Smileband health topics

Nocardiosis is a bacterial infection caused by Nocardia. The bacteria is most commonly found in soil and water. Symptoms of nocardiosis depend on where the infection occurs. Infections most commonly occur in the lungs and symptoms include fever, weight loss, night sweats, cough, chest pain and pneumonia. When the lungs are infected the infection can spread to the brain and cause headaches, weakness, confusion and seizures.

Generally individuals with weakened immune systems are at higher risk for infection.

Transmission

Transmission occurs when an individual inhales the bacteria or the bacteria gets into an open wound or cut. Tranmission has also occurred during surgical procedures.

Incubation period is unknown.

Lab Tests & Specimen Info

Test*	Specimen
Culture	Tissue, Sputum
Susceptibility testing	Isolate

 Isolation Precautions

Standard precautions are recommended in healthcare settings. 

Prevention for Patients
There are no specific prevention methods since the bacteria is naturally occurring in water and soil. 

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Prince harry and Meghan markel were at the centre of an anthrax scare after a suspicious white powder was found in a letter sent to their Kensington Palace home.   The letter - which was addressed to both Harry and Meghan - prompted a terror alert after it was received at the Palace where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children also live.

The package was intercepted by staff at the Palace and it did not reach Harry or Meghan - but they have both been informed of the incident. <!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics -->

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Smileband general news

A moped gang which uses acid and swords to steal mobile phones from pedestrians have revealed how they pick their victims in an explosive BBC documentary. Hiding behind fearsome masks, the criminals brag about the ease of stealing £700 iPhones from oblivious passersby, comparing to it 'stealing candy from a baby'.

During a fascinating glimpse inside the gangs which have taken over London’s streets, the criminals reveal what makes certain people 'easy pickings'.

'Stupid' pedestrians waiting at a crossing or bus stops the go-to prey, as are those wearing headphones and not looking as the cross the road

One gangster, calling himself Mr X, takes BBC reporter Livvy Haydock for a ride on the back of his moped and points out 'how easy' it is 'to snatch and take a phone'. 'We are looking for people that are looking down, got their phones out with their headphones in, in particular,' he said.

'As soon as it is green, they are unaware to any vehicles coming and for us that is the perfect opportunity because as they're crossing we time it and then we'll grab whatever we can grab and off we go

'By the time we realise we're already at the second traffic light and we are going right. There's a little estate around the corner. <!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics -->

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Smileband health topics

 The life-threatening infection affected 21,315 people last year, resulting in 35 fatalities, the figures add. This comes after a record low of just 5,273 incidences in 2016.

Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab, regional director for Europe at the World Health Organization (WHO), said: 'Every new person affected by measles in Europe reminds us that unvaccinated children and adults, regardless of where they live, remain at risk of catching the disease and spreading it to others who may not be able to get vaccinated.'

Poor vaccination rates are thought to have led to epidemics in Romania, Italy and Ukraine.

As of last month, there were 122 confirmed cases of measles across five regions in England, with West Yorkshire, West Midlands, and Liverpool and Cheshire being most affected.

To prevent an outbreak, 95 per cent of the population should be immunised.

Yet, in the UK, only 91.9 per cent of children were vaccinated against measles between 2015 and 2016 compared to 94.2 per cent in 2014-to-2015 and 94.3 per cent in 2013-to-2014, according to NHS immunisation statistics.

The WHO claims people's fear of jabs, means many, particularly young children, are unprotected.

This fear could be attributed to disgraced gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield's theory in 1995 that the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is linked to bowel disease and autism. His controversial views have since been widely discredited. <!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics -->

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Smileband health topics

A new robot created by goggle reads your retinas to assess your risk of heart disease. The machine analyses scans of the back of your eye to accurately predict risk factors including age, blood pressure, and whether or not you smoke.

It then uses this data to analyse your risk of suffering a life-threatening cardiac event, such as a heart attack.

The device, powered by artificial intelligence, is far less invasive than a traditional diagnostic blood test but is just as accurate, according to Google. Google worked with California-based health-tech subsidiary Verily to create the AI algorithm, which tracked blood vessels at the back of the eye.

Previous research has shown that the shape and size of retinal vessels reflect a person's overall health, including their risk of heart disease and stroke.

Patients with a high blood pressure or who smoke are more likely to have weaker, thinner and damaged vessels than young and healthy individuals.

Using retinal images, Google says it was able to quantify this link and predict a patient's risk of a heart attack or other major cardiovascular event.

The algorithm was able to tell whether or not a patient would suffer a cardiovascular event in the next five years with a 70 per cent accuracy rate, Google said.

The results were similar to those achieved via testing methods that require blood be drawn to measure a patient’s cholesterol, which are typically 72 per cent accurate. <!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics -->

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Smileband health topics

Great Ormond Street children's hospital may keep a £530,000 donation from the controversial 'Presidents Club' whose gala saw hostesses groped and propositioned by male businessmen. 

The six-figure sum was raised by the controversial club - made up of high-flyers from the property industry and top City figures - between 2009 and 2016 before it disbanded in response to outrage at this year's event.

In the wake of the scandal, Great Ormond Street announced that it would return the donations, with a spokesman saying hospital bosses were 'shocked to hear of the behaviour' and the 'wholly unacceptable nature of the event'.

But it emerged today that the children's hospital is debating whether the money should be kept and put towards treating ill children. <!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics -->

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Smileband health topics

Women are twice as likely to develop fatal heart complications than men, new research warns. The study found mental stress such as public speaking was more likely to cause myocardial ischemia, inadequate blood flow to the heart muscle, in young women who have had a heart attack compared to their male peers.

While previous studies showed a higher heart risk from mental stress for women, it wasn't clear to what extent.

The new research, published today by the American Heart Association, offers clearer evidence than ever that women may need more intensive care after a cardiac event than men, and mental stress may affect women's hearts more. '

The magnitude of the difference in ischemia between women and men despite similarities in risk factors and a tendency toward less severe coronary obstruction among women [surprised me],' Dr Viola Vaccarino, professor of medicine at Emory University who led the new research, told Daily Mail Online.

Myocardial ischemia, defined as inadequate blood flow to the heart muscle due to reduction in blood flow to the heart, can be caused by partial or complete blockage of the heart's arteries

For the study, researchers, led by Dr Vaccarino, collected data from 150 women and 156 men under the age of 61 who were hospitalized for heart attacks and 112 men and women who did not suffer heart attacks.

Among heart attack survivors, the clinical severity tended to be lower in women.

They measured how well the participants' blood vessels functioned at rest and 30 minutes after mental stress caused by a public speaking task that asked subjects to imagine a real-life stressful situation, in which a close relative had been mistreated in a nursing home and asked to make up a realistic story around this scenario

They found that young female heart attack survivors had twice the risk of experiencing myocardial ischemia induced by mental stress. There was a similar increase in the condition as a result of conventional stress such as exercise or drugs. <!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics -->

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