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Biden’s alcohol czar warns new guidance could be only 2 beers a week

What the ale?

Americans could soon be advised to limit themselves to just two drinks a week, a top health official warned Thursday.

President Biden’s alcohol czar, Dr. George Koob, told the Daily Mail that the USDA could revise its alcohol recommendations to match Canada’s guidelines.

In January, the Great White North began urging residents to limit their alcohol consumption to two drinks per week.

Since the 1990s, the US has recommended women limit themselves to one drink per day and men to two drinks per day.

The USDA recommends no more than one alcoholic drink or shot a day for women and two for men.
Stephen Yang

The US government may tighten its alcohol guidance to match Canada’s recommendations.
Stephen Yang

However, this guidance is up for review in 2025.

“If there’s health benefits, I think people will start to re-evaluate where we’re at [in the US],” Koob told the Daily Mail of Canada’s “big experiment” with its alcohol guidance.

“So, if [alcohol consumption guidelines] go in any direction, it would be toward Canada.”

Koob, the director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, noted there are “no benefits” to physical health from drinking alcohol.

“Most of the benefits people attribute to alcohol, we feel they really have more to do with what someone’s eating rather than what they’re drinking,” he explained.

“So it really has to do with the Mediterranean diet, socio-economic status, that makes you able to afford that kind of diet and make your own fresh food and so forth.”

President Biden’s alcohol czar, Dr. George Koob, said the US may recommend that Americans consume no more than two drinks a week.
AFP via Getty Images

A Mediterranean diet — which is high in fats and proteins, but low in carbohydrates — is touted as an overall healthy diet.

The lifestyle has been said to protect against inflammation and heart disease.

Socio-economic status has also been linked to health.

Poverty is the nation’s fourth-leading cause of death, killing an estimated 183,000 Americans 15 and older in 2019, according to findings published in April in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Source: https://nypost.com/2023/08/24/bidens-alcohol-czar-warns-new-guidance-could-be-2-beers-a-week/

Centre Reviews Covid-19 Situation, Asks States To Keep Eye On New Variants Like Pirola, Eris

As of Monday, India has 1,475 active coronavirus cases. The maximum number of active cases is in Kerala (1,010), followed by West Bengal (182) and Maharashtra (116).

New Delhi: The Centre on Monday reviewed the Covid-19 situation in the country and asked all states to maintain a close watch on the new global variants. PK Mishra, the Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, chaired a high-level meeting with NITI Aayog member Vinod Paul, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, and other top officials, and called for ramping up the whole genome sequencing.

In the meeting that was also attended by PMO Advisor Amit Khare, and DG ICMR Rajiv Bahl, an overview of the global Covid-19 situation was given by Secretary (Health) including certain newer variants of coronavirus like BA.2.86 (Pirola) and EG.5 (Eris), which have been reported globally. He underlined that as per World Health Organization (WHO), while Eris has been reported from over 50 countries, the Pirola variant is in four countries.

Source: https://zeenews.india.com/india/centre-reviews-covid-19-situation-asks-states-to-keep-eye-on-new-variants-like-pirola-eris-2651933.html

Florida officials report five deaths from ‘flesh-eating’ bacteria in Tampa Bay since January

Vibrio vulnificus infections are rare but can cause severe skin breakdown and ulcers

Five people are confirmed dead in the Tampa Bay area because of a flesh-eating bacterium known to lurk at beaches, Florida officials reported.

According to Florida Health, the vibrio vulnificus bacterium’s natural habitat is in warm, brackish seawater because it requires salt to live. The bacteria typically grow more quickly in warmer months.

Infections are rare, but health officials say those with open wounds, cuts or scrapes should stay out of the water.

Five people have died this year from reported bacterial infections, including two in Hilsborough County and one each in Pasco, Polk and Sarasota counties. There have been 26 reported cases of vibrio vulnificus infections in Florida since January, officials said.

Vibriosis causes an estimated 80,000 illnesses and 100 deaths in the United States every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

In 2022, there were 74 total cases and 17 deaths. Those numbers were abnormally high that year because Hurricane Ian spilled sewage into the ocean, increasing bacteria levels.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), some Vibrio vulnificus infections lead to necrotizing fasciitis, a severe infection in which the flesh around an open wound dies. Necrotizing fasciitis can be caused by more than one type of bacteria.

People with open wounds, cuts or scratches can be exposed to the bacterium through direct contact with the mixture of fresh and seawater.

Vibrio vulnificus can cause an infection of the skin which may lead to skin breakdown and ulcers.

Five people in the Tampa Bay area have died from confirmed vibrio vulnificus infections since January, Florida health officials said. (DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images)

While anyone can get a Vibrio vulnificus infection, the infections can be more severe for people with weakened immune systems.

The bacterium can invade the bloodstream, causing a severe life-threatening illness with symptoms including fever, chills, decreased blood pressure and blistering skin lesions.

It has the potential to cause severe illness or death; the CDC says about one in five people die sometimes within a day or two of becoming ill.

Vibrio vulnificus can also cause disease in people who eat raw or undercooked oysters and shellfish.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-officials-report-5-deaths-flesh-eating-bacteria-tampa-bay-january