Post Archive by Month

With the unexpected upsurge in pertussis (whooping cough) cases in 2024, many people have asked about booster doses for added protection. Pertussis remains one of the least controlled vaccine-preventable diseases, and it occurs in vaccinated people because vaccine protection fades over time.
A recent study assessed antibody persistence five years after booster vaccination with either a recombinant or chemically detoxified pertussis vaccine.

A recent study found that 73% of adult Portuguese patients with urinary tract infections (UTIs) reported a reduction in symptom severity or duration of illness after treatment with Uromune™ (MV140). This inactivated oral spray serves as a novel sublingual mucosal-based bacterial vaccine.

When vacationing on cruise ships in 2024, travelers encountered new environments and met other voyagers, which increased the risk of illness due to contaminated food, water, or, more commonly, through person-to-person contact.
To keep everyone informed about disease outbreaks at sea, the U.S. CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program updated its list of cruise ships reporting illnesses as of December 25, 2024. 

While over 100 countries have reported Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) outbreaks in 2024, new research indicates measurable genetic differences could be affecting countries differently, such as Brazil and France's La Réunion.
Published by Frontiers Public Health on December 10, 2024, a Review Article stated that CHIKV is mainly transmitted by the invasive mosquito Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide.

Throughout 2024, pertussis cases have increased across the United States. Preliminary data show that more than six times as many cases have been reported compared to the same time in 2023.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of pertussis cases (32,176) as of December 14, 2024. Pre-pandemic, about 10,000 cases are typically reported each year.

This year, there has been a rise in mosquito and insect-borne infections in the Caribbean, prompting many vacationers to seek preventive vaccines for chikungunya (10), dengue (105k), Oropouche virus, and Zika (16) virus diseases.
Countries like Grenada, Barbados, Saint Martin, and the Virgin Islands have reported chikungunya cases in the Caribbean region. And zika cases continue in Puerto Rico in 2024.