Ella Stupart
Mr. Ippolito C Even
Current Event 12
January 10, 2019
Citations:
Baumgaertner, Emily. “A Virus Even More Dangerous Than Zika to Pregnant Woman.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 7 Jan. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/01/07/health/rift-valley-pregnancy-zika.html.
A new disease, Rift Valley Fever, is said to be even more dangerous than the well knows Zika virus which recently affected thousands of babies in Central America and South America. Similar to the Zika virus, Rift Valley Fever causes flu like symptoms along with various birth defects, mostly to the liver, by invading the mother's placenta which harms the baby and blocks off essential nutrients from being absorbed. Rift Valley Fever has a more direct route into the placenta and is able to enter more easily, which makes it more dangerous. In sub-saharan Africa, 90%-100% of pregnant cows who are infected with Rift Valley Fever either miscarry or have stillborn babies. In the year 2000, there were 700 deaths in Saudi Arabia due to the disease which is carried through mosquitoes, similar to Zika. In a study done by Dr. Hartman, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Pittsburgh, and her colleagues using infected rats and human fetus cells, they found that the disease may be even more damaging than Zika. They also reported that 65% of the rat pups from infected mothers died. Although they are more common in warmer climates, there are also infected mosquitoes in the Americas and in Europe. Scientists believe because mosquitos are migrating due to climate change, they could soon spread around the world.
This is a very relevant and important topic in our society and around the world. If we aren’t careful, diseases such as Rift Valley and Zika could wipe out a large amount of our population. Although the diseases are not primarily found in the US, the disease will continue to spread and if we do not put an end to it soon, we will be affected. Dr. McMillen, one of the lead authors and scientists in Dr. Harman’s study, claims “This could spread beyond where it is found in the Middle East, so awareness is sorely needed.”(Baumgaertner). We need to spread awareness and knowledge about these diseases across the world. People need to be educated on the causes and effects of the Zika and Rift Valley viruses so that we can halt further spreading of the diseases.
One thing that I did not like about this article is that it does not have a clear order to the points made in it. It skips between talking about Zika and Rift Valley disease frequently and it is often unclear which is being talked about. Also, for someone who did not know what Zika was before reading this would probably be very confused. To improve the article, the author should have began by defining both diseases and discussing the causes, symptoms, and effects of these diseases. Something that the author did well is that they cited a study from a reliable source and gave background on the doctors before giving quotes or introducing their opinions. This appeals to ethos, giving the audience a reason to trust the studies before speaking about them.
Anabel Maldonado
ReplyDeleteIppolito C Even
Current Event #12
January 8th, 2019
Baumgaertner, Emily. “A Virus Even More Dangerous Than Zika to Pregnant Woman.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 7 Jan. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/01/07/health/rift-valley-pregnancy-zika.html.
This was definitely the most interesting article I have read this year! In fact, I think that it was evident Ella was intrigued as well. I can confidently state this because she succeeded when using background information and citing her information. In her last paragraph, she explained some confusion she faced when reading the article. As a result, it is evident she had to “piece the puzzle together” on her own. By doing so, she including quotes and simplified the article perfectly! In addition, I really enjoyed the comparison of Zika and Rift Valley Fever. She explained both the similarities and differences between the two viruses in such a simple yet in-depth way! In fact, it was clear that she strategized her structure. By first educating her audience about the two viruses, we were able to comprehend the article in a much easier way! Lastly, I think that her explanation of the importance of this topic was very impressive! She made it quite clear that this a life-changing disease that needs attention. She explained with passion and force that this disease needs awareness in order for a change to occur.
Although Ella did succeed, there is some room for improvement. At first I was very confused as to whether this disease affected humans or animals. I was confused because she mentioned that cows suffered from it, but did not clearly state if humans did. This left me with several questions as to whether the cows transmit the disease? Which animals first have it? Who does it get passed onto? If she were to clearly state the answers to these questions, this could easily have been resolved. In addition, if she personalized her review a tad more and explained as to why she chose it, it would have showed more importance. Although this is not mandatory, I definitely think if she personalized her response, more depth and passion would have been illustrated.
This entire article was very interesting for me! I actually worked in a OBGYN office for a summer and learned a lot about the Zika virus. As a result, I was very shocked when learning about a disease that is fairly similar and will impact our world in the same way. I think that this entire article was truly eye-opening to me as I will now appreciate my health much more.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJordan Hoang
ReplyDeleteMr.Ippolito
AP Biology C Even
1/16/19
Baumgaertner, Emily. “A Virus Even More Dangerous Than Zika to Pregnant
Woman.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 7 Jan. 2019,
www.nytimes.com/2019/01/07/health/rift-valley-pregnancy-zika.html.
Ella’s review of “A Virus Even More Dangerous Than Zika to Pregnant Woman” gave a cohesive and well-written overview on a disease called “Rift Valley Fever” that has dramatically affected fetuses in South and Central America, even more than the infamous Zika virus did. She incorporated many significant statistics that did a nice job of emphasizing the severity of this disease, such as “90%-100% of pregnant cows who are infected with Rift Valley Fever either miscarry or have stillborn babies”. I also thought it was great how she included both observational and experimental studies in her summary, which gave variety to her evidence and overall work. Finally, I thought she made a commendable and thoughtful critique of the article in her final paragraph, explaining that the author did “not have a clear order to the points made in it. It skips between talking about Zika and Rift Valley disease frequently and it is often unclear which is being talked about”. This was a good point to highlight and I thought it was an insightful evaluation on her part.
Even though much of Ella’s writing is exceptional, I believe there are slight improvements she could make to her work. For one, I thought she was sort of repetitive when stating the significance of the article. As a example, she mentioned, “This could spread beyond where it is found in the Middle East, so awareness is sorely needed.”(Baumgaertner). We need to spread awareness and knowledge about these diseases across the world.” She restated what the article already pointed out and she could have elaborated more about how we could exactly raise awareness. In addition, I believe she could have added some statistics on the Zika virus. Since the article indicated that the Rift Valley Fever was more dangerous than Zika, I believe adding some more numerical evidence would emphasize how severe this new disease is in comparison.
Before reading this article, I had no previous knowledge on “Rift Valley Fever”. I find it alarming that much of our nation is probably uneducated on how dangerous this disease is and other ailments similar to it. Like the article and Ella pointed out, I think it is extremely important to bring awareness to illnesses such as these so that mothers don’t contract them and possibly give birth to children with birth defects.
Cassidy Mullen
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito C Even
Current Event 13
January 16, 2019
Baumgaertner, Emily. “A Virus Even More Dangerous Than Zika to Pregnant Woman.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 7 Jan. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/01/07/health/rift-valley-pregnancy-zika.html.
Ella chose to research and discuss an extremely compelling topic. I think it is fascinating that the new disease, Rift Valley Fever, is now even more dangerous than the Zika Virus. I like how Ella explains how this new disease is harmful and where in the world the disease is most prominent. Ella demonstrates the importance and significance of this new disease by explaining that it, “causes flu-like symptoms along with various birth defects, mostly to the liver, by invading the mother's placenta which harms the baby and blocks off essential nutrients from being absorbed.”. Ella also explains the interesting prospect that mosquitos are migrating towards the Americas and Europe due to climate change so finding a cure to this disease is not only essential for people in Central and South America, it is also essential for the future of people around us.
Overall Ella does a very good job on his critique of the article. I have very little to critique her on. Ella did have some spelling and grammar errors that could be easily fixed. She added a few extra commas and spaces. This is truly very nitpicky but I noticed the word “its” was spelled “it’s” and “within” was spelled “with in.” This simply demonstrates that a final check for spelling and punctuation would have been beneficial. In addition, I feel it is unnecessary that Ella suggests that the Author Explains what Zika is because the article is not really about Zika. She could read an article on Zika if she does not know what the disease is because it would be redundant information for those who have already read about Zika and just want to know about the new disease.
I learned a lot from Ella’s review of the article. Ella’s review not only furthered my knowledge about Zika but also introduced me to the newly discovered river valley disease. I found this very interesting because I am doing a study on Global Health and I find diseases very interesting. I appreciate that Ella chose a prevalent topic because it increased my interest level.
Anna Normand
ReplyDeleteAP Biology
January 17, 2019
Current Event #13- Review
I thought that Ella’s summary of the article “A Virus Even More Dangerous Than Zika to Pregnant Women” was extremely well written and informative. One thing that I liked about her article was her examples of different trials relating to the disease, which is called Rift Valley Fever. She gave the examples of two different experiments in which the effects of the disease were measured on pregnant mammals. These examples make the claims more credible. I also liked that she talked about the possible consequences of this disease, and I agreed with her assessment that, although it may not be prevalent here, this virus threatens us all, not just those in Africa and the Middle East. Finally, I liked that she spoke about the author’s lack of focus in the article and suggested good ways to make the article more credible and understandable.
One thing I thought Ella could have improved upon was talking more about the new disease, Rift Valley Fever, and how many people are infected by it. She talks about its symptoms and the danger, but it is unclear how many people have been affected and how fast the disease is expected to spread. I also thought that she could have spoken more about the global impact of a disease like this, as well as whether or not there are medicines or methods that can treat it. I think that the inclusion of these things would make for a more well-rounded article.
I found this article fascinating, because I did not know anything about this new disease. I also did not know that mosquitoes may be migrating due to climate change, which could pose a problem with regard to the spread of vector-transmitted diseases. Overall, I learned a lot from Ella’s article and would like to know more about this virus and its possible effects globally.