Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
Six people who tested positive for monkeypox have died, health departments confirm
(CNN) Six people who tested positive for monkeypox – two in New York City, two in Chicago, one in Nevada and one in Maryland – have died, local health departments have confirmed. The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said it was “deeply saddened by the two reported deaths, and our hearts […]
Oct 24, 2022
A ‘Tripledemic’? Flu and Other Infections Return as Covid Cases Rise
(NYT) Flu cases are higher than usual for this time of year and are expected to soar in the coming weeks. A third virus, R.S.V., is straining pediatric hospitals in some states. Cases of flu have begun to tick up earlier than usual, and are expected to soar over the coming weeks. Children infected with […]
Oct 24, 2022
D.C.-area children’s hospitals are at capacity
(Washington Post) Children’s hospitals in the D.C. area have been full for weeks, with patients stacking up in emergency departments as a surge in respiratory illnesses exacerbates the strain of staff shortages and a dwindling supply of pediatric beds. Continue reading at the link
Oct 21, 2022
FDA’s vaccines chief sees possibility of more Covid boosters — sooner than he’d like
(STAT News) Peter Marks, who leads the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccines operation, is still losing sleep over Covid. Yes, vaccines for all age groups have been authorized or approved. Yes, an updated vaccine is now available. And, yes, multiple products are in use and hundreds of millions of doses have been given in this […]
Oct 21, 2022
Children’s hospitals, overflowing with respiratory patients, consider calling National Guard
(The Hill) Some children’s hospitals around the country are being overwhelmed with patients suffering from respiratory illnesses. Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) in particular is on the rise, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cases have spiked, especially in the Northeast and South.
Oct 21, 2022
Pulmonary Rehab May Benefit Some Patients After Severe COVID
(MedPage Today) In patients with significant respiratory disability following hospitalizations for COVID, 8 weeks of daily, supervised pulmonary rehabilitation was associated with significant improvement in exercise tolerance and quality of life in a single-center, retrospective study from India. The analysis of outcomes among 57 hospitalized patients — including 10 who needed non-invasive ventilation and 32 […]
Oct 20, 2022
It’s Gotten Awkward to Wear a Mask
(The Atlantic) Last week, just a couple of hours into a house-sitting stint in Massachusetts for my cousin and his wife, I received from them a flummoxed text: “Dude,” it read. “We are the only people in masks.” Upon arriving at the airport, and then boarding their flight, they’d been shocked to find themselves virtually […]
Oct 20, 2022
Uganda Ebola outbreak ‘rapidly evolving’ after 1 month
(ABC News) Uganda’s Ebola outbreak is “rapidly evolving” a month after the disease was reported in the East African country, a top World Health Organization official said Thursday, describing a difficult situation for health workers on the ground. “The Ministry of Health of Uganda has shown remarkable resilience and effectiveness and (is) constantly fine-tuning a response to what […]
Oct 20, 2022
(ReliefWeb) With the spread of cholera exacerbating the ongoing security, humanitarian, economic, and political crisis faced by Haiti, the Security Council must act — “and decisively so” — in response to its Government’s request for support to its institutions to restore order, and to save thousands of lives that will otherwise be lost, the United […]
Oct 18, 2022
New Lab-Made Covid-19 Coronavirus At Boston University Raises Questions
(Forbes) This was one of those should-have-seen-it-coming moments. On October 14, a team of researchers posted on bioRxiv a preprint that described how they had created a new hybrid version of the Covid-19 coronavirus in their lab at Boston University and used this lab-created virus to infect mice, which ended up killing 80% of the mice. These days, if […]
Oct 18, 2022