Many people are feeling lousy right now as the winter stew of respiratory viruses simmers. But there are a couple of unusual trends driving all the coughing, sneezing and fevers this year.
First, the good news: This winter’s COVID-19 surge has been mild.
“This year’s winter wave is low compared to previous winters,” says Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “This is the smallest winter wave we’ve had since the pandemic began.”
The cow’s amazing ability to sustain itself by eating nothing but grass is one of the marvels of nature, but it comes at a cost.
As grass ferments in the rumen — one of four compartments in the animal’s stomach — it naturally produces methane, a greenhouse gas 28 times more potent than CO2, although shorter lived in the atmosphere. That methane is released through belching and farting, and on average, a single cow can produce about 200 pounds of it per year. The gas is also released by manure, and livestock accounts for about a third of human-related methane emissions, which are collectively responsible for about 30% of global warming.
Though he’s one step away from becoming the nation’s next Health and Human Services secretary, comments Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. made around race have many experts warning his confirmation will be a setback for the health of Black people.
Despite lacking a medical degree and showing little knowledge of how the public health system works, Kennedy has thrown around a lot of opinions. Most of his suggested overhaul of the public health system could increase vaccine hesitancy among Black people and exacerbate differences in health outcomes between Black and white Americans.
Few of the many nonpharmacologic efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in nursing homes during the pandemic were evidence-based, and vaccinations and antiviral drugs were underused, concludes a scoping review published late last week in JAMA Health Forum.
Boston University–led researchers analyzed the federal COVID-19 Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Database to determine trends over time in rates of infection, death, testing, vaccination, and treatment among residents and staff, as well as shortages of staff and personal protective equipment (PPE) from 2020 through 2023.
As the world continues to navigate the complexities of vaccine safety and efficacy, one ingredient has found itself at the centre of a contentious debate: aluminium. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vocal advocate for vaccine safety reform, has repeatedly raised concerns about the potential health risks associated with aluminium in vaccines.
“You wonder why a whole generation of children is allergic to stuff,” Mr. Kennedy said during a 2021 interview. “It’s because we’re inducing allergies, pumping them full of aluminium.”
Ten months on from the shocking discovery that a virus usually carried by wild birds can readily infect cows, at least 68 people in North America have become ill from the pathogen and one person has died.
Although many of the infections have been mild, emerging data indicate that variants of the avian influenza virus H5N1 that are spreading in North America can cause severe disease and death, especially when passed directly to humans from birds. The virus is also adapting to new hosts — cows and other mammals — raising the risk that it could spark a human pandemic.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced the first of two confirmation hearings Wednesday as President Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of health and human services.
A son of a Democratic political dynasty, Kennedy is seeking to become the nation’s top health official.
The 71-year-old, whose famous name and family tragedies have put him in the national spotlight since he was a child, has spent years airing his populist — and sometimes extreme — views in podcasts, TV interviews and speeches, building his own quixotic brand. He’s been divisive, with Colorado Gov. Jared Polis facing blowback from fellow Democrats in the state in November after he expressed excitement about the president-elect’s pick of Kennedy for the job.
The United States has reported its first outbreak of H5N9 bird flu in poultry on a duck farm in California, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said on Monday.
U.S. authorities also detected the more common H5N1 strain on the same farm in Merced County, California, they said in a report to Paris-based WOAH, adding that the almost 119,000 birds on the farm had been killed by Dec. 2.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), commonly called bird flu, has spread around the globe in recent years, leading to the culling of hundreds of millions of poultry. It also spread to dozens of mammal species, including dairy cows in the U.S. and killed a person in Louisiana.
People who get their news from an ideologically diverse array of sources are more likely to get vaccinated, regardless of their political affiliation, new University of Colorado Boulder research shows.
“This study shows that being exposed to a range of perspectives encourages critical thinking and makes people less likely to get stuck in a bubble or misled by misinformation,” said senior author Leaf Van Boven, a professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience.
The findings are published in the journal Scientific Reports.
January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month. While regular screenings can aid in early detection of cervical cancer, there’s another important component to defeating this deadly disease—vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV is the main cause of cervical cancer. It also causes other types of cancer, like anal and oropharyngeal (mouth and throat) cancers. Read on to learn about HPV vaccination, including how it can help protect against cervical and other cancers and who should get vaccinated and when.
HPV is a very common virus–so common that a majority of people will get it at some point in their lifetime. Over 42 million people in the U.S. are currently infected, and there are 13 million new infections each year. HPV is spread through skin-to-skin contact (including sexual and non-sexual encounters) and can infect people of any age and biological sex. It infects the genital areas as well as the mouth and throat. Most infections do not cause symptoms and eventually go away on their own. Other infections, however, can cause genital warts and years later can result in cervical, genital, anal, and oral cancers. Even people who show no symptoms can spread the virus. There are more than 37,000 cancer cases each year that are associated with HPV infection. There is no cure for HPV, only treatment for symptoms. The HPV vaccine is the best way to prevent HPV infection before it happens. The vaccine is more than 90% effective at preventing cancers caused by HPV.
The HPV vaccine is recommended at 11–12 years of age and can be given as early as age 9. A second dose should be given 6–12 months after the first. The vaccine is more effective at this age than it is when given at older ages, so getting vaccinated on time is important. This also helps ensure protection well before exposure to the virus and to prevent spreading the infection to future partners.
The HPV vaccine is also recommended for everyone through age 26 who was not previously vaccinated. After age 15, 3 doses of the vaccine are needed instead of 2 (the second dose should be given 1 to 2 months after the first and the third dose should be given 6 months after the second). Adults 27 to 45 years of age not previously vaccinated should talk to their medical provider to see if HPV vaccination is right for them.
The HPV vaccine is very safe. Most people don’t have any side effects after HPV vaccination. Others have very mild side effects like pain or redness at the site where the shot was given. Other side effects can include headache, fever, fatigue, and nausea—all of which are mild and will go away within a few days. Keep in mind that side effects after vaccination are very normal. They are usually a good sign that the body is mounting an immune response that will fight off future infection. Like all other vaccines, the HPV vaccine was rigorously tested before approval, and it continues to be monitored today. There have not been any serious concerns associated with HPV vaccination, and more than 135 million HPV vaccinations have been given in the U.S.
If we look at the Colorado HPV Data Summary, we see regional variations in HPV vaccination rates. In the Southeast Region, which has the lowest rates statewide, only 18% of adolescent females and 17% of adolescent males are up to date. This is in contrast to the Denver Metro Region, where 32% of adolescent females and 31% of adolescent males are up to date. Both groups are well under the target of 80%. This illustrates the need to protect Colorado kids with the HPV vaccine. Also compelling is the latest data from Children’s Hospital Colorado, which shows HPV among the top reasons for emergency room visits for Colorado adults with a vaccine-preventable disease. Clearly, we have some work to do to prevent HPV and related cancers in Colorado!
While January is an important time to raise awareness about cervical cancer, we want folks to know that the HPV vaccine is more than just cervical cancer prevention. HPV infects people of any age and any sex and can result in several types of cancer. The HPV vaccine is recommended starting at age 9 through age 26, but it’s most effective when given early. The HPV vaccine IS cancer prevention! Are you, your children, and your loved ones protected?
Immunize Colorado was formed in 1991 in response to alarmingly low vaccination rates across the state. At the time, only about 50% of Colorado’s children were adequately vaccinated. A group of physicians and other concerned individuals came together to strategize how to protect Coloradans from vaccine-preventable diseases and increase vaccine uptake. Much work remains. Discover ways to support our commitment to healthy Colorado communities at our website or make a donation today!
