Year: 2024
As the Pandemic Deepened, Americans Kept Drinking More
NYT Excessive drinking persisted in the years after Covid arrived, according to new data. Americans started drinking more as the Covid-19 pandemic got underway. They were stressed, isolated, uncertain — the world as they had known it had changed overnight. Two years into the disaster, the trend had not abated, researchers reported on Monday. The […]
Nov 12, 2024
WHO says mpox cases in Congo’s epicenter where the new variant was detected may be ‘plateauing’
AP Cases of mpox in the region of Congo where a new and more infectious variant was first detected appear to be “plateauing,” the World Health Organization said on Monday, even as the virus continues to increase in other areas of the country, as well as in Burundi and Uganda. A report by the U.N. health agency said the […]
Nov 12, 2024
Idaho health agency halts COVID vaccine program, joining backlash
USA Today A health department in Idaho has voted to halt its COVID-19 vaccination program, joining the growing number of regional governments pushing back against federal vaccination recommendations. These actions concern some public health experts who fear health departments elsewhere in the country may stop offering vaccines and other vital health services. Board members at […]
Nov 12, 2024
Battling Infectious Diseases in the 20th Century: The Impact of Vaccines
WSJ The number of infected people, measured over 70-some years and across all 50 states and the District of Columbia, generally declined after vaccines were introduced. The heat maps below show number of cases per 100,000 people.
Nov 12, 2024
Do the Covid vaccines provide long-lasting protection?
NBC News The CDC is recommending that older adults get a second Covid shot in the spring. How durable are the vaccines? In October, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that high-risk adults get a second updated Covid vaccine to bolster their protection against the virus. The agency now recommends that people ages 65 and up and […]
Nov 6, 2024
VA marks millionth COVID case as officials warn health threat persists
Military Times Veterans Affairs medical officials recorded their millionth diagnosed COVID-19 case Wednesday, a milestone that department experts say serves as a reminder that the virus remains a public health threat even years after the height of the global pandemic. “COVID-19 continues to be the most significant viral respiratory infection in our community,” said Dr. Gio Baracco, senior advisor for […]
Nov 6, 2024
Team from UNMC’s global center return from assisting with Marburg outbreak in Rwanda
Omaha World Herald Three infectious diseases experts with the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Global Center for Health Security have returned to Omaha after spending about two weeks in Rwanda assisting with the east African nation’s response to an outbreak of Marburg virus disease, a type of hemorrhagic fever. Dr. James Lawler, an associate director […]
Nov 6, 2024
A Sexually Transmitted Ringworm Fungus Is Spreading in New York City
Gizmodo Dermatologists have discovered five cases of sexually transmitted ringworm in New York City caused by the fungus TMVII this year, the first ever detected in the United States. An unwelcome germ visitor to the Big Apple is making itself cozy. In a recent paper published last month, scientists have reported the growing emergence of […]
Nov 6, 2024
How cigarettes and chocolates helped to tackle a TB epidemic
BBC It was billed as a mass assault on a public health crisis that was gripping an impoverished post-war Glasgow. In 1957, the city had the highest death rate from tuberculosis (TB) in Europe and health officials embarked on an ambitious “X-ray now” mass-screening campaign that saw more than 700,000 people in five weeks. An […]
Nov 6, 2024
The Most Dangerous Germs Without Effective Vaccines
Gizmodo The World Health Organization has put out a hit list of germs for future vaccines to tackle. In a report published this week, WHO scientists have identified 17 widely common pathogens that most need new or improved vaccines, including influenza, HIV, norovirus, and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. Vaccines have long been one of humanity’s most important public […]
Nov 6, 2024