Sam Scarpino Profile picture
Aug 24, 2020 3 tweets 2 min read Read on X
“many public health programs are not collecting the data needed to show the [#COVID19] pandemic’s impact on poor and minority people.” Fantastic piece by @tsimonite in @WIRED on how inequality and racism also *cause* public health data bias in the US. wired.com/story/covid-hi…
As we demonstrated in our recent @PLOSCompBiol publication, these data biases further the inequality by obscuring those communities most in need and often hardest hit by epidemics.
However, when considering new public health surveillance systems designed to close these data gaps, we must also acknowledge and *address* the decades and decades of racism and violence that have *caused* so many communities to be at higher risk during epidemics. #racismnotrace

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Sam Scarpino

Sam Scarpino Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @svscarpino

Oct 15
1/ We're seeing a concerning rise in H5 wastewater positivity in Turlock CA.

Unlike previous H5 signals, @WastewaterSCAN is showing an exponential rise in H5 (and flu A) concentration that has persisted for almost a month! Figure shows an exponential rise in flu A concentration in wastewater over the past month. The inset shows H5 positive samples. Data from WastewaterSCAN. Location is Trulock CA.
2/ For those following #H5N1 in CA, there have been positive farms there since late Aug.

@globaldothealth we're working w/ @ThinkGlobalHlth and @CFR_org to maintain a timeline of key events. This tracking allows us to better piece together signals. thinkglobalhealth.org/article/timeli…Timeline showing the first announced positive farms in CA on Aug 30th.
3/ I'm concerned about the H5 wastewater signal because it lags far behind the uptick in farms and is better correlated with the rapid rise in human infections. thinkglobalhealth.org/article/timeli…Timeline shows the rise in reported H5N1 human infections beginning in late Sept/early Oct.
Read 9 tweets
May 6
1/ New #H5N1 pre-print ⬆️ the threat level for the ongoing outbreak in dairy cows.

Researchers found that cow mammary glands contain the same kind of mixed flu receptors seen in pigs.

This mix of receptors is why scientists call pigs "evolutionary labs for flu host switching". Graphical abstract showing the three cell surface receptors used by influenza in humans, chickens, and ducks. The figure then shows where sampling occurred in cows (brains, trachea, mammary glands), and the distribution of cell receptors in the various organs.
2/ One of the key changes required for avian flu to transmit effectively in humans involves flu's hemagglutinin (HA) host cell receptor preference.

tl;dr The cell surface receptor influenza uses in birds is subtly different from the one in the human upper-respiratory tract. Cartoon from Chauhan & Gordon illustrates influenza's replication cycle. A red arrow indicates where the HA glycoprotein is binding to the host cell receptor triggering uptake into the host cell.
3/ While changes in HA binding are only one of many required, they are thought to be key in governing influenza host range.

journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.11…
Read 13 tweets
Apr 24
1/ I've seen many comments along the lines of, "We have no evidence that pasteurization inactivates #H5N1."

We actually have quite a bit of evidence to suggest pasteurization will work and the presence of viral RNA is compatible w/ that evidence.

Why am I not panicked? A🧵
2/ Milk is pasteurized by heating it briefly to ~72 C (161F). This inactivates pathogens, but does filter the milk. As a result, there can be degraded genomic material from pathogens following pasteurization. PCR, as was done by the FDA, can detect these degraded genomes.
3/ Numerous peer-reviewed studies have found that pasteurization will inactivate influenza A virus, including #H5N1. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
Read 6 tweets
Apr 1
1/ A human case of #H5N1 was just reported and is linked to the ongoing outbreak in US dairy cattle.

How concerned should we be?

It's good news that the patient is experiencing eye symptoms and had direct exposure to infected cattle.

Why? 🧵
2/ As you may know, avian influenza doesn't readily infect humans (and doesn't transmit well from human-to-human) in part because of subtle differences in key cell surface receptors. journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.11…
3/ However, our eyes actually contain the bird-flu-friendly confirmation of the cell surface receptor. This is why eye inflammation is often a symptom of avian influenza infection in humans. thelancet.com/journals/lanin…
Read 10 tweets
May 17, 2023
1/ What's the global state of wastewater surveillance?

On behalf of authors from >20 countries & all continents, A Keshaviah, @megan_b_diamond, M Wade, & me survey capacity & what's needed going forward. @RockefellerFdn @MathematicaNow @NUBouve @LancetGH thelancet.com/journals/langl…
2/ Following a convening of @RockefellerFdn's Global Wastewater Action Group, we partnered w/ @MathematicaNow and surveyed representatives of wastewater monitoring programs in 43 countries (16 LMICs, 27 HICs) spanning six continents (when I said "all" I didn't count Antartica). Figure: Population coverage...
3/ In high-income countries, composite sampling at centralized treatment plants was most common, whereas grab sampling from surface waters, open drains, and pit latrines was more typical in low-income and middle-income countries.
Read 9 tweets
Jan 31, 2023
1/ Data from @WastewaterSCAN shows that rates of SARS-CoV-2, RSV, and influenza have dropped precipitously from their winter peaks!

We still have a ways to go, but things are clearly headed in the right direction. US national wastewater surveillance data from the wastewater
2/ Although for SARS-CoV-2 we've been hovering at peak levels for over a month and we need to see at least another month of continuously falling prevalence before we're back to more "baseline" levels. US national wastewater surveillance data from the wastewater
3/ And note how *LONG* the RSV outbreak has been in the US.

We've been above 25% of the peak height for >3 months! US national wastewater surveillance data from the wastewater
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(