Year: 2024
How fringe anti-science views infiltrated mainstream politics — and what it means in 2024
CBS News Rates of routine childhood vaccination hit a 10-year low in 2023. That, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, puts about 250,000 kindergartners at risk for measles, which often leads to hospitalization and can cause death. In recent weeks, an infant and two young children have been hospitalized amid an ongoing measles outbreak in Philadelphia that […]
Jan 24, 2024
What is COVID rebound? Doctors explain common symptoms and who’s at risk
NBC News With COVID levels high across most of the country, some people may find themselves experiencing symptoms of COVID rebound in the coming weeks. “COVID rebound is a recurrence of COVID symptoms after initial improvement or a new positive test after a negative one,” Dr. Scott Roberts, associate medical director of infection prevention at […]
Jan 23, 2024
2020 Ebola virus disease outbreak in Équateur Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo: a retrospective genomic characterization
The Lancet Microbe The Democratic Republic of the Congo has had 15 Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreaks, from 1976 to 2023. On June 1, 2020, the Democratic Republic of the Congo declared an outbreak of EVD in the western Équateur Province (11th outbreak), proximal to the 2018 Tumba and Bikoro outbreak and concurrent with an outbreak […]
Jan 23, 2024
Changes to Blood Proteins May Offer Further Insights Into Diagnosing Long COVID
Contagion The confounding mystery behind what causes Long COVID as well as developing definitive tests to identify and diagnose the condition has been an ongoing frustration for public health officials, clinicians, and patients. New research, however, looks to shed some light into characteristics of Long COVID. Specifically, blood serum proteins might offer a key to […]
Jan 23, 2024
Why does COVID-19 make you sneeze?
Science Viral protein stimulates nerves in respiratory passages, could be target for treatment SARS-CoV-2 has many ways of making people miserable, including by causing them to sneeze. Now, researchers have discovered the basis for this nose-tickling effect. One of the virus’ proteins stimulates neurons in respiratory passages, triggering the sneeze reflex. The results could spawn […]
Jan 23, 2024
The Minefields Ahead in Long COVID Treatment Development
MedPageToday Video at the link – “For the people hurting and suffering, they need treatment yesterday,” says long COVID expert. Faust: Somebody asked a question about how do you advise doctors who are treating long COVID? I think that’s really difficult, because people want to do something and they want to acknowledge that something’s happening. Then […]
Jan 23, 2024
Measles Cases On The Rise In England As Vaccination Rates Fall
Forbes Measles cases are rising fast in England after years of falling vaccination rates, official figures show. More than 1,600 suspected cases were recorded last year, up from 735 in 2022 and 360 in 2021, the U.K. Health Security Agency reports. Back in 2016, the World Health Organization had called the country “measles-free.” Waning vaccination levels are […]
Jan 23, 2024
Measles and Misinformation Are Two Huge Public-Health Threats
Time Measles would be gone if we wanted it to be. We’ve had a highly effective, safe vaccine for it for 60 years. But because of rising anti-vaccine sentiments, measles is back, with recent cases in Philadelphia, New Jersey and Virginia. Unless we tackle the misinformation that is at the root of vaccine hesitancy, more children will get sick from this […]
Jan 23, 2024
CDC says JN.1 variant accounts for about 86% of COVID cases in US
Reuters The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday estimated COVID subvariant JN.1 to account for about 85.7% of cases in the United States, as of Jan. 19. The agency said JN.1 remains the most widely circulating variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the country and globally. There is no evidence at present that […]
Jan 23, 2024
Bird Flu Has Made a Terrifying Leap That’s Devastated Argentina’s Seal Populations
ScienceAlert Almost 96 percent of Southern elephant seal pups across Argentina born in 2023 have met a tragic end as a highly contagious strain of avian influenza continues to wreak havoc on wildlife. The scale of mortality sparks concerns that the H5N1 strain is now capable of mammal-to-mammal infection. “The sight of elephant seals found dead or dying along […]
Jan 23, 2024