By Carole Tanzer Miller HealthDay ReporterFRIDAY, Nov. 22, 2024 (HealthDay News) — A 57-year-old woman with COPD has received the world’s first fully robotic double lung transplant.The breakthrough surgery was …
Considerable Disparities in Life Expectancy Exist Within U.S. Population
Large disparities in life expectancy observed, which grew over time, especially during the first two years of COVID-19
Younger Patients More Affected by Neurologic Manifestations of Long COVID
Younger and middle-aged patients have higher burden of neurologic symptoms, fatigue, sleep disturbance, cognitive dysfunction
Chikungunya and Dengue Viruses Co-Circulate In the Americas
The sudden multi-year increase of chikungunya (CHIKV) and dengue cases in the Federative Republic of Brazil has raised concerns about the impact of arbovirus outbreaks on public health throughout the Region of the Americas.
As of November 21, 2024, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) had reported 412,089 chikungunya cases this year, 411,548 cases in 2023, and 273,841 in 2022.
Seperately, the PAHO has reported 12,522,878 dengue cases and 7,598 related fatalities in 2024.
Cholera Deaths Increase by 54%
Oral cholera vaccines (OCV) have been used for years to help prevent and control cholera outbreaks. Unfortunately, with limited supply, cholera cases and related deaths are impacting about 33 countries.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Edition #20, from January to late October 2024, a cumulative total of 486,760 cholera and acute watery diarrhea cases and 4,018 deaths were reported from 33 countries across five WHO regions.
COVID-19 Mortality Higher for Leukemia, Myelodysplastic Syndrome Patients
However, risk for hospitalization no higher for COVID-19 in these patients
Parasitizing Birds Bring More than Lyme Disease
Ticks are very effective disease vectors, connecting humans to diseases in wild reservoirs like Lyme disease. Although mammals commonly serve as hosts for ticks, they typically travel relatively short distances before ticks complete their blood meal and drop off.
However, parasitizing birds, especially migratory birds, allows them to travel very long distances.
For example, the Asian long-horned tick was first detected in New Jersey in 2017 and has since been found in 14 other states.
Oropouche Outbreaks Often Detected Outside Large Cities
Since late 2023 and throughout 2024, an Oropouche virus (OROV) outbreak in the Americas has left many public health officials unprepared to respond due to the unprecedented number of confirmed cases.
In the WHO region of the Americas, OROV outbreaks and thousands of cases have been confirmed across Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, and Cuba, and imported cases have been detected in travelers in the USA and Europe.
Oropouche is spread primarily by the bite of infected midges and mosquitoes.
Pandemic Preparedness Research Network Launched
The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently established a pandemic preparedness research network to research high-priority pathogens most likely to threaten human health to develop effective vaccines and monoclonal antibodies.
The Research and Development of Vaccines and Monoclonal Antibodies for Pandemic Preparedness network (ReVAMPP) will focus its research efforts on “prototype pathogens,” representative pathogens from virus families known to infect humans, and high-priority pathogens that have the potential to cause deadly diseases.
Antiviral Treatment Underutilized for Children, Teens With Flu
Since 2017 to 2018 season, there has been a decrease in the proportion of hospitalized children receiving antiviral treatment