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Federal regulators on Tuesday said that samples of pasteurized milk from around the country had tested positive for inactive remnants of the bird flu virus that has been infecting dairy cows. The viral fragments do not pose a threat to consumers, officials said. “To date, we have seen nothing that would change our assessment that the commercial milk supply is safe,” the Food and Drug Administration said in a statement. Over the last month, a bird flu virus known as H5N1 has been detected in more than 30 dairy herds in eight states. The virus is also known to have infected one farmworker, whose only symptom was pink eye.

Persons: “ Organizations: and Drug Administration, Agriculture Department

☆ Bird Flu Is Infecting More Mammals. What Does That Mean for Us?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-22 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | Emily Anthes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In her three decades of working with elephant seals, Dr. Marcela Uhart had never seen anything like the scene on the beaches of Argentina’s Valdés Peninsula last October. Instead, it was “just carcass upon carcass upon carcass,” recalled Dr. Uhart, who directs the Latin American wildlife health program at the University of California, Davis. H5N1, one of the many viruses that cause bird flu, had already killed at least 24,000 South American sea lions along the continent’s coasts in less than a year. Sick pups lay listless, foam oozing from their mouths and noses. Dr. Uhart called it “an image from hell.”In the weeks that followed, she and a colleague — protected head to toe with gloves, gowns and masks, and periodically dousing themselves with bleach — carefully documented the devastation.

Persons: Marcela Uhart, ”, Uhart, — Organizations: University of California, Team Locations: Argentina’s Valdés, Davis

☆ Scientists Fault Federal Response to Bird Flu Outbreaks on Dairy Farms
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | Emily Anthes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the month since federal authorities announced an outbreak of bird flu on dairy farms, they have repeatedly reassured the public that the spate of infections does not impact the nation’s food or milk supply, and poses little risk to the public. Yet the outbreak among cows may be more serious than originally believed. Officials in North Carolina have detected bird flu infections in a cattle herd with no symptoms, The New York Times has learned — information the U.S.D.A. It has been reimbursing farmers for testing, but only for 20 cows per farm that were visibly ill. This week, the department said it would begin reimbursing farms for testing cows without symptoms.

Organizations: Department of Agriculture, New York Times Locations: North Carolina

☆ Is Bird Flu Coming to People Next? Are We Ready?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-05 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Bird flu outbreaks among dairy cows in multiple states, and at least one infection in farmworker in Texas, have incited fears that the virus may be the next infectious threat to people. The influenza virus, called H5N1, is highly pathogenic, meaning it has the ability to cause severe disease and death. The only symptom in the patient in Texas was conjunctivitis, or pink eye, which was also reported in people infected during other bird flu outbreaks. and other agencies in the United States and elsewhere have tracked H5N1 for years to monitor its evolution. Federal agencies have stockpiled vaccines and drugs to be used in a possible bird flu outbreak.

Persons: “, ”, Demetre Daskalakis Organizations: National Center, Centers for Disease Control Locations: farmworker, Texas, United States

☆ Person Infected With Bird Flu in Texas After Contact With Cattle
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-01 | by ( Emily Anthes | Apoorva Mandavilli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

At least one person in Texas has been diagnosed with bird flu after having contact with dairy cows presumed to be infected, state officials said on Monday. The announcement adds a worrying dimension to an outbreak that has affected millions of birds and sea mammals worldwide and, most recently, cows in the United States. So far, there are no signs that the virus has evolved in ways that would help it spread more easily among people, federal officials have said. The patient’s primary symptom was conjunctivitis; the individual is being treated with an antiviral drug and is recovering, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Organizations: Centers for Disease Control Locations: Texas, United States

☆ Gripe aviar en Texas: una persona se infecta tras contacto con ganado
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-01 | by ( Emily Anthes | Apoorva Mandavilli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

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Organizations: The

☆ An Antibiotic After Sex Greatly Reduced Syphilis and Chlamydia Cases
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A single dose of doxycycline, a widely used antibiotic, taken after sex halved the incidence of chlamydia and early syphilis among gay and bisexual men and transgender women in San Francisco, city health officials announced on Monday. The findings offered a glimmer of hope amid a rising tide of sexually transmitted infections nationwide. In San Francisco, gay and bisexual men and transgender women who had a history of S.T.I.s or multiple sex partners were given a supply of the antibiotic and asked to take two 100-milligram pills within 72 hours of unprotected sex. New cases of chlamydia and early syphilis — but not gonorrhea — dropped over the course of about a year. “It’s not subtle, it is very fast and we’re seeing the beginning of it, not the end,” Dr. Hyman Scott, a medical director at the San Francisco Department of Public Health, said in an interview.

Persons: —, “, Dr, Hyman Scott Organizations: Conference, San Francisco Department of Public Health Locations: San Francisco, Denver

☆ C.D.C. Shortens Isolation Period for People With Covid
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Americans with Covid or other respiratory infections need not isolate for five days before returning to work or school, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday, a striking sign of changing attitudes toward the coronavirus. People with respiratory illnesses may resume daily activities if they have been fever-free for at least 24 hours without the aid of medications and if their symptoms are improving, agency officials said. Acknowledging that people can be contagious even without symptoms, the C.D.C. urged those who end isolation to limit close contact with others, wear well-fitted masks, improve indoor air quality and practice good hygiene, like washing hands and covering coughs and sneezes. The guidelines apply to Covid, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, among other respiratory ailments, which should make it easier for people to comply, Dr. Mandy Cohen, the C.D.C.’s director, told reporters on Friday.

Persons: Mandy Cohen, ’ Organizations: Centers for Disease Control

☆ Vaccines Didn’t Turn Back Mpox, Study Finds. People Did.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Why It Matters: Vaccines often arrive too late to stamp out outbreaks. Public health messaging can “be really powerful to control epidemics, even as we’re waiting for things like vaccines to come,” he said. Some experts unrelated to the work were not convinced that behavioral change was largely responsible for stemming the outbreak. “Add in some vaccine-induced immunity in this group and a bit of behavior change, and it will be even more effective,” he said. “As we’ve seen with Covid, the behavioral change only lasts so long,” she said.

Persons: Miguel Paredes, Paredes, ”, Bill Hanage, Thomas Skinner, Virginia Pitzer, we’ve Organizations: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Food and Drug Administration, Vaccines, Harvard, of Public Health, Disease Control, Yale School of Public Health Locations: Seattle, North America, Chan, resurging

☆ C.D.C. Considers Ending 5-Day Isolation Period for Covid
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Under the proposed guidelines, Americans would no longer be advised to isolate for five days before returning to work or school. The proposal would align the C.D.C.’s advice with revised isolation recommendations in Oregon and California. The shift was reported earlier by The Washington Post, but it is still under consideration, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions. last changed its policy on isolation in late 2021, when it scaled down the recommended period to five days from 10. If adopted, the new approach would signal that Covid has taken a place alongside other routine respiratory infections.

Persons: ’ Organizations: Disease Control, The Washington Locations: Oregon, California

☆ One Arm or Two? How You Get Vaccinated May Make a Difference.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

If you’ve presented the same arm for every dose of a particular vaccine, you may want to reconsider. Alternating arms may produce a more powerful immune response, a new study suggests. Those who alternated arms showed a small increase in immunity over those who got both doses in the same arm. At this point in the pandemic, with most people having had multiple vaccine doses or infections, alternating arms for Covid vaccines may not offer much benefit. Yet if confirmed by further study, the results could have implications for all multidose vaccines, including childhood immunizations.

Persons: you’ve, immunizations

☆ Syphilis Is Soaring in the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Syphilis, once nearly eliminated in the United States, continues to resurge, reaching the highest rate of new infections recorded since 1950, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday. More than 207,000 cases were diagnosed in 2022, the last year for which data are available. That represents an 80 percent increase since 2018, and 17 percent over the previous year’s tally, according to a new C.D.C. said more than 3,700 cases of congenital syphilis were reported in 2022, roughly 11 times the number recorded a decade ago. Experts pointed to a slew of reasons for the continued increases in syphilis and other S.T.I.s.

Organizations: Centers for Disease Control Locations: United States, resurge

☆ Europe Faces a Measles Outbreak
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-24 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Some cases of measles can be mild, but up to half of infected children may need medical attention, said Dr. David Sugerman, who leads the measles team at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Children with measles may develop diarrhea and dehydration, pneumonia that leads to long-term respiratory difficulties, and brain inflammation that results in neurological problems, Dr. Sugerman said. Deaths from measles rose worldwide by 43 percent between 2021 and 2022, according to a report in November from the W.H.O. Measles is among the most contagious infections, and the virus can linger in the air for up to two hours. In the United States, the measles vaccine is given twice, at 12 to 15 months old, and at 4 to 6 years of age.

Persons: David Sugerman, Sugerman Organizations: Centers for Disease Control, Prevention Locations: United States

was exemplary, slashing the country’s death rate by nearly 90 percent from 1990 to 2019. Now a sweeping law enacted last year, the Anti-Homosexuality Act, threatens to renew the epidemic as L.G.B.T.Q. It also requires all citizens to report anyone suspected of such activity, a mandate that makes no exceptions for health care providers tending to patients. Under the law, merely having same-sex relationships while living with H.I.V. Scores of Ugandans have been evicted from homes and fired from jobs, according to interviews with lawyers and activists.

Organizations: H.I.V

☆ How Viral Infections Cause Long-Term Health Problems
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | More About Apoorva Mandavilli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

By the end of the chore, she is exhausted and has to sit or lie down, sometimes falling asleep wherever she happens to be. “Anything beyond that is truly excruciating,” Ms. Wynn, 42, said. Ever since, her bloodwork has indicated that she is experiencing extreme inflammation, a hallmark of autoimmune disease. Infection with the coronavirus is known to leave behind a long legacy of health problems, many of which are characterized as long Covid. But mounting evidence suggests that independent of that syndrome, the coronavirus also befuddles the immune system into targeting the body, causing autoimmune disorders in some people.

Persons: Davida Wynn, Ms, Wynn, bloodwork Locations: Atlanta

☆ Why We’re Still Breathing Dirty Indoor Air
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | More About Apoorva Mandavilli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

In early 2020, the world scrubbed down surfaces, washed hands and sneezed into elbows, desperate to avoid infection with a new coronavirus. The virus was wafting through the air, set adrift in coughs and conversation, even in song. The pandemic raged for six months before global health authorities acknowledged that it was driven by an airborne pathogen. With that revelation came another: Had indoor air quality ever been a priority, the pandemic would have exacted a far lighter toll in the United States. Most Americans are still squeezing into offices, classrooms, restaurants and shops with inadequate, often decrepit ventilation systems, often in buildings with windows sealed shut.

Locations: countertops, United States

☆ Gonorrhea Is Becoming Drug Resistant. Scientists Just Found a Solution.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | More About Apoorva Mandavilli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

About half of infected people show no symptoms, but in others gonorrhea can lead to painful joints and burning urination. It has become resistant to azithromycin and is increasingly resistant to another antibiotic called ceftriaxone, which is now the standard of care. Based on previous research, the drug is unlikely to be as effective in the throat and rectum, said Dr. Marrazzo. In studies, zoliflodacin appears to be effective against a wide range of resistant strains of gonorrhea. The partnership’s agreement minimizes that chance: The nonprofit plans to manage how the drug is distributed, and to see that it is used only to treat gonorrhea.

Persons: gonorrhea, ”, Manica Balasegaram, “ I’ll, that’s, Ramanan Laxminarayan, Jeanne Marrazzo, Marrazzo, zoliflodacin, Margaret Koziel Organizations: Global, Research, Development, Pharmaceutical, European Union, Therapeutics, Princeton University, National Institute of Allergy Locations: American

☆ Infants Are Born With Syphilis in Growing Numbers, a Sign of a Wider Epidemic
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | More About Apoorva Mandavilli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Syphilis during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage and stillbirth, and infants who survive may become blind or deaf, or have severe developmental delays. In 2022, the disease caused 231 stillbirths and 51 infant deaths. Nearly 90 percent of the new cases could have been prevented with timely testing and treatment, according to the agency. “Syphilis in babies continues to increase, and the situation is dire,” Dr. Laura Bachmann, chief medical officer at the agency’s division for prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, said in an interview. “We need to do things differently.”

Persons: Dr, Laura Bachmann, ” Organizations: Centers for Disease Control Locations: United States

☆ CUNY Halts Investigation of Alzheimer’s Researcher
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | More About Apoorva Mandavilli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

From the start, some scientists were skeptical of simufilam’s purported mode of action and later of Cassava’s reports of improvements among its clinical trial participants. Following accusations in 2021 that Dr. Wang and Cassava may have manipulated data, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the National Institutes of Health began investigating the research. A committee convened by CUNY also began an investigation into Dr. Wang’s work and his lab’s finances over two decades. CUNY declined to comment on the document at the time but said it would formally release the report this month. Since then, critics have questioned the objectivity of the investigators and the veracity of their descriptions of Dr. Wang’s responses to the inquiry.

Persons: Wang, Wang’s, Burns Organizations: Securities and Exchange Commission, National Institutes of Health, CUNY, Science

☆ Covid Shots May Slightly Raise Stroke Risk in the Oldest Recipients
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | More About Apoorva Mandavilli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Covid vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna may be linked to a slight increase in the risk of stroke when administered along with a high-dose flu vaccine, according to a new analysis by the Food and Drug Administration. The high-dose flu vaccine is usually given to older people, and the risk association is clearest in adults aged 85 and older. But that increase, if real, seems very small, and it is possible that the risk may stem from the flu vaccine alone. A separate analysis by the agency points to a small increase in the incidence of seizures after Covid vaccinations in children ages 2 to 5. Flu and Covid themselves both raise the risk of stroke.

Organizations: Pfizer, BioNTech, Food and Drug Administration

Listen and follow The DailyApple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicOn Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. government recommended that almost every American begin taking a new annual vaccine for Covid, a milestone in the nation’s three-year battle against the virus. Apoorva Mandavilli, a science and global health reporter for The New York Times, explains why the era of booster shots is now over and how to navigate this latest uptick in infections.

Organizations: Spotify, The New York Times Locations: U.S

☆ Covid Continues to Rise, but Experts Remain Optimistic
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | More About Apoorva Mandavilli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Governor Kathy Hochul of New York has announced that the state will send high-quality masks and rapid tests to school districts that request them. But in interviews, experts offered reassurances that the country will not see a return to the nightmarish scenarios of previous years. And although hospitalizations and deaths are increasing week by week, the numbers remain low, noted Gigi Gronvall, a biosecurity expert at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Hospital admissions for Covid increased by about 16 percent in the week ending Aug. 26, compared with the previous week. But the 17,400 new admissions were less than half the number in the same period last year, and about one-fifth the number in 2021.

Persons: Jill Biden, Kathy Hochul, Gigi Gronvall, Gronvall Organizations: Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security Locations: New York, Kentucky, Texas

☆ Covid Closed the Nation’s Schools. Cleaner Air Can Keep Them Open.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-27 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | More About Apoorva Mandavilli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On a sunny afternoon in a cluttered music room at East High in Denver, two sophomores practiced violin while their music teacher, Keith Oxman, labored over a desk in an adjoining office. East High is Denver’s largest high school and among the oldest, and there is no modern ventilation system. As the pandemic broke out, Mr. Oxman, 65 and a cancer survivor, feared getting sick or carrying the virus to his 101-year-old father. So he left the school when it first closed, in March 2020, and did not return for more than a year, staying home during later virus surges. “But the windows don’t open.”Poorly ventilated spaces offer ideal transmission conditions for the coronavirus, and at the height of the pandemic, schools like East High were a searing point of controversy.

Persons: Keith Oxman, Oxman, ” Organizations: East High Locations: Denver

☆ Expert Panel Recommends New Options for H.I.V. Prevention
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | More About Apoorva Mandavilli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

An influential expert panel has given its highest recommendation to an expanded menu of H.I.V. prevention strategies for adults and adolescents, a move that will require private insurers to cover the drugs without a co-pay or deductible under the Affordable Care Act. The recommendation arrives as the Biden administration is fighting to preserve no-cost coverage of all preventive services under the A.C.A., after a Texas judge ruled the mandate to be unconstitutional. The ruling was aimed in particular at medications approved for use as pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP) to prevent H.I.V., arguing that requiring its coverage violated the religious rights of employers. In the new recommendations, published on Tuesday in JAMA, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force gave its highest or “grade A” recommendation to three medications approved for PrEP.

Persons: Biden Organizations: Affordable, U.S . Preventive Services Task Force, PrEP Locations: Texas, U.S

☆ Heat Singes the Mind, Not Just the Body
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | More About Apoorva Mandavilli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

If you find that the blistering, unrelenting heat is making you anxious and irritable, even depressed, it’s not all in your head. Soaring temperatures can damage not just the body but also the mind. As heat waves become more intense, more frequent and longer, it has become increasingly important to address the impact on mental health, scientists say. “It’s really only been over the past five years that there’s been a real recognition of the impact,” said Dr. Joshua Wortzel, chair of the American Psychiatric Association’s committee on climate change and mental health, which was set up just two years ago. “Our understanding of the basic biology of why this association exists is still in its infancy,” he added.

Persons: It’s, there’s, ”, Joshua Wortzel Organizations: Psychiatric

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