Author: Claudinne Miller
What makes H5N1 a pandemic risk and how can we stop it?
Medical News As H5N1 bird flu continues to evolve and cross species, researchers reveal how the latest vaccine technologies, nanomedicine, and AI could shape the future of pandemic defense. The global health landscape has been starkly reminded of the pandemic risk associated with zoonotic viruses with multiple host species. In a recent PEARLS article, a concise […]
May 20, 2025
Genetic test suggests Brazil’s bird flu cases in farm and zoo share same strain
Reuters The results of genetic tests suggested that Brazil’s first outbreak of bird flu on a commercial poultry farm in the state of Rio Grande do Sul shares the strain with cases in zoo animals in the same state, an official told Reuters on Tuesday. Rosane Collares, a director at the state’s agriculture department, said […]
May 20, 2025
The US hasn’t seen a human bird flu case in 3 months. Experts are wondering why
AP Health officials are making a renewed call for vigilance against bird flu, but some experts are puzzling over why reports of new human cases have stopped. Has the search for cases been weakened by government cuts? Are immigrant farm workers, who have accounted for many of the U.S. cases, more afraid to come forward […]
May 20, 2025
California could face another record-breaking year of Valley fever fungal infection
NBC News Drier summers and wetter winters are expanding the range of the fungus. The same conditions drive increasingly intense wildfires. Brynn Carrigan’s headaches started in April 2024. Within a couple of weeks, she was debilitated. Her vomiting exacerbated the excruciating pain in her skull. She spent nearly every hour in bed with the covers […]
May 20, 2025
WHO signs international pandemic response treaty without the U.S.
Washington Post As countries overwhelmingly passed a WHO global pandemic agreement, top U.S. health official Robert F. Kennedy Jr. invited states to reject the “moribund WHO.” After three years of intensive negotiations, the World Health Organization on Tuesday adopted the world’s first agreement on how to cooperate and respond to future pandemics — without the support […]
May 20, 2025
Long covid patients are desperate for treatments. These trials may help.
Washington Post Five years since the pandemic began, millions of people are still grappling with long covid, even as new patients are joining their ranks. “Considering how far along we are and how tens of millions of people are suffering, we’ve done very little,” said Eric Topol, a professor of translational medicine and the executive vice president of Scripps […]
May 20, 2025
FDA Officials Detail Plan to Limit COVID Shots
MedPageToday FDA officials have outlined their new approach to COVID-19 vaccine approvals, allowing immunogenicity endpoints for high-risk groups, while calling for randomized controlled trials for those at lower risk. FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, MD, MPH, and Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Director Vinay Prasad, MD, MPH, detailed the new framework in a “Sounding Board” […]
May 20, 2025
Physicians Sound Alarm: Vaccine Misinformation and Policy Failures Threaten US Public Health
Infection Control Today We find ourselves at a pivotal moment in public health. On one side, we are experiencing an extraordinary wave of vaccine innovation, offering new platforms, protections, and avenues for disease prevention. Conversely, we face an unprecedented decline in public trust. Vaccine misinformation has transitioned from a fringe concern to a dominant force […]
May 14, 2025
What to Know About the Hepatitis A Outbreak in L.A. County
NYT A highly contagious liver infection is surging among groups who are not typically at risk. At least seven people have died. Public health officials in Los Angeles County have declared an outbreak of hepatitis A, a highly contagious liver infection driven by a virus that can, in rare cases, cause severe illness. The condition, […]
May 14, 2025
New model reveals H5N1 is spreading undetected in US dairy herds
Medical News A powerful simulation of H5N1 transmission across 35,974 US herds shows that the virus is far more widespread than reported, raising urgent calls for better farm surveillance and stronger disease control. In a recent study in the journal Nature Communications, researchers developed and tested a novel stochastic metapopulation transmission model to predict the scale, […]
May 14, 2025