Hello and welcome to Livinn the Lehigh Valley a healthd wellness show for everyone.

I'm your host Brittany Swey coming up on this episode o get vaccinated or not.

Coronavirus cases are surgg once again thanks to the variants of the virus.

Though Covid shots are newe medical technology behind vaccines has been around fr years.

Reporter Grover Silcox taks back in time to learn the history of vaccines and otr global pandemics were extinguished.

Plus, a Lehigh Valley advoe for the LGBTQ community is making decisions on the national level after joinig the President's Advisory Council on HIV AIDS.

We'll sit down with Adrian Shanker and talk about the impact of his new role andy in art.

Bob Ross died over 25 years ago, but his legacy lives n artists specially certifien his techniques will meet te only one right here in the Lehigh Valley.

First up, the history of vaccines.

Grover Silcox is here to tk about it.

So Grover, the big questio, are they the life saving tl that we are hoping that thy are?

And what's the evidence bed it?

Well, vaccines have eradicd some very lethal diseases h as polio and smallpox and prevented suffering througe centuries.

It goes back as far as the colonial period and actualy there's evidence that it gs back centuries before that.

How even that far?

Absolutely.

So vaccines have been in or arsenal of weapons for some time.

Vaccines are they the life saving weapons against the deadly Covid virus?

And its variants.

Health experts and many Americans think so.

But according to the CDC, unvaccinated people are 11 times more likely to die fm the disease.

Still, nearly 80 million Americans remain unvaccina.

Many simply don't trust the vaccines and vaccines have worked successfully in the past.

I asked two medical experto share their insights about vaccines and their historyf saving lives.

From Washington, a combined radio and television indusy brings you a special reporn the polio vaccine.

Vaccines are the product of infectious agents.

The vaccine stimulates they to produce its own antibod.

These antibodies can help prevent disease when infecs disease strikes, humanity s to its most potent weapon.

Vaccines.

Dr Renee Nohara, a public health expert, epidemiologt and editor of the History f Vaccines website for the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, speaks to the life saving track record of vaccines.

History Vaccines is a histy of our fight against disea.

And so the fight has been against infectious disease, against human suffering, against things.

I want to kill us.

And the vaccines have beene of the best ways of fightig those things.

Vaccination goes back moren a thousand years starting n China.

People knew the concept bee they knew about viruses and bacteria and knew things we contagious.

They weren't quite sure ho.

As medical science developd over the centuries, so have challenges.

The poliomyelitis virus ars in the United States in the late 18th, early 1980s.

It comes in waves in the summer.

People blame swimming pool, creeks and other bodies of water.

They don't know what a virs at this time, but they know polio damages.

Nerves can paralyze and ki.

But they don't know that is actually being transmitted because of sewage around te house, because of lack of potable water, etc and whos getting hit?

The children dirty hands ad unsanitary conditions spred the virus, especially among children, even though it wa small proportion of childr, about one to 2% who would e from polio and maybe 3% who would get paralytic polio.

That was enough to scare parents into action.

Images of victims in wheelchairs and crutches or inside iron lung machines horrified people.

President Franklin Rooseve, whose legs were paralyzed r @contracting polio as a yog man, promoted research thrh a new fundraising organized which became the March of Dimes, literally dimes tapd together blow from communiy and community amounting to hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars that wt into the polio research and finally got the matter sol.

Dr Jonas Salk developed the first polio vaccine in thed 50s and Dr Albert Sabin followed with his oral vace in the early 60s.

Before I got out of high school, I was being given n injection for polio and tha little bit later a boosterh a sugar cube.

Such an impact on on the w, such a dramatic impact.

Polio peaked in 1952 with e than 21,000 cases today ths to the vaccines, it's eradicated.

The history of vaccines is deeply intertwined with the history of the United Statn colonial America, smallpox killed thousands of people every year as it did aroune globe.

George Washington was defed at the Battle of Quebec ana lot of it had to do with te British bringing smallpox h them and so the American soldiers were struck with smallpox.

So he decided to forcibly n some cases very forcibly, y late.

His troops very lation wasa crude form of inoculation g pus from a pox of an infecd person to create immunity.

In 1796, British doctor Edd Jenner developed the first vaccine by using a mild cox virus to immunize against smallpox as the story goese noticed milkmaids rarely gt smallpox but did contract cowpox from milking cows.

He put two and two togethe, published it and said this.

These findings do all overe known world and a lot of at of other scientists and otr physicians confirmed his observations.

I think it's important fors to look back in history ist as what happened long ago d we should learn from the lessons and the powerful it of vaccines for a lesson ow not to respond to a contags disease, check out Philadelphia's response toe 1918 Spanish flu which kild about 50 million people worldwide.

The then mayor of Philadel, he basically dismissed the severity of swine flu and continue to have widespread political events and parad.

So on.

Phillies Liberty Loans pare in September of 1918 drew 200,000 people to support e troops fighting in France during World War One.

Public health people, folks from the College of Physics in Philadelphia said don'to it.

And officials still went ad and did it.

Philadelphia got walloped.

Philadelphia had tens of thousands of dead within ws from the parade.

Now we look back decades ad realize that the cities tht were careless and paid no attention were the cities hardest hit at the time.

Valuable lesson.

Very valuable lesson befora flu vaccine.

Again, the flu vaccine doet get discovered until the 1.

So what's important for pee to know now as the battle against Covid rages on, bun the positive, our technoloy today is so good that for e two Emmaus vaccines who hae been turned out in a mattef weeks to months, it was astounding for Moderna and Pfizer, those two vaccinese made of with that technolo, which just happens to be en more astounding than the mn shot.

Vaccines have not been an advancement that has occurd in a vacuum.

There have been other scientific advancements wih vaccines and so they're paf a larger story of what scie and technology have done to lessen human suffering from infectious diseases in centuries past.

People knew that vaccines worked.

They just didn't know why vaccines are more effective than ever and modern sciene can explain precisely how d why that was just a glimpsf vaccine history.

It shows that vaccines aret new.

They've proven themselves effective in the past.

The history also shows what infectious diseases like smallpox, flu and polio did when no vaccines were avaie and the experts who I featd in my story, Dr Luther Rhos of Lehigh Valley Health Nek and Dr Renee Yukihira frome College of Physicians of Philadelphia.

They say, yes, it's valid o have questions, even apprehensions and fears, bt take them to your physicia, take them to trusted medicl experts because knowledge s power.

That's why websites such ae history of vaccines is so important, because that kif knowledge can help you make more informed decisions for your health and the healthf your family.

Friends and ultimately the whole community.

So really, there's a lot evidence backing up these vaccines at this point.

There is.

All right.

Grover Silcox, thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you.

Now on to another epidemict threatens the nation and te globe.

HIV AIDS, though there arew A presidential advisory committee is in place to me sure it stays that way.

A Lehigh Valley LGBTQ advoe is now a part of that committee.

It is my privilege to officially administer the h of office to eight new mems of the Presidential Advisoy Council on HIV AIDS.

I will also invite to follg new members to be sworn.

Adrian Shanker not only educates others about advos in the LGBTQ community, hes one Adrian Shakr, founder d executive director of the Bradberry Sullivan LGBT to community center.

The lens that I come with s really a Lyons focus on heh disparities in a communityn the ground experiences and community.

The Presidential Advisory Council on HIV AIDS, or patcher, advises the Secrey of Health on policies aimet eradicating HIV AIDS for gd 40 years and to the HIV AIS pandemic.

We deserve to see a time aa place where people living h HIV AIDS have access to the treatment and community supports that are needed ad where we can imagine a fute without the transmission oV AIDS because of biomedical advances as well as changen our society.

The policy that this group develops is really going to drive the public policy approach to the HIV and AIS epidemic into the future.

Dr Joseph Yose, VEAC is an infectious disease specialt at Lehigh Valley Health Nek and one of the leading providers of HIV treatmentn the region.

So the long term outcome of living with HIV infection n 2021 is actually quite goo.

But it does require a daily treatment remaining in card consistently taking your medicine daily to keep your virus suppressed.

To remain healthy.

Dr Knouse Berks says.

Because the life expectancf a person living with HIV AS has increased significantly over the years, the advocay doesn't have as much visibility, making it hardo get the message out about preventative services for e who are at risk when people on treatment and doing wel, not only be healthy, but we don't see transmissions frm them either.

It's one of the main reasos why it's so important to gt people on treatment and hae them remain in care, he sa.

Having a Lehigh Valley representative advising the White House has huge benefs for those impacted in the .

If we look at all those who become infected, most recet data is from 2018 the US jt about seven out of 10 individuals are going to by and bisexual men.

So I think it's very import to have the needs of the LT community represented on te National Advisory Council d on committees at the state level to make certain thate make sure all services are available that are welcomig and affirming to the LGBTQ community as a community advocate, that's exactly wt Chancre brings to the tabl.

In a committee full of heah experts, he brings perspece directly from those livingh HIV AIDS and champions for health equity.

We have very specific commy set of needs because we see both the rural and urban community here in the Lehih Valley.

So understanding that peope living with HIV experience significant geographic bars to care and that those bars are exacerbated in rural ad small urban communities wh, for example, there's fewer options for health care services.

Schanker was appointed to e committee in August and sae is eager to contribute in sessions to come.

The Biden House administran has already made tremendous progress when it comes to health equity and that pros will hopefully continue throughout this president's term.

I'm really proud to be parf that.

Representatives on the Presidential Advisory Counl on HIV AIDS serve a three r term.

I want to welcome some of r guests now to staffers from Novas, a community health organization that supportsd serves sexually active dols regardless of gender or sel identity.

Katie Zusak is an adult gerontology nurse practitir and Emma Fitzgibbon is a fy nurse practitioner both at Novas.

Thanks so much for joining, ladies.

Thanks for having us.

First off, let's start with what Novus does.

And we heard a lot about hh equity in the last piece of KDDI health equity.

How does that fit into what Novus does?

So nervous is a sexual heah clinic.

We have multiple offices.

We have four of them curre.

We have an office in Bethl, Doylestown, Stroudsburg and Lehigh and we have a fifth office that will be openinp in Montgomery County in the coming months.

And we also have a mobile t that does community outrea, goes out to the community o different places to do tesg as well are still testing s free.

So does it matter whether u have insurance or not?

We will do your testing.

We also will help provide u get insurance if you need t with our case manager.

And Emma, when it comes toV AIDS in the Lehigh Valley,t does that picture look lik?

You know, 30 years ago it a death sentence.

What does that look like t?

It's not quite the case.

No, absolutely not.

So we are still consistenty diagnosing HIV even througt the entire Covid-19 teen pandemic, we have seen new cases, unfortunate, but the medication that we have toy is safe, strong, effectived we are able to really mainn a healthy life for all of r patients who are living wih HIV.

We see we see HIV in the Lh Valley because of our loca.

We're so close to two metropolitan areas, Philadelphia and New York .

And these large cities hapn to have more HIV transmissn and cases.

So we're definitely impacty that by our location.

Sure.

When it comes to preventiod medication to treat HIV and AIDS, there's a lot more ot there today than there wast a few decades ago.

So what's available right ?

Absolutely.

So HIV can be prevented ane way to do that is with something called prep prep stands for pre exposure prophylaxis.

It's a one tablet once a dy regimen to reduce your risf acquiring HIV.

There are two medications currently approved for pred IT novas.

We have a very large prep program.

We pride ourselves on that.

And in terms of treatment,f someone comes in and has a rapid, positive, reactive t in our office, we start treatment rate then and rae there.

The quicker you get someonn medication and treatment, e quicker they'll get undetectable levels.

And then we mentioned 30 ys ago this was a death sente.

That's not the case today.

Why is that?

screening now and doing moe testing.

Like Katie mentioned, preps extremely effective.

99% effective at preventinV transmission.

And then our medication, of course, is so much better n it ever was before.

And we just encourage healh care providers to test evee for HIV and follow the Unid States Preventative Servics Task Force recommendation d we really don't want to be stereotyping our patients.

We want to be screening ash as we can because when we n catch those infections and provide appropriate treatm, it actually does prevent te spread of HIV as well.

Sure.

I was just going to ask you what some of those treatmes and preventions have done r the HIV AIDS epidemic withn the Lehigh Valley.

Yeah, so like you said, wee a huge program.

We have hundreds of patiens who are at risk for HIV on medication and they are remaining HIV free becausef that.

And our patients have great access to the medication if they do need HIV treatmentd we are preventing the HIV transmission that way as w. For those who may need resources, more information about HIV and AIDS, where e those resources?

Where can they find them?

So come visit us at Novas.

We're at our Bethlehem offe again.

Novas does free STI testing chlamydia, gonorrhea, HIV, syphilis.

We do HIV care.

We do prep.

We also do hepatitis C treatment as well.

In our office.

You can also visit your lol health departments or call them.

They should be able to ster you in the correct directi.

And there are now telemedie platforms as well.

There may be people who are afraid to show up because f the stigma that surrounds V and AIDS.

It has come a long way.

But what would you say to e folks who are maybe afraido come to even an office to k help when it comes to this topic?

We agree.

We think there's some fearn people because that stigma unfortunately still does e. But we try to provide a vey judgmental, nonjudgmental environment in our office e people should feel comforte coming and talking about tr behaviors, their lifestyled their concerns and not judg anybody.

And our rule of thumb never assume what someone's risky or may not be.

What are some of the other things that people should w right now about HIV and AI, whether it be in the Lehigh Valley or across the county right now?

AMA will definitely like we said before you go get tesd if you are sexually active.

And one of the main thingse do tell people are condomse pretty much the easiest wao prevent transmission.

So they are available, thee out there.

But of course, if you wanto talk to us about prep thats also available at best nure practitioners Katie blues c and Emma Fitzgibbon from N, thank you so much for joing today with this great information.

Thank you.

Thank you for being here.

And HIV continues to be a r public health issue, having claimed 36.3 million livesy 2020, according to the Word Health Organization, theree an estimated 37.7 million people living with HIV at e end of last year.

More than two thirds over 5 million people are in Afri.

Moving on, finding joy and wellness in art.

Genesis Ortega joins us now with a more relaxing story.

Genesis, what do you have r us?

Well, Brittany, you can ime my excitement when I foundt that I was going to a Bob s class.

Bob Ross was a big family,e back on his show The Joy of Painting aired on PBS.

But it was actually after s death that he gained more popularity and a following.

And that's because of streg services like Twitch and YouTube.

That's right.

His work is instantly recoe the bill as well as his ste and his technique.

Bob Ross is known for his soothing voice as well as e enjoyment and happiness he tried to embody through his paintings.

So for that reason, we wand found an artist certified n keeping his work and spirit alive.

Hey, welcome back.

Certainly glad you could jn me today.

Bob Ross is a soothing voie that tells you can do anyt.

You put your mind to everye you practice, you learn mo.

You're all here to paint le Bob meet Christine Unger.

This is our painting tonig.

There's going to be one onh side of the room that you n refer to.

It's like a galaxy with trs and then underneath is a le because I love lakes and Ie water and paintings.

So why not?

Right.

Let's get crazy.

Bob Ross is my hero.

He's very smooth.

He's very calming.

There's another happy litte thing.

It lives right there.

I believe that Art is likea window to your soul and thh that window, the art has at of calming therapeutic benefits.

Plop on a paper towel, getl that dirty, paint away, ged at dirty paint.

She's the Lehigh Valley ony certified Bob Ross instruc.

And I'm just going to brush across one of about 3000 ie nation criming certified Rs instructor.

It means that I'm certifien Bob Roths method and I can teach his method.

It wasn't too long ago thae got her Bob Ross certifica.

If you want to put is up te from the company that still bears his name.

In fact it was during the pandemic I had to go to New Smyrna Beach, Florida and attend a three week certification course, cares the canvas.

Since then, she's done a nr of Bob Ross classes and she says for the most part, thy sell out quick as to why tt is.

Well, simple.

They love the easy way that these classes go step by sp and you go from having notg to a painting you want to t on your wall.

But there's also a therapec part to it as well.

It's an escape from realit.

You can come into class anu can not think about the ths that are going on in your , even if it's just for a lie while, it might be their oy night off.

It might be their only nigt out for a while.

They come out with friends.

Some people come out alonet they all get the same thind that's just a fun night ou.

Not only that, it helps soe more mindful.

All right.

So same brush.

We're not going to clean it off.

I've had a lot of people tl me that they look at clouds differently now that they k at the trees as they're drg and they notice nature ands amazing.

And I do the same myself.

And for others, it's a good grounding technique.

Sometimes you need to breae in class and sometimes youd to breathe in real life.

But overall, the lesson learned painting overlap wh the lessons people learn in life.

To be happy, you need to r. You need to just go with te flow sometimes and let go mistakes happen.

Yes, you learn to work with your mistakes and that reay is where you find the joy n paintin where you can takea mistake and turn it into something else, Unger sayse coronavirus pandemic brougt many into her studio classo distract from and avoid the stresses like one of her returning students here to.

Nazareth resident Taylor D. She says this class is a ss reliever.

I know that like a lot of f going on with Covid and st.

So like I kind of come hero like get out of all that ad you just kind of put your d into like this own space ad you get to like create the world to live however you .

And like you get to make al the rules rather than havig people tell you what you he to do.

Dagan, who has no art background, says she came a girl with her mom, aunt anr grandmother.

Part of the draw for them,e says, is Bob Ross himself d his soft spoken, joyous personality.

Look at that.

Pretty and it's easy.

You can do it.

He pretty much makes you fl in his TV shows that anyboy can paint.

And it's true.

You can paint, anybody can paint.

You have the talent in you.

It's just practice anothers side to painting Bob Ross.

He your landscapes from all over the world, which somey helps intensify the escape.

It's your world.

The overall message.

You can do anything you put your mind or your brush to.

It's very freeing when youn paint something from your d and put it on that canvas.

Whatever you can imagine, you're only limited by your imagination.

That's what he always saysm all of us here.

I'd like to wish you a hapy painting.

God bless and I'll see yout time.

Research shows that havinga hobby selling to lower levs of depression and may even prevent depression for som.

And while painting may note for everyone, having a hobs a great way to spend your e time and unwinds from your daily routine to improve yr mental health and wellbein.

So Genesis, what was a big takeaway from this?

What did you learn paintin, calming and therapeutic.

It doesn't have to be a Bob Ross class per say, but the general sentiment I got frm the class was just gettingt in that canvas swirling ard those paintbrushes and hava glass of wine was a great y to just unwind from a strel week and indulge in some sf care time, which we know al too well is very importantr mental health.

I think we could all use tt little relaxation class painting.

It sounds lovely.

Definitely.

Thanks so much, Genesis.

On the next episode of Livg in the Lehigh Valley, a spl place of reflection for families in Distress.

How a local hospital has created peaceful healing se for loved ones of intensive care patients.

Thank you for joining us fr this episode of Living in e Lehigh Valley.

I'm Brittany Sweeney hopinu stay happy and healthy.