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University of Nebraska Medical Center

Category: Featured

RSV, flu and COVID: demystifying the triple epidemic of respiratory viruses

The Conversation Since 2022, a triple epidemic of respiratory viruses — RSV, influenza and SARS-CoV-2 — has been disrupting our daily lives. In addition, the media constantly reminds us of how this is straining emergency departments. How does the present respiratory virus season differ from seasons during the pre-COVID era? As a specialist in virus-host […]

Jan 16, 2024

Avian influenza death of Alaska polar bear is a global first and a sign of the virus’ persistence

Juneau Empire A polar bear found dead on Alaska’s North Slope is the first of the species known to have been killed by the highly pathogenic avian influenza that is circulating among animal populations around the world. The polar bear was found dead in October near Utqiagvik, the nation’s northernmost community, the Alaska Department of […]

Jan 2, 2024

WHO declares new JN.1 COVID strain a “variant of interest.” Here’s what that means.

CBS News The World Health Organization announced Tuesday it would step up its classification of the new COVID-19 variant JN.1 to a standalone “variant of interest,” after tracking the strain’s rapid ascent around the world. Health officials have been careful to say that JN.1 has so far not been found to lead to different or more severe symptoms compared […]

Dec 19, 2023

About Ivermectin

Ivermectin is a great drug – just not for treating COVID-19. While a handful of studies early in the pandemic suggested that ivermectin might be helpful for the treatment of COVID, multiple large and well-executed randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials subsequently have provided overwhelming evidence that ivermectin provides no benefit in the treatment of COVID in […]

Dec 11, 2023

How the New Outbreak in China Is Hitting Clinics Elsewhere

Medscape The social media images from China are a heart-rending déjà vu with photos of young children connected to intravenous lines receiving fluids from overcrowded hospital waiting rooms. For a world still reeling from the recent coronavirus pandemic, news from China about a sudden rise in respiratory ailments has prompted understandable concern. Just 4 years […]

Dec 5, 2023

National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS)

COVID-19 NWSS Wastewater Monitoring in the U.S.

Nov 28, 2023

What’s behind China’s mysterious wave of childhood pneumonia?

Nature Scientists expected a surge in respiratory disease, but what is happening in China is unusual. China is grappling with a surge in respiratory illnesses, including pneumonia, in children. The World Health Organization (WHO) said last week that common winter infections — rather than any new pathogens — are behind the spike in hospitalizations. A […]

Nov 28, 2023

What to know about a mysterious dog respiratory illness

NBC News Scientists at the University of New Hampshire may have identified a pathogen that has sickened possibly thousands of dogs and killed some of them across the country. The mysterious respiratory illness that may have sickened scores of dogs across the country could be caused by a new type of bacterial infection that may be very […]

Nov 21, 2023

Study suggests Covid rebound is far more common with Paxlovid than without

STAT A small and preliminary study published Monday seems to indicate that patients receiving the drug Paxlovid are far more likely to experience Covid rebound than those who did not take it. That conclusion runs counter to previous statements by Pfizer, which makes Paxlovid, and by researchers at the Food and Drug Administration who have argued […]

Nov 14, 2023