Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
The quiet cost of covid: A million people missing work each month
(Washington Post) Some 1.5 million people missed work because of an illness last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The month before that, it was 1.6 million. In October, 1.3 million and in September 1.2 million. In fact, the last time there were fewer than a million Americans missing work because of an illness […]
Jan 10, 2023
(LabPulse) The National Institutes of Health on Monday said it has awarded eight research grants to refine new technologies for early diagnosis of severe illnesses resulting from SARS-CoV-2 infection in children. The new awards follow grants issued in 2020 to foster methods for diagnosing children at high risk for multisystem inflammatory syndrome MIS-C) — a rare, severe, […]
Jan 10, 2023
Democratic Republic of the Congo: 12,000 measles cases reported in Kasaï-Oriental province
(Outbreak News Today) The Head of the Provincial Health Division of Kasaï-Oriental, Doctor Nestor Tshiteku announced that more than 12,000 cases of measles, including 109 deaths were recorded during 2022 in the province. This epidemic currently affects the 17 health zones that make up this province located in the center of the Democratic Republic of […]
Jan 10, 2023
Second Year of Pandemic Took a Heavy Mental Health Toll on Young Adults
(MedPageToday) Nearly half of 18- to 25-year-olds experienced any mental illness or a substance use disorder in 2021, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health’s latest reportopens in a new tab or window. While the national rate of mental illness was 22.8% for adults overall in the second year of the pandemic, that […]
Jan 10, 2023
Stanford Medicine scientists pinpoint COVID-19 virus’s entry and exit ports inside our noses
(Stanford Medicine) A discovery by Stanford Medicine researchers and colleagues may pave the way for a “morning after” or prophylactic nasal spray to prevent infection. Somebody just coughed on you. On a plane. At a dinner party. In a supermarket line. If only there were a “morning after” nasal spray that could knock out respiratory […]
Jan 10, 2023
COVID-19 is more widespread in animals than we thought
(National Geographic) From lions and tigers to big hairy armadillos, a growing number of animals have been infected with the coronavirus. Here’s what we’ve learned. We think of COVID-19 as a human pandemic, but it’s much more than that. The virus that causes the disease, SARS-CoV-2, can infect a wide and growing range of animals, […]
Jan 10, 2023
11 Rapid At-Home Covid-19 Tests—and Where to Find Them
(Wired) The pandemic isn’t over. Regardless of how small your circle is, it’s still very possible to contract and spread Covid-19. To help prevent this, it’s important to get tested regularly (along with getting vaccinated and wearing an N95 face mask). There are free testing sites across the country, but those pressed for time can trade in the long lines for […]
Jan 10, 2023
China’s Covid-19 Infections Hit Peak in Populous Regions, Officials Say
(WSJ) (Video at the link )Some of China’s most populous provinces have passed the peak in the current wave of Covid-19 infections sweeping across the country, officials said Monday. In central China’s Henan province, 89% of the 100 million residents had already been infected by the Omicron variants by Friday, said Kan Quancheng, director of the provincial health commission. Link […]
Jan 10, 2023
This Is What Shanghai’s Covid Outbreak Looks Like
(New York Times) Shanghai is being gripped by China’s massive Covid wave, leading to a surge in hospitalizations and crowded funeral homes. Local health officials said last week that up to 70 percent of the city’s 26 million residents had been infected, and they expressed confidence that its outbreak had peaked. But many of the city’s hospitals are […]
Jan 10, 2023
Satellite images capture crowding at China’s crematoriums and funeral homes as Covid surge continues
(CNN) Satellite images taken over a number of Chinese cities have captured crowding at crematoriums and funeral homes, as the country continues its battle with an unprecedented wave of Covid-19 infections following its dismantling of severe pandemic restrictions. The images – taken by Maxar in late December and early January and reviewed by CNN – show a […]
Jan 10, 2023
