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The Hindu
05-07-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
The beginning of the modern era of immunisation
A fearful mother On the morning of July 4, 1885, Joseph Meister, a nine-year-old boy from Alsace, France, was bitten by a dog. Not once or twice, but for a total of 14 times. The boy was bitten in his hands, legs, and thighs, and some of the wounds were so deep that Meister had trouble walking. It was another 12 hours before Meister was treated by a local doctor. The serious wounds were cauterized with doses of carbolic acid. While the bites and the ensuing wounds were terrifying, what terrified Meister's mother the most was the fear of rabies. Even though rabies was rather rare in 19th Century France, Meister's mother didn't want to take any chances. This was because the shocking symptoms of rabies and the fact that the disease is always fatal once the clinical symptoms appear had captured the attention of the people. Fearful for her son's life, Meister's mother took him to Paris as she had heard about a scientist who was working on a cure for rabies. On reaching Paris, she reached out and made inquiries as to how to find the French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur. On being told to go straight to his laboratory, Meister's mother did just that. A vaccine for rabies Before we jump to July 6, the day Meister was inoculated with rabies vaccine, we'll have to first find out how Pasteur arrived at the vaccine. Meister's mother had heard it right as Pasteur was indeed toiling hard to develop a rabies vaccine. By 1880, Pasteur had perfected his experimental method of studying infectious diseases, their prevention, and their treatment by immunisation. He had decided to apply it to rabies, a disease that affects both humans and animals. Pasteur's initial efforts were focussed on isolating the cause of the disease, as he had done for other diseases previously. But as rabies is cause by a virus, it remained invisible and his efforts proved to be futile. This was because the microscopes of the time didn't have the necessary resolution to make viruses visible. The rabies virus, in fact, was first observed only in 1962, following the development of the electron microscope. Infects the central nervous system Pasteur and his collaborator Emile Roux – a physician and bacteriologist who was also the co-founder of the Pasteur Institute later on – knew that rabies is a disease that infects the central nervous system. They had an idea of inoculating part of a rabid dog's brain directly into another dog's brain, but the inoculated dog died subsequently. The experimenters switched to rabbits as they were easier to handle and first produced a vaccine with stable virulence. Pasteur then suspended sections of spines of rabid rabbits in flasks where they were exposed to the action of air in a moisture-free atmosphere. The level of virulence reduced gradually before disappearing completely. Rabid dogs were administered these spinal fluid preparations. The process was repeated, with preparations of increased virulence. As they didn't develop rabies, Pasteur had developed a protocol to fight the disease successfully. Along with Roux and French microbiologist Charles Chamberland, Pasteur announced the discovery to the French Academy of Science on February 25, 1884. Once the appointed study commission had assessed the method's efficacy, the Academy deemed it conclusive and approved it. Pasteur, however, was wary of moving on to human trials. The moral dilemma It was under these circumstances that Meister's mother brought her nine-year-old to Pasteur. Pasteur was in two minds himself and was confronted with a moral dilemma. On the one hand, Meister might die if there was no medical intervention. On the other hand, what Pasteur had at his disposal was a vaccine that worked for dogs. Without human trials, there was no saying that it would work for the child. Worse, it could even be useless or even potentially harmful for humans. Pasteur's team was also divided on this. Roux was on the side that didn't want to administer the rabies vaccine to Meister, as it had been tested only on dogs and rabbits. On the other side were French physicians Alfred Vulpain and Jacques Joseph Grancher, who believed that there had to be an intervention given the case in their hands. In the end, Pasteur went with the advice of the doctors. 'Since the death of the child appeared inevitable, I resolved, though not without great anxiety, to try the method which had proved consistently successful on the dogs,' he had said later on. As Pasteur wasn't a physician himself, the task of inoculating Meister fell upon Grancher. On the morning of July 6, Grancher administered the first dose of rabies vaccine. In the 10 days that followed, Meister received 12 more doses from Grancher, each one progressively fresher and hence more virulent The outcome was obvious in less than a month. Meister had been saved, never developed rabies, and was now the first human being to receive vaccination against rabies. The first rabies vaccination was a success. The second success Pasteur, however, still decided to stay silent about his success. When there was a second success though, the news went viral. On this occasion, a young 15-year-old shepherd had been severely bitten by a rabid dog. He had thrown himself at the animal in order to allow six other young shepherds to escape. When Jean-Baptiste Jupille arrived at Pasteur's laboratory in September 1885, the latter had no dilemma about administering his treatment. Just like in Meister's case, the treatment turned out to be a success again and the news of the achievement spread all around the world. The breakthrough had far-reaching implications as people from around the world flocked the premises. A dedicated vaccination centre that doubled as a research and learning centre was soon set up and the Pasteur Institute was officially thrown open three years later in 1888. The fact that all these developments came at a time when there was no formal theory of immunisation meant that Pasteur's work set the ground for others to follow. He not only saved many lives from rabies, but also laid the foundation for modern vaccinology and our understanding of infectious diseases. As for Meister, he was hired by Pasteur himself later on to work as a concierge at the Pasteur Institute. He worked there for several decades until World War II broke out, dying aged 64 on June 24, 1940.
Miami Herald
17-06-2025
- Health
- Miami Herald
Miami-Dade healthcare manager found not guilty at Medicare fraud trial
Two years ago, Kenia Valle Boza's life was upended when prosecutors accused her of conspiring with others to assign falsified codes to medical diagnoses that caused the federal government to pay out millions of dollars for excessive billing. Valle, a certified professional coder for two Miami-Dade healthcare management companies, was the only defendant named in a conspiracy indictment alleging $12 million in Medicare fraud. Neither doctors who made the diagnoses nor executives who managed Valle went to trial with her. On Friday, Valle was vindicated when a 12-person federal jury in Miami found her not guilty of conspiracy to commit healthcare and wire fraud, along with three counts of major fraud against the United States. Particularly striking about the verdict was that the jury, after a two-week trial, deliberated for only four hours before acquitting her. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams also threw out two wire fraud counts before the jurors began deliberations. It was a rare trial victory for the defense because federal prosecutors almost always win such cases in South Florida, long recognized as the nation's capital of healthcare fraud. Valle's defense lawyers, Frank Monsour and Adam Fels, said they were grateful to the jurors for seeing through a criminal case that was based on 'cherry-picked' coding data packaged by prosecutors to make their client look guilty. 'This is not how you prosecute someone in the United States of America,' Monsour told jurors during closing arguments on Friday. 'This is not proof beyond a reasonable doubt. It's offensive. That's what this is. And it permeates this entire case.' Valle, 41, of West Kendall, worked as a coding manager at Pasteur Medical Center between 2015 and 2017. Pasteur operated several medical clinics in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. After that stint, Valle worked as director of Medicare risk adjustment analytics at HealthSun Health Plans, Inc. until early 2020. HealthSun operated several Medicare Advantage plans serving patients in both counties. A major part of Valle's job at Pasteur was to ensure that the right codes were assigned to medical diagnoses and procedures for billing to Medicare, the federal insurance program for senior citizens. The indictment accused Valle of falsely coding several diagnoses, including two particular diagnoses highlighted by prosecutors, to boost Medicare reimbursements by about $12 million. One coding was for 'Other Hemoglobinopathies,' an abnormality in the structure of protein in red blood cells that carry oxygen. The other coding was for 'Disorder of Carbohydrate Metabolism, Unspecified,' a disorder that affects the body's ability to break down carbohydrates. But at trial, Valle's defense lawyers poked a big hole in the prosecution's case, saying they uncovered data to show that the doctors made those two diagnoses at Pasteur when Valle supervised the coders for billing to Medicare. Moreover, the lawyers said they were able to prove that the codes for risk-adjustment diagnoses generally decreased when Valle managed the coders at Pasteur. When Valle worked as a Medicare risk-adjustment manager at HealthSun, she was not involved in supervising any healthcare coders, the lawyers said. They also argued that Valle did not personally benefit from upcoding the diagnoses — that she was paid a 'competitive' salary that ranged from $70,000 to $130,000 over the span of her five years with Pasteur and HealthSun. Fels told jurors at the outset of the trial that the 'government cannot show any extra money that Kenia received for this alleged fraudulent scheme, not even a dime. ... There are no fancy cars. There are no houses. There are no properties, no bags of cash. 'That's because the evidence is going to show that all Kenia got from working at Pasteur was her hard-earned salary.'
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Tampa General Hospital adding AquaFence again this year to prevent storm surge
The Brief Tampa General Hospital discussed its preparations for the hurricane season. The plans include the AquaFence, which protected the hospital from a potentially devastating storm surge last year. This year, TGH will also install an interior AquaFence to protect critical areas on the lower level. TAMPA - Tampa General Hospital leaders laid out their plan to protect the hospital during the 2025 hurricane season, during a news conference and tour on Wednesday. The AquaFence, which is TGH's first line of defense, successfully prevented Hurricane Helene's storm surge from flooding the hospital. It can reach up nine feet high, is bolted into the ground and protects against a 15-foot storm and 140-mile-an-hour winds. Dustin Pasteur, the hospital's Senior Vice President of Facilities and Construction, said more water helps strengthen the fence. "The more water you get, the stronger the system becomes because it's compressing all of these gaskets more and more together and down to the road tighter," Pasteur said. Pasteur said TGH will be adding a new interior AquaFence this year to protect departments on the lower level, including the emergency center, surgery services and the sterile procession department. What they're saying "We're bringing in a seven-and-a-half-foot AquaFence to put in the halls of the hospital and around the sterile processing department, because the first floor of the hospital is at 12 feet," Pasteur explained. "If you had a storm surge more than 15 feet, you could end up with a few feet of water in the hospital. This will protect that department." While the AquaFence is the first layer of protection, there are several more that have been added in recent years: workers will cover the manholes around the facility; there are emergency water wells for clean drinking water; and the hospital has an emergency generator room that raised 30 feet above ground to keep it safe from flooding. Hospital administrators also ensure enough supplies are brought in prior to a storm. "We receive over 10 semi-truck loads of supplies, including medical supplies, pharmaceuticals, food, water, linen, to make sure we can care for our patients," said Mark Campbell, Vice President of Supply Chain. It's all done to ensure the hospital keeps this promise: "Tampa General is open to serve this community and will remain that way before and after the storm," Tony Venezia, Vice President of TGH Public Safety. That's important, according to Pasteur, because TGH takes care of so many critical care patients, they can't be evacuated to other hospitals in Florida. READ: Hillsborough County seeking input on spending $709M in hurricane recovery funds "There's not enough critical care beds in the region to take those patients, but also logistically, you can't transport them safely or even with enough time, so you just can't evacuate," he said. "Instead, we've put enormous amount of thought and resources into protecting this campus here in storms, in floods and any other kind of disasters that we can contemplate because there's nowhere else for these patients to go. We're the place to take care of the most specialized cases, and we have to put in the measures to make sure we can do that no matter what." Big picture view Since the AquaFence was installed in 2019, TGH has needed to use it every year to protect the campus during a storm. As a result of the yearly need, the hospital plans to install it ahead of time. It'll be in place by August and stay installed until around Thanksgiving. CLICK HERE:>>>Follow FOX 13 on YouTube The Source Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13's Aaron Mesmer. STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA: Download the FOX Local app for your smart TV Download FOX Local mobile app: Apple | Android Download the FOX 13 News app for breaking news alerts, latest headlines Download the SkyTower Radar app Sign up for FOX 13's daily newsletter
New York Times
17-02-2025
- Health
- New York Times
Louis Pasteur's Relentless Hunt for Germs Floating in the Air
Louis Pasteur was at his most comfortable when working in his Paris laboratory. It was there that he had some of his greatest scientific triumphs, including experiments that helped confirm germs can cause disease. 'Everything gets complicated away from the laboratory,' he once complained to a friend. But in 1860, years before he became famous for developing vaccines and heating milk to kill pathogens, Pasteur ventured to the top of a glacier, on a remarkable quest for invisible life. He and a guide began at the base of Mont Blanc in the Alps, hiking through dark stands of pines. Behind them, a mule carried baskets of long‑necked glass chambers that sloshed with broth. They ascended a steep trail until they reached Mer de Glace, the sea of ice. The wind blew briskly over the glacier, and the vale echoed with the sound of frozen boulders crashing down the slopes. Pasteur struggled to make out the path in the glare of sunlight bouncing off the ice. When the scientist reached an altitude of 2,000 meters, he finally stopped. He removed one of the glass chambers from the mule's pack and raised it over his head. With his free hand, he grabbed a pair of tongs and used them to snap off the end of the neck. The cold air rushed inside the container. The sight of Pasteur holding a globe of broth over his head would have baffled other travelers visiting Mer de Glace that day. If they had asked him what he was doing, his answer might have seemed mad. Pasteur was on a hunt, he later wrote, for 'the floating germs of the air.' Now, 165 years later, scientists around the world hunt for floating germs. Some study how coronaviruses wafting through buses and restaurants spread Covid. Spores of fungi can travel thousands of miles, infecting people and plants. Oceans deliver microbes into the air with every crashing wave. Even clouds, scientists now recognize, are alive with microbes. The sky's ecosystem is known as the aerobiome. In Pasteur's day, it had no name. The very idea of living things drifting through the air was too strange to imagine. But Pasteur began to wonder about the possibility of airborne life when he was a little-known chemist teaching at the University of Lille in France. There, the father of one his students approached him for help. The man owned a distillery where he used yeast to turn beet juice into alcohol. But the juice had inexplicably turned rancid. Inspecting the liquid under a microscope, Pasteur discovered dark rods — bacteria rather than yeast — in the sour vats. The discovery helped him work out a theory of fermentation: Microorganisms absorbed nutrients and then produced new compounds. Depending on the species, they could turn butter rancid or grape juice into wine. The discovery won Pasteur a prestigious new post in Paris. In his account of the discovery, Pasteur suggested in passing that the bacteria might have floated through the air and settled into the vats. That notion earned him an angry letter from Félix‑Archimède Pouchet, one of France's leading naturalists. Pouchet informed Pasteur that the microorganisms Pasteur discovered had not dropped into the vats from the air. Instead, the beet juice had spontaneously generated them. 'Spontaneous generation is the production of a new organized being that lacks parents and all of whose primordial elements have been drawn from ambient matter,' Pouchet had written earlier. Pasteur coolly replied that Pouchet's spontaneous generation experiments were fatally flawed. The conflict between Pasteur and Pouchet prompted the French Academy of Sciences to announce a contest for the best study addressing whether spontaneous generation was real or not. What started as a private spat had turned into a public spectacle. Pasteur and Pouchet both signed up to compete for the prize of 2,500 francs. The public eagerly followed the competition, struggling to imagine either view of life. Spontaneous generation had the whiff of blasphemy: If life could spring into existence, it did not require divine intervention. But Pasteur's claim that the atmosphere teemed with germs also strained the 19th‑century mind. A French journalist informed Pasteur that he was going to lose the contest. 'The world into which you wish to take us is really too fantastic,' he said. To prove that his world was real, Pasteur set out to pluck germs from the air. Working with glassblowers, he created flasks with narrow openings that stretched for several inches. He filled them with sterile broth and waited to see if anything would grow inside. If the necks were pointed straight up, the broth often turned cloudy with microorganisms. But if he sloped the necks so that the openings pointed down, the broth stayed clear. Pasteur argued that germs in the air could drift down into the flasks, but could not propel themselves up a rising path. When Pouchet heard about Pasteur's experiments, he sneered. Did Pasteur really believe that every germ in decaying organic matter came from the air? If that were true, every cubic millimeter of air would have been packed with more germs than all the people on Earth. 'The air in which we live would almost have the density of iron,' Pouchet said. Pasteur responded by changing his hypothesis. Germs were not everywhere, he said. Instead, they drifted in clouds that were more common in some places than others. To prove his claim, Pasteur took his straight-necked flasks out of his lab and began collecting germs. In the courtyard of the Paris Observatory, all 11 of his flasks turned cloudy with multiplying germs. But when he traveled to the countryside and ran his experiment again, more of his flasks stayed sterile. The farther Pasteur got from human settlements, the sparser airborne life became. To put that idea to an extreme test, Pasteur decided to climb Mer de Glace. His first foray to the glacier ended in failure. After holding up a flask, he tried using the flame from a lamp to seal its neck shut, but the glare of the sun made the flame invisible. As Pasteur fumbled with the lamp, he worried that he might be contaminating the broth with germs he carried on his skin or his tools. He gave up and trudged to a tiny mountain lodge for the night. He left his flasks open as he slept. In the morning they were rife with microorganisms. Pasteur concluded that the lodge was packed with airborne germs that travelers had brought from around the world. Later that day, Pasteur modified his lamp so that the flame would burn bright enough for him to see it under the glacier-reflected sun. When he climbed back up Mer de Glace, the experiment worked flawlessly. Only one of the flasks turned cloudy with germs. The other 19 remained sterile. In November 1860, Pasteur arrived at the Academy of Sciences in Paris with the 73 flasks he had used on his travels. He entered the domed auditorium, walked up to the table where the prize committee sat, and laid out the flasks. The judges peered at the broth as Pasteur described his evidence, saying it gave 'indubitable proof' of floating germs in inhabited places. Pouchet refused to accept the evidence, but nevertheless withdrew from the contest. Pasteur was awarded the prize. Still, the two continued to spar. The rivalry remained so intense that the Academy set up a new commission to evaluate their latest experiments. Pouchet dragged out the proceedings, demanding more time for his research. Pasteur decided to seize public opinion and put on a spectacle. On the evening of April 7, 1864, in an amphitheater filled with Parisian elites, Pasteur stood surrounded by lab equipment and a lamp to project images on a screen. He told the audience it would not leave the soiree without recognizing that the air was rife with invisible germs. 'We can't see them now, for the same reason that, in broad daylight, we can't see the stars,' he said. At Pasteur's command, the lights went out, save for a cone of light that revealed floating motes of dust. Pasteur asked the audience to picture a rain of dust falling on every surface in the amphitheater. That dust, he said, was alive. Pasteur then used a pump to drive air through a sterile piece of cotton. After soaking the cotton in water, he put a drop under a microscope. He projected its image on a screen for the audience to see. Alongside soot and bits of plaster, they could make out squirming corpuscles. 'These, gentlemen, are the germs of microscopic beings,' Pasteur said. Germs were everywhere in the air, he said — kicked up in dust, taking flights of unknown distances and then settling back to the ground, where they worked their magic of fermentation. Germs broke down 'everything on the surface of this globe which once had life, in the general economy of creation,' Pasteur said. 'This role is immense, marvelous, positively moving,' he added. The lecture ended with a standing ovation. Pasteur's hunt for floating germs elevated him to the highest ranks of French science. By the time he died 31 years later, Pasteur had made so many world-changing discoveries that his many eulogies and obituaries did not mention his trip to Mer de Glace. But scientists today recognize that Pasteur got the first glimpse of a world that they are only starting to understand. They now know that life infuses the atmosphere far more than he had imagined, all the way to the stratosphere. Our thriving aerobiome has led some scientists to argue that alien aerobiomes may float in the clouds of other planets. Ours is not the only world that seems too fantastic to believe.
