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Leading the way in global STI research

Researchers in the University of Delaware College of Health Sciences Department of Medical and Molecular Sciences are playing a pivotal role on the global…

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Researchers in the University of Delaware College of Health Sciences Department of Medical and Molecular Sciences are playing a pivotal role on the global health stage as they investigate the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the world.

Credit: Ashley Barnas/ University of Delaware

Researchers in the University of Delaware College of Health Sciences Department of Medical and Molecular Sciences are playing a pivotal role on the global health stage as they investigate the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the world.

Centers for Disease Control statistics show that 79 million Americans have human papillomavirus (HPV). With 14 million new infections each year, 80% of women will get at least one type of HPV at some point in their lifetime, according to the Office on Women’s Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Several strains of HPV cause cervical cancer, which is the third most common cancer in women and the second most frequent cause of cancer-related death globally.

New research out of UD’s Department of Medical and Molecular Sciences (MMSC) confirmed 25 different types of HPV prevalent in Nigeria. About half of those types of HPV cause cancer, while others cause STIs like genital warts, according to lead investigator Sam Biswas, professor of medical and molecular sciences. The research was recently published in Virology Journal.

The discovery was made possible through an international collaboration between UD’s MMSC Department and two regional Nigerian hospitals spawned by UD alumna Ngozi Dom-Chima. Dom-Chima graduated with her doctorate in medical sciences in May and now works as a research scientist at Incyte.

“There’s a high cervical cancer rate in Nigeria, and there’s not much research on HPV variants,” Dom-Chima said. “Now that the world has become global, people are migrating and carrying diseases. The variants that are circulating in Nigeria, while they’re not really seen here in the U.S., they’ll eventually get here.”

Dom-Chima was born in Nigeria and helped create crucial trust between UD and local Nigerian hospital systems so they would participate in this important global health research.

“When working in global health, before entering a community to talk, evaluate, or start a program, you must intimately know the community you’re working with,” Dom-Chima said. “If they don’t participate in our study, there won’t be any results. Being Nigerian, I was able to reassure them that we wouldn’t mishandle patient samples and that we’d treat them with respect.”

Together, Dom-Chima and Biswas obtained 90 cervical samples and spent six months processing samples using next-generation DNA sequencing to identify multiple HPV types in samples. Type-specific PCR analysis was then used to verify the HPV types circulating in Nigeria. Their research found strikingly high rates of multiple HPV infections in most patients, with as many as nine HPV types identified in a single sample.

Their discovery of 25 prevalent strains of HPV in Nigeria underscores the need for more region-specific vaccines. The leading HPV vaccine, Gardasil-9, only protects against nine cancer-causing types of the virus that are prevalent in the U.S. Just six of the 25 types of HPV circulating in Nigeria are prevented by that vaccine.

“While the vaccine is still very effective, it’s not enough for a country like Nigeria,” Biswas said. “We must come up with a vaccine that’s specific to the strains circulating in certain countries.”

Dom-Chima hopes pharmaceutical companies are paying attention.

“Pharmaceutical companies must realize there’s no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to HPV vaccines,” Dom-Chima said. “They need to look at data from different countries and develop region-specific effective vaccines since the ones we have don’t cover most of the types of HPV that are prevalent in Nigeria right now.”

But vaccine development is costly and that can serve as a roadblock for poorer countries like Nigeria.

“Nigeria doesn’t have the money to provide vaccinations to all women,” Biswas said. “With advanced healthcare systems in the U.S. and Europe, we have a stronger ability to combat HPV, cervical cancer, and cancer deaths, but countries like Nigeria don’t have that ability. Even though we have many different types of HPV in the U.S., the death rate from cervical cancer is much lower. Infections and cancers that can be more readily treated in the U.S., could lead to someone dying every day in Nigeria.”

Access to vaccines in Nigeria is also limited. Globally, just one in eight girls is vaccinated against HPV, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). UNICEF introduced the HPV vaccine to 52 countries, including seven countries, for the first time this year. Nigeria was one of those countries.

Until region-specific vaccines are developed and access to those vaccines is expanded, HPV continues to silently spread and silently kill. Another piece of the problem — populations of the world aren’t testing for the STI.

“Laboratory tests for HPV only test for a limited number of high- and low-risk variants,” said Esther Biswas-Fiss, professor and chair of the MMSC Department and a co-investigator on the research. “Hybrid capture, a test commonly used in women’s healthcare, recognizes 13 HPV types. Like the vaccine, it’s designed to detect strains that are found to be prevalent in the U.S., but it won’t pick up some of the other strains that the sensitive methods used in the Biswas lab have identified.”

While annual pap smears during routine gynecological visits detect HPV in women, for half the population — men — there is no approved test for HPV.

“In the U.S., many are unaware of the significance of the problem,” Biswas-Fiss said. “HPV is a slow-moving virus that doesn’t distinguish between men and women. Previous research tied tobacco and alcohol consumption to head and neck cancers, but now HPV is the leading cause of head and neck cancer in the U.S.”

Head and neck cancers include cancers of the mouth, throat, nose, sinuses, salivary glands and middle ear.

Biswas aims to expand his research to study HPV in other countries, including the U.S.; however, obtaining patient consent to get samples can be challenging due to HIPPA. He hopes his research inspires other countries to conduct their own HPV research.

“Scientists in Africa, Asia, and South America should do similar studies to identify which types of HPV are prevalent there to aid in region-specific vaccine development,” Biswas said. “The United Nations could also step in and try to solve this problem.”

Ongoing research in the Biswas lab also focuses on the biology of HPV. A better understanding of the biology of the virus could lead to treatment or even, someday, a cure.

“We’ve spent centuries focusing on how to kill bacteria, but viruses as infectious agents have not received comparable attention, and they can be equally as deadly,” Biswas-Fiss said. “Right now, we can only test people and vaccinate them in hopes of preventing HPV. By better understanding the fundamental biology of HPV, we can develop antiviral drugs to fight back against the cancer-causing virus.”


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Trans To Be Banned From Female Hospital Wards In UK

Trans To Be Banned From Female Hospital Wards In UK

Authored by Steve Watson via Summit News,

The UK Health Secretary is to issue a proposal…

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Trans To Be Banned From Female Hospital Wards In UK

Authored by Steve Watson via Summit News,

The UK Health Secretary is to issue a proposal to ban trans patients from female hospital wards in the UK, as well as reinstating ‘sex specific’ language in National Health Service materials, according to reports.

The Daily Mail reports that “Steve Barclay will unveil the plans to push back against ‘wokery’ in the health service amid concerns that women’s rights are being sidelined.”

The proposal would see only people of the same biological sex sharing wards, with care coming from doctors and nurses of the same sex, when it comes to intimate health matters.

“We need a common-sense approach to sex and equality issues in the NHS. That is why I am announcing proposals for clearer rights for patients,” Barlcay stated, adding “It is vital that women’s voices are heard in the NHS and the privacy, dignity and safety of all patients are protected.”

He added “And I can confirm that sex-specific language has now been fully restored to online health advice pages about cervical and ovarian cancer and the menopause.”

As we previously highlighted, the word ‘women’ was removed from such materials and replaced with non-gendered terms to be “more inclusive”:

A source close to the Health Secretary told the Telegraph that “The Secretary of State is fed up with this agenda and the damage it’s causing, language like “chestfeeding”, talking about pregnant “people” rather than women. It exasperates the majority of people, and he is determined to take action.”

“He is concerned that women’s voices should be heard on healthcare and that too often wokery and ideological dogma is getting in the way of this,” the source added.

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Tyler Durden Wed, 10/04/2023 - 05:00

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Sweden’s Deadly Gun Violence

Sweden’s Deadly Gun Violence

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is calling on the military to assist the police with tackling the rise…

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Sweden's Deadly Gun Violence

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is calling on the military to assist the police with tackling the rise in gang-related violence in the country, as fatal shootings and bombings claimed the lives of 12 people last month.

As Statista's Anna Fleck reports, in the latest move, the Swedish government said on Friday that it would authorize future military assistance to the police, following a meeting between Krisstersson and the heads of both forces on how to reduce violence from organized criminal gangs. It is not yet clear exactly which duties the military will take on.

"The wave of violence is unprecedented in Sweden, but it is also unprecedented in Europe, no other country has a situation like the one we have," Kristersson commented in a televised speech.

"The police cannot do all the work themselves."

According to the Swedish Police Authority's annual reports, last year a total of 62 people were killed by gunfire, marking the deadliest year for shootings since the authorities started publishing data in late 2016.

You will find more infographics at Statista

A total of 11 people were fatally shot last month alone, in addition to one person who died in a bomb blast. These 11 bring the death toll by firearms to 42 in 2023, a figure that may rise further yet with three months left until the end of the year.

September marks the second deadliest month on record for gun crime in Sweden, following only after December 2019 when 12 people were shot and killed.

Tyler Durden Wed, 10/04/2023 - 04:15

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Which New World Order Are We Talking About?

Which New World Order Are We Talking About?

Authored by Jeff Thomas via InternationalMan.com,

Those of us who are libertarians have a tendency…

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Which New World Order Are We Talking About?

Authored by Jeff Thomas via InternationalMan.com,

Those of us who are libertarians have a tendency to speak frequently of “the New World Order.”

When doing so, we tend to be a bit unclear as to what the New World Order is.

Is it a cabal of the heads of the world’s governments, or just the heads of Western governments?

Certainly bankers are included somewhere in the mix, but is it just the heads of the Federal Reserve and the IMF, or does it also include the heads of JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, etc.?

And how about the Rothschilds? And the Bundesbank—surely, they’re in there, too?

And the list goes on, without apparent end.

Certainly, all of the above entities have objectives to increase their own power and profit in the world, but to what degree do they act in concert? Although many prominent individuals, world leaders included, have proclaimed that a New World Order is their ultimate objective, the details of who’s in and who’s out are fuzzy. Just as fuzzy is a list of details as to the collective objectives of these disparate individuals and groups.

So, whilst most libertarians acknowledge “the New World Order,” it’s rare that any two libertarians can agree on exactly what it is or who it’s comprised of. We allow ourselves the luxury of referring to it without being certain of its details, because, “It’s a secret society,” as evidenced by the Bilderberg Group, which meets annually but has no formal agenda and publishes no minutes. We excuse ourselves for having only a vague perception of it, although we readily accept that it’s the most powerful group in the world.

This is particularly true of Americans, as Americans often imagine that the New World Order is an American construct, created by a fascist elite of US bankers and political leaders. The New World Order may be better understood by Europeans, as, actually, it’s very much a European concept—one that’s been around for quite a long time.

It may be said to have had its beginnings in ancient Rome. As Rome became an empire, its various emperors found that conquered lands did not automatically remain conquered. They needed to be managed—a costly and tedious undertaking. Management was far from uniform, as the Gauls could not be managed in the same manner as the Egyptians, who in turn, could not be managed like the Mesopotamians.

After the fall of Rome, Europe was in many ways a shambles for centuries, but the idea of “managing” Europe was revived with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The peace brought an end to the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) in the Holy Roman Empire and the Eighty Years’ War (1568-1648) between Spain and the Dutch Republic. It brought together the Holy Roman Empire, The House of Habsburg, the Kingdoms of Spain and France, the Dutch Republic, and the Swedish Empire.

Boundaries were set, treaties were signed, and a general set of assumptions as to the autonomy within one’s borders were agreed, to the partial satisfaction of all and to the complete satisfaction of no one… Sound familiar?

Later, Mayer Rothschild made his name (and his fortune) by becoming the financier to the military adventures of the German Government. He then sent his sons out to England, Austria, France, and Italy to do the same—to create a New World Order of sorts, under the control of his family through national debt to his banks. (Deep Throat was right when he said, “Follow the Money.”)

So, the concept of a New World Order has long existed in Europe in various guises, but what does this tell us about the present and, more important, the future?

In our own time, we have seen presidents and prime ministers come and go, whilst their most prominent advisors, such as Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski, continue from one administration to the next, remaining advisors for decades. Such men are often seen as the voices of reason that may be the guiding force that brings about a New World Order once and for all.

Mister Brzezinski has written in his books that order in Europe depends upon a balance with Russia, which must be created through the control of Ukraine by the West. He has stated repeatedly that it’s critical for this to be done through diplomacy, that warfare would be a disaster. Yet, he has also supported the US in creating a coup in Ukraine. When Russia became angered at the takeover, he openly supported American aggression in Ukraine, whilst warning that Russian retaliation must not be tolerated.

Henry Kissinger, who has literally written volumes on his “pursuit of world peace” has, when down in the trenches, also displayed a far more aggressive personality, such as his angry recommendation to US President Gerald Ford to “smash Cuba” when Fidel Castro’s military aid to Angola threatened to ruin Mr. Kissinger’s plans to control Africa.

Whilst the most “enlightened” New World Order advisors may believe that they are working on the “Big Picture,” when it comes down to brass tacks, they clearly demonstrate the same tendency as the more aggressive world leaders, and reveal that, ultimately, they seek to dominate. They may initially recommend diplomacy but resort to force if the other side does not cave to “reason” quickly.

If we stand back and observe this drama from a distance, what we see is a theory of balance between the nations of Europe (and, by extension, the whole world)—a balance based upon intergovernmental agreements, allowing for centralised power and control.

This theory might actually be possible if all the countries of the world were identical in every way, and the goals of all concerned were also identical. But this never has been and can never be the case. Every world leader and every country will differ in its needs and objectives. Therefore, each may tentatively agree to common conditions, as they have going back to the Peace of Westphalia, yet, even before the ink has dried, each state will already be planning to gain an edge on the others.

In 1914, Europe had (once again) become a tangle of aspirations of the various powers—a time bomb, awaiting only a minor incident to set it off. That minor incident occurred when a Serbian national assassinated an Austrian crown prince. Within a month, Europe exploded into World War. As Kissinger himself has observed in his writings, “[T]hey all contributed to it, oblivious to the fact that they were dismantling an international order.”

Since 1648, for every Richelieu that has sought to create a New World Order through diplomacy, there has been a Napoleon who has taken a militaristic approach, assuring that the New World Order applecart will repeatedly be upset by those who are prone to aggression.

Further, even those who seek to operate through diplomacy ultimately will seek aggressive means when diplomatic means are not succeeding.

A true world order is unlikely.

What may occur in its stead would be repeated attempts by sovereign states to form alliances for their mutual benefit, followed by treachery, one- upmanship, and ultimately, aggression. And very possibly a new World War.

But of one thing we can be certain: Tension at present is as great as it was in 1914. We are awaiting only a minor incident to set off dramatically increased international aggression. With all the talk that’s presently about as to a New World Order, what I believe will occur instead will be a repeat of history.

If this belief is correct, much of the world will decline into not only external warfare, but internal control. Those nations that are now ramping up into police states are most at risk, as the intent is already clearly present. All that’s needed is a greater excuse to increase internal controls. Each of us, unless we favour being engulfed by such controls, might be advised to internationalise ourselves—to diversify ourselves so that, if push comes to shove, we’re able to get ourselves and our families out of harm’s way.

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Unfortunately, there’s little any individual can practically do to change the course of these trends in motion. The best you can and should do is to stay informed so that you can protect yourself in the best way possible, and even profit from the situation. That’s precisely why bestselling author Doug Casey just released Surviving and Thriving During an Economic Collapse an urgent new PDF report. It explains what could come next and what you can do about it so you don’t become a victim. Click here to download it now.

Tyler Durden Wed, 10/04/2023 - 03:30

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