Year: 2024
Late-Summer Travel Plans? You Might Want to Put On a Mask.
New York Times With U.S. Covid-19 cases at very high levels and new vaccines still several weeks away, we asked experts for their advice on when and where to wear a mask. It is the height of the summer travel season: Airplanes and cruises are packed, hotels are booked, and travelers are crowding theme parks […]
Aug 14, 2024
Oropouche Virus Outbreak Hits Europe as First Deaths Confirmed in Brazil
Science Alert Health officials have issued a warning to travellers after 19 cases of the insect-borne illness Oropouche virus were confirmed for the first time ever in Europe. Those who had tested positive for the virus had recently returned from holiday in Cuba and Brazil. Parts of South America and Cuba are currently in the midst of an ongoing outbreak of […]
Aug 14, 2024
What is Legionnaires’ disease, and how does it spread?
Washington Post Five cases of Legionnaires’ disease in New Hampshire this summer have raised questions about how the infection spreads. Legionnaires’ is a serious form of pneumonia caused by the bacteria Legionella. “The Legionella bacteria likes water. It is spread from contaminated air conditioning cooling towers, hot tubs, decorative fountains, misting machines and the like,” said William Schaffner, a professor of […]
Aug 14, 2024
Virus that causes ‘slapped cheek’ rash in kids is rising in US, CDC warns
The Hill The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health alert Tuesday warning about a highly contagious respiratory illness detected especially among young children. Over the past two years, there has been an uptick of the common seasonal illness, known as parvovirus B19, particularly among kids aged 5 to 9. The CDC said the percentage […]
Aug 14, 2024
Hurricanes used to only be named after women.
History Facts Before the 20th century, there was no uniform method for naming hurricanes in the U.S., though some other parts of the world saw creative naming conventions. Residents of the West Indies, for example, named hurricanes after patron saints. And 19th-century British meteorologist Clement Wragge used characters from Greek and Roman mythology, as well […]
Aug 14, 2024
Should You Get Another Covid Shot Now?
NYT The virus is spreading, but new vaccines coming this fall could offer better protection. We asked experts about the right time for a booster. Patients keep asking Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, the same question: Is it time to get another Covid shot? The virus […]
Aug 13, 2024
14 people got Valley fever after a California music festival, highlighting the fungus’ growing threat
NBC News An outbreak of Valley fever among attendees and workers at an outdoor music festival in California’s Central Valley highlights the fungal infection’s mounting threat. Fourteen people who traveled to attend or work at the Lightning in a Bottle Festival in Bakersfield in May have tested positive for Valley fever and developed symptoms, the California Department […]
Aug 13, 2024
Allegheny County Health Department reports first human case of Powassan virus disease
WTAE he Allegheny County Health Department says the first human case of Powassan virus disease in the county has been detected. A child who lives in northern Allegheny County tested positive and is recovering at home after experiencing fever and other symptoms that led to hospitalization, the health department said Tuesday. The tick-borne disease is […]
Aug 13, 2024
Fauci urges at-risk people to keep masking to prevent COVID-19
Baltimore Sun Dr. Anthony Fauci is urging at-risk people to continue wearing masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Speaking to MedPage Today, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases explained he became infected with the disease for the third time in July. The illness, he said, came despite being […]
Aug 13, 2024
Will bird flu be the next pandemic? Vaccines are prepped, just in case.
USA Today A quiet effort to prevent the next global pandemic began rolling off an assembly line this summer behind the gates of an office complex in suburban Raleigh. In this sprawling factory, sheltered by thick pine groves, workers at CSL Seqirus are bottling millions of doses of a new vaccine targeting the H5N1 bird […]
Aug 13, 2024