What We’re Reading: 07/23/21

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A few highlights from around the web that made it into our feeds this week.

Coexisting With The Coronavirus

Eradicating disease requires worldwide vaccination, massive effort, and collective immune resistance. Look at smallpox, the only human disease ever eradicated. Decades and decades of collaboration to vaccinate as many people as possible went into achieving elimination in 1980. Yellow fever is not far behind. But Covid-19? We need the same vaccine vigor, and right now it’s too transmissible and widespread. We’re looking at a world with endemic Covid, and this article does a great job explaining immunity, virus variants, and what our future may hold.  (From newyorker.com)

Emergency Medicine’s Original Sin

“The misconception that emergency medics provide transportation, not medicine, leaves them to cope with all sorts of indignities.”

Treating EMS providers as disposable ambulance drivers not only hurts them as medical workers but it hurts us, the very people who may need emergency services. Emergency medics are essentially cut out of the treatment process once the person arrives at the hospital. Whether a patient lives or dies, diagnosis and treatment are unknown to those who are first on the scene. And it doesn’t make for better medicine, it keeps our frontliners out of the loop and unable to improve care. A great read.  (From theatlantic.com)

How the HIPAA Law Works and Why People Get It Wrong

HIPAA has been popping up a lot in the discourse around vaccines—in Congress, on TV, and elsewhere. Yet, most people have little idea what the health and privacy legislation is, how it protects your private medical record, and that it only applies to professionals and companies in the field of healthcare. Here’s a succinct breakdown of the law and why it’s so frequently misunderstood. Pass it along.  (From nytimes.com)

And finally, a gorgeous (and fitting) poem to close us out. Take a breath and give this one a read.

Privacy

By Ada Limon (From newyorker.com)

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