Medical Discovery News
Science permeates everyday life. Yet the understanding of advances in biomedical science is limited at best. Few people make the connection that biomedical science is medicine and that biomedical scientists are working today for the medicine of tomorrow. Our weekly five-hundred-word newspaper column (http://www.illuminascicom.com/) and two-minute radio show provide insights into a broad range of biomedical science topics. Medical Discovery News is dedicated to explaining discoveries in biomedical research and their promise for the future of medicine. Each release is designed to stimulate listeners to think, question and appreciate how science affects their health as well as that of the rest of the world. We also delve into significant biomedical discoveries and portray how science (or the lack of it) has impacted health throughout history.
Medical Discovery News
Another Reason to Avoid Raw Milk
939 Another Reason to Avoid Raw Milk
Welcome to Medical Discovery News. I’m Dr. David Niesel.
And I’m Dr. Norbert Herzog
The spread of bird flu in poultry across the US has cost farmers billions of dollars. Now the virus has spread in cattle herds across multiple states which raises the risk of widespread human infection.
People who continue to drink raw milk put us even more at risk since unlike nearly all commercial milk, raw milk is not pasteurized. The process heats milk to one hundred sixty-one degrees Fahrenheit for fifteen seconds which has been shown to kill the H-five-N-one flu virus.
There are three types of influenza viruses, A, B and C. Types A and B cause the flu illness we’re familiar with and get vaccines for. C only causes mild illness. The H-five-N-one is Type A.
The H and N refer to the type of protein spikes on the virus surface. Birds have many combinations of H and N but only a few have caused widespread human infection.
Scientists have studied blood samples collected during the past two flu seasons and what’s alarming is they found very low to no population immunity to H-five-N-one despite our annual vaccines and exposure to the flu virus. This virus is different.
Federal and state health officials are working with dairy farms to protect and monitor workers to prevent the virus from spreading. So far, only a small number have tested positive.
It’s essential to keep people from getting H-five-N-one to stop the virus from mutating and adapting to the point where it could easily infect humans. The goal is to make it hard for the virus to evolve and not allow an epidemic to start.
We are Drs. David Niesel and Norbert Herzog, at UTMB and Quinnipiac University, where biomedical discoveries shape the future of medicine. For much more and our disclaimer go to medicaldiscoverynews.com or subscribe to our podcast. Sign up for expanded print episodes at www.illuminascicom.com
