Science News Review

Sexy Science for Sexy Geeks

Apr 27 at 3:03pm by Aileen

PhD’s Comic about Cancer

Jimmy Rogers over at the blog Geeks are Sexy has taken a liking to writing about science, and launched what we hope will be a regular feature entitled Science is Sexy. First offering is a look at what cancer is, and why there’s no single cure for this ailment.

Rogers is a PhD student in microbiology and he’s pretty good at explaining deep concepts in easy terms. So go on over and check out how both geeks and science can be sexy!

A “Unique” Strain of Flu

They’re calling it Swine Flu [H1N1], but the virus that began showing off its late season virulence in Mexico City last week sports DNA from three varieties – swine flu, bird flu and human flu. Within days it had spread to California and Texas, then New York City, Kansas, Ohio and such far away places as New Zealand. On Sunday, April 26, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control [CDC] declared a Public Health Emergency, other nations have issued travel advisories to avoid the U.S. and Mexico, and the words “global pandemic” are being tossed around on news shows and discussed everywhere. Stockpiles of Tamiflu [Roche], which has been shown effective against this virus, have been released and will be quickly shipped anywhere in the United States that the illness appears.

There in no reason to panic, though officials are watching the outbreak closely and trying to contain it. This is an influenza Type-A virus that apparently incubated in pigs before making the jump to humans, but the virus is now being spread person to person. The CDC Swine Flu Fact Page has lots of good information about the virus and lists ways people can minimize their chances of infection. Despite some nations imposing emergency bans on pork imported from the U.S. and Mexico, this flu is not spread by eating properly cooked pork.

Advice to avoid crowds, wear disposable face masks, using tissues when coughing and sneezing to avoid spreading germs, and washing/sanitizing hands often are standard. This illness is striking healthy adults rather than targeting the very young or very old, and there is no current vaccine. If you get it, stay home from work or school to avoid spreading it to others. Those who had a Type-A flu shot this past season will still be susceptible to this infection.