Category Archives: Stem Cell Doctors


First time ever successful operation with a single-use endoscope on immunodepressed child – Emergency-Live

The advantage of a single-use endoscope is that, since they do not have to be sanitized and reprocessed they do not expose to the danger of infections during endoscopic procedures. Thats why they turned out to be so useful in immunodepressed patients, like the child of this case.

Given the high costs, they are reserved for immunodepressed adult patients and have come back of great use in the middle of the pandemic emergency from COVID-19.

At the Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS (Italy) the disposable endoscope Exalt has been successfully used for the first time also on a pediatric immunodepressed child with congenital immunodeficiency. Thanks to the UOC team of Digestive Surgical Endoscopy directed by Professor Guido Costamagna, Professor of General Surgery at the Catholic University in Rome, this operation was possible-

Below, the official communication by Policlinico Gemelli.

Exalt is the name of the brand-new disposable endoscope model and was first used in the world at Policlinico Gemelli. It has been used to assist a 7-year-old child suffering from biliary narrowing who was dilated with this high-tech instrument, explains the note.

The most important thing about these disposable instruments (the one used is Boston Scientifics Exalt Model-D) is that, although expensive, they overcome all the problems linked to the meticulous disinfection and reprocessing that traditional endoscopes undergo after each use. When operating immunodepressed patients, such as the little patient admitted to the Policlinico Gemelli suffering from a very rare form of congenital immunodeficiency (DOCK8 deficiency, Dedicator of Cytokinesis 8), this fact is very important.

This rare disease exposed this child to a very high risk of infection.

The patient had developed primary sclerosing cholangitis while waiting for a hematopoietic stem cell transplant (marrow transplant). This is a disease that affects the biliary tract that causes bile to flow from the liver to the gallbladder and then to the duodenum and a narrowing of the biliary sphincter, to be treated by biliary sphinctomy using the ERCP (Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography) procedure, i.e. an incision of the outlet of the biliary tract in the duodenum, which is performed in endoscopy.

It is a delicate operation but necessary to prevent the stagnation of bile in the biliary tract. This may cause a possible infection (cholangitis), very dangerous in immunodepressed children, continues the official note of the polyclinic.

The endoscopic surgery was performed at the beginning of this month and the little one, assisted in collaboration with the doctors of the Pediatric Oncology Unit of Policlinico Gemelli, was discharged in excellent condition 48 hours after the treatment.

So far the Exalt single-use duodenoscope has been used only on adult patients, explains Professor Guido Costamagna director of the UO of Digestive Surgical Endoscopy Department. At Policlinico Gemelli, the medical staff have had it available since last March and they used it to treat two COVID-19 patients, in the middle of the pandemic.

For the first time in the world, we used this disposable endoscope on a 7-year-old girl weighing just 24 kilos.

The single-use endoscope (a duodenoscope, precisely) represents a still expensive device, but certainly very useful in selected cases, such as immunodepressed patients. According to our experience, Exalt can be used safely even in small pediatric patients.

The Exalt Model-D, the worlds first single-use endoscope was awarded by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with the Breakthrough Device Designation last December and received the CE mark in January this year, concludes the official note.

Each year, 1.5 million ERCP procedures are performed worldwide, 500,000 of which are performed in Europe.

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Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis

SOURCE

Official Website of Policlinico Gemelli

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First time ever successful operation with a single-use endoscope on immunodepressed child - Emergency-Live

College Kids Are Apparently Playing a Game Where They Try to Catch COVID – Futurism

The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 can be deadly, even to young people, with estimates of its overall mortality rate often hovering around one percent.

But according to a city official in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, that isnt stopping college students from arranging COVID-19 parties. She says that infected students attend the parties, which charge an entry fee, and then the first attendee to be diagnosed with COVID by a doctor gets the cash.

They put money in a pot and they try to get COVID, City Council member Sonya McKinstry said during a recent city meeting, according to ABC News. Whoever gets COVID first gets the pot. It makes no sense. Theyre intentionally doing it.

Tuscaloosa fire chief Randy Smith corroborated McKinstrys claims at the same meeting.

We thought that was kind of a rumor at first, he said, according to ABC. We did some research. Not only do the doctors offices confirm it but the state confirmed they also had the same information.

Neither official named a specific college in their claims, though Tuscaloosa is home to a number of schools including the University of Alabama and Stillman College. The coronavirus has killed nearly 1,000 people in Alabama.

CNN later caught up with McKinstry, who doubled down on the intel about the parties and decried the risky behavior, which flies in the face of common sense and public health.

It makes me furious, McKinstry said, according to CNN. Furious to the fact that something that is so serious and deadly is being taken for granted. Not only is it irresponsible, but you could contract the virus and take it home to your parents or grandparents.

Even with two officials corroborating the party story, its possible the gatherings are a rumor. Theres a long history of moral panics sweeping the United States before it ultimately turns out that actual phenomenon was rare or nonexistent.

In the case of the COVID parties, other city officials were evasive with ABC, saying they were still gathering information and stressing the continued importance of social distancing during the ongoing pandemic.

One thing is for sure: Crowded parties are dangerous environments in which you can absolutely catch the coronavirus. A surprise birthday party in Texas infected 18 relatives in June, and a wedding in India caused an outbreak of more than 80 cases one of which, tragically, killed the groom.

This is not political, McKinstry told CNN. This is a public health issue. People are dying and there is no cure. We have to do whatever we can to save as many lives as possible.

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College Kids Are Apparently Playing a Game Where They Try to Catch COVID - Futurism

Katharine McPhee reveals frustrations with husband David Foster in new documentary – Wonderwall

Nick Cordero continues to face an uphill battle in his fight with the coronavirus.

After three months of hospitalization, the Broadway star's wife, Amanda Kloots, told CBS on Thursday that he will probably need a double lung transplant.

"We think that that is most likely the possibility. A 99 percent chance that he would be needing that in order to live the kind of life that I know my husband would want to live," she said on CBS This Morning.

But, being a recipient of a transplant is not automatic.

"That is a long road away and a lot of things would have to line up in order for Nick to be a candidate for that," she said.

In mid-May, Nick woke up after being unconscious for about six weeks due to Covid-19 complications.

The Tony-nominated actor has struggled with multiple issues since entering the emergency room on March 30 and being intubated on a ventilator on April 1. Just over three weeks later, he had his right leg amputated after dealing with blood clots. While unconscious, he also suffered two mini strokes, septic shock and fungus in his lungs, among other things, and he needed a temporary pacemaker to assist his heart. In May, Amanda acknowledged that there was "an issue with infection in his lungs." A few weeks later, she said doctors started stem cell treatment to try and repair Nick's lungs.

In the new interview with Gayle King, Amanda, who shares 1-year-old son Elvis with Nick, said she's told her husband that his leg had to be amputated.

"I told him how there's amazing prosthetics. And I told him that I've been talking to amputees and to try to give him encouragement," she said, adding that he's "stable" right now.

"Nick's body is extremely weak," she continued."Muscles have atrophied, so he can't move his body yet He can still open his eyes, and when he is alert and awake, he'll answer commands by looking up or down, yes or no questions."

While Amanda remains hopeful, she knows that it's a "miracle" that Nick is still alive.

"I believe, Gayle, that God is the only person that's going to decide when and if my husband goes. So I will never try to play that role He's fighting. I see it every day. Nick's doctor sees it. And as long as he's in there and fighting, I'll continue to fight with him," she said. "I tell him, I say, 'You're going to walk out of this hospital, honey. I believe it, I know you can We're going to dance again. You're going to hold your son again.' My line is, 'Don't get lost, get focused.'"

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Katharine McPhee reveals frustrations with husband David Foster in new documentary - Wonderwall

A Shot of This Gene Editing Serum Appears to Prevent Heart Disease in Monkeys – Futurism

If a new experiment is to be believed, a single gene-editing injection could someday eliminate the risk of heart disease.

Doctors from the biotech company Verve Therapeutics injected 13 monkeys with a serum that shut off two particular genes in their livers responsible for producing cholesterol and triglyceride fats, The New York Times reports. If the same could be accomplished in humans, scientists suspect that for many people, heart disease and fatal heart attacks could become relics of the past.

This could be the cure for heart disease, Dr. Michael Davidson, Lipid Clinic director at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, who did not contribute to the research, told the NYT.

The idea would be to inject young people in order to gene-hack them so that they can go about life free of heart disease. Unfortunately for older generations, heart attacks and other conditions can be the result of decades-worth of high cholesterol filling their veins with plaque.

The serum altered the DNA of every cell in the 13 monkeys livers, according to the research, which hasnt yet been peer-reviewed or published but was presented Saturday at the International Society for Stem Cell Researchs annual meeting.

Specifically, it switches off two genes: PCSK9, which regulates LDL cholesterol thats the bad kind and ANGPTL3, which regulates triglycerides, a type of fat that can be stored in the blood.

It will be years before the team can repeat the experiment in humans, the NYT reports, because they need to observe the monkeys for any potential side effects from the gene alteration and to see if the effect is permanent or not.

We hope it will be one-and-done, but we have to validate that with clinical trials, Davidson told the NYT.

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A Shot of This Gene Editing Serum Appears to Prevent Heart Disease in Monkeys - Futurism

Jada Pinkett Smith denies August Alsina’s claim they had years-long relationship with Will Smith’s blessing – Wonderwall

Did they or didn't they?

According to singer August Alsina, he and married actress Jada Pinkett Smith had a relationship in recent years with the blessing of her husband, Will Smith, 51. He made the claims in a wide-ranging interview with"The Breakfast Club"co-hostAngela Yeethat was posted on his YouTube channel on June 30.

According to Jada, 48, however, the allegation is false. Jada's rep told Page Six the 27-year-old singer's claims are "absolutely not true."

As reported by Page Six, in the interview which is for his new YouTube documentary, "StateofEMERGEncy: The Rise of August Alsina," to promote his new album, "The Product III:stateofEMERGEncy" August was introduced to Jada by her son, Jaden Smith, in 2015. They grew close he says he fell in love with her and he vacationed with her family in Hawaii the following year and he and the actress attended the 2017 BET Awards together.

Speculation that something was going on between August and Jada flared up after he released a remix of Kehlani's track "Nunya" in 2019. As Page Six points out, lyrics include, "Why is you textin me / Asking who next to me / Why you care about who having sex with me / Now you all on my line, why you pressing me?" Referencing that track and the attention it got, Angela asked August, "What was the real situation with Jada Pinkett Smith?"

His reply? "People can have whatever ideas that they like but what I'm not OK with is my character being in question. Certain things are questionable that I know is not me or that I know that I haven't done," he began. "Contrary to what some people may believe, I don't like drama drama actually makes me nauseous. And I also don't think that it's ever important for people to know what I do, who I sleep with, who I date, but in this instance, it's very different because as I said, there's so many people that are side-eyeing me, looking at me questionable about it. I mean I've lost money, friendships, relationships behind it, and I think it's because people don't necessarily know the truth.

"But I've never done anything wrong," August insisted, adding of the Smith family, "I love those people, literally they're like my family I don't have a bad thing to say about them. They're beautiful people."

However, he explained, "When something starts affecting my life and not only affecting my life but affecting my wellness and my well-being and also starts to block my heart, my heart space is blocked, I don't really have a choice but to express my truth."

According to August, "I actually sat down with Will and had a conversation due to the transformation from their marriage to life partnership that they've spoken on several times he gave me his blessing."

Concerning his relationship with Jada, "I totally gave myself to that relationship for years of my life, and I truly and really, really deeply love and have a ton of love for her," he said. "I devoted myself to it, I gave my full self to it so much so to the point that I can die right now and be OK with knowing that I truly gave myself to somebody."

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Jada Pinkett Smith denies August Alsina's claim they had years-long relationship with Will Smith's blessing - Wonderwall

Global Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia Treatment Market Projected to Witness a Measurable Downturn; COVID-19 Outbreak Remains a Threat to Growth in the…

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Following governments measures, particularly social distancing norms and stay-at-home orders, doctors are delaying or postponing elective surgeries unless critical to prevent the spread of the virus to individuals with comorbidities or chronic conditions. Additionally, movement restrictions and supply chain disruptions have created a logistical nightmare for market players, leading to severe product shortages in the global marketplace.

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Its not just the lungs: COVID-19 can affect the brain and heart of those infected, researchers say – WITI FOX 6 Milwaukee

LOS ANGELES As medical experts learn about the novel coronavirus, which continues to exhibit an array of ever-evolving symptoms and long-term effects, researchers have found that the deadly illness can have deleterious impacts on the heart and brain.

A recent study published on June 25 in the journalCell Reports Medicine, found that while COVID-19 is commonly known as a respiratory illness, the disease has also been known to instigate inflammatory responses in the body which can negatively affect the function of ones heart and brain.

According to the study, researchers observed SARS-CoV-2 infecting human heart cells that were grown from stem cells in a lab. Within 72 hours of infection, the virus managed to spread and replicate, killing the heart cells.

The researchers brought up the particularly alarming possibility that if COVID-19 can infect the heart cells in a laboratory setting, it could possibly infect those specific organs, prompting the need for a cardiac-specific antiviral drug screen program.

And those concerns are not unwarranted, according to doctors and other researchers who have been observing and studying the wide range of health problems and negative outcomes that appear to come with the not-yet-fully-known territory of the novel virus.

The most common coronavirus symptoms are fever, a dry cough and shortness of breath and some people are contagious despite never experiencing symptoms. But as the virus continues to spread, less common symptoms are being reported, including loss of smell, vomiting and diarrhea, along with a variety of skin problems and harmful neurological effects.

A recentreportfromDr. Robert Stevens, M.D., the associate director of the Johns Hopkins Precision Medicine Center of Excellence for Neurocritical Care, said that coronavirus patients are continuously experiencing a wide range of disconcerting effects on the brain.

Some of the neural symptoms, according to Johns Hopkins, include:

Patients are also having peripheral nerve issues, such as Guillain-Barr syndrome, which can lead to paralysis and respiratory failure, wrote Stevens. I estimate that at least half of the patients Im seeing in the COVID-19 units have neurological symptoms.

While medical experts have continuously repeated that more is still being discovered about the virus, Stevens listed some possibilities on how COVID-19, a respiratory illness, is making its way to the brain.

The first possible way is that the virus may have the capacity to enter the brain and cause a severe and sudden infection. Cases reported in China and Japan found the viruss genetic material in spinal fluid, and a case in Florida found viral particles in brain cells, Stevens wrote.

He added that viral particles in the brain and spine may occur when the virus enters the body through a patients bloodstream or nerve endings.

The second possibility is that the bodys immune system has an overreaction to the virus, causing severe inflammatory responses that cause organ and tissue damage.

The third theory is the erratic physiological changes the disease causes in the body, which involve extremely high fever and low oxygen levels in the blood, result in harmful effects to the brain.

Stevens added that there has been an abnormal observance of blood clotting that has caused some coronavirus patients to suffer strokes. A stroke could occur if a blood clot were to block or narrow arteries leading to the brain, he said.

Another illness that has been known to impact the brain in patients with COVID-19 is currently being studied by Dr. Mady Hornig, an immunologist and professor of epidemiology at Columbia University.

Hornig said that Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is an illness that has been found in patients who have recovered from coronaviruses such as SARS.

TheCenters for Disease Control and Preventioncites a 2015 report from the nations top medical advisory body, the Institute of Medicine, which says that an estimated 836,000 to 2.5 million Americans suffer from ME/CFS.

The CDC says that people with ME/CFS experience severe fatigue, sleep problems, as well as difficulty with thinking and concentrating while experiencing pain and dizziness.

Hornig said SARS-CoV-1 and MERS have been associated with longer-term difficulties, in which many people appeared to have symptoms of ME/CFS.

Hornig is currently researching the long-term effects of COVID-19, and has been confronted with an array of concerning symptoms that have persisted in patients, as well as herself.

She can personally attest to the variety of symptoms that have been reported in coronavirus patients, ever since she began to experience her own COVID-19 symptoms in April that have continued to impact her daily life for the past few months.

She has also experienced cardiac complications while dealing with the illness.

Since getting sick, Hornig said shes had to carry a pulse oximeter with her, a device which registers her pulse since she began to have tachycardia episodes when her fever began to decline. Tachycardia is a condition that can make a persons heart beat abnormally fast, reducing blood flow to the rest of the body,according to the Mayo Clinic.

Hornigs most recent episode was on June 22. Her pulse registered at 135 beats per minute, which she said occurred just from her sitting at her computer. She said a normal pulse for someone her age would be around 60-70 beats per minute.

The findings on the novel virus potential effects on the heart and brain come as the CDC continues to update itslistof coronavirus symptoms and high-risk conditions for COVID-19 complications.

Notably, the CDC also removed the specific age threshold from the older adult classification. CDC now warns that among adults, risk increases steadily as you age, and its not just those over the age of 65 who are at increased risk for severe illness, the agency wrote.

Johns Hopkins has noted that younger patients in their 30s and 40s are reportedly having strokes as a result of COVID-19.

It may have something to do with the hyperactive blood-clotting system in these patients, Stevens said. Another system that is hyper-activated in patients with COVID-19 is the endothelial system, which consists of the cells that form the barrier between blood vessels and body tissue. This system is more biologically active in younger patients, and the combination of hyperactive endothelial and blood-clotting systems puts these patients at a major risk for developing blood clots.

But Stevens cautioned that more conclusive data is needed before the medical community can say with assurance that younger people are particularly susceptible to strokes caused by the novel coronavirus.

It is also plausible that theres an increase in stroke in COVID-19 patients of all ages, Stevens said.

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Its not just the lungs: COVID-19 can affect the brain and heart of those infected, researchers say - WITI FOX 6 Milwaukee

Inequality in COVID-19 Has Other Dangerous Consequences – Fox and Hounds Daily

Tanya Klowden is a physicist with a background in design and history whose work is focused on identifying the works and telling the stories of unrecognized and underappreciated artists and voices in history.

Over the past several weeks, the outcries over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, combined with recent killings of Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky have grown to a dull roar, finally focusing our nation on the tremendous risk of violence and death borne on a daily basis by people of color within this country. As our broader population has begun to address the widespread and persistent violence that has plagued minority communities for generations, medical researchers in the past few weeks have expressed significant concern over another urgent threat, finding a much higher death rate from COVID-19 within our African-American communities here in California and in the country as a whole.

We have observed over the past several weeks what we already knew, or at least should have known, that disease falls hardest on the most underprivileged and that minorities in particular, independent of their economic status, are at a higher risk of death. The non-partisan APM research lab released figures showing that African-Americans have died from COVID-19 alone at a rate of 50.3 per 100,000 people- well over twice the rates for whites (20.7), Latinos (22.9) and Asian Americans (22.7). There are several reasons for this, none of which is biological susceptibility. Most of the difficulties are direct impacts of systematic racism, so it is important we look at some of these issues to better understand why they are amplifying, rather than suppressing, the impact of disease.

In fact, per capita public health spending (and public education spending) is measurably lower in most regions in this country with a significantly higher African-American population. While lower public health spending in your region will result in poorer outcomes all by itself, medical professionals find that they are also struggling with high levels of distrust from minorities, particularly from those in the older generations. The more privileged you are, the less likely you are to have ever been treated by, and simultaneously not trusted, your doctor. As a privileged person, you probably learned about the Hippocratic oath at a young age and always accepted that your doctor made a promise to help, not harm, in all circumstances.

To help place you in the mindset of someone who has been given no reason to trust doctors and every reason to fear them, I have for you the story of Henrietta Lacks. Henrietta Lacks was an African-American woman born in 1920. She worked as a tobacco farmer and was a mother from an early age. When she was thirty, after giving birth and hemorrhaging severely after, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. She was given routine (at the time) treatment for her cancer and instructed to follow up with the hospital. During followup treatment she was admitted to the hospital at her request due to severe abdominal pain and remained hospitalized until her death two months later, in 1951.

For a very long time, that seemed to be the end of Henrietta Lacks story. What is both remarkable and deeply problematic is that her contributions to society did not end at her death. Henrietta Lacks has saved your life and my life and she is absolutely on the front-line fighting against Covid-19 right now.

During her treatments, healthy and cancerous tissue was sampled from her body without her knowledge or consent. Those cells were cultured and displayed the unique ability to reproduce endlessly and remain alive within a culture for far longer than any previous cell lines medicine had studied. Anonymized simply as the HeLa cell line, they became the standard for human medical research; Henriettas bodyweight in cell mass being grown millions of times over (over 50 million metric tons as of 2011) to meet the insatiable needs of modern medicine. Without Henrietta Lacks, there would have been no California Stem Cell Initiative and no California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, among numerous efforts that have enabled the rise of biotechnology and life science research in the state.

Not only was Henrietta herself never able to give consent to this or any use, her family did not even know of the existence and tremendous spread of her genetic material until early in the 21st century, by which time HeLa usage was so widespread there was no ability to grant or withdraw consent. As of 2013, the only gain her family has secured from her legacy is a promise from the NIH of acknowledgement in subsequent scientific papers and two seats on a panel regulating access to her DNA sequence going forward. While Henrietta Lacks story is extraordinary, her treatment by the medical community is in many ways typical of the healthcare African Americans have experienced over the last 70 years, with African-American healthcare prior to that being literally the stuff of nightmares. Within the past century, there are plentiful accounts of forced sterilizations, of being placed in trials without their knowledge or consent, of being accused of lying when recounting their history or symptoms, of being lied to, and even of being straight-up experimented on as an expendable population. In light of this history, it becomes much clearer why many minority groups would push back when told to sacrifice their jobs to keep others healthy, to stay home when the grocery store shelves are emptying, to leave the hospital when a relative is struggling for breath with no way of knowing what will happen to their loved one inside the hospital doors once they are not there to watch over them.

When this is compounded by widespread suspicion of any African-American individual wearing a mask who walks their dog or goes to a market to shop, the significant risk of grave harm is only compounded further. While the loudest voices against masks have been those of angry white people upset at the disruption of their privilege, minorities are very aware that at the intersection of masks, profiling, and persons of color the health risks of mask wearing are very real. In recent weeks, we have already seen violence inflicted on African-Americans for looking suspicious by being in public while following CDC guidelines. In April, a succinct tweet circulated stating it bluntly. I dont want to die and on the other hand, I dont want to die. Jokes from the privileged about committing crimes, being nefarious, or shady need to stop. None of that does what is urgently needed, which is to normalize mask usage among all groups so that it can help slow the spread of disease. We can instead treat people of color within our communities with respect, and listen to their perspectives in navigating through this global health crisis.

The pain and death we are inflicting on the African-American community may be far more apparent now, but we need to recognize and address the fundamental wrongs that extend far beyond policing, and even healthcare. We are not going to fix this environment overnight, but we definitely do not need to make it worse. Right now our minority communities urgently need funding. Public health funding is absolutely critical but these communities also need funding to provide masks and other desperately needed protective equipment to every individual who must spend long hours working in public spaces, funding to keep people securely housed, with ample access to healthy food, funding for widespread, low-cost (or free) internet connectivity so that the poorest children within our society can continue to be educated through distance-learning alongside their more privileged peers. Looking further ahead, we desperately need to nurture a new generation of African-American scientists and doctors by reaching out to students early, while they are still in primary school, and we need to rebuild bridges to the community with better, more accessible and trusted healthcare. Weve already collectively inflicted plenty of harm, we can at least start to make steps towards making their situation better.

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Inequality in COVID-19 Has Other Dangerous Consequences - Fox and Hounds Daily

Five Year-old Boy with Covid-19 Saves Sisters Life in Thailand – Chiang Rai Times

Even though he had Covid-19, Sila Jio Boonklomjit, a five-year-old boy in Thailand, with covid-19 managed to save his sisters life. With the stem cells he donated for her bone marrow transplant.

Doctors only discovered Jio contracted the coronavirus the day before Jintanakan Jean Boonklomjit, his sisters urgent transplant.

Despite the challenges, which included quarantine restrictions placed on Jio on the eve of the transplant procedure. However the treatment was carried out successfully.

And it was done so without Jio passing the coronavirus to Jean.

While the experimental procedure first began in April, the bone marrow was only successfully transplanted on June23 at Ramathibodi Hospital.

Jeans case was believed to be the first successful stem cell transplant from a donor with active Covid-19, according to reports.

She was reported to be in a severe condition as she wasborn with thalassemia a genetic blood disorder that limits the bloods ability to carry oxygen.

There were also difficulties finding a suitable donor for Jean, which left Jio as their best hope, said Suradej Hongeng of the hospitals pediatrics department.

It was a long and uncertain road to this happy outcome, according to the doctor.

Jio and Jean were confirmed to be a genetic match in 2018. The hospital prepared for the transplantation procedure thereafter.

But with any medical procedures, there were certain complications and hurdles involved.

According to Suradej, the siblings young age were part of the difficulties faced during the procedure. Jeans chemotherapy procedure also caused her immune system to be compromised. That delayed the bone marrow transplant until this year.

Still, things turned out well in the end, and the five-year-old boy was applauded for saving his big sisters life.

Its as if my daughter is reborn and gets a new life, said the childrens father, Suchai Boonklomjit.

Jio has since recovered from Covid-19, which was believed to be transmitted from his mother, according to doctors in Thailand.

Thailands health department has reported on Monday that the Kingdom has gone 35 consecutive days without a local Covid-19 Coronavirus case. However health officials have confirmed 7 imported cases with Thai returnees.

The 7 imported covid-19 coronavirus cases brings the total number of infections in Thailand to 3,169 with 58 deaths since January. All the new cases were Thai nationals in quarantine. They recently returning from India and the US to Thailand.

There have been no local transmissions for 35 days Thailands health department said Monday.

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Five Year-old Boy with Covid-19 Saves Sisters Life in Thailand - Chiang Rai Times

Anniversary in the year of the coronavirus: 100 years of health protection at Audi – Automotive World

Good health is in higher demand than ever: Audi Health Protection is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2020. Thanks to the coronavirus, there will be no big celebration. The coronavirus pandemic has once again demonstrated the central importance of our health, both in society and at companies. At Audi, the health of our employees is at the forefront of everything we do, says Chief HR Officer Sabine Maaen.

The first full-time paramedic started working at NSU, a predecessor of the four rings, in Neckarsulm in 1920, marking the birth of professional health protection at Audi. In the beginning, the focus was on caring for employees in the event of injuries or acute emergency situations. This aspect is still an essential element today. If something happens at the plant, for example if somebody has a heart attack, we usually arrive at the scene within three minutes. This proximity and speed of action helps to save lives, says Andreas Haller, Head of Audi Occupational Health. Health protection at the four rings now has many facets, ranging from acute and emergency medical attendance, preventative occupational health care, individual prevention, and the inclusion of employees who receive consultation on their job due to health-related limitations, and all the way to workplace design itself, which should be ergonomic, safe, and maintain the employees health. Most recently, we made the workstations at Audi coronavirus-ready, for example. We work very closely and very successfully with many partners in the company in this area, says Haller.

The Works Council is an important partner in this cooperation. Peter Mosch, Chairman of the General Works Council of AUDI AG: To us as the employee representation, accident prevention in the company and our colleagues health are very important. If you look back at the beginnings of industrial work including in the automotive industry and compare that with todays occupational safety standards, it is clear that things have come along way at both the company and political levels over the past 100 years. I am very grateful to all the members of the in-house occupational health protection committees on-site company doctors, managers, and members of the Works Council who are working together with great commitment to set a high standard for health protection at Audi.

What started out small in 1920 has evolved tremendously over the space of a century. Today, there are three Occupational Health Centers at the two Audi sites in Germany: one in Neckarsulm and two in Ingolstadt. More than 100 employees see to the wellbeing of their colleagues at Audi in Germany, but also at the international locations of the four rings, together with their medical colleagues on-site. In Belgium, Mexico, and Hungary, for example, there are separate branches for employee health protection. The range of services of Audi Occupational Health has also increased considerably in the course of the decades: Today, health protection comprises not only occupational health care and the prevention of work-related illnesses and occupational illnesses, company health and integration management, acute and emergency medical care but also individual preventive health. For example, the Audi Checkup was established in 2006:

The aim is to identify health risks early on, prevent chronic illnesses, and convey knowledge on health-conscious behavior. Roughly 90 percent of employees take advantage of this voluntary examination and preventive program regularly. Since the program started in 2006, more than 100,000 employees have take part, and more than 10,000 Audi employees went for a checkup in 2019 alone. The Audi Checkup is part of the works agreement on health, on the basis of which the company and Works Council have committed to maintaining, promoting, and restoring the physical and mental health of the employees.

Audi Health Protection doesnt just do what is expected but also goes the extra mile: for example with the current campaign Jeder hat Psyche. Why not talk about it?. This campaign has been in existence since last years World Mental Health Day (October 10). The project aims to promote a more natural approach to the topic of mental health and thereby contribute to destigmatizing mental illness. The employees involved in the project provide information at company events, hold their own information events, distribute flyers and other information material, and raise awareness about points of contact for Occupational Health, such as the established consultation hour on mental health or the consultation hour on addiction. The four rings have had offers relating to mental health for a long time, but it was the current campaign that provided many employees with an incentive to open up and talk more openly about their own issues or offer their help to affected colleagues.

Occupational Health also takes social responsibility, for example with its offering for employees to register with the worldwide database for the battle against leukemia during their working hours. Audi has been working with the relevant institutions in this field for many years and pays the laboratory costs for typing. As a result, there are numerous stem cell donors and thus lifesavers among the Audi employees.

Speaking of lifesavers: The Audi emergency paramedics are not there just for the Audi employees but also for the people who live at the locations. On the basis of corresponding agreements, they can also respond to emergencies outside of the plant gates. This is the case, for example, if the local rescue control center determines that the Audi emergency medical service is closer and can therefore get to the site of the accident more quickly than another emergency medical service. In 2019 alone, the Audi paramedics were called to more than 1,300 external emergencies to cover peak demand. Audi chief physician Haller says: We are happy to do our bit for our home regions here. At the same time, we benefit from these emergency responses as well: Our paramedics are always very well trained. As regards the Audi workforce, occupational physician Haller has one big goal: We want our employees to be fit and healthy when they start their well-deserved retirement after reaching retirement age.

SOURCE: Audi

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Anniversary in the year of the coronavirus: 100 years of health protection at Audi - Automotive World