Author: Claudinne Miller
An unprecedented flu strain is attacking hundreds of animal species. Humans could be next.
Washington Post An avian flu panzootic — a pandemic among animals — has struck some 320 bird and mammal species, including. It felt like watching one of those blockbusters about the end of the world. Like witnessing an apocalypse, but in real life. Which, in a way, it was. The beaches of Valdes Peninsula in […]
Jan 16, 2024
Here are the most notable memes of 2023
NBC News 2023 marked another year of meme-ories. Like in past years, many online turned to memes as a form of escapism. “Memes seemed to be a primary way people dealt with and processed and reacted to news this year,” said Jessica Maddox, assistant professor of digital media at the University of Alabama. They also […]
Jan 2, 2024
Treatment for acute sleeping sickness has been brutal — until now
NPR Acute sleeping sickness – the treatment is almost as horrific as the disease. But now there is encouraging news about an oral medication – one that’s also been used for chronic sleeping sickness to great success. Symptoms for both forms of sleeping sickness start with fever and aches. Then things get worse. The parasite […]
Jan 2, 2024
Behind the Birth of an Anti-Vaccine Story
New York Times A 24-year-old’s sudden death devastated his family — and caught the attention of the movement of vaccine opponents. Before he received his second shot of a Covid-19 vaccine, there was little reason to think that George Watts Jr. was about to die. He was 24 and showed no obvious health problems. His […]
Jan 2, 2024
Four years on, long covid still confounds us. Here’s what we now know.
Washington Post Many people now view covid-19 as an almost routine inconvenience, much like flu, RSV and other seasonal infections. But four years after reports surfaced of a new respiratory illness, prompting a massive response among researchers, the disease’s aftereffects — commonly called long covid — continue to confound doctors and patients alike. “We know […]
Jan 2, 2024
COVID Mask Mandates Return to Hospitals in Five States
Newsweek Hospitals across the U.S. are reinstating COVID-19 mask mandates as the JN.1 variant becomes the dominant strain spreading throughout the country. Hospitals in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York and Washington D.C. have all brought back divisive rules meaning masks are mandatory for selected people in medical settings. The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control has recorded a 10.4 percent increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations […]
Jan 2, 2024
Avoiding COVID was about more than just keeping 2 metres apart, study finds
Euronews A new Oxford University study found that the duration of an encounter with a person sick with COVID was as important as the distance kept from them. How likely is it to get COVID-19 after being exposed to someone infected? It’s been a question on many people’s minds during the pandemic, and one that a group […]
Jan 2, 2024
Here’s How Common Long COVID Is in Children
MedPageToday Six to 12 months after COVID-19 infection, very few children developed post-COVID-19 conditions (PCCs) as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), a prospective Canadian study found. At 6 months after being tested for SARS-CoV-2 in pediatric emergency departments (EDs), just 0.52% of children who tested positive had symptoms and changes in quality of […]
Jan 2, 2024
A trifecta of viruses in the D.C. region has health officials worried
Washington Post A surge in coronavirus and flu infections in recent weeks, driven upward as more people have come into contact with one another during the holidays, has health officials in the Washington region worried about a potential strain on area hospitals. Virginia health officials on Thursday announced the state’s first reported child death due to the […]
Jan 2, 2024
Maryland hospitals see increase in COVID-19, RSV, flu cases
WBAL Hospitals across Maryland are seeing an increase in patients with respiratory illnesses. Doctors said cases of the flu, COVID-19 and RSV are spiking. “Influenza is really increasing, particularly over the last two weeks,” Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health virologist Dr. Andy Pekosz said. “All of them, you’ll often feel very lousy. You’ll […]
Jan 2, 2024