Health as a Public Good

This chapter addresses how COVID-19 exposed the shortcomings in reducing poor health, shortcomings exacerbated by the treatment of health as a commodity rather than as a public good. One key reason for America's hesitance to embrace health as a public good is the overreliance on medicine. The truth is, we cannot buy health for ourselves; what we can buy is healthcare, and that can only help us after we are already sick. At the individual level, this approach means Americans will always be in danger of poor health. At the collective level, it means accepting a permanent reservoir of preventable disease and death within society, the presence of health haves and have nots, and, when crisis strikes, an overwhelmed healthcare system. Another reason is that engaging with health as a public good would inform Americans' understanding of their collective responsibility to each other. Ultimately, pursuing health as a public good means acknowledging health is a human right. There must be no degrees of privilege when it comes to accessing the conditions that support health.

Distribution of Toxinogenic Methicillin-Resistant and Methicillin-Susceptible Staphylococcus aureus from Different Ecological Niches in Algeria

The diffusion of Panton–Valentine leukocidin (PVL)–positive methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) is a health problem in Algeria. The objectives of the study were to investigate the global distribution of methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) and MRSA isolates in different ecological niches in this country. In total, 2246 samples were collected from humans, livestock, wild animals, pets, food products and the aquatic environment, from 12 Algerian provinces. A total of 312 S. aureus were detected from 2446 samples (12.7%) in the screened niches. We observed the emergence of toxinogenic S. aureus representing 41% of the isolates. Among them, we noted the diffusion of ST80-IV CA-MRSA PVL + strains isolated in human, animals, and food and genetic diversity of MSSA PVL + isolates. This study suggests an alarming dissemination of MRSA-ST80 PVL + in both human and extra-human sources in Algeria. Moreover, MSSA may become a permanent reservoir of the PVL genes necessary for human infections.