43 posts · 16,788 views
Body Horrors explores the intersection of infectious diseases, the human body, public health and anthropology/sociology. The blog is written by Rebecca Kreston. I’ve lived in tropical jungles, beaches and deserts around the world and have been exposed to quite a few diseases in my time. I now live in New Orleans and regularly battle insects of the Diptera, Siphonaptera and Hymenoptera orders. I really dig infectious diseases, much to the dismay of those dining with me – I love reading about their history, their sociological implications, cultural-specific responses to infection, gross personal stories of infestation (go on!) and how modern humanity is managing their presence in society; this blog is an expression of that curiosity and my personal research.
BODY HORRORS
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- June 11, 2013
- 06:45 PM
- 21 views
Alchemists Gone Bad: What You Should Know About Biological Warfare
by Rebecca Kreston in BODY HORRORS
Spears. Bows and arrows. Swords. Guns. Bombs. Drones. Microbes. The evolution of weapons and forms of warfare shadows our technological advancements, from the field of metallurgy to that of microbiology.... Read more »
Frischknecht, F. (2003) The history of biological warfare. EMBO Reports, 4(Supp1). DOI: 10.1038/sj.embor.embor849
- May 23, 2013
- 01:00 PM
- 53 views
Microbial Misadventures: Exploits in Botulism & Pruno In Our Prison Population
by Rebecca Kreston in BODY HORRORS
Drinking pruno is a risky endeavor, both in terms of its offense to culinary sensibilities and to one's health. However, turned stomachs are not the only hazard here; you may add a desire to avoid botulism to your list of reasons to shy away from you'r mates latest batch of prison hooch. The soil-dwelling bacterium Clostridium botulinum can contaminate fruits and veggies, and, in warm, oxygen-deprived conditions, produces the neuroparalytic toxin botulinum. Even more wholesome DIY ende........ Read more »
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2013) Notes from the field: botulism from drinking prison-made illicit alcohol - Arizona, 2012. MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report, 62(5), 88. PMID: 23388552
- May 8, 2013
- 12:00 PM
- 67 views
Microbial Misadventures: Anthrax, Hippies & Drum Circles
by Rebecca Kreston in BODY HORRORS
When you think of drum circles taking place in the United States, visions of hippies, Birkenstocks and the vibrant green lawns of private colleges may appear. The bacteria Bacillus anthracis, or anthrax, does not often materialize alongside the skunky mix of patchouli and ganja hovering above the crowd in one’s visions of (ar)rhythmic drumming events.
... Read more »
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2010) Gastrointestinal anthrax after an animal-hide drumming event - New Hampshire and Massachusetts, 2009. MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report, 59(28), 872-7. PMID: 20651643
- May 8, 2013
- 01:30 AM
- 40 views
Atmospheric Conditions Influence Outbreaks of Disease in Europe
by Rebecca Kreston in BODY HORRORS
A recently published paper in Scientific Reports has found that climate variability in the form of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) has had a significant impact on the occurrence of disease outbreaks in Europe over the past fifty years. Researchers in France and the United Kingdom studied 2,058 outbreaks occurring in 36 countries from 114 infectious diseases from 1950 to 2009 and found that climatic variations and seasonal changes in air pressure across the continent attributed to the NAO in........ Read more »
Morand S, Owers KA, Waret-Szkuta A, McIntyre KM, & Baylis M. (2013) Climate variability and outbreaks of infectious diseases in Europe. Scientific reports, 1774. PMID: 23639950
- April 30, 2013
- 12:30 PM
- 79 views
The Climatic Origins of the Malaysian Nipah Virus Outbreak
by Rebecca Kreston in BODY HORRORS
One of the hardest questions to answer in an infectious disease outbreak investigation is "Why?"
Why then? Why there? These questions can be almost impossible to answer - not only because of their heady metaphysical nature but also because of the difficulty of assessing the minute interactions between microbe, environment and human host. Public health officials are often left shrugging their shoulders, half-heartedly admitting to an unsatisfied public that they just don't know ........ Read more »
Chua KB, Chua BH, & Wang CW. (2002) Anthropogenic deforestation, El Niño and the emergence of Nipah virus in Malaysia. The Malaysian journal of pathology, 24(1), 15-21. PMID: 16329551
- March 20, 2013
- 01:00 PM
- 134 views
Suck It: The Ins and Outs of Mouth Pipetting
by Rebecca Kreston in BODY HORRORS
If you ever find yourself working in an infectious disease laboratory, whether it’s of the diagnostic or research variety, the overarching goal is not to put any microbes in your eye, an open wound or your mouth. Easy enough, right? Wear gloves, maybe goggles, work in fume hoods and don’t mouth pipette. When working with pathogenic bacteria and viruses, priority number one is Do Not Self-Inoculate.
Today our manual pipettes are rather sophisticated, plastic-y devices perfectly cal........ Read more »
HILL, N. (1999) Laboratory-acquired Infections: History, Incidence, Causes and Preventions, 4th edition. Eds. C. H. Collins and D. A. Kennedy. Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford 1999. Pp. 324. ISBN 0 7506 4023 5. Epidemiology and Infection, 123(1), 181-181. DOI: 10.1017/S0950268899002514
- March 17, 2013
- 03:00 PM
- 155 views
On Equilibrium & Balance in Your Microbial Universe
by Rebecca Kreston in BODY HORRORS
Two recent studies - the ominously named "fecal transplant" study and another on acne-causing bacteria - reinforce a compelling idea about our microbiomes that has been brewing for a few years: that some infectious diseases may be due in part to a disharmonious balance between pathogenic bad-guy bacteria and our resident commensal good-guy bacteria. ... Read more »
van Nood, E., Vrieze, A., Nieuwdorp, M., Fuentes, S., Zoetendal, E., de Vos, W., Visser, C., Kuijper, E., Bartelsman, J., Tijssen, J.... (2013) Duodenal Infusion of Donor Feces for Recurrent Clostridium difficile. New England Journal of Medicine, 368(5), 407-415. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1205037
- March 7, 2013
- 01:30 PM
- 180 views
A Nepalese Odysseus: XDR-TB is in South Texas
by Rebecca Kreston in BODY HORRORS
The Wall Street Journal has a superb write-up of a Nepalese man infected with extremely drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) who is currently detained at the US border in South Texas.
Traveling in all of the modern ways known to man – by foot, car, boat and plane – the man ventured from his home in Nepal, traipsing through South Asia, flying to Brazil and hoofing it through Central America until reaching the southernmost tip of Texas.... Read more »
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2012) Public health interventions involving travelers with tuberculosis--U.S. ports of entry, 2007-2012. MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report, 61(30), 570-3. PMID: 22854625
- March 7, 2013
- 02:42 AM
- 31 views
A Nepalese Odysseus: XDR-TB is in South Texas
by Rebecca Kreston in BODY HORRORS
The Wall Street Journal has a superb write-up of a Nepalese man infected with extremely drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) who is currently detained at the US border in South Texas. XDR-TB is resistant to four of the major types of antibiotics that are used to treat and control TB infections and this man is the first [...]... Read more »
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2012) Public health interventions involving travelers with tuberculosis--U.S. ports of entry, 2007-2012. MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report, 61(30), 570-3. PMID: 22854625
- February 21, 2013
- 07:50 PM
- 262 views
Adventures in Dentures: The Street Dentists, Barbers & Tattoo Artists of India
by Rebecca Kreston in BODY HORRORS
For those that aren’t familiar with the kaleidoscopic charms of India, one of the most fascinating aspects of the country is its massive street economy. You can find anything you want on the sidewalks of this country, whether it’s fried delicacies, tattoos, sex or on-the-quick dentistry. You just need to know where to look.... Read more »
Abraham, P. (2012) Viral Hepatitis in India. Clinics in Laboratory Medicine, 32(2), 159-174. DOI: 10.1016/j.cll.2012.03.003
- February 8, 2013
- 05:38 PM
- 228 views
Mardi Gras at the Leprosarium
by Rebecca Kreston in BODY HORRORS
Just as residents of Louisiana don masks and costumes to watch and revel in the sights of the parades, so too would the quarantined residents of the leprosarium. Concealing their identity and disfigurements, the leprosarium's residents could have their own day to celebrate Mardi Gras, liberated socially and psychologically from their disfiguring disease.... Read more »
Gaudet, M. (1998) The World Downside Up: Mardi Gras at Carville. The Journal of American Folklore, 111(439), 23. DOI: 10.2307/541318
- January 11, 2013
- 01:20 PM
- 208 views
A Mess in Texas: What Happened in Dallas with West Nile Virus?
by Rebecca Kreston in BODY HORRORS
That insistent buzzing drone you hear? It’s the sound of our burgeoning mosquito problem and the nasty diseases that they carry wreaking havoc throughout the world. 2012 was a prodigious year for mosquito-borne arboviral diseases, with West Nile virus, Japanese encephalitis, malaria, dengue and yellow fever outbreaks and epidemics raging in the United States, the Sudan, Puerto Rico, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Peru, Brazil and many other nations besides.
If you live in the US, you might kn........ Read more »
Soverow, J., Wellenius, G., Fisman, D., & Mittleman, M. (2009) Infectious Disease in a Warming World: How Weather Influenced West Nile Virus in the United States (2001-2005). Environmental Health Perspectives. DOI: 10.1289/ehp.0800487
- December 6, 2012
- 12:08 PM
- 197 views
A Moldy Cantaloupe & The Dawn of Penicillin
by Rebecca Kreston in BODY HORRORS
For something that grows so carelessly and freely on our fruits and breads, mass providing the white mold and its hidden wonder drug penicillin was devilishly difficult. After Alexander Fleming's accidental discovery of a bacteria-killing mold contaminating his cultures of Staphylococcus aureus, it languished as a laboratory parlor trick until World War II and the desperate need for treatments to fight bacterial infections became quickly apparent.... Read more »
. (1930) Antibacterial Action in Cultures of Penicillium, With Special Reference to Their Use in Isolation of Bacillus Influenzas. The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, 180(3), 449. DOI: 10.1097/00000441-193009000-00056
- November 23, 2012
- 05:00 PM
- 157 views
A Season of Hemorrhagic Fevers
by Rebecca Kreston in BODY HORRORS
Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have been bedeviled by viral hemorrhagic fever outbreaks this year. Since the summer, Ebola and Marburg have appeared throughout the two verdant countries killing dozens of people. Both countries are incredibly rich and diverse in their ecology - the Congo Basin is one of the largest and densely forested regions in the world - and much of their economy depends upon safari tourism and gorilla trekking. The livelihood of their peoples is also greatly rel........ Read more »
Nasi, R., Taber, A., & Van Vliet, N. (2011) Empty forests, empty stomachs? Bushmeat and livelihoods in the Congo and Amazon Basins. International Forestry Review, 13(3), 355-368. DOI: 10.1505/146554811798293872
- November 9, 2012
- 04:51 PM
- 217 views
The Immunological Blitzkrieg That Is HIV Infection
by Rebecca Kreston in BODY HORRORS
It can be hard to comprehend the damage that pathogenic viruses and microbes can inflict on the human body, especially if you have scientists prattling on about cells, using multi-syllabic acronyms and tossing around - god forbid! - actual numbers. It's helpful to have easily understood images to help put diseases into perspective, to understand that viruses like HIV have tangible and real effects. ... Read more »
Brenchley, J. (2004) CD4 T Cell Depletion during all Stages of HIV Disease Occurs Predominantly in the Gastrointestinal Tract. Journal of Experimental Medicine, 200(6), 749-759. DOI: 10.1084/jem.20040874
- October 22, 2012
- 03:30 PM
- 363 views
The Sea Has Neither Sense Nor Pity: the Earliest Known Cases of AIDS in the Pre-AIDS Era
by Rebecca Kreston in BODY HORRORS
This is the story of a sailor and a pirate, and the two different types of oceans that they traversed. There are seven on Earth but only one courses through man. This ocean contains no mysterious and pale sea creatures, bottomless depths or brightly-flashing predators, but it does brim with industrious cells, with dissolved carbon dioxide and occasionally with unwanted parasites.... Read more »
Frøland SS, Jenum P, Lindboe CF, Wefring KW, Linnestad PJ, & Böhmer T. (1988) HIV-1 infection in Norwegian family before 1970. Lancet, 1(8598), 1344-5. PMID: 2897596
- September 24, 2012
- 10:50 AM
- 300 views
Sex, War & Revolution: The Epidemiology of Gonorrhea in the USA
by Rebecca Kreston in BODY HORRORS
The epidemiology of gonorrhea in the United States has been influenced by several profound social and cultural forces - World War II, the emergence of Baby Boomer generation and the sexual revolution.... Read more »
orke JA, Hethcote HW and Nold A. (1978) Dynamics and control of the transmission of gonorrhea. . Sex Transm Dis. . DOI: 10.1097/00007435-197804000-00003
- September 13, 2012
- 05:45 PM
- 340 views
The Grass Isn't Always Greener: A Marijuana-Borne Salmonella Outbreak
by Rebecca Kreston in BODY HORRORS
Ohio, Michigan, Georgia, and Alabama saw most of the action from the Salmonella outbreak but from an unusual serotype of the microbe, Salmonella muenchen, and CDC investigators were unable to pinpoint its edible source. Michiganders, however, provided local investigators with an interesting lead in the case - 76% of those infected reported personal usage of or "household exposure" to marijuana.... Read more »
Taylor DN, Wachsmuth IK, Shangkuan YH, Schmidt EV, Barrett TJ, Schrader JS, Scherach CS, McGee HB, Feldman RA, & Brenner DJ. (1982) Salmonellosis associated with marijuana: a multistate outbreak traced by plasmid fingerprinting. The New England journal of medicine, 306(21), 1249-53. PMID: 7070444
- August 28, 2012
- 04:30 PM
- 281 views
A Storm of Contagion: Hurricanes & Infectious Diseases
by Rebecca Kreston in BODY HORRORS
Storms a’comin’! For those readers who don’t know, the headquarters of this blog is located in New Orleans, Louisiana, the current target for Hurricane Isaac. It is lumbering towards us at a “take your time” speed of 7 to 10 miles per hour and in a few short hours will inundate us with a good amount of rain and ~100 mph winds. While I might be out of commission for a few hours/days, I thought I’d do a quick round-up of some of the infectious diseases that like paying a visit to regio........ Read more »
Murray KO, Kilborn C, DesVignes-Kendrick M, Koers E, Page V, Selwyn BJ, Shah UA, & Palacio H. (2009) Emerging disease syndromic surveillance for Hurricane Katrina evacuees seeking shelter in Houston's Astrodome and Reliant Park Complex. Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974), 124(3), 364-71. PMID: 19445411
- August 20, 2012
- 05:00 PM
- 358 views
Oy Vey!: Pig Tapeworm in the Orthodox Jewish Community
by Rebecca Kreston in BODY HORRORS
The real trouble with the pig parasite Taenia solium, aside from it's distressing appearance in your cerebral headquarters, is that you can acquire neurocysticercosis even if you don't consume pork products. This is the surprise kicker, the coal in your Christmas stocking.
This is understandably alarming for people who choose to not eat pork but what if your culture and religion prohibits its very consumption? What does it mean to those that belong to a group with strongly delineated food tab........ Read more »
Moore AC, Lutwick LI, Schantz PM, Pilcher JB, Wilson M, Hightower AW, Chapnick EK, Abter EI, Grossman JR, & Fried JA. (1995) Seroprevalence of cysticercosis in an Orthodox Jewish community. The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, 53(5), 439-42. PMID: 7485700
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