Just Monday, for the first time ever, the World Health Organization raised the influenza pandemic alert to level 4. Today (well, technically yesterday since it's just after midnight) they raised it to level 5. Here's the level and link to the statement by the WHO's director-general, Dr. Margaret Chan:
Statement by WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan
29 April 2009
Swine influenza
Ladies and gentlemen,
Based on assessment of all available information, and following several expert consultations, I have decided to raise the current level of influenza pandemic alert from phase 4 to phase 5.
Influenza pandemics must be taken seriously precisely because of their capacity to spread rapidly to every country in the world.
On the positive side, the world is better prepared for an influenza pandemic than at any time in history.
Preparedness measures undertaken because of the threat from H5N1 avian influenza were an investment, and we are now benefitting from this investment.
For the first time in history, we can track the evolution of a pandemic in real-time.
I thank countries who are making the results of their investigations publicly available. This helps us understand the disease.
I am impressed by the work being done by affected countries as they deal with the current outbreaks.
I also want to thank the governments of the USA and Canada for their support to WHO, and to Mexico.
Let me remind you. New diseases are, by definition, poorly understood. Influenza viruses are notorious for their rapid mutation and unpredictable behaviour.
WHO and health authorities in affected countries will not have all the answers immediately, but we will get them.
WHO will be tracking the pandemic at the epidemiological, clinical, and virological levels.
The results of these ongoing assessments will be issued as public health advice, and made publicly available.
All countries should immediately activate their pandemic preparedness plans. Countries should remain on high alert for unusual outbreaks of influenza-like illness and severe pneumonia.
At this stage, effective and essential measures include heightened surveillance, early detection and treatment of cases, and infection control in all health facilities.
This change to a higher phase of alert is a signal to governments, to ministries of health and other ministries, to the pharmaceutical industry and the business community that certain actions should now be undertaken with increased urgency, and at an accelerated pace.
I have reached out to donor countries, to UNITAID, to the GAVI Alliance, the World Bank and others to mobilize resources.
I have reached out to companies manufacturing antiviral drugs to assess capacity and all options for ramping up production.
I have also reached out to influenza vaccine manufacturers that can contribute to the production of a pandemic vaccine.
The biggest question, right now, is this: how severe will the pandemic be, especially now at the start?
It is possible that the full clinical spectrum of this disease goes from mild illness to severe disease. We need to continue to monitor the evolution of the situation to get the specific information and data we need to answer this question.
From past experience, we also know that influenza may cause mild disease in affluent countries, but more severe disease, with higher mortality, in developing countries.
No matter what the situation is, the international community should treat this as a window of opportunity to ramp up preparedness and response.
Above all, this is an opportunity for global solidarity as we look for responses and solutions that benefit all countries, all of humanity. After all, it really is all of humanity that is under threat during a pandemic.
As I have said, we do not have all the answers right now, but we will get them.
Thank you.
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© WHO 2009
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
The single most important thing you can do to prevent the spread of swine flu (or other respiratory diseases)
other than frequently and vigorously washing your hands with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds each time, that is:
WHEN YOU COUGH OR SNEEZE, DO IT INTO YOUR ARM INSTEAD OF YOUR HANDS OR A TISSUE!
Your arm rarely comes into contact with commonly touched items such as door handles or money. Coughing or sneezing into your arm is the most effective and easiest thing to do to help prevent the spread of the flu (or colds, etc). PLEASE spread the word! At least those of us who care about not infecting others will help slow the spread of disease. As for those selfish bastards who cough or sneeze without covering their mouths at all, I say we make them wear masks. By force if necessary. Hey, we're at war with the swine flu. Anything goes. ;)
On a more serious note, though, there has been one fatality in the US, a 23 month old child who had come to the US from Mexico for treatment. Also, the CDC has confirmed cases in the following states:
Arizona
California
Indiana
Kansas
Massachusetts (two children in Lowell)
Michigan
Nevada
New York City
Ohio
Texas.
In Massachusetts you can dial 211 for information about the swine flu.
As of yesterday, the World Health Organization has reported confirmed cases of swine flu in 7 countries:
United States
Mexico
Canada
New Zealand
United Kingdom
Israel
Spain
(on an interesting side note, Blogspot considers both "Zealand" and "Blogspot" as spelling errors)
WHEN YOU COUGH OR SNEEZE, DO IT INTO YOUR ARM INSTEAD OF YOUR HANDS OR A TISSUE!
Your arm rarely comes into contact with commonly touched items such as door handles or money. Coughing or sneezing into your arm is the most effective and easiest thing to do to help prevent the spread of the flu (or colds, etc). PLEASE spread the word! At least those of us who care about not infecting others will help slow the spread of disease. As for those selfish bastards who cough or sneeze without covering their mouths at all, I say we make them wear masks. By force if necessary. Hey, we're at war with the swine flu. Anything goes. ;)
On a more serious note, though, there has been one fatality in the US, a 23 month old child who had come to the US from Mexico for treatment. Also, the CDC has confirmed cases in the following states:
Arizona
California
Indiana
Kansas
Massachusetts (two children in Lowell)
Michigan
Nevada
New York City
Ohio
Texas.
In Massachusetts you can dial 211 for information about the swine flu.
As of yesterday, the World Health Organization has reported confirmed cases of swine flu in 7 countries:
United States
Mexico
Canada
New Zealand
United Kingdom
Israel
Spain
(on an interesting side note, Blogspot considers both "Zealand" and "Blogspot" as spelling errors)
Friday, March 27, 2009
Law school pops up in the weirdest places sometimes
Like when I was doing a search for shuttle flights between Boston and NY. I found this on yelp.com:
"Lease and tenant at will question"
Sarah "Bull in a china shop" D. says:
"My lease ends April 30th and it states that it becomes tenant-at-will immediately after that. Today my landlord sent me a notice to leave by April 30th. However I thought that she would need to give me notice 30 days after the tenant-at-will started.
The landlord definitely isn't someone that respects tenants that much to begin with since she wrote into the lease that she could live with us for the first month we were here. That was hell since she's extremely selfish, doesn't respect other people's property and is generally pretty annoying.
Any help would be really appreciated!"
If I hadn't gotten literally 4 hours of sleep since Wednesday morning I might even try to answer her question. Here's a tip for those of you who are thinking about going to law school. Don't accidentally make spring your heavier semester of the year. Ugh.... Five classes???? On top of full-time work and a three hour commute to class and back? The semester's almost done and I'm still wondering what I was thinking. :(
"Lease and tenant at will question"
Sarah "Bull in a china shop" D. says:
"My lease ends April 30th and it states that it becomes tenant-at-will immediately after that. Today my landlord sent me a notice to leave by April 30th. However I thought that she would need to give me notice 30 days after the tenant-at-will started.
The landlord definitely isn't someone that respects tenants that much to begin with since she wrote into the lease that she could live with us for the first month we were here. That was hell since she's extremely selfish, doesn't respect other people's property and is generally pretty annoying.
Any help would be really appreciated!"
If I hadn't gotten literally 4 hours of sleep since Wednesday morning I might even try to answer her question. Here's a tip for those of you who are thinking about going to law school. Don't accidentally make spring your heavier semester of the year. Ugh.... Five classes???? On top of full-time work and a three hour commute to class and back? The semester's almost done and I'm still wondering what I was thinking. :(
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
It's a brand new day!
I had to see it for myself. I taped both CNN and CNBC. I'm not sure why.
For some reason, the radio station we have at work in my little area acted like nothing was happening. And unfortunately I was so busy today that it wasn't until I went to go talk to one of the other nurses about something that I realized what was happening today. I heard Barack Obama's inauguration speech coming through on her radio, and I realized that "the moment", as CNN has been calling it, had come and gone. We had a new president. But I was so busy that it didn't really register.
Overjoyed as I have been all day that Bush is no longer president, it wasn't until just now, as I was watching President Obama take the oath of office on CNN, that it finally felt like we have a new president. That he is now President Obama, he is now the President of the United States.
The chorus "Oh, happy day!" keeps running through my head.
What a great new day it is today!
For some reason, the radio station we have at work in my little area acted like nothing was happening. And unfortunately I was so busy today that it wasn't until I went to go talk to one of the other nurses about something that I realized what was happening today. I heard Barack Obama's inauguration speech coming through on her radio, and I realized that "the moment", as CNN has been calling it, had come and gone. We had a new president. But I was so busy that it didn't really register.
Overjoyed as I have been all day that Bush is no longer president, it wasn't until just now, as I was watching President Obama take the oath of office on CNN, that it finally felt like we have a new president. That he is now President Obama, he is now the President of the United States.
The chorus "Oh, happy day!" keeps running through my head.
What a great new day it is today!
Monday, January 19, 2009
At last...
today is the last day of the worst presidency in American history. Tomorrow, the first day of hope in a long, long time.
My Con Law professor knows someone who took Con Law from Barack Obama when he was still teaching. One day, as an example of the greatness of this democracy, Obama said to his class "Hey, one day even I might be president!" The class' response? To laugh. Obama was probably feeling a little hurt when he asked why they were laughing. No one really had an answer.
Can you imagine tomorrow being one of those students who laughed at the idea of Barack Obama being President of the United States?
And how fitting that he would prove them all wrong the day after Martin Luther King Day.
My Con Law professor knows someone who took Con Law from Barack Obama when he was still teaching. One day, as an example of the greatness of this democracy, Obama said to his class "Hey, one day even I might be president!" The class' response? To laugh. Obama was probably feeling a little hurt when he asked why they were laughing. No one really had an answer.
Can you imagine tomorrow being one of those students who laughed at the idea of Barack Obama being President of the United States?
And how fitting that he would prove them all wrong the day after Martin Luther King Day.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Rev. Gene Robinson to deliver first invocation of Obama's inauguration!!!!
Although I grew up Catholic, I decided a long time ago that I no longer wanted to be Catholic anymore. Nothing against my particular Church or anything, but I was looking for a slightly more open-minded Church. The first time I went to an Episcopal service, it was for a U2charist. I knew there was something about the Episcopal Church I liked. :) Then I realized that the first gay priest, the one all the fuss was about, was a Bishop in the Episcopal Church here in NH. Between that and the experience of going to an Episcopal mass, I was completely and totally sold on the Episcopal Church. And now Rev. Robinson is going to give the first invocation at Barack Obama's inauguration!
January 12, 2009
Openly gay bishop to deliver first inauguration event invocation
Posted: 06:44 PM ET
From CNN Associate Political Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand
Robinson became the U.S. Episcopal church’s first openly gay bishop in 2003.
(CNN) — The first openly gay priest ordained by a major Christian denomination will deliver the invocation at the kickoff inauguration event Sunday at the Lincoln Memorial.
The Rev. Gene Robinson, Episcopal bishop in New Hampshire, has accepted an invitation issued by the Obama team prior to the announcement of the Rev. Rick Warren’s selection to deliver the invocation at the president-elect’s swearing-in, Politico reported Monday.
Robinson had been a critic of Warren’s role, calling his inclusion in the event “really, really unfortunate” because of the California minister's support for California's Prop. 8, which barred same-sex marriage.
“It's about this particular venue and the role that he has in praying for all of America, and I'm just not sure he'd pray to God the same way I would,” Robinson told Beliefnet last month.
“…This particular choice [of Warren] is not about having everyone at the table for a discussion or some sort of general forum. Every choice related to who does what at the inauguration is highly symbolic, and I think the transition team failed to ask the question of what, symbolically, this might say to some of our citizens.”
Robinson said at the time his disappointment would not affect his plans to attend President-elect Obama’s inauguration.
January 12, 2009
Openly gay bishop to deliver first inauguration event invocation
Posted: 06:44 PM ET
From CNN Associate Political Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand
Robinson became the U.S. Episcopal church’s first openly gay bishop in 2003.
(CNN) — The first openly gay priest ordained by a major Christian denomination will deliver the invocation at the kickoff inauguration event Sunday at the Lincoln Memorial.
The Rev. Gene Robinson, Episcopal bishop in New Hampshire, has accepted an invitation issued by the Obama team prior to the announcement of the Rev. Rick Warren’s selection to deliver the invocation at the president-elect’s swearing-in, Politico reported Monday.
Robinson had been a critic of Warren’s role, calling his inclusion in the event “really, really unfortunate” because of the California minister's support for California's Prop. 8, which barred same-sex marriage.
“It's about this particular venue and the role that he has in praying for all of America, and I'm just not sure he'd pray to God the same way I would,” Robinson told Beliefnet last month.
“…This particular choice [of Warren] is not about having everyone at the table for a discussion or some sort of general forum. Every choice related to who does what at the inauguration is highly symbolic, and I think the transition team failed to ask the question of what, symbolically, this might say to some of our citizens.”
Robinson said at the time his disappointment would not affect his plans to attend President-elect Obama’s inauguration.
Monday, January 5, 2009
It's the waiting that gets you
I don't know about you, but I'm guessing you also have to wait for your grades to pop up on Campus Cruiser or some other kind of internet program. Back in undergrad we got the old-fashioned report cards. Although you had to wait seemingly forever for them, at least you got your grades all at once.
At Suffolk our grades were to begin being posted at 5pm today. However, the deadline for the professors to turn in those grades was 3pm. Today. Which means that if the professor even if the professor turns in their grades on time, the school somehow expects to post all of the grades for all of the classes in two hours, which rarely happens. As a result, I received one of my grades tonight at about 9:15pm, but I still haven't received the other. This is torture! What's interesting is that I got the highest grade I've gotten so far in "The Exam". Maybe the dexedrine (and ability to study better) really helped after all.
By the way, did you hear that Harvard Law did away with grades altogether? And although Suffolk has a frustrating B- curve (making our grades look worse in comparison to the other law schools in Boston), Harvard is sort of well known for it's cushy--albeit unofficial--B+ curve. It seems to be common knowledge in Boston that the hardest part of Harvard Law is getting in. Not that HLS students don't deserve credit for that, because it really is something to be proud of. However, from then on it's apparently hard not to get a good grade (check out exhibit A--an article by Andrea Saenz from the Harvard Law Record dated 3/6/08, in which she says "It is common knowledge that grades are inflated at Harvard Law as compared to most other law schools, and that professors have at least some constraints on the distribution of grades they must give to large classes. Students often repeat that classes are "curved on a B+", and that A+s and grades below B- are discretionary.")
Now they're going to an essentially pass-fail system. I have to admit, I've never really been jealous of Harvard Law students, other than the fact that they were able to get in. :) As I've said before, I'm very happy with and proud of the education I'm getting at Suffolk. But having a pass-fail system of grading? THAT makes me jealous.
At Suffolk our grades were to begin being posted at 5pm today. However, the deadline for the professors to turn in those grades was 3pm. Today. Which means that if the professor even if the professor turns in their grades on time, the school somehow expects to post all of the grades for all of the classes in two hours, which rarely happens. As a result, I received one of my grades tonight at about 9:15pm, but I still haven't received the other. This is torture! What's interesting is that I got the highest grade I've gotten so far in "The Exam". Maybe the dexedrine (and ability to study better) really helped after all.
By the way, did you hear that Harvard Law did away with grades altogether? And although Suffolk has a frustrating B- curve (making our grades look worse in comparison to the other law schools in Boston), Harvard is sort of well known for it's cushy--albeit unofficial--B+ curve. It seems to be common knowledge in Boston that the hardest part of Harvard Law is getting in. Not that HLS students don't deserve credit for that, because it really is something to be proud of. However, from then on it's apparently hard not to get a good grade (check out exhibit A--an article by Andrea Saenz from the Harvard Law Record dated 3/6/08, in which she says "It is common knowledge that grades are inflated at Harvard Law as compared to most other law schools, and that professors have at least some constraints on the distribution of grades they must give to large classes. Students often repeat that classes are "curved on a B+", and that A+s and grades below B- are discretionary.")
Now they're going to an essentially pass-fail system. I have to admit, I've never really been jealous of Harvard Law students, other than the fact that they were able to get in. :) As I've said before, I'm very happy with and proud of the education I'm getting at Suffolk. But having a pass-fail system of grading? THAT makes me jealous.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Oops, just one more thing...
It's been over 3 months since I last posted about my love life
so I figured I'd fill you guys in. If you haven't already, read the
post I just linked to so you know who I'm talking about. :) Anyway, I
can't say enough about him! And not only did we make it through the
month of November, but through my birthday and the holidays, too! I'm so
lucky that I don't even know what to do with myself.
I'm still afraid to say too much because I don't want to jinx it, so you'll just have to trust me: I'm a very lucky woman right now. :)
I'm still afraid to say too much because I don't want to jinx it, so you'll just have to trust me: I'm a very lucky woman right now. :)
Wow, it's been a while!
My last post was about 3 or 4 weeks ago, so I figured I owed it to my both of my readers to post a little update. ;)
Grades come out Monday. In 3 days. I'm trying not to think about it. Really, all I want to do is pass, but I'm kidding myself if I think grades don't matter just a little. This last exam was the first one I took while on medication for ADHD. It was strange. I didn't feel that much more organized in actually writing it, which was kind of disappointing. If anything, I was more aware of how disorganized I was and how many more issues I wanted to address but couldn't! I chose not to ask for accommodations, so I didn't get any extra time. I'm debating now whether I want to ask for it for this semester. I definitely studied harder and (I think) better than for any of my previous exams, but I'm still scared to find out whether it paid off or not. What if it didn't? What do I do now?
Anyway, I hope everyone did well last semester! I'll keep my fingers crossed for all of us. And to the 1Ls, congratulations! You survived your first semester of law school. :)
Grades come out Monday. In 3 days. I'm trying not to think about it. Really, all I want to do is pass, but I'm kidding myself if I think grades don't matter just a little. This last exam was the first one I took while on medication for ADHD. It was strange. I didn't feel that much more organized in actually writing it, which was kind of disappointing. If anything, I was more aware of how disorganized I was and how many more issues I wanted to address but couldn't! I chose not to ask for accommodations, so I didn't get any extra time. I'm debating now whether I want to ask for it for this semester. I definitely studied harder and (I think) better than for any of my previous exams, but I'm still scared to find out whether it paid off or not. What if it didn't? What do I do now?
Anyway, I hope everyone did well last semester! I'll keep my fingers crossed for all of us. And to the 1Ls, congratulations! You survived your first semester of law school. :)
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