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University of Nebraska Medical Center

Author: Claudinne Miller

Mystery child pneumonia outbreak reported in China hospitals

Telegraph Alert issued over reported epidemic of ‘undiagnosed pneumonia’ among Chinese children. Chinese hospitals have been “overwhelmed with sick children” as an outbreak of pneumonia escalates in cities across the country, including Beijing, according to reports. ProMed – a large, publicly available surveillance system which monitors human and animal disease outbreaks worldwide – issued a notification […]

Nov 22, 2023

That time Sharon Weiss burned a Marie Calendar pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving

It was Thanksgiving 2021 when Sharon Weiss, a grandma from Georgia, posted a photo to the Marie Calendar Facebook page, bitterly writing, “Thanks Marie Calendar for ruining Thanksgiving dessert.” It was early in the pandemic and people needed to vent. The post went viral, and will probably go down in the meme hall of fame. Start with […]

Nov 22, 2023

Inside one of the world’s deadliest forests – and the bushmeat hunters risking contagion

Telegraph Ebola, Marburg and never-before-seen infections are spilling over into Guinea’s hunter communities. Scientists fear biological catastrophe. The village of Bouolazou, nestled away in the sprawling bush of southern Guinea, cannot be reached by car. Only motorbikes with deep-grooved tyres can make the journey, navigating an estuary of narrow tracks that wind over rocky hills […]

Nov 22, 2023

How do viruses get into cells? Their infection tactics determine whether they can jump species or set off a pandemic

The Conversation COVID-19, flu, mpox, noroviral diarrhea: How do the viruses that cause these diseases actually infect you? Viruses cannot replicate on their own, so they must infect cells in your body to make more copies of themselves. The life cycle of a virus can thus be roughly described as: get inside a cell, make more […]

Nov 21, 2023

Omicron, Now 2 Years Old, Is Not Done With Us Yet

New York Times The dominant variant of the coronavirus has proved to be not only staggeringly infectious, but an evolutionary marvel. By November 2021, nearly two years after the coronavirus emerged in Wuhan and spread across the world, the surprises seemed to be over. More than four billion people had been vaccinated against the virus, […]

Nov 21, 2023

Outlook of pandemic preparedness in a post-COVID-19 world

Nature The COVID-19 pandemic was met with rapid, unprecedented global collaboration and action. Even still, the public health, societal, and economic impact may be felt for years to come. The risk of another pandemic occurring in the next few decades is ever-present and potentially increasing due to trends such as urbanization and climate change. While […]

Nov 21, 2023

Maryland: Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Confirmed in Caroline County 

Maryland.gov State laboratory testing has detected a case of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza (HPAI) in Caroline County. Following increased mortality of a broiler operation and investigation by the Maryland Department of Agriculture, it has been preliminarily confirmed that poultry from the affected farm has tested positive for HPAI. State officials have quarantined all affected premises, and birds on the […]

Nov 21, 2023

CDC updates on international travel, new COVID variant HV.1, Beyfortus

AMA Wondering how to avoid COVID this holiday season? AMA’s Vice President of Science, Medicine and Public Health, Andrea Garcia, JD, MPH, breaks down the best time to get vaccinated and provides updates on the latest COVID variant and the surge in RSV and flu cases. Plus, the sharp decrease in vaccination rates among children […]

Nov 21, 2023

What are the new COVID booster vaccines? Can I get one? Do they work? Are they safe?

The Conversation As the COVID virus continues to evolve, so does our vaccine response. From December 11, Australians will have access to new vaccines that offer better protection. These “monovalent” booster vaccines are expected to be a better match for currently circulating strains of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID. Pfizer’s monovalent vaccine will be available to eligible people aged five years and […]

Nov 21, 2023

10-minute procedure may repair distorted sense of smell in COVID survivors

CIDRAP A new minimally invasive procedure may restore COVID-related impaired sense of smell, suggests a small study to be presented at next week’s Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting in Chicago. Researchers at Jefferson Health in Philadelphia performed computed tomography (CT)-guided stellate ganglion block (SGB) in 54 patients who had long-term parosmia (impaired sense of […]

Nov 21, 2023