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The good news is that recent data suggests a decline in overdose deaths, the first significant drop in decades. Skyrocketing overdose deaths are nearly unavoidable, regardless of whether a state enforces tough penalties for drug possession or decriminalizes it. Since 2021, at least two-thirds of America’s 100,000 annual overdose deaths involved a synthetic opioid like fentanyl. Overdose deaths in the Northeast Deaths per 100,000 people Looking at regional overdose deaths shows this pattern clearly. It’s not coincidental that the exponential rise in overdose deaths has occurred in tandem with a profound increase in income inequality.

Persons: bartenders, skyrockets, didn’t Organizations: for Disease Control, National Forensic Laboratory Locations: East Coast, United States, America, East, Mississippi, Texas, Idaho, Oregon, New York City, Chicago, Rural West Virginia, Florida, West, U.S, Mexico

☆ Beryl Live Updates: Over a Million in Texas Under a Hurricane Warning
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-07 | by ( Kate Selig | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +9 min

On June 19, Tropical Storm Alberto, which formed in the Gulf of Mexico, became the first named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. If you live in a coastal area, it’s important to be familiar with community evacuation plans, evacuation zones and evacuation routes. “When it comes to hurricane and storm preparation, now is always the right time.”Protect your documents and valuables. Most homeowners’ policies do not cover flood damage, and flood insurance policies generally take 30 days to become effective. Move pantry items and a supply of bottled water to high, secure shelves, so they will be safer from floodwaters.

Persons: Alberto, Deanna Frazier, Hurricane Harvey, ”, Alberto Moscoso, Kit, Mr, Acree, Dorian, Ramon Espinosa, Johnny Diaz Organizations: Tropical, Atmospheric Administration, New York Times, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Florida Division, Emergency Management, Social, Drug Administration, Disease Control Locations: Gulf of Mexico, Pacific, Wirecutter, Texas, Boquerón

On June 19, Tropical Storm Alberto, which formed in the Gulf of Mexico, became the first named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. “When it comes to hurricane and storm preparation, now is always the right time.”Protect your documents and valuables. Most homeowners’ policies do not cover flood damage, and flood insurance policies generally take 30 days to become effective. Move pantry items and a supply of bottled water to high, secure shelves, so they will be safer from floodwaters. Board up your windows to prevent leaks and broken glass, and, where necessary, secure doors with storm shutters.

☆ New Covid Shots Recommended for Americans 6 Months and Older This Fall
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-27 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

All Americans ages 6 months and older should receive one of the new Covid-19 vaccines when they become available this fall, scientific advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday. The recommendation comes as the nation faces a summer wave of Covid, with the number of infections rising in at least 39 states and territories. Most Americans have acquired layers of immunity against the coronavirus from repeat infections or vaccine doses, or both. The vaccines now offer an incremental boost, remaining effective for only a few months as immunity wanes and the virus continues to evolve. Still, across every age group, a vast majority of Americans who were hospitalized for Covid did not receive one of the shots offered last fall, according to data presented at a meeting of the C.D.C.’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

Persons: Covid Organizations: Centers for Disease Control

☆ Heat-Related Illnesses Spiked in Some Regions This Week, C.D.C. Data Shows
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-22 | by ( Kate Selig | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Heat-related emergency room visits spiked this week in regions of the United States that had been hit the hardest by the heat wave, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Across swaths of New England, the Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic states, there were “extremely high” rates of heat-related illnesses this week, the C.D.C.’s heat and health tracker showed. The data used emergency room visits associated with the heat to determine the rise in heat-related illnesses, showing which areas had visits that exceeded the 95th percentile of what is typical there. In New England, the number of visits climbed from 57 per 100,000 on Monday, the first day of the heat wave, to 833 on Thursday — the highest rate in the country all week. Caribou, Maine, reached 96 degrees this week, tying the highest temperature ever recorded there.

Organizations: Centers for Disease Control Locations: United States, New England, Midwest, In New England, Boston, Hartford, Conn, Caribou , Maine

☆ A.D.H.D. Startup Executives Accused of $100 Million Fraud in Adderall Scheme
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-13 | by ( Dani Blum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Tens of thousands of patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder nationwide could face disruptions to their care after two executives of a major telehealth company that distributed A.D.H.D. The Department of Justice announced on Thursday that the chief executive and the clinical president of Done, the telehealth company, had been arrested and accused of participating in a scheme to distribute Adderall and other stimulants for A.D.H.D. to patients who did not need the medications, and to bill insurers for these drugs. The charges come amid ongoing shortages of Adderall and another stimulant, Vyvanse. said that as many as 50,000 patients across the nation who rely on Done or similar telehealth platforms to obtain stimulant medications may be affected.

Persons: General Merrick B, Garland Organizations: of Justice, Centers for Disease Control

☆ A Second Dairy Worker Has Contracted Bird Flu, C.D.C. Reports
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | Emily Anthes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A farmworker in Michigan has been diagnosed with bird flu, state officials announced on Wednesday, making it the second human case associated with the outbreak in cows. Officials said that the individual became infected with the virus, called H5N1, after exposure to infected livestock. They did not provide additional details in order to protect the privacy of the farm and farmworker, they said. In 2022, a person in Colorado with direct exposure to infected poultry became the first confirmed human case of H5N1 in the United States. The detection of this latest case did not suggest that bird flu was widespread in people, officials said, adding that the risk to the general public remained low.

Persons: — Organizations: Centers for Disease Control, Prevention Locations: Michigan, Colorado, United States, Texas

☆ C.D.C. Warns of a Resurgence of Mpox
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

With Pride events scheduled worldwide over the coming weeks, U.S. officials are bracing for a return of mpox, the infectious disease formerly called monkeypox that struck tens of thousands of gay and bisexual men worldwide in 2022. A combination of behavioral changes and vaccination quelled that outbreak, but a majority of those at risk have not yet been immunized. On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned of a deadlier version of mpox that is ravaging the Democratic Republic of Congo and urged people at risk to be vaccinated as soon as possible. But the escalating epidemic in Congo nevertheless poses a global threat, just as infections in Nigeria set off the 2022 outbreak, experts said. Dr. Rimoin has studied mpox in Congo for more than 20 years, and first warned of its potential for global spread in 2010.

Persons: ”, Anne Rimoin, Rimoin Organizations: Centers for Disease Control, Democratic, University of California Locations: Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa, Congo, Nigeria, Los Angeles

☆ Opinion | ‘There Are Layers of Mistrust and Fear’
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-15 | by ( Jyoti Thottam | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The editorial board and our colleagues in Times Opinion met on Monday with Dr. Mandy Cohen, who became the director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last year. Dr. Cohen was the top public health official in North Carolina during the Covid pandemic, winning praise for working with Gov. to be prepared for the next big public health challenge “in a disease-agnostic way,” rather than focusing on a specific threat, like avian flu, dengue or an as yet unknown pathogen. ?” The first is to be ready to respond no matter the health threat — that might be something like avian flu or it might be something like drowning. We are really planning as one team in a disease-agnostic way.

Persons: Mandy Cohen, Cohen, Roy Cooper Organizations: Centers for Disease Control, Gov Locations: North Carolina, C.D.C

☆ Heat-Related E.R. Visits Rose in 2023, C.D.C. Study Finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Noah Weiland | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

What the Numbers Say: People in the South were especially affected by serious heat illness. The researchers used data on emergency room visits from an electronic surveillance program used by states and the federal government to detect the spread of diseases. They compiled the number of heat-related emergency room visits in different regions of the country and compared them to data from the previous five years. Nearly 120,000 heat-related emergency room visits were recorded in the surveillance program last year, with more than 90 percent of them occurring between May and September, the researchers found. Heat illness often occurs gradually over the course of hours, and it can cause major damage to the body’s organs.

Locations: Arkansas , Louisiana, New Mexico , Oklahoma, Texas

☆ 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

☆ U.S. Measles Cases Surpass 2023 Levels, C.D.C. Says
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-22 | by ( Dani Blum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

There have now been 64 measles cases in the United States this year, surpassing the total of 58 cases in all of 2023, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But health experts said the milestone is a distressing reminder that even though there is an effective vaccine against the virus, measles remains a persistent threat to public health. What’s driving the spread of measlesDoctors say there are several factors contributing to the spread of measles, cases of which have climbed across the globe in recent years. Many cases reported in the United States this year were linked to international travel, according to the C.D.C., as travel destinations such as Britain, Austria and the Philippines have had outbreaks. Many of the people in the United States who have been infected have been unvaccinated children age 12 months and older.

Persons: ”, Demetre Daskalakis Organizations: Centers for Disease Control, National Center Locations: United States, Britain, Austria, Philippines

☆ The Fourth Anniversary of the Covid Pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( David Leonhardt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Shortly after noon Eastern on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared Covid — or “the coronavirus,” then the more popular term — to be a global pandemic. The worst pandemic in a century had begun. Today, on the unofficial fourth anniversary, I’ll update you on where things stand. The true tollCovid’s confirmed death toll — more than seven million people worldwide — is horrific on its own, and the true toll is much worse. The Economist magazine keeps a running estimate of excess deaths, defined as the number of deaths above what was expected from pre-Covid trends.

Persons: Covid, ”, Stocks, Donald Trump, Tom Hanks Organizations: World Health Organization, Economist

☆ 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

☆ Alcohol-Related Deaths Surge to Nearly 500 a Day, C.D.C. Says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Christina Jewett | Jan Hoffman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The Latest NewsAlcohol-related deaths surged in the United States by nearly 30 percent in recent years, with roughly 500 Americans dying each day in 2021, according to a new study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study chronicled a sustained spike in drinking during the Covid pandemic that continued to rise after the shock of the lockdowns of 2020. The incidence of alcohol-related deaths was higher in men, but among women the death rate shot up at a quicker pace. “I think the results of this research are really alarming,” said Dr. Michael Siegel, who is a professor of public health at Tufts University School of Medicine and was not involved in the study. “It shows that there’s been a truly substantial increase in alcohol-related deaths over the last six years.”

Persons: ”, Michael Siegel, there’s Organizations: Centers for Disease Control, Tufts University School of Medicine Locations: United States

☆ 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

☆ C.D.C. Investigating Gastrointestinal Illness on Luxury Cruise Ship
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Johnny Diaz | More About Johnny Diaz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating an outbreak on a luxury cruise ship after more than 150 people reported symptoms of gastrointestinal illness, including diarrhea and vomiting. The ship, the Queen Victoria, operated by Cunard Line, departed Southampton, England, on Jan. 11 on a 107-night cruise that included recent stops in Florida and San Francisco, according to the company’s website. said that, as of Thursday, 129 passengers and 25 crew members had reported being ill on the ship. The agency said 1,824 passengers and 967 crew members were aboard at the time of the outbreak. In a statement, Cunard Line, which is based in Southampton, said that “a number of guests had reported symptoms of gastrointestinal illness” on the ship, which arrived in San Francisco on Tuesday after stops in Mexico, Guatemala, Panama and Aruba.

Persons: Queen Victoria Organizations: Disease Control, Cunard Line, Cunard Locations: Southampton, England, Florida, San Francisco, Honolulu, Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Aruba

☆ Dairy Products Are Linked to Listeria Outbreak
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Lola Fadulu | More About Lola Fadulu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Listeria infection is the third leading cause of death from food-borne illness in the United States, according to the C.D.C. Two of the people sickened in the outbreak were pregnant, and one lost the pregnancy, according to the investigation. Two others who fell ill were newborns. The median age of those who fell ill was 52. “In addition, recent illnesses may not yet be reported as it usually takes three to four weeks to determine if a sick person is part of an outbreak.”

Persons: “ Organizations: López Locations: United States

☆ 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

☆ California and Oregon Ease Covid Isolation Rules, Breaking With C.D.C.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-21 | by ( Shawn Hubler | Adeel Hassan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

From the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, it has been doctor’s orders in this country: If you test positive, stay away from other people, even if you aren’t coughing or feverish. In recent months, however, that rule has been relaxed in two of the unlikeliest places. The new approach has been greeted with trepidation by some health experts in the United States, especially as wastewater data shows a surge in cases driven by a new variant. But many scientists say that Covid has transitioned from a public health crisis into more of a featured virus among an array of respiratory risks. Covid-19 is endemic,” said Dr. Melissa Sutton, medical director for respiratory viral pathogens at the Oregon Health Authority.

Persons: ”, Melissa Sutton, “ Organizations: for Disease Control, Oregon Health Authority Locations: Oregon, California, United States

☆ ‘Medical Freedom’ Activists Take Aim at New Target: Childhood Vaccine Mandates
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( Sheryl Gay Stolberg | More About Sheryl Gay Stolberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Similar legal challenges have been filed in the five remaining states: California, Connecticut, Maine, New York and West Virginia. A few childhood vaccines, including those that protect against chickenpox and rubella, were developed with cells obtained from aborted fetuses in the early 1960s. The legal push comes as childhood vaccine exemptions have reached a new high in the United States, according to a report released last month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Idaho had the highest rate of exemptions, at 12.1 percent, while West Virginia had the lowest, at less than one-tenth of 1 percent. A broad majority of Americans continue to believe in the value of childhood vaccines.

Organizations: Centers for Disease Control, Pew Research Center Locations: Mississippi, California , Connecticut, Maine , New York, West Virginia, United States, Idaho

☆ U.S. Life Expectancy Creeps Up as Covid Deaths Fall
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Emily Anthes | More About Emily Anthes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The rise represents a slow and partial recovery for the country, which tallied more than 1.1 million Covid-19 deaths and lost 2.4 years in life expectancy between 2019 and 2021. In 2022, life expectancy at birth was 77.5 years, compared with 76.4 years in 2021. A fall in Covid-19 deaths accounts for more than 80 percent of that increase. In 2019, before the pandemic, life expectancy at birth was 78.8. Drops in deaths from heart disease, unintentional injuries (a category that includes traffic deaths and drug overdoses), cancer and homicide also contributed to the rise in life expectancy, the C.D.C.

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

☆ Beside Ramaswamy, a Doctor Who Listens More and Debates Less
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( Anjali Huynh | More About Anjali Huynh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

“For my young, healthy husband, that’s a different decision than for me when I am taking care of patients who are cancer survivors, and they trust me to be in their airway every day,” she told NBC News. “Giving people that autonomy is the most important part.”More recently, when asked if she recommended that others receive the vaccination, in accordance with C.D.C. guidance, she carefully sidestepped the question: “I recommend that people make their decisions based on the risks and benefits that have been published — and the risks and benefits should be investigated in a fair and balanced manner.” She later said that their children were not vaccinated against Covid-19. She also expressed disbelief at the strong reactions to Mr. Ramaswamy from some who might have been expected to share similar views. “What has been surprising is that people have, in the Republican Party themselves, had such an allergic reaction to someone who is an independent thinker, who actually represents a lot of what the Republican Party — in terms of the people who vote conservative — what we believe,” she said.

Persons: that’s, ”, Ramaswamy, I’m, Nikki Haley, Dick Cheney, Haley’s, “ Organizations: NBC News, Covid, Republican Party, Republican, Committee

☆ Measles Cases Climb Across the Globe
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Dani Blum | More About Dani Blum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The report captures the continued burden of measles, one of the world’s most contagious diseases. In 2022, there were an estimated nine million measles cases and 136,000 deaths, according to the report. Vaccination is highly effective at stopping the spread of measles, and preventing people from getting sick if exposed to the virus. The measles vaccine, which experts say is ideally delivered in childhood, also includes protection against two other infectious diseases, mumps and rubella. Low-income countries had the lowest vaccination rates, with only 66 percent of children receiving their first dose, and the highest risk of death from measles.

Persons: Cynthia Hatcher Organizations: World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control Locations: Africa, Southeast Asia

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