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Losing a job is a BIG deal whether you were layed off, fired or right-sized out of it. Not only do you have to worry about health insurance, bills and paying rent or making a mortgage payment, you must also deal with a myriad of self esteem and emotional issues that frequently arise after losing a job. While there are many articles and books that describe how to functionally conduct a job search after being layed off, there are only a handful that discuss how to cope with the stress and negative emotions that frequently accompany job loss.

Many people who lose their jobs frequently experience emotions like anger, desperation, hopelessness and even depression. These feelings must be acknowledged and then addressed and managed because they not particularly useful when looking for a new job. Further, when left unattended, these feelings can exact both a financial and an emotional toll on the unemployed.

In this Sunday’s New York Times, Phyllis Korkki, who writes “The Search” column describes how to manage the negative emotions and financial problems commonly associated with losing a job. She also provides tips on how to minimize “the pain” and accentuate the positive after experiencing a job loss.

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!

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On several occasions while driving in upstate New York, I noticed an exit sign on the NY State Thruway for Coxsackie, NY. And, not surprisingly, I began to wonder whether or not the Coxsackie virus was named after this obscure upstate NY town.

I first learned about coxsackie viruses as a graduate student while taking a medical virology course at the University of Wisconsin taught by the late noble laureate Howard Temin. However, despite a thirty year friendship with Vincent Racaniello, a BioCrowd co-founder and virologist extraordinaire, I never asked him about the origin of the coxsackie virus name. Much to my surprise, he had recently taken a trip to upstate NY and noticed the Coxsackie NY exit sign while driving on the thruway. This prompted him to blog about the coxsackie virus isolation, its pathogenic properties and of course, the origin of its name!

Coxsackie NY and the virus named after it 

by Vincent Racaniello,PhD

Recently while driving north on the New York State Thruway I passed the exit for the town of Coxsackie, NY (population 8,884). I grabbed my camera and photographed the exit sign, and reminded myself to write about the virus named after this small town.

In the summer of 1947 there were several small outbreaks of poliomyelitis in upstate New York. Gilbert Dalldorf, the director of the Wadsworth Laboratory in Albany, NY, and his associate Grace M. Sickles investigated this outbreak. In particular they sought polioviruses that could replicate in mice. This search was motivated by the fact that research on poliovirus required the use of monkeys which were extremely expensive. Dalldorf had attended the Fourth International Congress for Microbiology in 1947 where he heard that very young mice – suckling mice – could readily be infected with Theiler’s virus.

Dalldorf and Sickles made fecal suspensions from two children suspected of having poliomyelitis, and inoculated these into adult and suckling mice. Only the suckling mice (1 – 7 days old) developed paralysis; animals more than one week old were resistant to infection. The damage responsible for limb paralysis was widespread lesions in skeletal muscles, not in the central nervous system as occurs with poliovirus. Further study revealed that the viruses could be distinguished serologically from poliovirus.

Not only had Dalldorf and Sickles identified the first members of a very large group of human viruses, but they also introduced and popularized a new and inexpensive animal into the virology laboratory – the suckling mouse. In 1949 Dalldorf suggested that the new viruses be called Coxsackie viruses, because the first recognized human cases were residents of that New York village. This unique name is of native North American origin.

Over ten years later the importance of this work was recognized by Dr. Max Finland of Boston City Hospital:

The isolation by Dalldorf and Sickles of viruses which produced paralysis with destructive lesions of muscle in sucking mice and hamsters, from the stools of two children with signs of paralytic poliomyelitis was an achievement that may rank in importance with Landsteiner and Popper’s production of human poliomyelitis in monkeys.

In subsequent years many different Coxsackie viruses were isolated that cause a variety of clinical syndromes. Today at least 30 serotypes of Coxsackie viruses are classified in the enterovirus genus of the Picornaviridae. The viruses are classified into groups A or B depending upon the pathological effect in suckling mice.

Not every locale is pleased to have a virus named after it. In May 1993, an outbreak of an unexplained pulmonary illness occurred in the southwestern United States, in an area shared by Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah called “The Four Corners.” Muerto Canyon was proposed as the name for the etiologic agent of the disease, because the virus was first isolated from a rodent near the canyon. However after residents objected, the name Sin nombre virus was given to the agent of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.

Dalldorf G, & Sickles GM (1948). An Unidentified, Filtrable Agent Isolated From the Feces of Children With Paralysis. Science (New York, N.Y.), 108 (2794), 61-62 PMID: 17777513

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We are living in financially uncertain times. While economic indicators suggest that the recession might be drawing to a close, most financial pundits agree that unemployment will continue to rise  long after the economy has improved. Most people who have lost a job will tell you how emotionally and psychologically—not to mention financially—debilitating it can be. People who have been unemployed for more than a couple of months are typically desperate to find work. And, as the old adage goes “Desperate times call for desperate measures.” To that end, many unemployed workers may consider job opportunities that they normally wouldn’t consider during more certain times. Unfortunately, criminals, grifters and con artists are keenly aware of this and frequently prey upon and take advantage of unemployed workers.

Over the past several months, I began receiving e-mails messages about “mystery shopper” and “logistic agents” job opportunities. At first, I thought that these so-called job opportunities looked interesting. However, after digging a little deeper and scrutinizing the ads more carefully, I realized that these were little more than artfully-designed scams. This, according to an article written by Riva Richmond in today’s New York Times, is only the “tip of the iceberg.” I highly recommend that you read the article to learn how to protect yourself and avoid being scammed while looking for new employment opportunities.

Until next time....

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!!

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That methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is in the news again is not surprising. However, to my knowledge, Nicholas Kristof‘s article in today’s New York Times may be the first Op-Ed piece written by a non-scientist about the growing threat and seriousness of MRSA infections. Mr. Kristof apparently became aware of MRSA when he was contacted by Tom Anderson, MD, a Camden, Indiana physician who was experiencing “phenomenal levels of MRSA infections" in his community.

Beginning in the early 1990s, Dr Anderson noticed a rapidly rising incidence in the number of community acquired skin infections caused by MRSA among his patients. Most of Dr Anderson’s patients were swine farmers—the predominant industry in Camden. At first puzzled by the growing incidences of MRSA outbreaks, Dr. Anderson began to suspect that his patient’s pigs may be the source of growing number of cases of MRSA skin infections. He was reluctant to alert public health officials about his suspicions because any hint livestock-related health issues might jeopardize the livelihood of many of his neighbors and friends. By last fall, however, Camden’s MRSA epidemic had grown so large that Dr. Anderson could no longer remain silent. Rather than alert the authorities himself, he decided to invite Mr. Kristof, an investigative reporter, to visit him in Camden and break the story. Unfortunately, before Mr. Kristof could visit, Dr. Anderson died abruptly at age 54. There was no autopsy, but a blood test suggested he may have died from a heart attack or aneurysm. And—this is where the story gets interesting—a recent Dutch study has linked porcine MRSA isolates to a case of human endocarditis. Dr. Anderson had himself suffered at least three bouts of MRSA infections.

In another Dutch study conducted in 2004, MRSA strain ST398 (which caused the endocarditis in the more recent study) was isolated from three family members, three farm workers and 8 of 10 pigs from a single farm. Since then, strain ST398 has spread rapidly through the Netherlands — especially in swine-producing areas— and pig farmers there are 760 times more likely than the general population to carry MRSA. More recently, a study conducted by public health officials in Ontario, Canada showed that 20% of pig farmers were colonized by strains of MRSA genetically identical to those isolated from European pigs. Finally, a 2008 study conducted in Iowa, reported that strain ST398 was isolated from 45 percent of pig farmers and 49 percent of hogs that were tested. Together, these studies suggest that colonization of swine by MRSA and pig farmers is very common and that swine (and possibly other agricultural animals) could become an important reservoir for strains of MRSA.

While not conclusive, most infectious diseases experts believe that the emergence of MRSA and antibiotic resistant bacteria can be directly linked to the widespread and rampant use of antibiotics as growth enhancers in livestock feed. Despite the alarming emergence of multiple antibiotic resistance bacteria, livestock producers in the US and elsewhere continue to add antibiotics to livestock feeds. This led Mr. Kristof to lament that “we as a nation have moved to a model of agriculture that produces cheap bacon but risks the health of all of us.” Not surprisingly, as is frequently the case, big business has chosen to place profits before the health and safety of society.

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Reading (look for Mr. Kristof’s Sunday column on the emergence of antibiotic resistant "superbugs")

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