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Showing posts from October, 2021

Hepatitis C virus

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  All U.S. adults should be tested for hepatitis C, the task force says All U.S. adults should be tested for hepatitis C, the task force says MONDAY, March 2, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Every adult in the United States must be tested for hepatitis C as part of their basic health care, an influential panel of preventive medicine experts notes. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. U.S. (USPSTF) now recommends testing for hepatitis C infection be done on all people ages 18 to 79, the group announced Monday. Hepatitis C infections have soared as a result of the opioid epidemic, and heroin users spread the virus when sharing needles, commented a member of the task force, Dr. Michael Barry is the head of Massachusetts General Hospital's Informed Medical Decision Program. An estimated 2.4 million Americans now live with chronic hepatitis C, according to the USPSTF. There were an estimated 44,700 new infections in 2017, almost four times as many cases as in 2010. Dr. Douglas Dieterich, he...

Managing the COVID-19 information epidemic

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  Managing the COVID-19 information epidemic: promoting healthy behaviors and mitigating the harmful effects of misinformation Joint statement by WHO, United Nations, UNICEF, UNDP, UNESCO, Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, International Telecommunication Union, United Nations Global Feel the Pulse Initiative, and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is the first in history that technology and social media are used on such a large scale to inform and keep people safe, productive, and connect. At the same time, the technology we rely on to communicate and inform is giving way to an exaggerated information epidemic that continues to undermine global response efforts and threaten measures to combat the pandemic. The information epidemic is referred to as the torrential flow of information on and off the Internet. It includes deliberate attempts to spread misinformation to undermine the public health respons...

HIV and AIDS

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  What is AIDS? AIDS is caused by HIV. It affects your immune system (the body's defense system), making you sick more easily. HIV is spread during sex, but condoms help protect you. HIV is an infection that can cause AIDS. HIV (known as HIV) means human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). It's the virus that can cause AIDS. HIV destroys certain cells of the immune system, which defends your body from disease and helps us stay healthy. When HIV weakens your immune system, you're more likely to become very ill or die from illnesses that your body would normally be able to fight. In the United States, about a million people living with HIV, and every year, there are more than 38,000 new people infected. Most people with HIV have no symptoms for many years and feel fine, so they may not even know they are infected. Once you get HIV, the virus stays in your body for life. There is no cure for HIV, but there are drugs that can help keep you healthy. HIV drugs make you less likely - or...