Facing backlash, Alberta premier clarifies comments on discrimination of unvaccinated people

Kellen Taniguchi - Yesterday -  Edmonton Journal

Danielle Smith called unvaccinated people the most discriminated against group in her lifetime during a news conference on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is not apologizing for her comment calling unvaccinated people the “most discriminated against group” that she’s seen in her lifetime — a comment that has sparked strong reactions in Alberta and across the country.

In a Wednesday statement, Smith explained her “intention” of making that comment.

“My intention was to underline the mistreatment of individuals who chose not to be vaccinated and were punished by not being able to work, travel, or in some cases, see loved ones,” said Smith.

“I want to be clear that I did not intend to trivialize in any way the discrimination faced by minority communities and other persecuted groups both here in Canada and around the world, or to create any false equivalencies to the terrible historical discrimination and persecution suffered by so many minority groups over the last decades and centuries.”

Smith’s statement comes after calls for her to apologize for her comments, something she hasn’t done.

Edmonton human rights activist Murray Billett said he was “gutted” when he heard Smith’s comments on Tuesday.

“I think we should be fearful. Anybody in the minority community should be fearful over comments like that,” said Billett, who is also a member of the LGBTQ community.

“For a provincial premier to suggest such a thing that the people that refused to get vaccination were the most discriminated against flies in the face of every statistic that you’ll ever read.”

In September, Edmonton’s Pride Corner was subject to two threats — a man with a baseball bat walking through the crowd making homophobic remarks and a social media threat two weeks later from an unknown account claiming to be two kilometres away and in possession of a gun.

Mekwun Moses, an Alberta Indigenous activist who has organized anti-racism rallies and rallies for residential school awareness, said Smith’s comments “minimize” Indigenous people’s perspectives.

“She spoke about that she has never seen something as discriminating in her lifetime and that definitely hit different … she’s been alive since residential schools closed, they didn’t close until 1996,” said Moses, adding she was offended by Smith’s comments.

“For her to say within her lifetime puts more discrimination on First Nations people because she’s not recognizing that they didn’t have their freedom, that they didn’t get to choose a lot of things like being put on reserves.”

Opposition Leader Rachel Notley took to Twitter Tuesday night and said Smith’s comments were “disrespectful and tone deaf.”

“First Nations communities are still dealing with the effects of genocide, and for the premier of this province to ignore this trauma and say unvaccinated people were the most discriminated against group in Alberta flies in the face of all the work we must still do,” said Notley.

Timothy Caulfield, a Canada research chair in health law and policy at the University of Alberta, called Smith’s comment “stunning.”

“It’s kind of a horrifying comment to think that this is the position that our premier holds,” he said.

“The lack of insight into our history, the lack of insight into the value of vaccinations and the lack of insight into how vaccine policies work and why those policies exist — it’s stunning.”

Caulfield said most of Alberta’s discrimination laws are focused on immutable characteristics, those characteristics we can’t change. He added vaccination status is a choice and choices have consequences.

Edmonton’s mayor also commented on Smith’s comment on Wednesday.

“From my perspective, Indigenous communities, racialized and minority communities, LGBTQ communities, women, people living with disabilities have and continue to face systemic discrimination and racism in our city,” said Mayor Amarjeet Sohi.

Sohi said he looks forward to working with Smith to remove barriers and see how they can find common ground on building an inclusive city.

The Jewish Federation of Edmonton made a statement on Twitter saying it had “concerns” regarding Smith’s comments.

“We have reached out to the premier’s office to express our concerns surrounding these comments and are keen on meeting with the premier to discuss antisemitism, discrimination in our community and others in Alberta, the need for mandatory Holocaust education and the story of Alberta’s Jewish community,” the statement reads.


ktaniguchi@postmedia.com

twitter.com/kellentaniguchi

ALBERTA

Smith's premiership brightens NDP electoral fortunes: poll

Bill Kaufmann - Calgary Herald

Albertans are taking a dim view of Danielle Smith’s rise to the premier’s chair, with the NDP enjoying a bump in the polls, suggests a new survey.


Danielle Smith after winning the leadership of the Alberta United Conservative Party in Calgary on Thursday, October 6, 2022.

The online Leger Marketing poll of 1,000 Albertans shows they prefer NDP Leader Rachel Notley to Smith by a wide margin of 36 per cent to 22 per cent, with the Opposition party leading the UCP by 44 per cent to 42 per cent among decided voters — the latter figure a swing of five points since Sept. 22, before the ruling party’s leadership race concluded.

And the NDP is leading in what’s believed will be the decisive battleground of Calgary, by 44 per cent to 41 per cent — an advantage that in Edmonton widens to 15 points.

Fewer than 30 per cent of respondents believe Smith will engineer positive change, with negative numbers eclipsing the positive in half a dozen categories.

The poll was conducted Oct. 7 to 10, just after Smith won the leadership and before she made contentious remarks saying unvaccinated Canadians suffered worse discrimination than anyone else she’s seen in her 51 years, and about 7½ months before Albertans head to the polls next May.

On Sept. 8, four of Smith’s leadership rivals — Brian Jean, Rajan Sawhney, Travis Toews and Leela Aheer — held a joint Calgary news conference predicting a Smith-led UCP would lead to an NDP victory , and that her Alberta Sovereignty Act would damage the economy.

That act was originally touted as allowing Alberta to ignore federal decisions and court rulings against the province’s interests, though earlier this week Smith said Alberta would abide by Supreme Court decisions.


Smith's premiership brightens NDP electoral fortunes: poll

© Provided by Calgary Herald

The Leger poll is consistent with several other recent surveys showing Smith faces an uphill fight among voters, and Notley’s 14-point lead over Smith as preferred Alberta premier should be troubling to the UCP, said Mount Royal University political scientist Lori Williams.


“That’s a very significant gap and difficult to recover from, though not impossible,” said Williams.

Smith, she said, seems to sense the same challenges as the poll suggests in Calgary, given she opted not to seek a seat in the legislature by running in the open Calgary-Elbow riding , currently held by the UCP.

“There was a lot more room to appeal to a wider range of voters with the other leadership candidates, and that’s there in Calgary,” said Williams.

The poll shows 39 per cent of respondents don’t believe Smith can hold her party together, while 20 per cent have confidence she can — results that are likely well-founded given the UCP’s fractious history and the premier’s narrow leadership race win, said Williams.

One urban UCP MLA said the poll results aren’t surprising given they come just after a heated leadership race whose negativity has rubbed off on the general public.

“You have to take it with a bit of a grain of salt,” said the MLA, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“There are raw nerves there and people need to hear what the Sovereignty Act really means.”

Much of the party’s fortunes rest on Smith’s leadership style following that of Jason Kenney, who was perceived by many — including some in the party — as being autocratic, said the MLA.

“A fresh rebrand of the UCP is possible,” said the lawmaker, adding party unity is crucial and that none of its MLAs have indicated an intention to bolt.

In the week since Smith’s ascension to the party’s leadership, a more collaborative approach seems to have emerged, said the MLA.

But the party’s chances of winning over Edmonton are moribund, as the poll suggests, and the region surrounding the capital now dominated by the UCP is “in question,” said the politician.

In Calgary, UCP candidates will have to work harder to keep their seats or win others than they did in 2019, said the MLA.

“We have to earn that trust back,” said the lawmaker.


Braid: Poll shows Premier Smith has big challenge gaining wide public support

© Provided by Calgary Herald

The public reaction to Smith’s premiership is unusual, said Ian Large, executive vice-president of Leger Marketing.

“When there’s a leader elected, you normally get a bump in the polls and we’re not seeing that here,” he said.

But he said Notley’s personal popularity has always been relatively high and the poll’s results don’t stray too far from that, said Large.

And the poll’s numbers, he said, can also be seen as a “glass half full” by the UCP given the high level of undecideds on some of the questions.

“There’s a large number of people (25 per cent) who are still saying ‘we don’t know who’ll make the best premier,’ ” said Large.

“Albertans are probably waiting to see who Danielle Smith is.”

There’s no dramatic sign within the survey of a “doomsday” collapse of UCP support, he added.

With Calgary possibly becoming more amenable to the NDP and with Edmonton solidly with Notley’s party, the rural-urban split is becoming more pronounced, he said.

That makes it all the more vital for Smith to hold onto that support, Large said, while Williams suggested there’s already concerns within the party that Smith won’t live up to hard-line promises, such as with the Sovereignty Act.

“How big is the base and how loyal is the base — it is big enough to make it work for her?” Large said.

“If she can’t hold on to that, she’s done.”

Leger says that as a non-random survey, no margin of error is reported, but if it was collected through a random sample, that margin of error would be plus or minus 3.1 per cent 19 times out of 20.

BKaufmann@postmedia.com

Twitter: @BillKaufmannjrn

 Archaeologists may have found the Sanctuary of Samian Poseidon described in ancient texts

During excavations in the foothills at the ancient acropolis of Samicum in Greece, archaeologists may have found the sanctuary of Samian Poseidon.

According to the Greek Reporter, archaeologists unearthed large sections of the foundation of a building 9.4 meters (30.8 feet) wide with heavy stone walls .8 meters (2.6 feet) thick. The remains have been dated to the 6th century B.C.

The sanctuary of Poseidon in Samikos was the regionally important religious center of the six cities of Triphylia, according to ancient sources Strabo and Pausanias. They formed an amphictyony, a confederation dedicated to the defense, upkeep, and veneration of a cult site. Strabo’s Geographica, Book VIII: “Then comes the mountain of Triphylia that sees Macistia from Pisatis; then another river called Chalcis, and a spring called Cruni, and a settlement called Chalcis, and, after these, Samicum, where is the most highly revered temple of the Samian Poseidon. About the temple is a sacred precinct full of wild olive-trees. The people of Macistum used to have charge over it; and it was they, too, who used to proclaim the armistice-day called “Samian.” But all the Triphylians contribute to the maintenance of the temple.”

The location where the potential temple was found fits with texts by Ancient Greek geographer Strabo who wrote about the temple in his work Geographica.

Photo: Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports

Samicum, also called Samikon, was an ancient city during the middle and late Helladic periods, located in the Peloponnese at Kleidi Hill near Kato Samiko, halfway between the mouths of the Alpheius and the Neda.

Scholars have proposed based on ancient descriptions that the temple of Poseidon was on a plain below the ancient acropolis of Samikon whose remains are on the hilltop overlooking the Ionian Sea.

A possible site of the temple was suggested following ongoing investigations conducting geophysical surveys in 2017, 2018, and 2021. This year archaeologists from the Ephorate of Antiquities of Ilia, the Austrian Archaeological Institute, the University of Mainz, and the University of Kiel (Dr. Dennis Wilken) embarked on the first comprehensive excavation of the site as part of a five-year program to explore the area to identify the sanctuary and the ancient port of Samikos.

Photo: Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports

The Athens Branch of the Austrian Archaeological Institute explains in a Facebook post: “Thick layers of roof tiles fill the space between the walls. Based on the anomalies of the geophysics, a building of at least 28 meters (92 feet) in length can be calculated, which had two interior rooms as well as a pronaos and an opisthodome or adyton. The elongated large building can be nothing other than an archaic temple located on the site of the sanctuary of Poseidon, perhaps even dedicated to the god himself.”

In connection with the fragments of a laconic roof, the discovery of a marble perirrhanterion provides evidence for dating the large building to the Archaic period. The large marble vessel itself, imitating a bronze bowl, is characteristic of the inventory of a sanctuary.

This discovery sheds new light on the political and economic significance of the Triphylian cities’ amphictyony in the sixth century BC when the sanctuary of Poseidon at Samikon served as the center of their religious and ethnic identity.

Cover Photo: Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports

MS.FLIP FLOP

Prime Minister Liz Truss commits to taking action to get rid of no-fault evictions

It follows warnings that backtracking on the promise would be a ‘betrayal’ of private renters

Liz Truss speaks to the House of Commons during Prime Minister’s Questions 

/ PRU/AFP via Getty Images

ByJemma Crew
Miriam Burrell
2 days ago

The Prime Minister has doubled down on a Tory manifesto pledge to scrap so-called “no-fault” evictions of private renters in England.

Liz Truss pledged a ban on Section 21 notices -which allow landlords to evict a tenant without having to give a reason - after reports earlier this week that the Government might throw out the Conservative Party’s 2019 manifesto commitment.

It follows warnings from charities on Tuesday that backtracking on the pledge would be a “betrayal” of private renters across the country, and would fuel homelessness.

Going back on the commitment to end no-fault evictions is an act of extreme callousness

Labour MP Graham Stringer told the Commons on Wednesday: “Spooking the markets and increasing the cost of borrowing and increasing the cost of mortgages was almost certainly an act of gross incompetence rather than malevolence.

“But going back on the commitment to end no-fault evictions is an act of extreme callousness,” he said during Prime Minister’s Questions.


“Can the Prime Minister reassure the 11 million private renters in this country that she will carry out her commitment to get rid of no-fault evictions?”

Ms Truss replied: “I can.”

On Tuesday, Downing Street said no decisions had been made on whether to pause a promised ban on Section 21 notices, which allow landlords to evict a tenant without having to give a reason.

The Tories first pledged to scrap no-fault evictions in 2019 in the election manifesto.

In May, the Queen’s Speech confirmed that no-fault evictions would be abolished in a new Renters Reform Bill, which would also introduce an ombudsman to manage disputes and extend the Decent Homes Standard to privately renting households.

No-one should be needlessly evicted from their home as we head into what will be an extremely challenging winter for thousands

Kiran Ramchandani, director of policy and external affairs at homelessness charity Crisis, said: “After an anxious 24 hours, renters will be breathing a sigh of relief to hear the Prime Minister reconfirm the Government’s commitment to ending no-fault evictions.

“No-one should be needlessly evicted from their home as we head into what will be an extremely challenging winter for thousands.

“The Government must now confirm they will bring forward the Renters Reform Bill in this Parliament so that renters can be given the stability they are crying out for.”

If you are a private tenant, a landlord can ask you to move out by issuing a Section 21 or Section 8 notice.

A Section 8 notice can be issued if a landlord already has a reason to evict a tenant, such as rent arrears, damage to the property or if there have been neighbour complaints.

A Section 21 notice is commonly referred to as a “no-fault eviction” as landlords don’t need to give a reason for the eviction.

The Government published its plans to end no-fault evictions in a white paper on June 16.

Proposed legislation for the Renters Reform Bill also includes an end to blanket bans on benefit claimants or families with children, doubling notice periods for rent increases and giving tenants stronger powers to challenge unjustified hikes.

U$
Rising rates push more homebuyers to riskier adjustable-rate mortgages

Mortgage rates climbed in the first week of October, 

with the 30-year conforming rate reaching 6.81%, 

the Mortgage Bankers association reported Wednesday. 

Alexis C. Glenn/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 12 (UPI) -- Mortgage applications dropped last week as interest rates continued to climb, pushing more homebuyers toward risky adjustable-rate mortgages.

Mortgage application volume for the week ending Friday fell 2% from the prior week, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday.

"Mortgage rates moved higher once again during the first week of the fourth quarter of 2022, with the 30-year conforming rate reaching 6.81 percent, the highest level since 2006," Mike Fratantoni, MBA's senior vice president and chief economist, said in a news release. Last week's 30-year-conforming rate was 6.75%.

All mortgage types saw rate increases, with five-year adjustable-rate loans seeing the biggest hike at 20 basis points to 5.56%. ARMs made up 11.7% of all mortgages, up from about 3% early in the year, CNBC noted.

ARMs are considered riskier because they start out at a lower rate for a period of time, but eventually adjust to market rate, which can lead to higher monthly mortgage bills if rates increase.

The volume of applications fell for purchases and refinancing, with refinancing holding its 29% share of mortgage activity. Applications for purchases were 39% below a year ago.

"The news that job growth and wage growth continued in September is positive for the housing market, as higher incomes support housing demand," Fratantoni said. "However, it also pushed off the possibility of any near-term pivot from the federal Reserve on its plans for additional rate hikes."

U.S. employers added 263,000 hires in September, the Labor Department reported Friday.

Mortgage rates have more than doubled since the Fed began raising its benchmark federal funds rate to fight inflation.

Loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration made up 13.5% of all mortgages, up from 13.2% the week before. Veterans Affairs-backed loans increased to 10.9% of all applications, up from 10.7%, while USDA loans fell to 0.5% from 0.6%.

 

Yesterday, we released our Industrial Blueprint for Job Creation and Prosperity – a plan to re-tool our economy and invest in the stability, opportunity, and good standard of living that workers need to build a better future here. It outlines exactly how Alberta can attract new industries and create stable, well-paying jobs for all of the hard-working people that call our province home. Will you share it with your MLA? Click here to automatically send an email calling on them to listen to workers and follow the Blueprint. Because here’s the thing. Hard-working Albertans are the engine of our economy. Getting the economy back on track starts with respecting and supporting the workers who built this province—not driving them away. We can build a better future, but we need to start now or we’ll be left behind. We need your help to make sure our politicians focus on our future and follow our lead. Click the link below to automatically share it with your MLA. https://action.afl.org/action-pages/industrial-blueprint-email/ In solidarity, Gil Gil McGowan President Alberta Federation of Labour    AFL.org Alberta Federation of Labour 10408 124 St, #300, Edmonton, AB T5N 1R5, Canada

Record-low water levels expose volcanic ash in Lake Mead


The growing "bathtub ring" around Lake Mead, is seen near Hoover Dam, where water levels have declined dramatically in Boulder City, Ariz., on May 22. 

File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 12 (UPI) -- Record-low water levels in Lake Mead in Nevada and Arizona have exposed volcanic ash from eruptions 12 million years ago as far away as Idaho, Wyoming and Colorado.

The discovery may help investigators better understand future ashfall risks, researchers at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas said in a recent study.

"Ash from even moderately explosive eruptions can travel hundreds of miles from the source, blanketing entire areas with anywhere from a centimeter to several meters of the heavy material," Eugene Smith, a UNLV emeritus professor of geology, said in a news release.

"Although the Las Vegas Valley is currently very far away from any active volcanoes, we can and will have ash from these volcanoes fall over Southern Nevada in the future."

Even small amounts of ash can become heavy enough when wet to take down power lines and block roadways, he said, and inhaling tiny, sharp ash can cause significant lung damage.

Using geographic mapping, researcher at UNLV's Cryptotephra Laboratory for Archeological and Geological Research located ash layers in Lake Mead and collected samples.

Scientists determined that the ash layers were mostly between 6 million and 12 million years old with some dating to only 32,000 years ago.

They found distinctive ash from four possible sources: the Snake River Plain-Yellowstone hotspot track, which is a chain of volcanic centers in the Yellowstone National Park area; the Southwest Nevada volcanic field northwest of Las Vegas; the volcanoes of Walker Lane in western Nevada and southeaster California; and the Ancestral Cascades, which extend from northern California into British Columbia.

"Studying the past can help you plan for the future," CLAGR lab manager Rachael Johnsen said in the new release.

"The ash layers we study come from volcanoes long extinct. However, studying them has helped us determine just how often the Law Vegas area was inundated with ash over time and may help us prepare for future events from active volcanoes far from us."

The volcanic ash is just one relic uncovered as the water levels have receded.

Severe drought has exposed everything from previously sunken boats to human remains in Lake Mead, which has fallen to about 27% of full capacity as of September, according to CNN.

"We knew that these ash units existed, but we were surprised to find so many as the Lake Mead water level lowered," Smith said.

World Health Organization works to contain Ebola outbreak in Uganda

World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday that it was working with Uganda to prevent the spread of Ebola to other nations.

Photo by World Health Organization/Twitter

Oct. 12 (UPI) -- The World Health Organization said Wednesday that it was working with Uganda to prevent the country's Ebola outbreak from spreading to other nations.

Health authorities in Uganda have identified 74 confirmed and probable cases of Ebola. At least 39 people have died and 14 others have recovered from the disease.

"Our primary focus now is to support the government Uganda now to rapidly control and contain this outbreak, to stop it from spreading to neighboring districts and neighboring countries," WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a global health update in Geneva, according to CNBC.

The East African nation declared an Ebola outbreak in late September after a person from a village in the central part of the country tested positive for the virus.

RELATED Ghana confirms 2 cases of Marburg virus; declares first-ever outbreak

According to experts, Ebolavirus does not spread through airborne transmission. 

People catch the disease through direct contact with body fluids of a person who has fallen ill or died from the virus. It can also spread through contact with contaminated materials and infected animals.

Ebola is not contagious until symptoms appear, which can take 2 to 21 days. On average, it takes about 8 to 10 days for symptoms to show up.

Ebola symptoms include unexplained hemorrhaging, bleeding or bruising as well as fever, severe headaches, muscle and joint pain, weakness and fatigue, sore throat, loss of appetite, stomach pain, diarrhea and vomiting, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While there are currently no Ebola cases in the United States, the CDC has issued a Level 2 alert, which stipulates enhanced precautions, for travel to Uganda.

"Travelers should avoid contact with sick people and avoid contact with blood or body fluids from all people," the CDC said.

Ultrasound treatment may blast away kidney stones without pain

By Alan Mozes, HealthDay News

A non-surgical and minimally painful treatment enlists two types of ultrasound to zap "ureteral stones," causing them to break up, dislodge and reposition in order to make passing the stones easier and faster. Photo by Africa Studio/Shutterstock


A new ultrasound treatment for kidney stones might provide pain-free relief while the patient is awake, researchers say.

Kidney stones are often excruciatingly painful. In most cases, patients are told to just ride it out, sometimes for weeks, in the hope the stone will eventually pass through the urinary tract -- from kidney to bladder -- on its own. But for roughly one in four patients that never happens, triggering surgical intervention.

However, a small new study suggests there may be another way: a non-surgical and minimally painful treatment that enlists two types of ultrasound to zap "ureteral stones," causing them to break up, dislodge and reposition in order to make passing the stones easier and faster.

"The two-pronged approach is to first break the stone into fragments and then move the fragments toward the exit so they will pass," explained study author Dr. M. Kennedy Hall. He is a professor in the emergency medicine department at the University of Washington School of Medicine, in Seattle.

The goal, said Hall, is "to remove the stone right away, when you first come to the doctor, so you don't sit home in pain and anxiety," unsure if invasive surgery -- complete with anesthesia -- is in the offing.

In the study, Hall's team focused on the potential of combining two different ultrasound tools: ultrasonic propulsion (UP) and burst wave lithotripsy (BWL).

The idea stemmed from a NASA-led effort to develop a non-sedation approach to kidney stones for astronauts on long-haul trips.

RELATED Change of diet may reduce chance of kidney stones, study shows

Ultrasonic propulsion is designed to help move and reposition the problem stone, while BWL is deployed to break up the stone into smaller pieces.

The authors pointed out that a third procedure -- called shock wave lithotripsy -- is already a go-to when surgery is called for. But it requires sedation, and is decidedly not pain-free.

Dr. Arash Akhavein is a urologist with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He said the shockwave approach is essentially an invasive way to "pulverize the stone and allow passage."

RELATED  Ultrasound 'bursts' may treat kidney stones in a doctor's office

Other standard treatments include the insertion of "a special endoscope through the urethra and urinary channels to find and break the stones with a laser, and/or to remove stone fragments with a special basket through the scope," added Akhavein, who was not involved in the study.

And for particularly large stones, "we puncture a small hole in the back into the kidney to break the stone and remove the pieces," he noted.

"Each method has indications and is suitable for certain cases. All require a trip to the operating room, almost always with general anesthesia," Akhavein explained.

By contrast, ultrasonic propulsion and BWL can be performed while patients are awake, whether in an emergency room or a clinic setting. And according to Hall and his associates, both techniques are essentially "painless."

To see how well the dual ultrasound approach might work, the investigators enlisted 29 patients in 2018, treating 16 with propulsion alone and 13 with it and BWL.

Both techniques utilize different buttons on the same ultrasound machine, Hall noted.

In the new study, ultrasonic propulsion triggered stone movement in 19 of 29 patients. In two cases, the stones were actually pushed out of the urinary tract all the way into the bladder, providing immediate relief in one patient.

The team also found that BWL had effectively broken stones up in seven out of 13 UP/BWL patients, typically in 10 minutes or less, Hall noted.

And over two weeks following ultrasound treatment, stones passed out of the body in 18 out of 21 patients, all of whom had stones closer to their bladder than to their kidney. For this group, on average, full stone passage took four days post-procedure.

No serious side effects were observed, and pain levels were markedly lower after ultrasound, overall. Those who did not get the desired result went in for standard surgery.

The team cautioned that the findings are preliminary, and more study will be needed with a larger group of patients.

Hall said if all goes well, he could see the two techniques becoming a viable patient option within two to three years.

And that will likely be of help for kidney stone patients, Akhavein said, particularly for those with relatively small stones.

The findings were published in the November issue of The Journal of Urology.

More information

There's more on kidney stones at the National Kidney Foundation.

Copyright © 2022 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Cholera protection gaps in U.S.: No new vaccine supply, no national stockpile


1/5
Vaccine expert Dr. Peter Hotez calls it "shortsighted" of the U.S. government not to keep a national cholera vaccine stockpile.

Photo courtesy of Dr. Peter Hotez

WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Shortages of U.S. cholera vaccine have raised concerns among some of the nation's top infectious disease doctors, who fear Americans could become highly vulnerable to a public health threat that can spread and kill quickly.

"We got caught flat-footed with monkeypox. This is a wake-up call -- we can't get caught flat-footed again with cholera," Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, told UPI in a phone interview.

Right now, only one Food and Drug Administration-approved cholera vaccine exists. The U.S. government wants to expand this travel vaccine's use to include children, as well as adults, who head to cholera hotspots.

But it sits on the U.S. drug shortages list and has been unavailable for nearly two years. And no federal vaccine supply exists as backup in case of a disaster-related mass cholera outbreak in this country.

Rising poverty, urbanization, political instability and conflict, along with climate change that spurs natural disasters, are 21st century influences that contribute to cholera outbreaks in other parts of the world, including most recently in Haiti, said Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.

"We'll see more cases of cholera, monkeypox and coronavirus-like illnesses" globally, Hotez said, citing his 2021 book, Preventing the Next Pandemic.

He added: "When epidemics occur, they're quite explosive, and a lot of people can perish very quickly. You can't wait six months for a company to gear up. ... This is the problem with not adequately stockpiling this [cholera vaccine in the United States], and nobody is looking [at the issue from] an aerial view."

RELATED Risk for global pandemics higher than previously thought, study finds

Surges during disasters

Cholera, a severe diarrheal illness caused by the bacterium Vibiro cholerae, may surge in the wake of man-made or natural disasters in areas that lack clean water, adequate hygiene and proper sanitation.

Worldwide, about 1.3 million to 4 million people develop cholera annually, and 21,000 to 143,000 die from it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

RELATEDWater shortage threatens thousands affected by volcanic eruption in DRC

The CDC says cholera rarely occurs in the United States, though it was common in the 1800s, because its spread was basically eliminated by modern water and sewage treatment systems.

Yet, the United States is not immune to a problem that constantly ravages so many countries, Hotez said. He noted, for example, that the Texas Gulf Coast, where he lives, could be vulnerable to a cholera outbreak after a hurricane.

"So," Hotez said, "I think it's shortsighted the U.S. government doesn't provide stockpiling [of cholera vaccine]. ... The U.S. needs to catch up with more stockpiling than it currently does."

Nearly all cholera cases reported in the United States arise from international travel, according to the CDC. But when outbreaks occurred in countries near the United States, such as Haiti in 2010, the number of U.S. cholera cases increased. Imported, contaminated seafood also has caused infections.

Globally, an emergency stockpile of oral cholera vaccine was established in 2013 by the World Health Organization's International Coordinating Group and partners.

Since the stockpile's creation, WHO spokeswoman Amna Smailbegovic told UPI, more that 123 million doses have been shipped to 23 countries -- from Bangladesh to Zimbabwe.

After a production increase, the amount of cholera vaccine shipped from the global stockpile rose to 27 million doses in 2021, up from 200,000 doses in 2013, according to WHO.

"All countries are eligible to request vaccines from the global stockpile. However, the risk of a cholera outbreak in high-income countries is very low, so we do not expect this to be the case," WHO said in an emailed statement.

Not tested in U.S.

However, Shanchol and Euvichol-Plus, the two-dose cholera vaccines currently available for mass vaccination campaigns through WHO's global stockpile, were not tested or made in the United States, which experts say the FDA prefers.

CDC spokeswoman Candice Hoffmann underscored the United States' "strong and reliable drinking water systems, adequate sanitation, hygiene and sewage infrastructures" in an emailed statement to UPI on Wednesday.

"In the unlikely event such an outbreak [of cholera] were to occur, CDC would work closely with FDA to seek emergency use licensing for Shanchol and Euvichol-Plus cholera vaccines using data from its usage overseas," Hoffman said.

To allow emergency use authorization, the FDA said it thoroughly evaluates available safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality information -- a process that may hamper fast response to a public health emergency.

When Pfizer Inc. sought permission for emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine at the end of 2020, for example, the process took three weeks.

To date this year, 23.5 million doses of cholera vaccine have shipped from the global stockpile, another 8 million doses required for the second dose of the two-dose regimen are pending shipment and more requests are under review, WHO said.

No vaccine in stockpile

By contrast, there isn't a single dose of cholera vaccine in the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile in case of outbreaks, spokeswoman Dawn Young told UPI in an email. This stockpile distributed ventilators and personal protective equipment at the peak of COVID-19, and stores two types of monkeypox vaccine.

The only cholera vaccine approved by the FDA, Vaxchora, has been on the FDA's national drug shortage list for well over a year. And until 2016, when Vaxchora received FDA's go-ahead for use in adults ages 18 through 64, no cholera vaccine had been available for decades for U.S. travelers are risk.

Maryland-based Emergent BioSolutions, which manufactures Vaxchora, told UPI its last batch of the one-dose oral cholera vaccine for U.S. international travelers had been shipped in December 2020.

"Given the unprecedented impact and halt in global travel during the pandemic, we proactively decided to discontinue production of Vaxchora ... [but] continued to diligently monitor travel health trends in preparation for production ramp-up," Jonathan Wong, Emergent Travel Health's general manager and global vice president, said in an email.

Emergent told UPI it resumed Vaxchora's production "in third quarter 2022," but won't have more supply available until early 2023. The vaccine, which costs about $300 per dose, is made at Emergent's plant in Bern, Switzerland.

Emergent -- the target of a congressional probe into the manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines -- said it plans to produce a supply of cholera vaccine "that will meet full year (2023) forecasted demand."

The call for storing a cholera vaccine In the United States dates back more than a decade.

Humanitarian resource

In 2010, Hotez, Dr. Matthew Waldor and Dr. John D. Clemens co-authored a New England Journal of Medicine article that urged creation of a national cholera vaccine stockpile as a "humanitarian and diplomatic resource."

That never materialized, though WHO's global stockpile began a few years later.

Waldor, a professor of medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, told UPI in a telephone interview that cholera remains problematic in many parts of the world, but there's been "just the occasional imported case" domestically over the past 20 years that hasn't led to outbreaks.

Cholera is "usually treatable" with fluids and antibiotics, he said, describing the risk to most U.S. international travelers as "very low," aside from aid and healthcare workers, "so it's not a disaster there's not enough cholera vaccine for travelers."

But Waldor said "it's OK [for U.S.-based international travelers] to be super safe and get it [cholera vaccine], and conceded he may be "overly sanguine" about the U.S. cholera vaccine gap.

"Out of an abundance of caution, it might be good to have some in the stockpile, but I don't think there's a major risk for cholera in the United States," he said.

Waldor underscored the overall importance of cholera vaccines, noting that his laboratory plans to begin a phase 1 clinical trial of its own vaccine candidate, probably in November in Boston.

He said he anticipates his vaccine, if proven safe and effective, will join the global stockpile -- and be distributed and manufactured in countries that need it the most.