Poop bacteria on UES sidewalks is all over your home: study

 Watch your step — walking around the Big Crapple is tracking poop into your home.

A new study shows that NYC sidewalks may be filthier than you realize — and the Upper East Side holds not only some of the poshest homes, but also the poopiest sidewalks.

Findings published in the journal Indoor and Built Environment show a “concerning” level of turd-related pathogens, which could cause significant health issues, are carried into the home via shoes.

A team at Marymount Manhattan College took to the streets of Manhattan’s UES neighborhood where the campus is located to measure the grime left behind by dogs’ behinds.

Chemistry professor Alessandra Leri, who co-authored the study, told The Post that she and students took samples from sidewalks in the East 70s, as well as carpets and uncarpeted floors around the college’s undergraduate campus, to determine just how much fecal bacteria there is on these surfaces.

“We found numbers of bacteria that were absolutely astonishing,” Leri told The Post. “The real question was, even after the feces are ostensibly cleaned up, do the bacteria persist on the sidewalks?”

The answer was a definitive yes.

NYC dog poop is being tracked in your home — by your shoes.

Getty Images/iStockphoto

There is a $250 fine for those who don’t pick up their dog’s doo-doo.

Getty Images

Leri, co-author Marjan Khan and the students used pipettes to collect water from puddles near campus, paying particular attention to areas that didn’t look visibly filthy — which turned out to be a lot more fecal-fueled than previously thought.

Looking for a type of fecal bacteria called enterococci — an “indicator” bacteria that’s tracked by the EPA to determine if water has fecal contamination — as well as other fecal microbes like E. coli, researchers found the exact numbers: approximately 31,000 fecal bacteria per 3.4-ounce bottle of street puddle water.

In comparison, a public beach would be shut down if there were 110,000 enterococci in a travel-size amount of water.

The study was conducted on the Upper East Side.

Alessandra C. Leri and Marjan Khan

“In fact, at the beginning, we maxed out our test, so we had to dilute the samples just to get a measurable number because there were so many bacteria in the puddle,” the professor said. “Enterococci are known pathogens. They cause disease themselves.”

Although 31,000 poop germs may not seem like a lot, Leri pointed out that no one is swimming in puddles — just stepping in them and tracking fecal matter into the home.

So, the other portion of the study tested the volume of fecal matter indoors, carried there by shoes. Researchers found carpeted surfaces contained more pathogens than uncarpeted, noting a “concerning level” near the entryways of buildings.

Although the streets may look clean, they’re riddled with poop bacteria.

Getty Images/iStockphoto

“The numbers decrease the further you get from the entryway,” Leri explained.

Of course, NYC mandates that anyone who owns or controls a dog must remove any feces left by that dog on any sidewalk, gutter, street or other public area and dispose of it in a legal manner — or risk a $250 fine. And yet, the 311 hotline regularly gets complaints about dog dumping.

“It just seems like it’s everywhere,” Upper East Side resident Clare Halpine, 35, told The Post. “It’s gross to me. It’s not great seeing piles of it. You’re always kind of dodging on the sidewalk.”

“I don’t believe Manhattan has ever been worse than it is now,” Flamur Arifi said of the amount of dog poop lately.

The 41-year-old clinical pharmacist has been living on 86th Street since 2014 and says all of his neighbors are complaining about the smelly problem.

“Now every time I go out with my daughter, it’s like a minefield because of the dog poop,” he said. “The city’s not cleaning [it up] like it used to.”

With poop’s prevalence, it’s no wonder previous studies have found items we use daily — handrails, door handles, keyboards and self-service checkouts — contain “high bacterial loads” of fecal matter.

The authors suggest taking your shoes off at the front door to avoid traipsing fecal matter throughout the house.

Getty Images/iStockphoto

Leri said the findings have made her rethink some habits. Since enforcing people to clean up after their dogs is notoriously hard, she said it’s best to try to modify things around the home to protect from poop.

“[It’s] most concerning for babies that crawl on carpets, toddlers that are, you know, on the floor, putting everything in their mouths and that sort of thing,” she said. “I think that you could easily decrease your exposure in the residential environment just by taking off your shoes when you get inside, leaving them inside the entryway.”

https://nypost.com/2023/02/17/poop-bacteria-rampant-on-upper-east-side-streets-study-finds/

Angry Disney workers warn Iger’s return-to-office plan could cause ‘long-term harm’

 Thousands of Disney workers are reportedly pushing back on their boss Bob Iger’s strict return-to-office plan – arguing in a petition that the four-day-per-week requirement will have “unintended consequences” for the company.

The petition has already drawn signatures from more than 2,300 corporate employees across the Mouse House’s businesses, including ABC, Pixar, Marvel Studios and others. Iger’s mandate is set to take effect on March 1.

The disgruntled workers say the mandate is “likely to have unintended consequences that cause long-term harm to the company” by forcing out “hard-to-replace talent and vulnerable communities,” according to a copy of the petition obtained by the Washington Post.

“This policy will slow, or even reverse, our post-COVID recovery and growth by creating critical resource shortages and causing irreplaceable institutional knowledge loss,” the petition adds.

Disney’s return-to-office plan – one of the strictest of its kind in the entertainment media sector – comes as Iger attempts to lead a turnaround at the struggling company. Prior to the change, employees were expected to work on site for just two or three days per week.

Bob Iger returned as Disney CEO in late November.

REUTERS

Organizers reportedly submitted the petition to upper management alongside hundreds of testimonials from employees affected by the policy change – with some claiming they plan to resign if Iger follows through on its implementation. Others say they feel as though the policy will effectively force them to leave.

Many of the testimonials were submitted by employees who are parents or who described themselves as “neurodivergent” and affected by conditions such as dyslexia, attention-deficit disorder or autism, according to the Washington Post.

Disney wants corporate staffers back in the office four days per week.

AP

The workers want Iger to invest in remote work support for Disney’s workforce while simultaneously fostering a work culture through in-person events and networking opportunities.

“Flexibility at Disney really felt like a fresh start,” the petition added. “Now it feels like we’re moving backwards.”

Bob Iger argued in-person work is critical to Disney’s revival.

Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

The Post has reached out to Disney for comment on the petition.

Iger first unveiled plans for a four-day-per-week requirement in January, just weeks after he returned for another stint as Disney CEO.

The Disney boss argued that in-person collaboration is necessary for the company’s revival.

“As you’ve heard me say many times, creativity is the heart and soul of who we are and what we do at Disney,” Iger said. “And in a creative business like ours, nothing can replace the ability to connect, observe, and create with peers that comes from being physically together, nor the opportunity to grow professionally by learning from leaders and mentors.”

https://nypost.com/2023/02/17/angry-disney-workers-warn-igers-return-to-office-plan-could-cause-long-term-harm/

How to Recognize and Treat Hidden Inflammation

 Immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4) fights viruses and bacteria. However, sometimes it targets the body itself. "This then leads to inflammation, the healing of which the body is unable to keep under control," explained Ulf Müller-Ladner, MD, PhD, chairperson of the German Society of Internal Medicine (DGIM).

At the DGIM annual press conference, Müller-Ladner, who is also director of the Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology at the Kerckhoff Clinic in Bad Nauheim, explained how IgG4 inflammation is triggered throughout the body and what therapeutic options are available.

Many Manifestations

IgG4-associated inflammation can affect one or more organs or the surrounding connective tissue and cause fibrosis. As a result of fibrosis, the organ gradually loses function and is eventually transformed completely into scarred connective tissue.

"In the case of IgG4-associated inflammation, these fibroses have a histological structure, but extracting a sample is not possible from every affected organ," said Müller-Ladner. Liver, bile ducts, blood vessels, skin, eyes, or even the central nervous system — practically every organ system can be affected by these inflammatory reactions.

IgG4-associated diseases have likely been around for some time, but it is only in the past 10 years that awareness has grown that, despite various manifestations, "they are all one and the same disease," said Müller-Ladner.

IgG4-associated chronic, inflammatory, fibrosing diseases were only classified together as a single entity in the past few years. In terms of pathophysiology, B lymphocytes, IgG4-positive plasma cells, follicular T-helper cells, cytotoxic CD4-positive T cells, and macrophages work together and trigger an inflammatory reaction, which then encourages fibroblasts to overproduce connective tissue.

Beware Inexplicable Inflammation

It is estimated that 1 in 100,000 people suffer from the disease, but the number of incorrectly categorized patients may be significantly higher.

The diagnostic challenge lies in the fact that IgG4-associated inflammation occurs in almost every organ. It can cause different symptoms, depending on the organ affected.

Müller-Ladner provided the following take-home message: "Every inexplicable inflammation event and every organ dysfunction, especially if associated with an increase in connective tissue, could be an IgG4-associated disease. Keeping this in mind is the key to recovery."

With most people, the inflammation persists for many years before any symptoms of the disease develop. Highly acute courses of progression are also possible.

Classic symptoms, such as fever, are not so characteristic of the latent inflammatory reaction, and according to classification criteria published by specialist rheumatology societies, they are an exclusion criterion. This is true with respect to the differential diagnosis for vasculitis, which also occurs throughout the body.

Histology Is Key

Blood levels of IgG4 and imaging are not always enough to confirm the diagnosis. In such cases, the histology is often a crucial factor in making a definitive diagnosis. Dominant organs in IgG4-associated diseases are the pancreas, the liver, the gallbladder, the intestines, the retroperitoneum, large blood vessels, the kidneys, the heart, the brain, saliva, tear ducts, as well all of the body's connective tissue.

The kidneys play host to inflammation in the connective tissue and space-occupying masses in particular. "If the pancreas is affected, the signs can vary from diffuse swelling to the onset of diabetes mellitus. In contrast, if the aorta is affected, then the inflammation is characterized through a thickening of the vessel walls, aneurysms, and the corresponding circulation disorders," said Müller-Ladner.

Because of the long period before the diagnosis is made, more than 50% of patients exhibit irreversible organ damage at the time of diagnosis, he added.

Glucocorticoids and Immunosuppressants

Despite therapeutic intervention, the disease can have a fatal outcome, even if the patient is young, said Müller-Ladner. Glucocorticoids are the current therapy of choice. The dose is more than 0.5 mg of prednisolone equivalent per kg of body weight. "This usually leads to a rapid improvement in the inflammation. Subsequently, every organ is thoroughly diagnosed to assess the severity of the disease and to plan further treatment steps."

In the long term, proven immunosuppressants, such as azathioprine, mycophenolate, leflunomide, and methotrexate, can be used, just as for many other chronic inflammatory diseases. Cyclophosphamide or cyclosporine is used more rarely, owing to their side effect profiles.

Because of the B-cell dominance, B-cell-depleting therapy with rituximab is currently a highly effective therapeutic option but one that must be applied for, because such use is off label. "If the body responds well to the medication, organ function often recovers," said Müller-Ladner.

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/988446

COVID Infection Provides Immunity Equal to Vaccination: Study

 The natural immunity provided by a COVID infection protects a person against severe illness on a par with two doses of mRNA vaccine, a new study says. 

People who've been infected with COVID reduced their chances of hospitalization and death by 88% over 10 months compared to somebody who hasn't been infected, says the study, published in The Lancet. 

The natural immunity provided by infection was "at least as high, if not higher" than the immunity provided by two doses of Moderna or Pfizer mRNA vaccines against the ancestral, Alpha, Delta, and Omicron BA.1 variants, the study says. 

But protection against the BA.1 subvariant of Omicron was not as high — 36% at 10 months after infection, says the research team from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.

The researchers examined 65 studies from 19 countries through Sept. 31, 2022. They did not study data about infection from Omicron XBB and its sub-lineages. People who had immunity from both infection and vaccination, known as hybrid immunity, were not studied. 

The findings don't mean people should skip the vaccines and get COVID on purpose, one of the researchers told NBC News. 

"The problem of saying 'I'm gonna get infected to get immunity' is you might be one of those people that end up in the hospital or die," said Christopher Murray, MD, DPhil, director of the IHME. "Why would you take the risk when you can get immunity through vaccination quite safely?"

The findings could help people figure out the most effective time to get vaccinated or boosted and guide officials in setting policies on workplace vaccine mandates and rules for high-occupancy indoor settings, the study concludes.

This was the largest meta-analysis of immunity following infection to date, NBC News reports. 

Sources:

The Lancet: "Past SARS-CoV-2 infection protection against re-infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis."

NBC News: "Immunity acquired from a Covid infection is as protective as vaccination against severe illness and death, study finds."

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/988445

Apellis: FDA OKs First and Only Treatment for Geographic Atrophy

 

• SYFOVRE slowed GA progression with increasing effects over time
  
  

• Approved for all patients with GA, with dosing flexibility every 25 to 60 days
  
  

• Well-demonstrated safety profile following ~12,000 injections over 24 months
  
  

• Conference call today at 4:30 p.m. ET

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: APLS), a global biopharmaceutical company and leader in complement, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved SYFOVRE™ (pegcetacoplan injection) for the treatment of geographic atrophy (GA) secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD). SYFOVRE is the first and only FDA-approved treatment for GA, a leading cause of blindness that impacts more than one million people in the U.S. and five million people worldwide.

Conference Call and Webcast
Apellis will host a conference call and webcast to discuss the FDA’s approval of SYFOVRE today, Friday, February 17, 2023 at 4:30 p.m. ET. To access the live call by phone, please pre-register for the call here. A live audio webcast of the event and accompanying slides may also be accessed through the “Events and Presentations” page of the “Investors and Media” section of the company’s website. A replay of the webcast will be available for 30 days following the event.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fda-approves-syfovre-pegcetacoplan-injection-210600759.html