10 Meetups About Bio Fire You Should Attend
The BIOFIRE System and Your Immune System
The BIOFIRE System provides syndromic infectious disease testing, empowering healthcare providers to choose the right test the first time. Patients benefit from faster diagnosis and more targeted treatment. Clinicians benefit from improved stewardship for antibiotics. Labs save money while increasing efficiency.
The BioFire Pneumonia Plus Panel (PN panel) analyzes native sputum (including mini-BAL), endotracheal lavage, and bronchoalveolar liquids (including mini BAL) for 33 clinically significant pathogens and resistance genes to antimicrobials in one hour.
Respiratory
The burning of biomass (wood plants, trees and other organic material) creates gaseous pollutants and fine particles of matter that adversely affect the respiratory system. Moreover, the environmental problems caused by forest fires, like droughts, may be amplified by climate change, increasing the negative effects on human health.
In the United States, wildfire smoke has been linked to respiratory illnesses, including asthma, COPD and lung cancer. Additionally, this kind of air pollution is an underlying risk factor for cardiovascular disease and a significant cause of disease for the most vulnerable population that include those who are of lower socioeconomic status (SES).
In the COVID-19 pandemic, many communities were exposed to harmful levels of air pollution resulting from wildfires. The response to public health has been limited to a communications campaign regarding managing symptoms. This lack of knowledge is alarming considering the evidence of potential health hazards from the continued exposure to smoke and other sources of poor air quality.
Researchers are now evaluating how to best protect the public's health during any future incidents of this type. NIH is funding research on this critical public health problem through the BLUE CORAL study as well as its successor FIRE CORAL.
For the first time, a prospective cohort study will evaluate long-term effects of exposure to smoke from wildfires as well as other sources. FIRE CORAL is looking for adult participants who have been hospitalized for COVID-19's index episode who speak English or Spanish and are not pregnant. The protocol for Fire Coral includes a battery in-person assessments that objectively measure the pulmonary function testing and lung imaging, as well as functional assessment.
Smoke and other particles can trigger or worsen chronic respiratory conditions such as emphysema, COPD, and pneumonia. There are a variety of steps that can be taken to avoid or reduce the adverse health effects resulting from exposures to smoke, including abstaining from outdoor activities when it is possible and wearing the EPA's "N95" mask that is designed to catch fine particles.
Smoking cigarettes can cause irritation to the throat and eyes, and lead to the nose to run. To reduce the symptoms, drink plenty of water and take medications that reduce inflammation, such as corticosteroids.
Bloodstream
The bloodstream is your first line of defense against germs that invade your system. Dendritic cells are specialized cells that are akin to your fire department's call centre; they take antigens (molecules that trigger an immune response) from germs that are invading your body and release proteins that alert other white blood cells to fight them. Circulating total white blood cell counts, differentials and band cells were elevated following firefighters' fire-fighting shifts, compared with levels following physical exertion with no firefighting.
Skin
As the wildfires in California produced smoke and dust into the air during winter and fall, dermatologists were concerned about how this could affect the skin of those who were exposed to it. Maria Wei, a graduate student at the University of California, Irvine is researching how extreme fire pollution affects skin. bio fire was published in Scientific Reports on April 22.
Wei's study shows that the temperature of the skin changes according to the length of time that the body is exposed. It takes upwards of two hours for a person's skin to reach its flash point, the temperature at which it starts to burn and turns to ash. That's why it's important to not stay near a fire or campfire, and why you must wear protective clothing when you are outside during a forest fire, or even just an extremely hot day.
While it's important to be vigilant against wildfire-related pollution, there's no way to stop forest fires from happening. Wei believes that as climate change causes forests to burn faster, the number of people who suffer from wildfires will grow. That means more people will be required to wear hats, long sleeves, and thick moisturizers.
The air pollution from wildfires can increase the severity of atopic skin dermatitis which causes itchy skin in a lot of people. The reason for this is because smoke particles can clog pores, thereby making atopic dermatitis worse.
Another issue is that atopic dermatitis can make people more sensitive to UV light, which may be aggravated by wildfire smoke. This can result in people seeking out tanning salons to get tanned with less protection.
While a cold and fire facial can help lessen the effects of atopic dermatitis, it's not recommended for those with an open wound or rash on their face. Those with active acne should avoid it as well and if you're nursing or pregnant, it is recommended to avoid this procedure altogether. The IS Clinical Fire & Ice Facial at Novuskin, Las Vegas' premiere membership MedSpa offers a thorough, results-driven facial that bridges the gap between a gentle facial and a peel, without needing any downtime. It's designed to resurface the skin, reduce the appearance of rosacea, reduce acne scarring, diminish fine lines, and encourage the renewal of cells. It's a fantastic treatment that will give you a radiant glow.
Infections
The human body is made up of a complex system of organs and tissue which work together to protect us against infections. Infections can be caused by microorganisms, such as parasites, viruses, and bacteria that invade healthy cells and cause them to multiply uncontrollably. Your immune system could react by displaying symptoms of illness. The symptoms could range from a stuffy or runny nose to stomach ache however, they may also include a fever high or swollen glands. You may also experience an skin rash. The type of infection and the location can affect the severity of your symptoms.
Infections can be spread through a variety of methods, but the most common are spread from person to via droplets that remain in the air after sneezing or coughing. Bacterial infections like tuberculosis and strep throat meningococcal disease and Legionnaires' disease are spread through this method, along with some viral infections like the common cold and influenza. Some bacterial infections such as skin infections or sexually transmitted diseases (STIs) like chlamydia or gonorrhea are transmitted by direct contact with infected mucous or tissue surfaces, or indirectly by contaminated surfaces. Some bacterial diseases are carried by bugs such as mosquitoes, ticks or fleas and can be transmitted when they bite you.
The virus and the parasites are small enough to penetrate your bloodstream and infect your cells, which can lead to serious diseases like the common cold or AIDS. Fungi cause many skin conditions such as ringworm and athlete's foot. Other types affect the lungs or the nervous system, like the rabies virus.
The BioFire PN Panel utilizes our unique FilmArray technology to detect a complete list of pathogens that are involved in upper respiratory infections in sputum and the bronchoalveolar lavage samples. The kit comes with a reagent bag that contains all the chemistry necessary to perform reverse transcription, nested multiplex PCR and detection with a single machine. It's a simple solution to aid clinicians in identifying and treat patients suffering from various respiratory symptoms. This test has received an Emergency Use Authorization and is available through bioMerieux's CLIA moderate and high complexity labs.