The movie Contagion is still very fresh in my memory and to be honest, it’s one of the few non-horror films that continue to haunt me. Not only because the story is simple and it was effectively told by the film, but the story is so close to reality it was like watching a documentary about how the A(H1N1) virus spread worldwide back in 2009.

We know what raw sewage is and naturally we know it to be a source of diseases and other foul things, literally, but it is only now that scientists have found out that it is rich source of viruses not yet known to man. That adds another another layer of reality to the movie, raw sewage is a gold mine for unknown viruses. Instead of just looking for viruses that jump hosts, from one specie to another, unknown viruses that could cause dreaded, yet unknown diseases are found right underneath our cities and toilets.

The researchers led by Paul Cantalupo of the University of Pittsburgh found out that:

Within the samples, they found 234 known viruses belonging to 26 different viral families. Seventeen of these infected humans, and others are known to target plants, insects, algae and bacteria. They also found evidence of new viruses from 51 different families.

In addition, they had other discoveries:

• Bacteria-attacking viruses dominated the viral population they found in the sewage, outnumbering the known ones by 30 to 1.
• Of the viruses that attack more complex organisms, plant viruses dominated.
• A large number of insect viruses, including those that infect cockroaches, flies and mosquitoes, were present in all samples.
• They also identified several rodent viruses, including strains closely related to a newly identified rat hepatitis E virus.
• They detected 17 viruses known to infect humans in the three samples. These viruses included a number that can cause diarrhea or gastrointestinal illness, including adenovirus, astroviruses and Norwalk virus, bocavirus, picobirnaviruses and klassevirus.

With this new goldmine for viruses, scientists have an added resource to further develop our knowledge of viruses, which in turn will further develop our medical technology, more importantly to help combat diseases.

It also reinforces the fact that raw sewage should be treated before it is released into the environment. Thinking of the recent flooding we had because of the previous typhoons, it is very important that our sanitary systems, what ever form we have, is up to the task of holding against typhoons or massive rain so that raw sewage would not mix with flood waters.

Then again, knowing that sad state of our urban planning and sanitation system, we have another good reason to avoid plunging in flood waters, especially in the city.

Image by Kat Masback

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There have been some fear and worries about the on-going nuclear emergency in Japan brought about by the recent magnitude 8.9 earthquake and the tsunami that it triggered last March 11.

Being worried and having some fears are valid, but what’s annoying is when false rumors about doomsday scenarios are spread so fast it doesn’t really help at all.

Just as I was writing this, I received an SMS message that we in the Philippines should stay indoors and avoid getting caught in a rainfall because it could be contaminated with radioactive material that leaked from Japan.

I say to each and all, please verify the facts in whatever message you’ve received before forwarding it to someone else. It will save us all the unnecessary worries and fears. It will also save you from being thought of as another mindless drone in the spread of false information.

Fact check

The nuclear power plants in trouble were reactors 1 and 3 at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Station, some 220 km north of Tokyo. The nuclear power facility itself is on the coast which placed it right on the path of the tsunami triggered by the 8.9 magnitude earthquake that struck last March 11, off the northeast coast of Japan.

The earthquake and tsunami didn’t damage the nuclear reactors, which is a testament to the facility’s design and Japan’s reputation for efficient and safe management of nuclear power plants, it was the subsequent loss of electricity that crippled the systems that kept the nuclear reactors from overheating that is now the problem.

It was made worse when the backup on-site diesel generators were also damaged by the tsunami which followed within hours after the strong earthquake.

An excellent explanation by US nuclear experts on what the problems are at Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant is available at Scientific American. Physicist Ken Bergeron, who did research on nuclear reactor accident simulation at Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico explains:

Reactor analysts like to categorize potential reactor accidents into groups. And the type of accident that is occurring in Japan is known as a station blackout. It means loss of offsite AC power—power lines are down—and then a subsequent failure of emergency power on site—the diesel generators. It is considered to be extremely unlikely, but the station blackout has been one of the great concerns for decades.

The probability of this occurring is hard to calculate primarily because of the possibility of what are called common-cause accidents, where the loss of offsite power and of onsite power are caused by the same thing. In this case, it was the earthquake and tsunami. So we’re in uncharted territory, we’re in a land where probability says we shouldn’t be. And we’re hoping that all of the barriers to release of radioactivity will not fail.

The problem then, boils down, so to speak, to overheating problems that would lead to what is called a fuel core meltdown. This is the core of the nuclear reactor, which is an assembly of radioactive fuel rods and their casings literally melting down because of excessive heat which cannot be removed from the reactor. Again, Scientific American has an educational piece on how to cool a nuclear reactor.

This is what basically happened in the Three Mile Island accident in the US in 1979 and the Chernobyl explosion in 1986. Thanks to the lessons learned from those accidents, the Fukushima nuclear power plant withstood the strong earthquake and successfully contained radioactive materials from leaking to the environment.

What about the explosions at the reactors? The radioactive fallout from Japan?

The March 12 explosion at reactor No 1 at Fukushima Power Plant was not nuclear. It was caused by hydrogen contained in the steam vented from the reactor in order to remove excess pressure. Dr Josef Oehmen, a research scientist at MIT, in Boston, explains why there’s little to fear from the on-going nuclear emergency at Japan. He likened nuclear reactors to pressure cookers sealed inside an airtight box of steel and concrete, designed to contain radioactive material inside.

So imagine our pressure cooker on the stove, heat on low, but on. The operators use whatever cooling system capacity they have to get rid of as much heat as possible, but the pressure starts building up. The priority now is to maintain integrity of the first containment (keep temperature of the fuel rods below 2200°C), as well as the second containment, the pressure cooker. In order to maintain integrity of the pressure cooker (the second containment), the pressure has to be released from time to time. Because the ability to do that in an emergency is so important, the reactor has 11 pressure release valves. The operators now started venting steam from time to time to control the pressure. The temperature at this stage was about 550°C.

This is when the reports about “radiation leakage” starting coming in. I believe I explained above why venting the steam is theoretically the same as releasing radiation into the environment, but why it was and is not dangerous. The radioactive nitrogen as well as the noble gases do not pose a threat to human health.

At some stage during this venting, the explosion occurred. The explosion took place outside of the third containment (our “last line of defense”), and the reactor building. Remember that the reactor building has no function in keeping the radioactivity contained. It is not entirely clear yet what has happened, but this is the likely scenario: The operators decided to vent the steam from the pressure vessel not directly into the environment, but into the space between the third containment and the reactor building (to give the radioactivity in the steam more time to subside). The problem is that at the high temperatures that the core had reached at this stage, water molecules can “disassociate” into oxygen and hydrogen – an explosive mixture. And it did explode, outside the third containment, damaging the reactor building around. It was that sort of explosion, but inside the pressure vessel (because it was badly designed and not managed properly by the operators) that lead to the explosion of Chernobyl. This was never a risk at Fukushima. The problem of hydrogen-oxygen formation is one of the biggies when you design a power plant (if you are not Soviet, that is), so the reactor is build and operated in a way it cannot happen inside the containment. It happened outside, which was not intended but a possible scenario and OK, because it did not pose a risk for the containment.

Chances of radioactive or acid rain from Japan falling over the Philippines is very, very remote.

Very little radioactive material leaked from the Fukushima nuclear reactors. Weather patterns are against the scenario that a radioactive cloud would float from Japan, head towards the Philippines and fall as acid rain.

Various government agencies have confirmed this:

“‘Yong hangin galing sa Japan papalayo kaya ‘di makakarating sa atin. Hindi totoo ang ulan may kasamang acid,” PAGASA forecaster Aldczar Aurelio told radio dzBB today. (“The winds from Japan are moving away from us. It’s not true that these winds contain acid rain.”)

Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Mario Montejo told radio dwIZ today, “There is no immediate threat to the Philippines … (We are) very optimistic in a few days puwede na natin bitawan ‘yan (We are very optimistic in a few days we can declare no threat to the country).”

Nuclear fallout is a serious threat to public health and safety. Surely, the government would not mess around with information regarding this matter. So should the public too.

Spreading false information is not only stupid, it helps no one at all.

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In a bid to stave off my newly acquired allergic rhinitis, of which I still can’t believe I now have, the common colds, cough and to boost my immune system in general, I’ve been taking Bee Propolis every morning just before breakfast.

Why Bee Propolis? Che, my fiancee had been scouring parenting forums for an alternative cure for Julia’s diaper rash. The ointment prescribed to us is extremely effective in keeping our baby’s bottom rash-free but it’s also effective in burning a hole through our wallets.

In one of those forums, a mom somewhere in Manila attested that Bee Propolis ointment has worked for her as well at more than half-the-price of the drug ointments. With Che convinced to give it a try I browsed the website of Ilog Maria, a famous bee farm here in Silang, Cavite that makes the ointments based on bee propolis which is in fact, very much sought after throughout the country along with many of their other natural products based on bee-made substances.

One of those products that Ilog Maria makes is a concoction from bee propolis and coconut brandy which also does the same trick of keeping the immune system strong as does the honey + calamansi combo.

So instead of getting a bottle of honey, I bought a small bottle of Bee Propolis along with its ointment form.

Ilog Maria Bee Propolis. (The electric tape keeps out the ants.

What the heck is bee propolis? Let me save you the trouble of Googling for it by sharing the answer from Ilog Maria’s Bee Propolis brochure:

Propolis forms trees’ immune systems. Propolis fights bacteria, fungi & viruses that attack trees. Our bees and use this bee propolis to varnish the insides of their entire beehives; including the insides of all the cells in their honeycombs to sanitize all that propolis touches.

Each time an attacker, stung to death inside the beehive, is too heavy to be pulled out; our bees embalm it with their propolis. This bee propolis-embalmed moth, mouse or lizard is preserved by the bee propolis and is perfectly mummified without putrefaction or decay. This is perfect proof of the potency of propolis. In fact, Lenin’s corpse is also embalmed in propolis and is perfectly preserved in a glass coffin for all to see.

Bee Propolis is packed with phytochemicals and anti-oxidants which combat the ill effects of exposure to all kinds of pollution, carcinogenic substances, carcinogenic conditions and eating processed or preserved foods.

After almost thirty years, we have found a perfect solvent for absorbing all the beneficial contents of bee propolis. Coconut brandy has its own monolaurins that strengthen your immune system. My childhood friend Philip Eleazar, runs two huge coconut plantations in Cotabato, Mindanao. His plantations have never seen fertilizers and any chemicals. He produces Don Felipe organic coconut brandy from fermented coconut sap.

We collect bee propolis and macerate it in Don Felipe organic coconut brandy in our cellars for about a year. After waiting so long in the cellar, it becomes Ilog Maria Bee Propolis. Ilog Maria Propolis is the living essence of bee propolis.

That explains why it tastes a lot of brandy mixed with honey. I’m not saying it’s a miracle cure or something but so far it’s been working well for me. I mix 30 drops with plain water, though you can mix it with other drinks like coffee, tea, milk and chocolate, and take it before having breakfast.

In the two weeks of using it, I can say that it does work. With the crazy weather here in Silang – chilly nights and hot days plus the sudden rains – I’ve been able to remain cold and cough free.

Ilog Maria has many other all-natural products based on materials made by honey bees – honey, pollen, beeswax, propolis and royal jelly. Some are cosmetic while some have medicinal properties. If you’re interested in their products or curious about an actual bee farm, head to their website or visit the farm itself in Silang, Cavite. You’d be amazed at what they have in offer.

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Since I’m on medication for a week to treat my laryngopharyngitis, I decided to use a pill organizer to help me take the right medicine on time. Also, keeping track of what to take and when is getting harder and harder for me. Taking more than one pill makes the whole thing even more confusing.

Good thing the pill organizer was still in the drawer. It’s been more than a year when I last saw it there. Though no one has used it since then, one of the seven cases was missing, which is typical of our household where things mysteriously vanish as the years go by.

Where is the red pill?

So after sorting all my pills and capsules using the organizer I kinda felt a little depressed. ‘So this is how sick I am?‘ Seeing all those pills spread out before brought on the idea that someday when I get really old and even more sick, this organizer would be stuffed with all sorts of pills of different sizes, colors and even shapes. Would I even need more than one organizer? Enough of that for now.

A more immediate concern for me is how this pill organizer has put my obsessive-compulsiveness into high gear. Even before I got all my pills sorted out, I found myself holding the organizer in my two hands and staring at it for minutes on end. Looking at how the individual containers were divided into four compartments each with its own cover with awe and admiration. How each individual cover is labeled ‘MORN’, ‘NOON’, ‘EVE’ AND ‘BED’ with a corresponding equivalent in Braille. And each container fit snugly and securely in the tray which has the days of the week printed on top edge.

I was supposed to put the organizer on top of my drawer but since yesterday, it has been on my desk just an arm’s reach from my laptop. Every now and then I’d pick it up and stare at it again and again. Let me be clear that it’s not the pills that keep getting my attention. It’s the way those pills are kept organized in their own compartments and the sound they make each time they hit the plastic walls as I move or tilt the organizer.

And once I have taken all of those pills, what will I put in it next? Gum? Candies? Paper clips cannot fit in. I don’t even have paper clips. My guess is that it will just be put back in the drawer until it’s needed again. By then I will have to look for other things to organize just to soothe my obsessive-compulsiveness.

It’s weird I know but at least I’m not after the pills. Or am I?

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This morning I went to see the doctor about this cough and colds I’ve been nursing these past two weeks, though my fiancee says it is three, because I thought the lagundi capsules did not work.

Around five days prior, I took lagundi capsules to get rid of the cough. One in the morning, one at noon and one at night. On the third day, red and itchy rashes started to appear all over my body and my ears were flushed red. Did I develop an allergic reaction towards the lagundi? I doubted it but I stopped taking them anyways just to see if the rashes would also disappear.

Today is the third day I stopped taking the lagundi capsules and as I’ve said earlier, my scheduled visit to the doctor. The diagnosis was laryngopharyngitis – an inflammation due to infection of the larynx and pharynx. My lungs are clear of phlegm and the greatest relief was when the doctor told me to continue taking the lagundi capsules as it turned out that I wasn’t allergic to it. The rashes were brought on by allergic rhinitis – which explains the running nose.

The lanrygopharyngitis I get, but allergic rhinitis? In the quarter of a century that I have lived on this planet, I never had an allergy towards anything. Dust, pet hair, pollen, perfume, bad odors and other allergens didn’t posed a threat to me, until today. Maybe it’s a wake up call that I should start living a more healthy life or I seriously need to clean my room.

All these thoughts were quickly brushed aside when I saw my medical bill – professional fee and the cost of the prescribed medicines. I won’t give the exact figure but it was north of my monthly telephone + broadband bill! I then opted to have the prescription written out and paid only for the professional fee.

Off I went to the lone Generika branch we had in town. Gave them the prescription and boy was I glad I made that decision for I got all my prescribed medicines for 1/3 the price of what my doctor’s pharmacy was selling them. I thank the government for Republic Act 6675 or the Generics Act of 1998.

And for those who still think that branded medicines are better than their generic counterparts, you better think again. For example, Biogesic, Tempra, Calpol are just brands for paracetamol which is designed for fever relief. Branded medicine are so expensive because part of the costs the pharmaceutical companies who make these spend on advertising and marketing these brands are passed on to us consumers. So thanks to generic medicines and the Generics Act that promotes these, we get our illnesses cured minus the costs of marketing bull that comes with branded medicine.

Now I wonder if The Generics Pharmacy has lower prices compared to Generika. I hope I’d find out not too soon.

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