Author: Claudinne Miller
The doctor who warned the world of the mpox outbreak of 2022 is still worried
NPR A little over a year ago, when the COVID-19 pandemic was still a public health emergency, a little-known virus came seemingly out of nowhere to add to the world’s worries – a virus known at the time as monkeypox. Monkeypox – since renamed mpox following criticisms that the name held misleading and racist connotations – went […]
Jul 5, 2023
National Guardsman identified as individual who tested positive for malaria
Texas Local News Christopher Shingler said he was among the troops stationed in Brownsville in May on a border security assignment prior to the end of Title 42. He was heavily bitten by bugs, including mosquitoes, and started experiencing symptoms within two weeks, Shingler said. “I started having fevers and vomiting, and that was the […]
Jul 5, 2023
Rare link between coronavirus vaccines and Long Covid–like illness starts to gain acceptance
Studies probe unusual cases of neurologic complications, blood pressure swings, and other side effects. COVID-19 vaccines have saved millions of lives, and the world is gearing up for a new round of boosters. But like all vaccines, those targeting the coronavirus can cause side effects in some people, including rare cases of abnormal blood clotting […]
Jul 5, 2023
Statement from HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra on CDC’s Historic Recommendation Allowing Older and Immunocompromised Adults to Receive the RSV Vaccine
HHS CDC Recommendation Follows the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) Recommendations for the Use of New GSK and Pfizer RSV Vaccines for People Ages 60 Years and Older Today, in response to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recommendation of the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) vaccine for seniors over 60, U.S. Department of […]
Jul 5, 2023
This Fall’s COVID-19 Vaccines Will Target Omicron XBB Subvariants, but Who Needs Them Remains to Be Seen
JAMA On June 15, members of the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) voted unanimously to recommend updating the COVID-19 vaccine composition to a monovalent XBB lineage. On June 16, the FDA announced that it had advised manufacturers planning to update their COVID-19 vaccines that they should specifically target XBB.1.5. Scientists […]
Jul 5, 2023
Detrimental effects of COVID-19 in the brain and therapeutic options for long COVID: The role of Epstein–Barr virus and the gut–brain axis
Nature The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has resulted in a serious public health burden worldwide. In addition to respiratory, heart, and gastrointestinal symptoms, patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 experience a number of persistent neurological and psychiatric symptoms, known as long COVID or “brain fog”. Studies […]
Jul 5, 2023
A Rare Domestic Resurgence of Malaria Is Circulating in the US
Wired AT LEAST FOUR people in Florida and one in Texas have been diagnosed with malaria that they must have caught near where they live—because, according to health officials, none of them traveled outside the US or their own states. The very unusual discovery has left infectious disease specialists wondering: Who else might be ill, and will local […]
Jul 5, 2023
Federal Officials Hatch a Three-Pronged Defense Against Another ‘Tripledemic’
New York Times This fall, Americans will be urged to get shots against the flu, Covid and, if they’re older, R.S.V. To prevent a repeat of last winter’s “tripledemic” of respiratory illnesses, Americans will be encouraged to roll up their sleeves not just for flu shots but for two other vaccines, one of them entirely […]
Jul 5, 2023
No more rides to Hel on bus 666 in Poland
AP There will be no more going to Hel on bus 666. The bus to the town of Hel on Poland’s Baltic coast has long been popular with tourists. But some Christian conservatives have protested the number signifying the devil on a bus leading to a place that sounds like the word “hell” in English. […]
Jun 27, 2023
If You Suffer from Urgent Normal Syndrome, Ask for Help
Ko-Fi A woman finds a mask in her coat pocket, leftover from the 2021 mandate. It triggers such a violent emotional reaction in her mind that she throws the mask across the room and starts sobbing, then tweets about the experience. This woman might be suffering from urgent normal syndrome. What’s that, you ask? As […]
Jun 27, 2023