#disease-control

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www.scientificamerican.com
3 weeks ago
Coronavirus

How Bird Flu Caught the Dairy Industry Off Guard

Experts highlight key reasons for delay in identifying bird flu outbreak in dairy cows, stressing importance of understanding factors for disease control and prevention. [ more ]
Nature
1 month ago
OMG science

Daily briefing: The origins of bioluminescence in animals date back over half a billion years

Octocorals evolved bioluminescence much earlier than previously thought. [ more ]
#public-health
www.scientificamerican.com
1 month ago
Coronavirus

Bird Flu Detected in a Person in Texas: What We Know So Far

Avian influenza A (H5N1) found in a person in Texas exposed to infected cattle, showing eye redness but no other symptoms.
No evidence of human-to-human transmission for avian flu found in U.S. cases, with low risk to the public. [ more ]
Los Angeles Times
11 months ago
Los Angeles

Killing of Crenshaw High athlete marks the latest trauma for L.A.'s Black youth

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Teenagers filled the sidewalk outside a South Los Angeles party last week when gunfire rang out.After the crowd scattered, friends found a Crenshaw High School basketball player dead - the latest example of violence that is disproportionately killing young Black Angelenos, a Times analysis shows.
Los Angeles Times
11 months ago
Los Angeles

COVID vaccine should be updated to target XBB strain, FDA committee says

(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

With an eye toward enhancing protection against the coronavirus, which is still evolving and circulating, federal health advisors said Thursday that the next round of COVID-19 vaccines should be updated to target the now-dominant XBB strains.The unanimous recommendation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's vaccine advisory committee follows that of agency staff, who in a memo acknowledged that while older vaccine formulas can still help stave off severe disease, "protection wanes with time and is reduced against subsequent waves of variant viruses."
Los Angeles Times
11 months ago
California

State investigators found lapses that could threaten patients at Inglewood hospital

(Nick Ut/Associated Press)

An Inglewood hospital violated federal requirements in ways that could jeopardize patients, including by failing to properly assess and treat birthing patients to reduce the risk of blood clots, a state review found.Centinela Hospital Medical Center repeatedly failed to take steps to prevent patients from suffering potentially deadly clots, which can include using compression devices that improve blood flow in the legs, investigators from the California Department of Public Health found after a February visit.
www.nytimes.com
11 months ago
US news

Dr. Ashish Jha, White House Covid Coordinator, Set to Depart This Month

Dr. Ashish Jha, who coordinated the White House's coronavirus pandemic response for the last year, will leave the Biden administration and return to his previous post as dean of the School of Public Health at Brown University.In a statement announcing Dr. Jha's departure, Mr. Biden praised him for having effectively translated and communicated complex scientific challenges into concrete actions that helped save and improve the lives of millions of Americans.
www.cnn.com
11 months ago
US politics

White House Covid-19 Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha leaving the administration

President Joe Biden on Thursday announced that Covid-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha is leaving the administration.Biden offered effusive praise for the doctor, who succeeded Jeff Zients as the White House Covid-19 Response coordinator in March 2022, writing Jha has effectively translated and communicated complex scientific challenges into concrete actions that helped save and improve the lives of millions of Americans.
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www.independent.co.uk
3 months ago
UK news

Thousands more badgers could be killed under proposal to raise target numbers

The government may increase culling targets to 100% in certain areas, potentially leading to the killing of thousands more badgers beyond the original plan. [ more ]
WIRED
4 months ago
Public health

The World's First Malaria Vaccine Program for Children Starts Now

Cameroon has started rolling out routine childhood immunizations using a malaria vaccine called RTS,S or Mosquirix.
The hope is that this vaccine rollout will help relieve the burden of malaria on the country's health care system. [ more ]
Chicago Tribune
11 months ago
Chicago

One year post-Roe, a wave of abortion providers has come to Illinois

The patient narratives were displayed on a screen in the lobby of the new central Illinois abortion clinic on a recent weekend.One abortion seeker traveled hundreds of miles from Florida to end a 22-week pregnancy following a birth control failure."I have infant twins and my previous birth/labor was so traumatic," the patient said.
#people
www.npr.org
11 months ago
Health

Gas stoves pollute homes with benzene, which is linked to cancer

Flames burn on a natural gas-burning stove on January 12, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois.New research from Stanford University show gas stoves emit benzene, which is linked to cancer.Scott Olson/Getty Images When the blue flame fires up on a gas stove, there's more than heat coming off the burner.Researchers at Stanford University found that among the pollutants emitted from stoves is benzene, which is linked to cancer.
Truthout
11 months ago
Left-wing politics

Number of Legal Abortions Fell by 94K in States With Bans in Months Post-"Dobbs"

The data suggests there were tens of thousands of people forced to carry a pregnancy due to a lack of abortion access.Thousands march and rally in support of legal abortion access in St. Paul, Minnesota, on July 17, 2022.Michael Siluk / UCG / Universal Images Group via Getty Images New data shows that the number of legal abortions plummeted by the thousands in states that banned abortion after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade last year, demonstrating the vast chilling effect that bans have had on people's ability to access the procedure.
www.cnn.com
9 years ago
Health

Free pregnancy tests to be placed in Alaska bars

In December, the University of Alaska Anchorage will offer free pregnancy tests in bars Alaska has one of the highest rates of fetal alcohol syndrome in the country This state-funded effort will measure the effectiveness of tests Experts are always looking for creative ways to increase awareness about public health problems.
Truthout
11 months ago
Left-wing politics

Gun Deaths Hit Record High of Nearly 49,000 in 2021

Firearms were the leading cause of death for children in 2021, surpassing COVID deaths.An AR-15 style weapon, a magazine with bullets and different style of bullets are displayed on a table on September 23, 2022, in Aurora, Colorado.Joshua Lott / The Washington Post via Getty Images New research based on the latest publicly available data from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention finds that 2021 was a record year for gun deaths in the U.S., with deaths hitting a record high for the second year in a row.
www.nytimes.com
11 months ago
World politics

F.D.A. Panel Recommends R.S.V. Shot to Protect Infants

A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel recommended approval of a monoclonal antibody shot aimed at preventing a potentially lethal pathogen, respiratory syncytial virus, or R.S.V., in infants and vulnerable toddlers.The treatment, called Beyfortus by its developers Sanofi and AstraZeneca, would be the second such therapy that the F.D.A. has allowed to be given to very young children to prevent R.S.V., which is a leading killer of infants and toddlers globally.
www.scientificamerican.com
11 months ago
Science

Lung Cancer Pill Halves Risk of Death in Some People

A daily pill may halve the risk of death for lung cancer patients with a particular type of genetic mutation who have undergone surgery, according to much awaited clinical trial results.The drug is called osimertinib, which AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals produces under the brand name Tagrisso.It has been used to treat later-stage lung cancer since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted it an accelerated approval in 2015.
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#back
Los Angeles Times
11 months ago
Los Angeles

Are you putting your baby to sleep safely? Make sure you're following these guidelines

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

In Los Angeles County, a baby dies nearly every week from accidental suffocation, the most common form of unintentional death of infants under 1 year old, according to the the Inter-Agency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect.But these deaths can be prevented.The agency's infant safe sleep campaign provides the latest guidelines.
Ars Technica
11 months ago
OMG science

Our fall COVID boosters will likely be a monovalent XBB formula

Vaccine boosters developed for Fall 2021 are likely to be a monovalent XBB formula, meaning it will target only one type of the virus.
This monovalent formula could potentially provide better protection against new variants of the virus, which are constantly arising.
Vaccine boosters are necessary to provide long-term protection against the virus and to prevent the emergence of new variants. [ more ]
Chicago Tribune
11 months ago
Chicago

Op-ed: Chicago won't address crime as long as CTU is in power

Last week, in response to another weekend of shootings, Mayor Brandon Johnson pushed back on critics of Chicago's violence, saying, "What I find disingenuous is, where were these individuals when schools were being shut down and closed?"This latest rhetorical gem builds on what already qualifies as a pattern of deflection by distraction by the new administration.
www.npr.org
11 months ago
Health

Gun deaths hit their highest level ever in 2021, with 1 person dead every 11 minutes

The silhouette AR-15-style rifle is displayed on signage for the Firearms Unknown Guns & Ammo gun store in Yuma, Ariz., last week.Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images Gun deaths in the United States reached an all-time high in 2021 for the second year in a row, with firearms violence the single leading cause of death for children and young adults, according to a new study released by Johns Hopkins University.
Ars Technica
1 year ago
OMG science

Dangerous brain abscesses spiked in US kids as COVID restrictions dropped

1. Brain abscesses in US children increased significantly in the months following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions. 2. The increase in abscesses was especially pronounced in areas where restrictions were lifted earlier and more quickly. 3. The study's authors suggest that the increase in abs
Austin Monitor
1 year ago
Austin

'There is no cure': Austin urges people to keep dogs away from possibly toxic blue-green algae - Austin Monitor

Photo by Corey Smith/KUT.Brent Bellinger, conservation program supervisor for Austin's Watershed Protection Department, takes a water quality sample at Lady Bird Lake on May 12.
Tuesday, May 30, 2023 by Corey Smith, KUT
Blue-green algae is back in Lady Bird Lake and Lake Austin, according to Austin's Watershed Protection Department.
moreback
www.npr.org
11 months ago
Health

Pfizer warns of a looming penicillin supply shortage

The Pfizer logo is displayed on the exterior of a former Pfizer factory, on May 4, 2014, in the Brooklyn borough of New York.Mark Lennihan/AP Pfizer is facing a shortage of penicillin due to increased demand and more diagnoses of syphilis, the company said in a letter to its customers this week.The company said there is an "impending stock out situation" for select Bicillin L-A and Bicillin C-R prefilled syringes, Pfizer's brand name of injectable penicillin.
www.cnn.com
11 months ago
US politics

The debate on the American right isn't about classified documents. It's about fear of transgender rights

A version of this story appeared in CNN's What Matters newsletter.To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.While much of the country spent the week fixated on a former president and his indictment related to alleged mishandling of classified documents, parts of the American right were more consumed by fear of transgender rights.
Sun Sentinel
11 months ago
Miami

'Feels-like' temps could reach 112 degrees. The latest details on South Florida's excessive heat.

Conditions are ripe for excessive heat in South Florida this week - with feels-like temps reaching as high as 112 degrees, and it'll stay that way through Friday, meteorologists warned Wednesday.A heat advisory issued by the National Weather Service lasts through Friday evening, and extends across all of South Florida, from Palm Beach to Miami-Dade counties.
#heart-attacks
www.nytimes.com
11 months ago
Wellness

What to Know About Eclampsia

On Tuesday, an autopsy report shared with The New York Times showed that the Olympic sprinter Tori Bowie, who was found dead in May, was eight months pregnant and in labor at the time of her death.She was 32 years old.The report identified complications of childbirth as the cause of death, listing eclampsia and respiratory distress as possible factors.
Boston.com
11 months ago
Boston real estate

Smoke from Canadian wildfires will return. Here's how to keep it out of your home.

Home Improvement Use your HVAC system to your advantage.Plus, how to DIY a portable air cleaner.Last week, smoke from Canadian wildfires worsened air quality inNortheastern cities from Washington, D.C., to Boston.While the smoke has since dissipated, experts warn it will return - and get worse, according to an article in USA Today.
moreheart-attacks
#researchers
www.nytimes.com
11 months ago
Wellness

Are You Exposed to Too Much Noise? Here's How to Check.

Chronic noise exposure is not just a nuisance, scientists say.It's a health risk.In fact, mounting research suggests that, as average noise levels climb, so do the risks of overreactions in your body that contribute to cardiovascular disease and other health issues.For a project on the harmful effects of noise, New York Times journalists used a Larson Davis Sound Level Meter, a professional sound measurement device, to assess noise exposure in communities around the United States.
time.com
11 months ago
Wellness

COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines Are Safe for Kids as Young as Six Months, Study Says

Multiple doses of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are safe in children as young as six months, reports the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Research published in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on June 8 included the first study of a third mRNA COVID-19 vaccine dose in young children.
Fatherly
1 year ago
Fathers

Why Vacation Sex May Be The Best Way To Get Pregnant

You can travel for work or education.You can travel to broaden your horizons and learn about new cultures.And you can travel for family, either to visit them or start one.That last reason for travelling is called either a procreation vacation (gross), or a conceptionmoon (not really a word).The idea is that taking a trip with your partner for a week might be just the thing you need to get knocked up.
time.com
1 year ago
Wellness

China Might Have 65 Million COVID Cases a Week by June. How Worried Should the World Be?

Last week when a Chinese senior health adviser projected 65 million COVID-19 cases per week in China by June, some health experts sounded the alarm.China has been facing a new COVID-19 wave fueled by the XBB variant since April.Data from Zhong Nanshana respiratory disease doctor who was among the first to confirm COVID-19's easy transmissibilityprovided a rare insight into how the disease could possibly be spreading in China almost six months after Beijing abruptly ended its draconian zero-COVID strategy.
www.npr.org
1 year ago
Tech industry

Virtually ouch-free: Promising early data on a measles vaccine delivered via sticker

Study participants in The Gambia received a measles vaccine through a virtually pain-free sticker.Early data on adults and children as young as nine months suggest the syringe-free skin patch is safe and effective.Micron Biomedical Vaccine experts tend to be a serious bunch, but many are downright giddy about vaccine clinical trial results presented last week at a medical conference in Seattle.
english.elpais.com
1 year ago
Public health

FDA advisers back RSV vaccine for pregnant women that protects their newborns

A first-of-its-kind RSV vaccine for pregnant women guards their newborns against the scary respiratory virus - and federal health advisers on Thursday backed Pfizer's shot despite some lingering questions.RSV fills hospitals with wheezing babies each fall and winter, and the virus struck earlier than usual and especially hard in the U.S. this past year.
moreresearchers
www.cnn.com
11 months ago
US politics

Nikki Haley connects teen girls' suicidal ideation to transgender girls in locker rooms during CNN town hall

The idea that we have biological boys playing in girls' sports it is the women's issue of our time, Haley said.Nikki Haley, the 2024 Republican presidential contender, linked the presence of transgender girls in sports to suicidal ideation among teenage girls in a CNN town hall Sunday night in Iowa.
#opportunity
Los Angeles Times
11 months ago
California

California bill would allow Sikh motorcyclists to ride without helmets

(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Proposed legislation that would exempt those who wear religious or cultural headdresses - such as a turban or patka - from wearing helmets when riding on a motorcycle has cleared the California state Senate.Sen. Brian Dahle (R-Bieber), who introduced the bill, said he was approached by bikers in the Sikh community who said they wanted the ability to practice their religious beliefs while riding motorcycles.
www.nytimes.com
1 year ago
Health

F.D.A. Panel Recommends R.S.V. Vaccine to Protect Young Infants

An advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration voted on Thursday in favor of approving a vaccine by Pfizer to prevent the severe respiratory virus that is a potentially deadly threat to infants.The vaccine would be the first to protect babies from respiratory syncytial virus, or R.S.V., which is the reason many infants are admitted to children's hospitals each year and kills several hundred under 5 each year.
moreopportunity
Washingtonian - The website that Washington lives by.
1 year ago
Washington DC

Will Mosquitoes Be Bad This Year? The Mosquitotron Says Yes - Washingtonian

If your neighbor is Michael Raupp, a.k.a. the Bug Guy, you might be alarmed by his mosquitotron.That's what the University of Maryland entomologist calls the five-gallon bucket he uses to monitor mosquito development as it fills with spring rains in his Columbia, Maryland, yard.As the weather got warmer last month, Raupp counted thousands of larvae and 15 clusters of eggs known as "rafts" on the stagnant surface, each containing hundreds more eggs.
www.cnn.com
1 year ago
Health

These are the symptoms of HMPV to look out for

Cases of human metapneumovirus, or HMPV, spiked this spring, according to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's respiratory virus surveillance systems.It filled hospital intensive care units with young children and seniors who are the most vulnerable to these infections.CNN's Meg Tirrell reports.
#years
www.independent.co.uk
1 year ago
UK news

Covid lab leak should not be ruled out, says Chinese scientist

The possibility the Covid virus leaked from a laboratory should not be ruled out, a former top Chinese government scientist has said.The view of virologist and immunologist Professor George Gao is in stark contrast to that of the Chinese government which dismisses any suggestion the virus may have originated in a Wuhan laboratory.
Chicago Tribune
1 year ago
Chicago

Cannabis, hemp companies in fight over products like delta-8-THC

Intoxicating hemp products like delta-8-THC would be banned in Illinois under a proposal in Springfield - prompting hemp companies to fight for their survival."Big Cannabis has no interest in regulations for hemp companies like mine," Charles Wu, CEO of Nexem hemp grower and Chi'tiva stores that sell delta-8, told the Tribune.
Eater SF
1 year ago
SF food

Here's Where Sai's Vietnamese Restaurant Is Headed After Leaving the FiDi

Despite gaining Legacy Business status in 2022, time-tested favorite Sai's Vietnamese beneath the Transamerica Pyramid needed to find a new home.Thankfully the restaurant just found new life at 42 Columbus Avenue, the location of North Beach restaurant Bask.The San Francisco Business Times reports Sai owner Charles Vong bought Bask with financial aid from Shvo, the development group that owns the Transamerica Pyramid.
Los Angeles Times
1 year ago
California

Drinking water at 1 in 4 California child-care centers tests dangerously high for lead

(Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune)

In test results that suggest thousands of California infants, toddlers and children continue to be exposed to brain-damaging lead, data released by the state Department of Social Services has revealed that 1 in 4 of the state's child-care centers has dangerously high levels of the metal in their drinking water.
moreyears
www.nytimes.com
1 year ago
New York City

With Mpox at Risk of Flaring, Health Officials Advise, Get Vaccinated'

Late last year, with cases at a trickle, New York City wound down its mpox emergency response.Health officials stopped posting updates about cases.Vaccination vans stopped appearing outside nightclubs.The number of people being vaccinated against the disease flatlined.But the mpox virus a close relative to smallpox whose name was changed from monkeypox last year never completely disappeared.
www.nytimes.com
1 year ago
Wellness

Maternity's Most Dangerous Time: After New Mothers Come Home

Sherri Willis-Prater's baby boy was 2 months old, and she was about to return to her job at a school cafeteria in Chicago.But as she walked up the short flight of stairs to her kitchen one evening, she nearly collapsed, gasping for breath.At the hospital, Ms. Willis-Prater, who was 42 at the time, was connected to a ventilator that pumped air into her lungs.
Truthout
1 year ago
Left-wing politics

Expanding Use of Primates in Drug Testing Is a Threat to Public Health

A researcher at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center (WNPRC) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, performs an ultrasound on a pregnant rhesus macaque monkey infected with the Zika virus on June 28, 2016 in Madison, Wisconsin.Scott Olson / Getty Images Between 2000 and 2020, an estimated 482,000 primates were imported into the U.S. to be experimented on in testing laboratories.
Los Angeles Times
1 year ago
California

Don't eat raw cookie dough, CDC warns: Salmonella outbreak linked to bake-at-home products

(Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

A salmonella outbreak linked to raw cookie dough has led to 18 cases in six states, including one in California, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Investigators tied the outbreak to two varieties of cookie dough sold at Papa Murphy's Take 'N' Bake Pizza stores.
Chicago Tribune
1 year ago
Chicago

Op-ed: Ventilators and the learning curve of COVID-19 treatment

An axiom in medicine is that good judgment depends on experience, and experience depends on bad judgment.Basically, one way doctors refine their care is through a learning curve resulting from inexperience and lack of judgment.A fitting example during the COVID-19 pandemic was the worldwide experience with ventilators, which are used to support lung function in patients with serious COVID-19 pneumonia.
www.cnn.com
1 year ago
Health

Deadly suspected fungal infections in Texas residents linked to surgeries in Matamoros, Mexico

Five Texas residents became ill with suspected cases of fungal meningitis after traveling to Matamoros, Mexico, for surgery, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.One person died, and four others are hospitalized.In a travel advisory, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged patients to cancel certain procedures in Matamoros, Mexico.
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