympics (Brazil: health considerations)
- Tokyo: newly constructed mega-stadium too expensive, redo, not ready for '19 world cup, maybe also not for '20 olympics.
- UEFA: mass hooliganism at first games of Euro'16.
But also e.g. what happened at Rock Am Ring due to bad weather.
It seems there's shenanigans going on, facilities are not finished on time or suited, host organisation is not adequately prepared, ...
Seems these mass-events are getting too big *not* to fail (though failure so far hasn't been catastrophic).