Hey y’all! Welcome back! Today’s blog will be discussing a recent listeria outbreak on Enoki mushrooms. Thankfully I don’t eat mushrooms, so I don’t to worry about this so much. I’m just going to say right now, if you eat ‘SHROOMS, you’re disgusting. I can’t stand the look, taste, and texture of them. The smell doesn’t bother me as much but still… GROSS.

The first thing you should do is check your refrigerator for any Enoki mushrooms. If you have any you can return them to store you purchased them from for a full refund or simply throw them away. Whatever floats your boat. Also, please be sure not to eat any food with these mushrooms in it, even if you know someone who has eaten them and has become sick. Food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes does not necessarily look or smell bad, but they can still cause fatal infections.

Listeria can cause an array of symptoms depending on the person and the body part that’s affected. People who are most at risk for this infection are pregnant women, people 65 or older, and people who are immunocompromised. Pregnant women usually have only a fever and flu-like symptoms. Yet, infection while pregnant can result in miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or even a life-threatening infection for the newborn. Others can develop symptoms such as headache, neck stiffness, confusion, loss of balance, fever and muscle aches. People who develop these invasive symptoms 1 to 4 weeks, which is a variable incubation period. Another thing to note is it can take up to 70 days after exposure to listeria for symptoms to develop.

I hope all you ‘SHROOM lovin’ folks stay safe out there. Please remember that you can also be exposed to listeria by other foods like soft cheeses, raw sprouts, melons, hotdogs, lunch meats, cold cuts, smoked fish and raw milk products. So maybe I could be infected eventually, just not by this current outbreak.

This week we will continue our discussion on antibody therapy by looking at the FDA-approved monoclonal antibody drug Adalimumab, more commonly known as Humira. A monoclonal antibody drug are man-made antibodies that act on proteins that attack normal human body tissues for people with autoimmune diseases. These synthetic antibodies are made by introducing human genetic information to that make antibodies into animals such as a mice. These mice are injected with the antigen that microbiologists are trying to make antibodies against, which then allows the immune cells from the mice to produce the chosen human antibody. Wow, it think this is really cool. It kinda operates like a virus. The virus injects its genetic information into human cells and replicates indefinitely.

Humira is an injectable protein, which blocks inflammatory effects of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) in rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and Crohn ‘s disease. Inflammation is the body’s natural response to an injury and it is important for repairing the injury as well. TNF is a protein that is produced by the body at the site of inflammation and produces the signs of inflammation such fever, pain, swelling, and redness. In this case, the injectable antibody (Humira) binds to TNF which prohibits its actions. For example, in the case of arthritis there would be no inflammation, which would slow and prevent joint damage.

Like many drugs, Humira has side effects. Some of the most common side effects are injection site reactions (i.e. pain, redness, swelling, rash, itching and/or bruising), sinus infections, headaches, rash and nausea. Some of the more serious side effects include:

• Serious infections (i.e. TB and infections caused by viruses, bacteria and/or fungi)
• Hepatitis B infection in carriers of the virus
• Allergic reactions
• Nervous system problems (i.e. numbness, dizziness, weakness and/or tingling)
• Blood problems
• Heart failure (new or worsening)
• Immune reactions including a lupus-like syndrome (i.e. chest pain, shortness of breath, joint pain and/or rash)
• Liver problems
• Psoriasis (new or worsening)

Like all other TNF blocking drugs, this one can cause serious infections such as tuberculosis, sepsis, and fungal infection. TNF blocking medications suppress the immune system which give opportunity for infection such as TB to re-emerge. Since these class of drugs suppress the immune system, it can lower the ability to fight of infection which can affect both the innate and required immune response.

I feel like you’re always taking a risk whenever you start taking a new medication, whether it little to none or a huge one. One thing I would like to point is some these side effects are for more severe cases. Pharmaceutical companies have to report any and all the possible side effects so they can avoid liability issue and possible lawsuits. There are also many side effects with taking things like Advil or Ibuprofen, so just remember that.

Hey y’all! I know that there has been a lot of talk about the coronavirus, however, I want to shine a light on another virus. Does the Ebola virus ring a bell? The Ebola virus outbreak you a probably most familiar with is the 2014-2016 outbreak in West Africa that claimed more than 2,200 lives. I know that number is nothing compared to the more than 100,000 deaths that the current pandemic, but that’s not the point. The point is that we need not to neglect other diseases that we are facing in the world currently. Even though this may not affect you directly, there’s someone else’s loved one who going through this right now so we cannot forget about them.

The Ebola virus disease (EVD) is deadly disease that usually has outbreaks that primarily happen in Africa. The EVD was first discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River, which is in the current Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and spread to surrounding countries. Researchers believe people are initially infected with the virus through contact with an infected animal like a nonhuman primate or fruit bat. Soon after, the virus spreads from person to person which could potentially affect large groups of people leading to outbreaks. The virus spreads through direct contact with blood and other bodily fluids, items contaminated with bodily fluids or even the body of a person who died from Ebola. Health-care workers have frequently been infected when treating patients with EVD when infection control precautions are not strictly enforced.

Signs and symptoms usually appear within 2 to 21 days after exposure, which is variable so you may or may not know who infected you. The main signs and symptoms you receive are fever, aches, fatigue, diarrhea and vomiting and unexplained hemorrhaging.

The current outbreak in the DRC is very perplexing. It has declared its 10^th outbreak within 40 years in 2018. As of March 6, 2020 there hadn’t been any confirmed new cases in the last 18 consecutive days. Outbreaks are declared over if there have been no recorded cases for 42 days straight across all areas, but something happened. A new case of EVD was confirmed just 3 days before the DRC was expected to declare an end to the outbreak.

I know this must be devastating. To feel like you’re near the end, only to find out that the beginning has just begun once again. Truth be told, I think that were still cases of Ebola during the period of not having any records. I just feel like it always happens and this case as well as others just flew under the radar. I also think that people could have been transmitting the virus asymptomatically, because I feel like that’s one of the only other ways that there was a “random” new case. I just hope that everything gets better with the virus and all the other outbreaks going on around the world. All we can do is help and support each other as much as possible.

Hey y’all! Welcome back for another coronavirus update. I hope y’all are hanging in there and keeping your sanity. Lord knows I’m trying too. Today’s blog is going to be specifically targeted towards testing. We all know that testing for Covid-19 is very hard to come by, despite what Mr. POTUS says. I will say we have made some progress but I think there’s more to be made. We currently have two types of testing out for the coronavirus: molecular and serological (a.k.a. antibody). I’m going to briefly talk a little bit about the molecular testing, however, antibody testing is what I’m going to focus on.

The molecular test was the first type of test for the coronavirus, which was used by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The most recent test, by Abbott Laboratories, allows you to get test results with in about 5 minutes. I think this is why we’re seeing growth in the number of cases, because we are able to test faster and more efficiently. For a molecular test, they usually take a long 6-inch swab and insert it into your nostril and swab it for around 15 seconds. Now, I know this is very painful. If you’ve ever had a flu test done, then you will recognize this pain. Trust me, I’ve experienced this before and it is not fun. Molecular testing is usually used to detect the presence of viral genome. Since this test detects viral genetic material, a positive test indicates an active Covid-19 infection.

The other testing that is available is serological testing or antibody testing, which looks for antibodies in the bloodstream. People who were infected and recovered from the coronavirus, should have their antibodies circulating in the blood. This testing will even be able to be tested on people were asymptomatic, which is extremely important in detecting who has been exposed to the virus by people who are spreading it asymptomatically. This testing simply involves a finger prick to take a sample of your blood and you should typically get result back within 10 to 15 minutes. When you’re exposed to the virus, your body develops antibodies and they can take several days to over a week to appear.

When your body is exposed to the coronavirus for the first time, it can take up to almost two weeks for your immune system to make enough antibodies to fight off infection. The initial response consist of mostly of IgM antibodies. A couple weeks later after the immediate infection has surpassed, the body creates IgG antibodies. This will leave small amounts of both IgM and IgG antibodies circulating in the blood. Once the body is exposed to Covid-19 again, it will respond faster and stronger, to provide primarily IgG antibodies.

Just to make things clearer if you didn’t get all that, IgM antibodies indicate a recent and/or current exposure, both IgM and IgG antibodies make mean that you’ve had the current infection for a while, and only IgG antibodies mean that you have had a secondary infection.

I think this is really cool that we we’re able to develop this type of testing. I also think that serological testing will be successful and be the next big chance we have in containing this virus.

Hey y’all! It’s time for another coronavirus update! I know this all everyone is talking about is this virus and it’s getting annoying and overwhelming. Something that is also irritating me is that the POTUS is not taking initiative by mandating a national lockdown. He said that is was the states’ responsibility to instill stay-at-home orders. By him not taking initiative, there are 8 states that have not put in place any stay-at-home orders which is ridiculous. Florida has finally put in an order but still allows churches to congregate and have service. That does not make sense to me at all. Hopefully we can get this together as a nation because currently we have over 290,000 cases and 7,286 deaths.

Now, this blog is really about potential anti-viral drugs that can treat the coronavirus. Remdesivir, lopinavir and ritonavir are among some of the best drugs being considered to treat COVID-19. These drugs were initially developed to treat Ebola and auto immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). All of the medications are sponsored by the United States are being used in clinical trials and we should be seeing some preliminary results from these clinical trials in the coming weeks.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that remdesivir is the “most promising” antiviral drug to treat COVID-19. This drug was developed for Ebola, but was not successful. Gilead Science Inc., which developed remdesivir, is sponsoring major clinical trials at 93 sites around the country, 18 being in California.

The POTUS has really pushed hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine as being “game changers” used to treat the coronavirus. Currently, these drugs are used to treat malaria, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus. Recent in vitro studies have shown that both of these drugs have anti-viral properties against SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19. These medications obstruct the chemical environment of human cell membranes which keeps the virus from multiplying and entering our cells. At this time, the scientific data to support these drugs are extremely limited and there is still plenty of research that needs to be done in regards to the dose, duration, and the potential risks of these anti-virals.

I just really hope we can find a feasible anti-viral or develop a vaccination soon for this virus, because it’s really getting out of hand.

Hey y’all! Welcome back to Kalayah’s Krazy Microbes. In this week’s blog I will be discussing about a cool way that people can fight off cancer using their own cells and it’s called T-cell therapy. With this specific T-cell therapy you can fight off cancerous cells in your body, which I think it’s unique. CAR T-cell therapy is a type of cancer therapy that uses a patient’s white blood cells to kill of cancer cells multiply in their body.

Let’s take a look at the process:

T cells are collected from the patient via apheresis, which is a procedure that removes blood and components of blood such as plasma, white blood cells and platelets from the body. The remaining blood is then circulated back into the patients’ body. The T cells are sent to a lab where they get genetically engineered, by putting DNA into the cells to produce chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) on the cell surface. CARs will have the ability to allow T cells to recognize antigens on targeted cancerous cells. The patient’s genetically modified T cells are multiplied by growing in the lab. When there is a sufficient number of these CAR T-cells, they are frozen and sent to the facility where the patient is receiving treatment. During treatment, the CAR T-cells are unthawed and then infused into the patient’s bloodstream where they can replicate. These cells will recognize and destroy cells that have the targeted antigen on their surface. The CAR T cells may remove all the cancer and can remain in the body months after the infusion is done. All in all, the CAR-T cell therapy has resulted in long-term remissions for some blood cancers.

One potential serious side effect of CAR T-cell therapy is Cytokine-Release Syndrome (CRS). CRS can have mild flu-like symptoms which include nausea, fever, fatigue, chills and headache. Symptoms of CRS can be more severe such as tachycardia, cardiac arrest, hypoxia, multiple-organ failure and low blood pressure.

I think this is really cool that we are this scientifically advanced to be able to genetically modify our own cells and put them back into our body. Not only that, but there are fully functional once we put them back is insane.

There are two CAR-T cell therapies that are currently available – axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta®) and tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah®). Yescarta® has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat adults with large B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas. Kymriah® is approved for children and adults up to 25 years old with advanced acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Check this out! The cost for one single CAR T-cell therapy in is about $373,000. Just for one??? Are you kidding me? This doesn’t even include the cost of manufacturing the genetically modified T-cells or managing of long-term complications that comes with this treatment. These prices are outrageous, and it must be something we can do about it.

World Tuberculosis Day was on March 24^th. Now it didn’t get a lot of attention this year because we’re in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it still does deserve awareness as it is currently and has been a global epidemic for years. Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by the mycobacterium tuberculosis that mostly affects the lungs. TB is spread from person to person by respiratory droplets and it only takes a few droplets spread from an infected by a cough or a sneeze to become infected. Although TB can be prevented and treated, it is the “world’s biggest infectious killer and the leading cause of death among people living with HIV” according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Did you know that 1.5 million people died from TB in 2018? I didn’t know that until I was doing my research from this blog. It’s crazy how something so deadly is overlooked. I remember my first time ever hearing about TB was when I was getting screened for volunteering at the hospital. Now that I look at things, I only hear about to TB in a healthcare settings and we need to change that dynamic. People infected with TB have a 15% chance of becoming ill with the infection. People who are immunocompromised such as people with HIV, diabetics, and smokers are at a higher risk of becoming ill.

In September of 2018, the United Nations (UN) held it first high-level meeting on TB and I would say it was success because they were able to come up with four new global targets to combat TB globally. Their goal is to treat 40 million people for TB from 2018-2022. Within this same timeline, they want to reach at least 30 million with preventative treatment for TB. The UN plans to assemble at least a $13 billion yearly for universal access for Tb diagnosis, treatment and care by 2022. They also want to establish $2 billion annually for TB research.

I think these initiatives are great and I hope the UN is successful in achieving their goals. I also just want to continue to spread awareness about tuberculosis, because the coronavirus is not the only epidemic or pandemic we’re facing as we speak.

Hey y’all! Welcome back to my blog! This blog is going to be more of a personal update on my wellness and how I am adjusting to this coronavirus lifestyle. I would like to start off by saying that my spring began off great, but then it turned into a nightmare even with the extension. Early Saturday morning, March 14^th, I woke up to a panicked knock on my door. It was my aunt and she delivered the news that my papa found my grandma in the living room unconscious. When I heard this news, my heart dropped. We rushed to my grandma’s house to find out that she was flown to the hospital in Greenville. That was the scariest weekend of my life, especially with being in the middle of the coronavirus epidemic. The doctors said she was in cardiac arrest and they found a little pneumonia in her lungs. She was on a ventilator for about 3 days and they finally pulled the plug the following Monday. Everyone in my family was devastated because this was very unexpected, but was good to see all my family members that I haven’t seen in a long time get together and celebrate the life of my grandma. What was also really tough was that we couldn’t have a full funeral because of the regulations enforced by the government, so we could only have a graveside service. This was not ideal, but I’m pretty sure my grandma was satisfied with it given the resources that were available.

While this seemed like and extra week of spring break for others, it allotted me the time to be able to grieve my loss. Had we been back in school, I would have fell super-duper behind in my academics and that would have not ended well. It still hurts, but luckily the tears have slowed. It’s not a day or a moment when I don’t think about her. I just try to keep my head up and work even harder to make her proud.

In the midst of all this UNC has decided that we weren’t returning to campus, that we had a short time period to move out of our dorms, and that we would be continuing remote learning for the remainder of the semester due to the COVID-19 outbreak. All of these things were just extremely inconvenient and I know I’m not the only person who feels this way.

I’m just overwhelmed with the remainder of the semester and I know a lot of the professors are two because we basically have the cram in the remainder of the semester and do it virtually at that. I just want to commend all them for trying to make this as smooth as they possible could. Virtually learning is going to take some getting used to, but at the end of the day I think everything is going to work out fine. My county and North Carolina has officially ordered a stay-at-home order until April 16 and I honestly don’t know how to feel about it. I know it’s supposed to prevent community spread of the coronavirus, but I’m going to miss my friends and boyfriend. Hopefully this thing ends soon so we can go back to our normal daily lives, but I guess I’ll wait on the “foreseeable future” UNC was talking about.

I know it’s been a while, but now it’s time for a Corona Update. Things have been so stressful since the last Corona blog. So basically, Covid-19 has taken over just about the entire country. This all happened within a matter of just under two weeks. We have had an extended spring break with classes resuming remotely on Monday. Also, UNC is giving us a two-hour time slot to move out of our dorm for the remainder of the semester. To top things off they aren’t speaking about any refunds until after April 1^st. Just to give you a brief overview, the United States is basically in shambles and the POTUS doesn’t seem to think that there is anything wrong.

Let me catch y’all up on the sequence of events from now until Gov. Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency on March 10^th. That next day the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Covid-19 a global pandemic, which means it is an epidemic in several countries around the world. March 13^th the POTUS declares a national state of emergency. The following day North Carolina cancels all public schools and bans gatherings of 100 people or more. Three days later NC limits restaurants to to-go orders or delivery.

Yesterday, North Carolina got word of the its first case of the coronavirus from community spread which means people have been infected with the virus in an area even with people you are not sure how or where they contracted it from. This has led state leaders to move from the containment phase to the mitigation, which will prep ourselves because it will get worse before it gets better. A few days ago the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS), placed pregnant women into a “high-risk” category for this virus. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does know if pregnant women are at greater risk from getting sick from Covid-19 than the general public, however, they would rather want to take extra precautions just to ensure the safety of the mother and the baby.

Now here’s the latest:

According to the NCDHHS, there are at least 137 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in North Carolina. There are over 16,500 cases confirmed in the United States and of those there were 215 deaths. Luckily, there has not been any confirmed deaths in North Carolina. However, we expect to see the number of cases and deaths to continue rise.

Everything is just so hectic and my hometown pretty much looks like a ghost. I’m pretty sure North Carolina will join other states such as California and New York in a total state lockdown, only allowing essential personnel to work and only allowing people to leave the house to go to either the grocery store or the hospital.

Another scary thing for healthcare workers is the shortage of medical supplies for personal protective equipment (PPE). As I’m watching CNN now, they are saying that it’s at the point now where healthcare professionals have to refuse their same PPE between patients. This is extremely dangerous because it leads to the spread of infection, which we are trying to limit. I hope we are able to find solutions to these problems that we’re dealing with as a country because I think it is critical in a time like this. In the meantime, stay safe out there!

You may or may not know this but Chlamydia is the one of the most common sexually transmitted disease (STD). Chlamydia can infect both men and women, so no gender is more susceptible to another. However, it can cause serious reproductive issues in women, which may make for a difficult or unlikely pregnancy.

Chlamydia is a bacterial infection and it is easily treated with antibiotics which is a good thing. I would hate for something that is as common as this to not be easily treatable. One of the most dangerous characteristics about this disease is that in most cases it is asymptomatic, which means you show know symptoms. So this means you can feel perfectly fine without feeling you are infected. I don’t know about you, but I think that is one of the most scariest things. From 2007-2018, chlamydia has increased nearly 150% with the most cases with the greatest increase in ages 19-22 (90%).

Chlamydia is spread through vaginal, anal or oral sex with someone who is infected with the STD. The infection is carried in vaginal fluids and semen and can infect the penis, vagina, cervix, anus, urethra, eyes, and throat. Chlamydia can also be spread to a baby during childbirth if the mother is infected. Chlamydia cannot be spread through things like touching, coughing, sneezing, sharing food or drinks or sitting on the toilet. Even though it cannot be transmitted by sitting on a toilet, I’m still not sitting on ANY public restroom toilet or ANY toilet that is not my own.

Some symptoms of chlamydia include abnormal discharge, burning while urinating, swollen or tender testicles, and pain during sex. If chlamydia infects your eyes, which happens rarely, it can cause a red, itchy, burning sensation. This STD has a long incubation period so it may take up to several weeks for signs and symptoms to appear.

Getting tested for this STD is essential, because it is can be commonly mistaken for other disease. Chlamydia is easily treated with antibiotics so it is important to seek treatment ASAP because it can cause serious health problems such as infertility, ectopic pregnancy and an increased risk in contracting HIV. When getting treated it is important for you and your sexual partner(s) to get treatment as well because you don’t want to just keep passing the bacteria around and keep contracting it. Like all medication, make sure to finish out the prescription to ensure all the bacteria has been removed. Also, do not have sex for at least a week. I know it may be tempting but it is in your best interest not too. I’d rather be safe than sorry. Lastly, make sure you get test within the next 3-4 months after treatment to be on the safe.

I hope this information is useful and I hope y’all practice safe sex to make sure you don’t get this infection!