Eideard

Examination of lung tissue and other autopsy material from 68 American soldiers who died of respiratory infections in 1918 has revealed that the influenza virus that eventually killed 50 million people worldwide was circulating in the United States at least four months before the 1918 influenza reached pandemic levels that fall.

The study, using tissues preserved since 1918, was led by Jeffery K. Taubenberger, M.D., Ph.D…The researchers found proteins and genetic material from the 1918 influenza virus in specimens from 37 of the soldiers, including four who died between May and August 1918, months before the pandemic peaked. These four cases are the earliest 1918 pandemic influenza cases they know to be documented anywhere in the world, the scientists say.

The clinical disease and tissue damage seen in the pre-pandemic cases were indistinguishable from those evident in cases that occurred during the height of the pandemic. This suggests, says Dr. Taubenberger, that over the course of the pandemic, the virus did not undergo a dramatic change that could explain the unusually high mortality it ultimately caused.

In the current study, the autopsy materials showed that the virus replicated not only in the upper respiratory tract but also the lower respiratory tract, in a pattern very similar to that of the 2009 pandemic influenza virus. The team also found evidence that two virus variants were circulating in 1918…

Bacterial co-infections were found in all 68 cases studied, the researchers noted. The role played by bacterial co-infections, such as bacterial pneumonia, in contributing to deaths in the 1918 pandemic was previously described by Dr. Taubenberger and his colleagues in a 2008 study. According to the study authors, the new data underscore the crucial role that bacterial infections can play in conjunction with any influenza virus, whether historic or future, and the need for public health officials to prepare to prevent, detect and treat bacterial co-infections during future influenza outbreaks.

Unless, of course, you believe such a pandemic can never happen again, it’s all a plot by pharmaceutical companies and it’s too much trouble to get a flu shot, anyway.

Yes, I got mine a few weeks ago.

Scottish officials are attempting to persuade American politicians to reverse a 40-year ban on the haggis.

Richard Lochhead, the Scottish Government’s Rural Affairs Secretary, has invited a delegation of American politicians to Scotland in the hope of persuading them to overturn the ban.

The iconic Scottish dish is been barred in the US for more than 20 years because its food safety department prohibits the use of sheep lungs in food products.

The US could provide a highly lucrative market for Scottish haggis producers, particularly in the run up to Burns Night, the traditional celebration of the life and poetry of Robert Burns…

Mr Lochhead said: “We want to capitalise on the diaspora of Scots in the US and many of them would enjoy the opportunity to indulge in authentic Scottish haggis to accompany their neeps and tatties on Burns Night.

“Scotland’s produce is amongst the best in the world and I’ve asked US Department of Agriculture officials to come here to see for themselves the high standards we have in animal health and processing.

This didn’t affect me personally – back when I lived in the Boston area. For all the whining of the Department of Agriculture and the other bureaucrats who march in lockstep against the import of traditional foodstuffs was meaningless when local butchers and meat markets produced their own haggis. I haven’t Googled it; but, I imagine I still could order one online for Burns Night.

This crap goes on and on – whether halting jambon from Spain or prosciutto from Italy, herbs and spices from the Caribbean and Africa, there always is a producer of plastic American food who claims the need for protection – or just good old Xenophobia getting in the way of choices.

Three tobacco giants are suing the city over graphic anti-smoking posters that stores selling cigarettes have to post near the cash register.

R.J. Reynolds, Philip Morris and Lorillard claim the color images of cancer-ravaged lungs, a decayed tooth and a stroke-damaged brain are “unappetizing” and violate the First Amendment.

“The signs…do not describe the risks of smoking in purely factual terms,” claims the lawsuit filed Thursday in Manhattan Federal Court.

The stores are being forced to “undertake graphic advocacy on behalf of the city” – which is barred by the First Amendment, the court papers allege.

The suit was joined by two grocery stores and two retail groups.

Poisonally, I think it’s a wonderful idea. I never would have made to these creaky geek old years if I hadn’t quit smoking when I was twenty-two. Two-and-a-half packs a day, back then.