Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
Marburg death toll in Tanzania rises to six after baby dies
East African Tanzanian health authorities on Saturday said that an 18-month-old child died of Marburg virus disease in the northwestern region of Kagera. The death of the child brought the country’s Marburg death toll to six since its outbreak in the region on March 21, 2023, the Minister of Health Ummy Mwalimu announced when she released an […]
May 2, 2023
Why viral reservoirs are a prime suspect for long COVID sleuths
NPR Audio Brent Palmer’s first inkling about long COVID started in the early days of the pandemic, before the term “long COVID” even existed. Some of his friends had caught the virus while on a ski trip and returned home to Colorado with the mysterious, new illness. It was a frightening time — and an […]
May 2, 2023
What To Know About ‘Arcturus’: New Covid Variant Causing Pink Eye
Forbes New Covid strain XBB.1.18, nicknamed arcturus, is quickly spreading across the U.S., but experts are warning that pink eye and high fever, two symptoms of the new variant, are particularly present among children. Arcturus is a subvariant of the highly contagious omicron variant, which is the most prevalent variant in the U.S., according to the Centers […]
May 2, 2023
Cluster Investigation of Increased Incidence of Pediatric Intracranial Abscesses inClark County, Nevada — January–December 2022
CDC In October 2022, the Southern Nevada HealthDistrict (SNHD) received reports of higher-than-expectedpediatric patients in Clark County with intracranial abscessin 2022. This followed a CDC-led national investigation intothis topic, which concluded in May 2022. SNHD investigatedto confirm if this was above expected, identify common riskfactors for infection, and report findings to the community. Methods: Hospital […]
May 2, 2023
Patients Living With Long COVID Offer Insight to FDA
MedPageToday Patients with long COVID and their caregivers shared how the illness has impacted their lives, the treatments they’ve tried, and their hopes for clinical trials during a virtual public meetingopens in a new tab or window on Patient-Focused Drug Development for Long COVID hosted by the FDA on Tuesday. Impacts on Daily Living Jill Anderson, a […]
May 2, 2023
COVID-19 has left the world less prepared for an influenza pandemic
Nature Prior to 2020, most pandemic preparedness efforts centered on influenza. Some countries, such as Aotearoa (New Zealand)1, were able to successfully adapt national pandemic influenza plans to the response to COVID-19, and global influenza surveillance systems were harnessed for SARS-CoV-2 (ref. 2). It is now critical that nations and the international community implement lessons learned […]
Apr 25, 2023
Get ready for the newest omicron COVID variant — Arcturus
(CBS News) The World Health Organization has elevated the fast-growing Omicron sublineage XBB.1.16 as a new variant of interest, and says it is outcompeting the previously dominant XBB.1.5 in many regions. XBB.1.16 is a descendant of the recombinant XBB, which is a mashup of two BA.2 sublineages. On social media, the variant has been nicknamed […]
Apr 25, 2023
Measles outbreak in American Samoa declared public health emergency
ABC News American Samoa has issued a public health emergency after an outbreak of measles has spread across the U.S. territory. As of Tuesday, there has been one laboratory-confirmed case among an 8-year-old and 31 suspected and/or probable cases of the highly infectious disease, according to the Department of Health. During a press briefing, Dr. Scott Anesi, the department’s […]
Apr 25, 2023
A rare and lethal virus is spreading in Europe, prompting hunt for tests and cures
European Commission As a deadly disease that people can catch from ticks moves across the continent, the EU is seeking new tests and a vaccine for the infection. A 62-year-old man was bitten by a tick while hiking through fields in Spain. Two days later he began to feel ill and was taken to a […]
Apr 25, 2023