If you followed the run-up to the Paris Olympics, you may be familiar with the debate over whether it’s safe for triathletes to swim in the notoriously contaminated Seine. The naysayers may have been right: Today, high pollution levels forced organizers to postpone the men’s competition originally scheduled for this morning.
In fact, the Paris Olympics pose a range of potential health risks in addition to sewage in the Seine. Here’s a look at issues both athletes and spectators are facing.
As summer begins to wind down and many children and teenagers across the U.S. get ready to head back to school next month, it also means updated COVID-19 vaccines are around the corner.
Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended Americans receive the updated 2024-25 vaccine when it becomes available later this year.
Health officials have used the term “updated vaccines” in anticipation of needing to formulate a new vaccine every year to match circulating variants as is done for the flu shot.
It has been more than a year since the World Health Organization declared an end to the COVID-19 pandemic. But while the virus no longer qualifies as a crisis, experts say it will only stay under control if people get vaccinated.
“Population immunity has moved us out of the pandemic,” said Dr. Manisha Patel, chief medical officer for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. “Now the goal is to make sure we keep that immunity up because it does wane. And the way we keep it up is through vaccination. That is the safest way to keep our country healthy.”
GSK Plc’s shingles vaccine was linked to a longer delay in dementia onset than a competing shot, a finding that suggests superior protective powers against one of the world’s most threatening conditions.
People who received the Shingrix vaccine lived an average of 164 days longer without a dementia diagnosis than those who got Merck & Co.’s Zostavax, according to a study published Thursday in the Nature Medicine journal. The Merck vaccine was linked to lower dementia risk in a study last year.
Routine vaccination rates for kindergarteners haven’t rebounded since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to KFF.
At the same time, exemptions from school vaccination requirements are climbing, possibly contributing to surging measles cases.
Shifts in public opinion and rising vaccine hesitancy rooted in misinformation are contributing to the lower vaccination rates, KFF reported. About three-quarters of states reported measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination rates below the 95% Healthy People 2030 target during the previous school year. Meanwhile, 10 states had more than 5% of kindergarteners claim a vaccine exemption during the 2022-2023 school year.
For nearly four months, the spread of bird flu in the nation’s dairy cattle has stoked fears that, if left unchecked, the virus could eventually unleash a pandemic.
The recent cluster of human cases connected to poultry farms in Colorado only underscores that the threat remains real.
Genetic sequencing of the virus collected from the sickened poultry workers closely resembles what’s circulating in dairy herds, suggesting that cattle somehow introduced the virus into the poultry flock.
At one massive poultry facility, workers culled the birds under particularly dangerous circumstances.
The COVID summer wave is in full swing. With cases rising and new variants continuing to pop up, it’s normal to wonder about your potential for long COVID. Scientists are slowly learning more about the condition, including how to try to prevent it in the first place. Now, new research suggests there’s a clear way to lower your risk of developing long COVID: the COVID-19 vaccine.
That’s the main takeaway from a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine. For the study, researchers analyzed medical records of nearly 450,000 people from the Department of Veterans Affairs health system who had COVID-19 diagnosed between March 1, 2020, and Jan. 31, 2022. Those patients were compared with around 4.7 million people who weren’t diagnosed with COVID-19 during the same time.
The number of people reported with whooping cough, a bacterial respiratory illness, has been increasing in the United States. According to CDC preliminary data as of June 1, 2024, reported cases are more than twice as high this year compared to the same time period last year. Note that these numbers can change as health departments and CDC finalize the data.
It’s almost time for the kids to head back to class! The Colorado Springs Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has a plan to help maintain student well-being in the upcoming academic year.
The Colorado Springs Hispanic Chamber has launched a new community outreach initiative in collaboration with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and Julissa Soto Latino Health Equity Consulting. Soto shared the essence of the “One School, One Vaccine at a Time” (Una Escuela, Una Vacuna a la Vez) campaign on FOX21’s lifestyle show.
Routine vaccination rates for kindergarten children ticked down during the COVID-19 pandemic and have yet to rebound while exemptions from school vaccination requirements have increased, likely contributing to a recent surge in measles cases. At the same time, vaccine hesitancy, fueled in part by vaccine misinformation, increased during the pandemic, and public opinion on vaccine requirements has become increasingly partisan. Vaccine policies have emerged as an election issue, with both former President Trump and Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Jr. embracing anti-vaccination attitudes and contributing to vaccine misinformation. This is in sharp contrast to current President Biden who has supported vaccine mandates and taken action to expand access to vaccines for both children and adults. This issue brief further explores this changing landscape by examining the latest trends in children’s routine vaccination rates, the factors contributing to recent vaccination trends, and policy approaches to increasing vaccination rates as children head into a new school year. Key takeaways include:
