Author: Claudinne Miller
First northern dengue cases detected in New Taipei
Taipei Times This year’s first cluster of dengue fever cases in northern Taiwan was detected in New Taipei City, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported yesterday, adding that the number of enterovirus cases continued to increase, with the epidemic period likely to extend into November. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said […]
Sep 25, 2024
Was It Really a Hot Zone Summer?
NY Times From Covid to dengue, viral outbreaks seemed to be popping up all over. But maybe Americans are just more attuned to threats now. Bird flu. Mpox, formerly monkeypox. Eastern equine encephalitis. West Nile. Listeria. Dengue. Oropouche. And, of course, Covid. Have the past few months felt like an unending parade of infectious disease? […]
Sep 25, 2024
COVID cases are on a downward trend. How long will this last?
USA Today COVID-19 cases continue to fall throughout the country after a large summer wave peaked in early August, surveillance data shows. The percentage of positive COVID-19 tests dropped from 17.8% the week of Aug. 10 to 14.9% the week of Sept. 7, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Walgreens’s national respiratory disease tracker showed […]
Sep 25, 2024
The story of a scientist who tried to stand for the truth and avoid Covid politics
NPR A scientist tried to stand up for the truth during a pandemic when political rhetoric and conspiracies were clouding everyone’s world. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the truth has often felt elusive. As conspiracy theories, misinformation and political rhetoric took hold early on, many people found themselves unsure of what to believe. Rund Abdelfatah and […]
Sep 25, 2024
Los Angeles sees unprecedented cluster of locally acquired dengue fever in people bitten by mosquitoes
ABC News For the first time, Los Angeles County health officials have identified a cluster of dengue fever cases that are not travel-related. Could we be seeing more of this disease in places it’s not usually found? Experts say it’s important for residents to protect themselves. We’ve grown accustomed to these aggressive ankle-biting insects. But […]
Sep 25, 2024
A virus that could lead to paralysis in kids is on the rise. How worried should parents be?
CNN Rates of enterovirus D68 infections are on the rise across the United States, according to the nonprofit WastewaterSCAN network. This common virus can lead to a rare but serious polio-like complication known as acute flaccid myelitis. Symptoms of acute flaccid myelitis include limb weakness and paralysis. Children are among those most affected by this condition. What is enterovirus D68, and how is it spread? What are its […]
Sep 25, 2024
Florida’s New Covid Booster Guidance Is Straight-Up Misinformation
KFF In what has become a pattern of spreading vaccine misinformation, the Florida health department is telling older Floridians and others at highest risk from covid-19 to avoid most booster shots, saying they are potentially dangerous. Clinicians and scientists denounced the message as politically fueled scaremongering that also weakens efforts to protect against diseases like […]
Sep 25, 2024
Whooping cough spikes, especially among unvaccinated teens
NBC News Pertussis outbreaks are at the highest level in a decade and doctors say many cases are going undetected — allowing people to spread the bacterial infection unknowingly for weeks. The U.S. is experiencing more than four times as many whooping cough cases compared with last year — a spike that some experts attribute to post-pandemic […]
Sep 25, 2024
Minnesota: Measles outbreak sickens 51
Minnesota News At least 51 people have been sickened by measles in Minnesota since May, with nearly one quarter of them ending up hospitalized, according to data from the Minnesota Department of Health. Nearly all the cases are in Hennepin County, and MPR News reports that most are among unvaccinated children in the Somali community. Overall childhood […]
Sep 25, 2024
Mpox cases in L.A. County on the rise, Public Health warns
KTLA News The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is warning about a rise in mpox cases in the Los Angeles area and urging those at the highest risk of transmission to get vaccinated against the potentially serious disease. On Monday, Public Health announced that 52 cases of the disease had been reported in […]
Sep 25, 2024