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High H5N1 Influenza Levels Found in Mice Given Raw Milk From Infected Dairy Cows
Mice administered raw milk samples from dairy cows infected with H5N1 influenza experienced high virus levels in their respiratory organs and lower virus levels in other vital organs, according to findings published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The results suggest that consumption of raw milk by animals poses a risk for H5N1 infection and raises questions about its potential risk in humans.
Simple “Swish-and-Spit” Oral Rinse Could Provide Early Screening for Gastric Cancer
A simple oral rinse could provide early detection of gastric cancer, the fourth-leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, according to a study scheduled for presentation at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2024. “In the cancer world, if you find patients after they’ve developed cancer, it’s a little too late,” said Shruthi...
Proposed 5-Year Program Aims to Put Country on the Path to Eliminating Hepatitis C
The Biden-Harris administration’s proposed National Hepatitis C Elimination Program would be a major breakthrough in access to screening, testing and treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV), according to Joshua Sharfstein, MD, Distinguished Professor of the Practice at Johns Hopkins University. His presentation at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2024 provides an update on the proposal for the National Hepatitis C Elimination Program.
COVID-19 Eliminated a Decade of Progress in Global Level of Life Expectancy
The latest edition of the World Health Statistics released today by the World Health Organization (WHO) reveals that the COVID-19 pandemic reversed the trend of steady gain in life expectancy at birth and healthy life expectancy at birth (HALE). The pandemic wiped out nearly a decade of progress in improving...
Gallbladder Cancer Rises Among Black Americans as Cases Decline in Other Groups
Gallbladder cancer rates have been stable or declining for most Americans over the last two decades, but cases have steadily risen among Blacks, with growing numbers not being diagnosed until later stages, according to a study scheduled for presentation at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2024. “Gallbladder cancer diagnosis at late...
Mpox Vaccine Effectiveness & Ongoing Importance of Two-Dose Vaccine
In its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, CDC has released the results of studies highlighting the protection offered by the two-dose JYNNEOS mpox vaccine; the importance of completing the two-dose vaccination series for persons at risk for mpox exposure, who have not previously recovered from mpox (including certain gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men); and importance of ongoing U.S. preparedness in light of increasing mpox clade I cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Read the study summaries below.
Healthy Recipe: Watermelon Feta Salad
The tasty bite of sweet watermelon, salty cheese, and bitter arugula is really delicious. You will need a sweet, ripe melon for the best result. A good way to find that out is to tap the melon before you buy – if it sounds hollow, then it is ready to eat!
Moms With Undetectable HIV Can Breastfeed
Moms living with HIV can safely breastfeed their babies if they’re on HIV meds and maintain an undetectable viral load, according to new recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) published in the journal Pediatrics. “The risk of HIV transmission via breastfeeding from a parent with HIV who...
High Price of Popular Diabetes Drugs Deprives Low-Income People of Effective Treatment
For the past year and a half, Tandra Cooper Harris and her husband, Marcus, who both have diabetes, have struggled to fill their prescriptions for the medications they need to control their blood sugar. Without Ozempic or a similar drug, Cooper Harris suffers blackouts, becomes too tired to watch her...
Clues From Bird Flu’s Ground Zero on Dairy Farms in the Texas Panhandle
In early February, dairy farmers in the Texas Panhandle began to notice sick cattle. The buzz soon reached Darren Turley, executive director of the Texas Association of Dairymen: “They said there is something moving from herd to herd.”. Nearly 60 days passed before veterinarians identified the culprit: a highly...
Should People With Long COVID be Donating Blood?
In the fall of 2009, researchers at a lab in Reno, Nevada, said they detected a potentially transmissible virus in the blood of people with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). The study led the American Red Cross to ban blood donations from people with ME. The study was retracted in 2011 and the Red Cross guideline was later reversed, but more than a decade later, there is still a lifetime ban on blood donation from people with ME in the U.K. by the National Health Service (NHS).
CDC Reports Second Human Case of H5 Bird Flu Tied to Dairy Cow Outbreak
A human case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5) (“H5 bird flu”) virus infection in the United States has been identified in the state of Michigan. This is the second case associated with an ongoing multistate outbreak of A(H5N1) in dairy cows.[1]. As with the case in...
New Report Flags Major Increase in STIs, Amidst Challenges in HIV and Hepatitis
Global HIV, viral hepatitis epidemics and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) continue to pose significant public health challenges, causing 2.5 million deaths each year, according to a new World Health Organization (WHO) report - Implementing the global health sector strategies on HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections, 2022–2030. New...
Democrats Seek To Make GOP Pay for Threats to Reproductive Rights
Democrat Lucas Kunce is trying to pin reproductive care restrictions on Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), betting it will boost his chances of unseating the incumbent in November. In a recent ad campaign, Kunce accuses Hawley of jeopardizing reproductive care, including in vitro fertilization. Staring straight into the camera, with tears in her eyes, a Missouri mom identified only as Jessica recounts how she struggled for years to conceive.
Exploring a Meningitis Vaccine for Gonorrhea Prevention
A preventive vaccine for gonorrhea would be a major advance in public health, according to an editorial co-authored by NIAID Director Jeanne Marrazzo, MD, MPH, and Myron Cohen, MD, director of the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The editorial, published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, provides context on new mathematical modeling projecting the cost-effectiveness of the meningitis B vaccine 4CMenB, which is currently being evaluated as a preventive intervention for gonorrhea.
New Options to Screen for HPV, Which Causes Cervical Cancer
Women will soon have easier—and more private—options to screen for human papillomavirus (HPV), the virus that causes almost all cases of cervical cancer, as well as anal cancer, some oral cancers and other malignancies. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved two self-collection methods that allow women to use vaginal swabs to gather samples in a health care setting, such as their primary care doctor’s office, a pharmacy or an urgent care facility. The self-collected samples are then sent to a lab for evaluation.
More Than 321,000 U.S. Children Lost a Parent to Drug Overdose From 2011 to 2021
An estimated 321,566 children in the United States lost a parent to drug overdose from 2011 to 2021, according to a study published in JAMA Psychiatry. The rate of children who experienced this loss more than doubled during this period, from approximately 27 to 63 children per 100,000. The highest number of affected children were those with non-Hispanic white parents, but communities of color and tribal communities were disproportionately affected.
Exposed to Agent Orange at US Bases, Veterans Face Cancer Without VA Compensation
As a young GI at Fort Ord in Monterey County, California, Dean Osborn spent much of his time in the oceanside woodlands, training on soil and guzzling water from streams and aquifers now known to be contaminated with cancer-causing pollutants. “They were marching the snot out of us,” he said,...
HIV Incidence in the U.S. Continues to Decline
New HIV infections in the United States continue to fall, with the greatest declines seen among gay and bisexual men, young people and people living in the South, according to a new HIV Surveillance Supplemental Report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). An estimated 87% of people living with HIV knew their status, and 65% of those diagnosed were on treatment and achieved viral suppression in 2022, but not all groups benefitted equally.
Doctors Urge Congress to Improve Black Maternal Mortality Rates
Earlier this month, doctors testified before Congress to address high rates of maternal mortality throughout the United States and its disproportionate impact on Black women. At the U.S. Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, five medical professionals discussed racial disparities in maternal mortality and barriers that discourage people of color from entering the medical profession, according to the Idaho Capital Sun.
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