I came to realize that hope has a lot to do with science. It’s the driving force for those who seek cures, for those who work to protect the environment, for those who search for solutions to the pain and problems facing humanity.

I’ve been producing television for more than 40 years, but I’m a relative newcomer to QUEST. I’ve done four pieces so far for the series, and each segment has been a reminder of why I do what I do. I’ve grown from all I’ve learned in researching the topics, doing my best to grasp the ideas and articulate them clearly so others can grasp the content, which is often complex and steeped in a vocabulary all its own. What’s more, I’ve had the opportunity to tell stories that have meaning to people’s lives, and stories with new and hopeful developments.

I came to realize that hope has a lot to do with science. It’s the driving force for those who seek cures, for those who work to protect the environment, for those who search for solutions to the pain and problems facing humanity. I’ve seen excitement and passion in the eyes of scientists when they talk about the difference their research can make in the world.

So it was the human element and the promising science that made “Hepatitis C: The Silent Epidemic” a piece that moved me and will stay with me. The human impact of a story gives it power. So as a producer, I always look for those who are most affected and those who are left out.

One of a number of encouraging sides in the fight to contain and prevent the spread of HCV is the development of the San Francisco Task Force on Hepatitis C and I had the privilege of attending one of their meetings. From patients dealing daily with the potentially deadly liver disease to doctors and community advocates, the room was full of committed and good-hearted people with a range of backgrounds and expertise.

As members of the Task Force talked about what needs to be done to stem the spread of the disease and to develop public awareness campaigns, one of the two African-Americans at the meeting talked about the disproportionate impact of hepatitis C in the black community. She urged the task force to make a concerted effort to reach out to African-Americans. I sensed her frustration as the discussion continued with little or no response to her concerns and afterward I followed her out into the lobby to talk about it.

I must say that everyone we interviewed for this piece shared the concern about the high rates of HCV among African-Americans and expressed agreement on the necessity of developing strategies targeting Black people and particularly African-American men. At the same time, I know that many problems that affect society in general have the most devastating affects on communities of color, and I’m aware that these communities are often underserved or ignored. So I identified with her frustration and was determined to include information on race and hep C in the segment for QUEST. It turns out that her concerns were justified and the facts she presented were accurate and cause for alarm.

African-Americans have the highest rate of hepatitis C in the United States. Hep C is almost twice as common among African-Americans as among Caucasians. And current treatments are ineffective for 70 to 80 percent of black people who are infected with the virus. The rates for Latinos are also high and there are numerous factors that add to the elevated incidence of HCV in communities of color including lack of health care coverage and diet. The alarming rate of hepatitis C among prisoners is also a contributing factor. I recently did a segment on prisons for another KQED program, (This Week In Northern California) and was reminded of the disproportionate number of black and Latino men in California prisons where the HCV infection rates often run as high as 80%. As these inmates are released and return to their cities, neighborhoods and families, they can contribute to the spread of the hep C virus.

The fight to prevent HCV and to find a cure for the disease is woefully under funded, public awareness of the epidemic is minimal, and myths and misinformation about hepatitis C are common. Education and public awareness campaigns that are culturally sensitive and that target specific communities will be critical to stemming the epidemic. And when more effective treatments are developed, keeping the medicine affordable will also be key to eradicating the disease.

Considering how little I knew about hepatitis C before producing this segment and how much I have learned from doing it, I am anxiously awaiting the outcome of the groundbreaking scientific research to find a cure. The predictions are promising and give me hope. I can use some hope. My daughter is African-American, in her mid-forties and has liver disease.

Watch the Hepatitis C: The Silent Epidemic television story online.

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Animal viruses can be more deadly than their human
counterparts

Over those two years, at least three waves of flu struck killing over 600,000 people in the U.S. and a staggering 30-50 million people worldwide.  People died at such a high rate that cities ran out of caskets and dead bodies were stacked on porches and in the streets.

Governments have been concerned that history might repeat itself because the two flues share one thing in common–they both started out as animal viruses.  And our bodies are not particularly good at fighting off viruses new to humans.

Each year a new flock of flu strains kicks off the flu season.  Almost always these strains are variations of human flues from previous years.  What this means is that we have seen cousins of these viruses in the past and so have a leg up on mounting an attack and defeating them.

We do not have this same leg up on animal viruses.  Our immune systems haven't seen anything like them and so can't mount a quick attack.  The end result is that the percentage of people who die from animal flues tends to be much higher than from run of the mill human flues.

In any flu season, the CDC estimates that 5-20% of the U.S. population ends up with the flu.  And that 36,000 of these people die.  The numbers of deaths would be much higher if a truly deadly animal flu virus like the bird flu from a few years back were to emerge and gain the ability to spread from person to person.  (The bird flu was never more than a few isolated cases since it never gained this ability.)

At first blush, this is what the swine flu looked like.  The disease spread easily among people and, in Mexico at least, appeared to be more deadly than normal flues.  So governments around the world sprang into action.  Since flu is spread through contact, governments tried to keep people away from each other.

They closed schools at the fist sign of trouble.  Mexico closed restaurants, theaters and museums too.  All of this was done in an attempt to prevent the spread of a disease like the flu of 1918.

At least outside of Mexico, this flu does not seem to be too much worse than other flues.  So it may be that governments overreacted this time.  But I would prefer that they overreact like this as opposed to ignoring a deadly pandemic.  We don't want another 1918 on our hands.

More info on The 1918 Flu in San Francisco

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The swine flu virus. Credit: C. S. Goldsmith and A. Balish, CDC.

As this story is being produced, the reports on swine flu are changing hourly. Cases are popping up closer and closer to home, and the CDC is updating several times a day on the spread of the virus, and plans to fight it.

The $64,000 question is how worried we should be.

Swine flu is largely untreatable: The two effective antiviral drugs, Tamiflu and Relenza, must be taken within 48 hours of infection to stop the spread of the virus.

That leaves a vaccine. Vaccines are relatively straightforward to create, but they take time. If swine flu becomes a deadly pandemic (meaning it's not only widespread — a pandemic – but more lethal than it appears to be so far) the demand for vaccines would likely far outpace supply. According to Art Reingold, at UC Berkeley's School of Public Health, it could take years for doses to reach everyone in the world who's vulnerable to the disease. Here in the US, we have very few vaccine producing facilities, which means we'd be competing with other countries' priorities to treat their own citizens.

Our story focuses on what could, one day, be the answer to pandemics like this one: a universal vaccine. Scientists like Harvard Medical School's Wayne Marasco believe that, in just a few years, we might be able to inoculate ourselves against nearly all influenza viruses – like a tetanus shot, against the flu. Universal vaccines will come too late for our current swine flu pandemic. But they may well be our response to pandemics of the future.

Listen to the Swine Flu and You radio report online.

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The swine flu virus, up close (and colorized!)
Credit: C. S. Goldsmith and A. Balish, CDC

Swine Flu has been blanketing the news as of late. On April 29th, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported the first US fatality occurring in Texas. The CDC has determined that this swine influenza A(H1N1) virus is contagious and spreading from human to human. Yet at this time, they do not know how easily the virus spreads between people. At our museum, we have taken this very seriously and staff has been asked to stay home if symptoms arise.

CDC is recommending that those who come down with flu-like symptoms stay home from work in order to decrease the rate of infection. The Swine Flu is a viral infection rather than a bacterial infection, which makes it harder to treat. Much of the care for viruses is preventive; viruses are hard to treat after they have entered a living host.

Many people do not know the difference between a viral infection and a bacterial one and consider them interchangeable. Yet they are quite different. Viruses are sub-microscopic particles ranging in size from 20 to 300 nanometers (about 1000 times smaller than the width of a human hair). Viruses must have a living host to function. They remain dormant until they infect a living cell. Within a cell, they then change the genetic material of the cell to replicate the virus. AIDS and Influenza are both created by this process of taking over the normal function of a cell in order to replicate viral cells.

Bacteria do not take over cells. Bacteria are much larger than viruses, usually 10 to 100 times bigger than a virus. Their shapes include curved rods, spheres, rods and spirals. They are known as intercellular organisms because they live between cells. All viruses are harmful to the host because they alter cells, but bacteria can be beneficial (like the species that live in our guts and help us digest our food).

Harmful bacteria in the body create infections like Strep throat or Small Pox. Bacteria can grow and reproduce in both living and non-living environments. Antibiotics are used to treat harmful bacterial growth and infection in the body. Antibiotics; however, are ineffectual against treating viruses.

Because the Swine Flu is a virally spread disease, it is even more important to practice prevention. The CDC sees this disease being spread like a common flu – mainly from person to person through coughing or sneezing by people with influenza. People can also become infected by touching something with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose. Taking simple precautions like washing your hands and covering your mouth when sneezing is effective prevention. Working in a museum,we take this extra seriously considering how often we come in contact with lots of people and their germs. Many of my co-workers, myself included, have hand sanitizer at our desks, wash our hands often, and carry tissues. It is a simple way to combat an evasive illness.

For more about how to protect yourself from swine flu, check out this podcast from the CDC.

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The reasons why African Americans are so burdened with HIV are complicated, says doctor Edward Machtinger, director of the Women's HIV Program at UCSF. The high rate of incarceration of African American men plays an important role, with men carrying HIV back to their female partners when they get out of prison.

HIV/AIDS is a disease of poverty. "Sexually transmitted diseases, in general, disproportionately afflict the poor," says Ruth Greenblatt, who is the founder of the Women's HIV Program and the principal investigator of the Northern California site of the Women's Interagency HIV Study. "If you have poor access to health care, you're less likely to see a doctor early on in your HIV infection, and thus you may be more likely to transmit infection, and you may be less likely to be able to afford condoms and medication."

HIV is now the leading cause of death for African American women between 24 and 35 years old. "Women tend to get sicker and die faster and more often than their male counterparts with HIV," says Machtinger. "One reason is that women don't perceive themselves to be at risk."

In its report, the Black AIDS Institute says that turning the tide is possible, but that it will require better planning and more funding from the federal government, and a stronger commitment from African American leaders. And the report calls for people to get tested. "Knowing your HIV status early can save your life," it concludes.

For patients who have access to drugs, infection with the virus ceased to be a death sentence in 1995, when combinations of drugs called highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) were developed. For some patients, drugs can reduce the amount of virus to undetectable levels.

But some virus always hides in the body's immune cells and attacks again if the patient stops taking their medication. Researchers are working on developing a drug to wipe out this latent virus, which could mean the end of AIDS.

Find out more about new research into HIV treatment and a possible cure by watching our HIV Research: Beyond the Vaccine television story report online.

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