Author: Claudinne Miller
Association of healthcare worker behaviors with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) risk during four pandemic periods and characteristics associated with high-risk behaviors
(Cambridge Press) In a large healthcare worker cohort, we quantified the association between behaviors and risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during different pandemic phases, adjusting for prior infection and vaccination. Individual characteristics, including personal concerns, were associated with these behaviors. Public health messaging should target high-risk populations and behaviors as the pandemic evolves. Transmission […]
Mar 14, 2023
Stella Immanuel Highest U.S. Prescriber of Ivermectin and HCQ
(MedPageToday) Stella Immanuel, MD, was the nation’s top prescriber of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin over the past 2 years, a MedPage Today analysis of prescription data has found. In 2021, Immanuel wrote just over 69,000 prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine — vastly above the average of 43 prescriptions in the database MedPage Today reviewed. Rheumatologists, who prescribe hydroxychloroquine for autoimmune diseases, wrote […]
Mar 14, 2023
It’s Time for a Flu Vaccine—for Birds
Wired Avian influenza has killed millions of birds. Shots to prevent it already exist. Why isn’t the entire poultry industry using them? The wave of avian influenza H5N1—which so far has hit 76 countries, triggered national emergencies, and created the worst animal-disease outbreak in US history—keeps roaring through wild birds and commercial poultry. More than 140 […]
Mar 8, 2023
Covid backlash hobbles public health and future pandemic response
Washington Post When the next pandemic sweeps the United States, health officials in Ohio won’t be able to shutter businesses or schools, even if they become epicenters of outbreaks. Nor will they be empowered to force Ohioans who have been exposed to go into quarantine. State officials in North Dakota are barred from directing people […]
Mar 8, 2023
Masks Cut Secondary SARS-CoV-2 Infections by Half
JAMA After exposure to someone with SARS-CoV-2 infection, an uninfected person’s risk of infection is cut in half if both people wore masks, researchers reported in Emerging Infectious Diseases. Public health authorities in Johnson County, Iowa, launched their study after the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) in September 2020 overrode the CDC’s recommended 14-day quarantine […]
Mar 8, 2023
How to stop the bird flu outbreak becoming a pandemic
Nature From tracking the disease’s spread in wild birds to updating human vaccines, there are measures that could help keep avian influenza in check. Fears are rising about bird flu’s potential to spark a human pandemic, as well as its destruction of wildlife and farmed birds. An 11-year-old girl tragically died in Cambodia last week after […]
Mar 7, 2023
New Covid Boosters’ Protection Waned After Two Months, Study Says
Bloomberg Covid-19 bivalent boosters’ protection against death and hospitalization in elderly people began waning as soon as two months after vaccination, according to a preprint study. Link to Study The findings build on previous reports about the effectiveness of updated boosters from Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc., which showed the shots sharply reduced risks of severe Covid in older adults, […]
Mar 7, 2023
Bacterial co-infections cause twofold increase in mortality in COVID patients: study
Fierce Healthcare Though the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be ebbing significantly in the U.S., endemic COVID-19 still poses a challenge, experts say. Last Friday saw 31,443 new cases of COVID-19, while 344 people died from the disease, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. Experts continue to measure the full effects of the pandemic. A study published last […]
Mar 7, 2023
Chile reports sea lions affected by bird flu
Gov Website (Machine Translated) It reiterates the call to the population not to touch or approach wildlife in general, to protect the well-being and integrity of people. Specialists from the National Service of Natural Areas Protected by the State (Sernanp), an agency attached to the Ministry of the Environment, recorded the death of 3,487 funny […]
Mar 7, 2023
U.S. Considers Vaccinating Chickens as Bird Flu Kills Millions of Them
(New York Times) The largest outbreak of avian influenza in U.S. history has driven up egg prices and raised concerns about a human pandemic, though C.D.C. experts say the risk of that is low. The Biden administration, keeping a watchful eye on an outbreak of avian influenza that has led to the deaths of tens […]
Mar 7, 2023
