Health Care Enrollment - ACA/Obamacare

Open enrollment starts today for plans under the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). During the Obama/Biden administration, the federal government advertised this widely. Under the current administration....they want to kill the ACA, so they're not advertising much, if at all.

You have until December 15 to enroll. 

• If you're enrolled through the federal government, go to healthcare.gov to start the process.
• If you're enrolled through your state, go to your state's web site. In California, it's https://www.coveredca.com/, for example.

Variola Major

Over on Twitter the other day, I saw someone who should have known better call Larry Brilliant "the man who cured smallpox." 

This is wrong on multiple counts.

• There's no cure for smallpox. If you were exposed to it, being vaccinated within a couple of days of the exposure had a good chance of preventing smallpox. But the treatments for smallpox were supportive, not curative. You would keep the patient hydrated and comfortable, apply whatever cream would provide relief for the sores, and the like. It was 2018 before there was an FDA-approved anti-viral that might be effective in treating smallpox.
• Larry Brilliant was involved from 1973 to 1976 in the effort to eradicate smallpox through an enormous, worldwide vaccination effort. That effort started in 1959, when Brilliant was 15 years old, and lasted until 1979. The last naturally occurring case of the illness was in 1977, and in 1980 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the disease effectively extinct. (Small stocks remain at the CDC and somewhere in Russia, I believe.) You can read about the WHO effort at the CDC web site. (Which should have mentioned that there was inoculation in China long before Edward Jenner, sigh, probably starting in the 16th c.)

So, Brilliant was active for several years only of a concerted 20-year effort to finally stamp out smallpox. Americans really want to have a hero to look up to, but in this case, it's a mistake. All credit to Brilliant for his years of service, but eradicating smallpox was a group effort that thousands of people participated in. From the CDC web site, a note about the last case of smallpox in the wild:

[Photo caption] Three-year-old Rahima Banu, who is the last known person to have had naturally acquired smallpox, or variola major, in the world, with her mother in Bangladesh. Her case was reported to the local Smallpox Eradication Program team by an 8-year-old girl named Bilkisunnessa, who was paid 250 Taka reward for her diligence.

That exemplifies what went into the eradication of smallpox. Local teams and ordinary people and epidemiologists all played their part. No single individual should get more credit than they deserve.

Health Care

I guess, with 3 million people filing for unemployment in the last week, it is being driven home in spectacular fashion just what a terrible idea it is to have people's health care tied to their employment and relationship status. (That is, there are people who have health insurance because they are partnered with or married to people who have health insurance through their jobs.)

Remember, those 3 million people probably represent 4 to 6 million people who might have lost their employer-provided health insurance.

First of Its Kind

Here's the first local impact I have seen of the coronavirus on the arts, in the form of a press release from the Stanford Music Department:

Due to the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) and to help each other protect the health of our communities, all Department of Music concerts are canceled, effective immediately through at least 15 April 2020. Depending on the unfolding situation, this date may change. | Department of Music News | Visit Stanford Health Alerts for more information regarding COVID-19.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in my life, the American Judo & Jujitsu Federation decided to proceed with its annual convention. This is a style where, with a few exceptions, you must work in pairs and you touch other people more or less constantly. I am...a little surprised, and wondering what turnout will be like. I will be there, in part because I'm committed to calling a test for third-degree black belt on Friday morning. Not sure which classes I will be attending, though.

If you want to see what Danzan Ryu jujitsu looks like, you can't do better than the 1970s videos of the late Professor Pat Browne, who was then maybe a yodan, demonstrating many arts from the system:

Thy hand, Belinda!

Found on Twitter, written by @petrarchian, posted here with permission:

PURCELL: Thy hand, Belinda
CDC: did she wash it
PURCELL: Darkness shades me
CDC: so that's a... no?
PURCELL: On thy bosom let me rest
CDC: don't touch each other's faces with your dirty hands!
PURCELL: More I would, but Death invades me
CDC: IT WOULDN'T IF YOU WASHED YOUR HANDS

The CDC's advice above is good; wash your hands a lot, do your best to limit how much you touch your face, don't shake hands with other people. I am, uncharacteristically, using paper napkins on door handles and serving utensils at work, given the number of people who touch those things.

I Would Not Have Expected This from the CDC.

Social Media: Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse

Curious

Some readers of this blog know that I am something of a public health geek. Yesterday, for example, I got to tell Steven Johnson, author of The Ghost Map, that John Snow has been a household god of mine and Dr. Strega's for a long time. Yes, it helps that I live with a partner who holds a Doctorate of Public Health degree, but this interest of mine didn't start with her.

So you could say that I'm curious about the person who visits this blog from the Centers for Disease Control. I would welcome private email if you're willing to identify yourself.

You Don't Say

In the middle of a harrowing report on efforts to eliminate female genital mutilation in Egypt, comes this:

It is a challenge to get men to give up some of their control over women.