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☆ More than 300 people on one of Princess Cruises' ships fell ill and suffered from vomiting and diarrhea, CDC says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

More than 300 people became sick on one of Princess Cruises' ships, the CDC said. Princess Cruises said it was a "mild gastrointestinal illness" likely caused by norovirus. In a statement to Insider, Princess Cruises described the sickness as a "mild gastrointestinal illness." The company said it was likely caused by norovirus, a stomach bug that causes vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, and stomach pain. COVID-19 outbreaks occurred on many cruise ships during the pandemic.

☆ U.S. CDC issues advisory after confirmed measles case in Kentucky
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 3 (Reuters) - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday it was issuing a health alert advisory to notify clinics and public health officials to be watchful after a case of measles was confirmed at a large gathering in Kentucky. On Feb. 24, the Kentucky Department for Public Health identified a confirmed case of measles in an unvaccinated individual with a history of recent international travel, the CDC said. The CDC said doctors should consider measles as a diagnosis with anyone with clinically compatible symptoms. The agency also asked physicians to recommend measles, mumps and rubella shots for patients who are unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated. The advisory also recommends healthcare professionals to immediately notify local or state health departments about any suspected case of measles to ensure rapid testing following the CDC's testing recommendations.

Those who experience a "gray divorce" can still retire comfortably by making vital life decisions. Spousal support plays a key roleAfter you do your budgeting, you might realize that you have to live with a lot less. Whether you're the one giving spousal support or receiving it, that number will make a huge difference in your financial future. Depending on your state, spousal support may not continue past the retirement age for Social Security, Harounian added. So if you get divorced at 60, you may only receive or give spousal support for five more years.

☆ Not enough data to support multiple annual COVID boosters, U.S. CDC advisers say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Aditya Samal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A general view of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia September 30, 2014. The CDC advisers did not vote on new recommendations for how the COVID-19 shots should be administered on Friday. But ACIP advised showing flexibility in recommendations for those with compromised or weakened immune systems to allow more frequent doses for those most vulnerable to severe COVID. About 53.3 million people in the United States - around 16% of the U.S. population - have received a COVID-19 booster shot since updated versions of the vaccines were authorized in September. That compares with 230 million people, around 70% of the population, that received an initial two-dose series of the COVID vaccines.

☆ Analysis: Why public health officials are not panicked about bird flu
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Julie Steenhuysen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

They say the attributes that have made this virus thrive in wild birds likely make it less infectious to people. Although the exact changes required for a bird flu virus to become easily transmissible in people are not known, a pair of landmark studies done a decade ago offer some clues. Mink have both avian and human-type receptors, but avian receptors are scarce in humans and located deep in the lungs. That change is a must if a bird flu virus is to spread easily in people. None of the experts discounted the possibility that H5N1 or another avian flu virus could mutate and spark a pandemic, and many believe the world has not seen its last flu pandemic.

☆ Flu vaccine was 68% effective at preventing hospitalization in children but less protective for seniors this season
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Paquita Bonillo, 84 years old, receives the fourth dose of Covid-19 and flu vaccine in the garden of the Feixa Llarga nursing home on September 26, 2022 in Barcelona, Spain. The flu vaccine has been 68% effective at preventing hospitalizations in children but has been less protective for seniors this season, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The vaccine was 35% effective at preventing hospitalization for seniors in one study, and 42% effective in a second analysis. The flu hit early this season, as the weekly hospitalization rate peaked in December and has declined since then, according to CDC data. More than 100 children have died from the flu this season.

☆ Teen girls seeing 'dramatic' rise in poor mental health - U.S. CDC
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Nandhini Srinivasan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The data shows a "dramatic" rise in experiences of violence, poor mental health and suicide risk in teens, especially in girls, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control said on Monday. "The levels of poor mental health and suicidal thoughts and behaviors recorded by teenage girls are now higher than we have ever seen," said CDC's Kathleen Ethier told reporters. The current study did not examine the cause of the spike but the CDC noted there was also a 20% increase in reports of sexual violence among high school girls since 2017, when the agency started monitoring this measure. "CDC and many other researchers have looked at this and we know that with sexual violence, it is associated with mental health issues, substance use and also long-term health consequences," CDC's Debra Houry said. Overall, 42% of high school students felt so sad or hopeless almost every day for at least two weeks in a row that they stopped their usual activities.

HONG KONG, Feb 8 (Reuters) - The world should "calm down" about the possibility of new COVID-19 variants circulating in China, leading Chinese scientist George Gao said. "The world should completely calm down from the fear that there are new variants or special variants circulating (in China)," Gao, professor at the Institute of Microbiology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and former head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told Reuters. The variants causing infections in China were the same Omicron sub-variants - BA.5.2 and BF.7 - seen elsewhere in the world, he said by email. Gao said China was continuing widespread viral genomic sequencing, and would identify any new variants if they emerged. A total of 13 cases of variants were found, including 1 case of XBB.1, 5 cases of BQ.1.1, 1 case of BQ.1.1.17, 4 cases of BQ.1.2 and 2 cases of BQ.1.8.

☆ White House opposes bill to lift foreign air visitor vaccination rule
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - The White House said Tuesday it opposes legislation before Congress that would end a requirement that most foreign air travelers be vaccinated against COVID-19. Currently, adult visitors to the United States who are not citizens or permanent residents must show proof of vaccination before boarding their flight, with some limited exceptions. The White House plans to end the COVID public health emergency on May 11. "As we approach the end of the public health emergency, the administration will review all relevant policies, including this one," the White House said. In December, the United States imposed mandatory negative COVID test requirements on most travelers from China as COVID infections rocketed there.

☆ Kidney dialysis-related infection rates higher in U.S. minorities -report
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Nancy Lapid | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Feb 6 (Reuters) - Preventable bloodstream infections related to kidney failure treatment are more common in U.S. Patients whose kidney function falls below a certain level require a dialysis machine periodically to do the organs' work of cleansing the blood. The highest use of central venous catheters was seen in Black patients ages 18 to 49. Even after accounting for use of these catheters, the risk of S. aureus bloodstream infections was still higher in Hispanics than in whites. There were also more S. aureus bloodstream infections in areas with higher poverty, crowding, and lower education levels.

☆ U.S. House plans vote to end foreign air traveler COVID vaccine mandate
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives plans to vote next week on a bill that would end a requirement that most foreign air travelers be vaccinated against COVID-19, Majority Leader Steve Scalise said on Friday. Currently, adult visitors to the United States who are not citizens or permanent residents must show proof of vaccination before boarding their flight, with some limited exceptions. The CDC says vaccines continue to be the most important public health tool for fighting COVID-19 and recommends all travelers be vaccinated. The group says the United States "is the only country that still has this requirement for international visitors when there is no longer any public health justification." But in December, the United States imposed mandatory negative COVID-19 test requirements on most travelers from China as COVID infections rocketed there.

☆ FDA doesn't see increased risk of stroke for seniors who received Pfizer's omicron booster
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The CDC's Vaccine Safety Datalink, which monitors serious reactions to vaccines, showed a possible risk of stroke in late November. The FDA launched an extensive review of federal data after investigators at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention detected a possible risk of stroke for seniors who received Pfizer's booster. The Food and Drug Administration hasn't found an increased risk of stroke for seniors who've received Pfizer's omicron booster shot, a federal health official said Thursday. The FDA reviewed CMS data from 4.25 million seniors who received Pfizer's omicron booster and did not identify any increased stroke risk. The Department of Veterans Affairs has also conducted preliminary review of its database and did not identify an increased stroke risk, Forshee said.

☆ Updated Covid boosters cut the infection risk from XBB.1.5 subvariant by half, CDC finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Berkeley-Lovelace-Jr.Jpg | Berkeley Lovelace Jr. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

The updated Covid boosters reduce the risk of Covid infection from the predominant omicron subvariant by nearly half, according to early data published Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The findings are “quite reassuring,” Dr. Brendan Jackson, the head of the CDC’s Covid response, said on a call with reporters Wednesday. As of last Wednesday, only about 15% of people in the U.S. had received an updated booster, according to CDC data. People who were vaccinated but had not received the updated booster were compared to those who got the updated booster in the previous two to three months. People who got the updated boosters are probably "much more likely to wear masks indoors or restrain their travel or not go to indoor restaurants," he said.

Health officials in Tennessee say they will reject federal funding for groups that provide services to residents living with HIV. He is concerned that Tennessee health officials are setting a dangerous precedent. Millet said that the CDC provides Tennessee as much as $10 million in HIV funding. "We have not received any official notification from the Tennessee Department of Health withdrawing from CDC's HIV prevention funding," the CDC said. Follow NBC HEALTH on Twitter & Facebook.

WASHINGTON, Jan 17 (Reuters) - The Justice Department on Tuesday asked an appeals court panel to reverse an April 2021 ruling that declared unlawful a government order requiring masks on airplanes, buses, trains, ridesharing services and at airports and other transportation hubs. The CDC issued the sweeping mask mandate in January 2021, days after Joe Biden became president. A report from U.S. lawmakers in October said the Trump administration in 2020 blocked the CDC from adopting a federal transportation mask mandate. "This is not about an urgent matter of public health," Hadaway told the court. He argued that had the CDC believed the issue was a "matter of life and death" the agency would have sought a faster ruling.

☆ U.S. FDA, CDC see early signal of Pfizer bivalent COVID shot's link to stroke
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 13 (Reuters) - A safety monitoring system flagged that U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and German partner BioNTech's updated COVID-19 shot could be linked to a type of brain stroke in older adults, according to preliminary data analyzed by U.S. health authorities. An ischemic stroke, also known as brain ischemia, is caused by blockages in arteries that carry blood to the brain. "Although the totality of the data currently suggests that it is very unlikely that the signal in VSD (Vaccine Safety Datalink) represents a true clinical risk, we believe it is important to share this information with the public," the health authorities said. Pfizer and BioNTech said in a statement that they have been made aware of limited reports of ischemic strokes in people 65 and older following vaccination with their updated shot. This safety concern has not been identified with Moderna's (MRNA.O) bivalent shot and both the CDC and FDA continue to recommend that everyone aged 6 months and older stay up-to-date with their COVID-19 vaccination.

☆ CDC says it’s ‘very unlikely’ Pfizer booster carries stroke risk for seniors after launching review
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A CDC spokesperson said this issue was first detected in late November. By mid-December, the CDC concluded the concern was persisting and launched an investigation into whether seniors are more likely to have a stroke in the first 21 days after receiving the Pfizer booster, the spokesperson said. The VSD monitoring system found that 130 people ages 65 and older had a stroke within 21 days of receiving the Pfizer omicron booster among about 550,000 seniors who received the shot, the CDC spokesperson said. No other surveillance system has detected a similar safety concern for the Pfizer booster so far, according to the CDC. The CDC has not changed its recommendation for the Pfizer omicron shot.

Childhood vaccinations across the U.S fallen for a second year in a row, leaving hundreds of thousands of kids vulnerable to otherwise preventable illnesses. But fears stoked by vaccine misinformation have also been a growing problem, O'Leary said. "We're still trying to understand the extent to which misinformation around Covid vaccines has spread to misinformation about other childhood vaccines," he said. In a December interview, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC's director, told NBC News that vaccine misinformation is one of the biggest threats to public health. About a third of kids ages 5 through 11 have had two doses of a Covid vaccine.

☆ Nearly 250,000 kindergarteners in U.S. are vulnerable to measles due to slide in vaccination rates, CDC says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

"And we know that measles, mumps and rubella vaccination coverage for kindergarteners is the lowest it has been in over a decade," Peacock said. Nearly a quarter of a million kindergartners are potentially vulnerable to measles due to a dip in vaccination coverage during the pandemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Kindergarteners are required to be vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella, chickenpox, polio, and diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis. The vaccination rates for measles, mumps and rubella was 93.5% during the 2021-2022 school year, below the target coverage of 95% to prevent outbreaks. The CDC report looked at whether the kindergarteners had received the second dose of their measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.

☆ Pandemic curbs linked to early start to Europe's winter flu season
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Natalie Grover | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

This winter, health officials have warned of what has been dubbed a tripledemic of influenza, RSV and continued COVID-19 cases, adding to the pressure on over-burdened health services. In Wales, for instance, there were 111.6 confirmed RSV cases per 100,000 in children aged under five in the week ending Nov. 27. In the week ended Dec 18, European cases rose 7% over the week prior, according to ECDC figures. But scientists are concerned that social interaction during the festive season could lead to further increases in respiratory infections, especially as people meet vulnerable elderly relatives. As an added complication, viral respiratory infections can predispose patients to bacterial infections, just when some common antibiotics that can treat them are in short supply in Europe.

☆ U.S. records 100 million Covid cases, but more than 200 million Americans have probably had it
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

The U.S. officially recorded more than 100 million cases as of Tuesday, just under one-third of the total population, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Covid-19 has easily infected more than 200 million in the U.S. alone since the beginning of the pandemic — some people more than once. "There are have been at least 200 million infections in the U.S., so this is a small portion of them," Frieden said. The estimate was based on a survey of commercial lab data that found about 58% of Americans had antibodies as a result of a Covid infection. The more than 21 million additional confirmed cases on top of the CDC's February estimate of about 187 million total infections gives a low-end estimate of more than 208 million infections since the pandemic began.

☆ Drug overdose deaths among teenagers surged during the pandemic driven by illicit fentanyl
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Drug overdose deaths among adolescents surged during the Covid-19 pandemic, driven overwhelmingly by illicit fentanyl, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Monthly drug overdose deaths nearly tripled among adolescents ages 10 to 19 during the first two years of the pandemic. But illegally manufactured fentanyl, often consumed as a pill, has become an increasingly common cause of overdose deaths. There was evidence that 25% of adolescent overdose deaths may have involved counterfeit pills that often resemble OxyContin or Xanax but frequently include fentanyl as well. Teens should also be educated about the potential presence of illicit fentanyl in pills that may resemble prescription drugs.

Experts recommend isolating first, then taking at least two rapid tests, spaced a day or two apart. But if you don't use rapid tests in the right way at the right time, they won't provide accurate results. According to early studies from the UK and the US Food and Drug Administration, rapid tests still work. If you're planning to mingle, take a rapid test just as you arrive, not hours beforeA rapid COVID-19 test, the Abbott BinaxNow, administered by a health department in Livingston, Montana. 'One layer of reducing risk'A 4-year-old gets a rapid COVID-19 test in Palos Verdes Estates, California, on August 24.

The updated Covid booster shot is proving to be effective at keeping people — especially older adults — out of the hospital, according to two new studies published Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Full coverage of the Covid-19 pandemicBoth studies looked at the impact the updated Covid booster shot has had since it was first recommended by the CDC on Sept. 1. Those who had received the updated booster were 84% less likely to be hospitalized with Covid, compared with people who had never had the Covid vaccine. The effectiveness was nearly identical — 83% — for people who had their last Covid shot more than a year ago. "There are 28 million people over the age of 65 that are eligible for this updated booster shot but haven’t gotten it," Link-Gelles said.

The vast majority are either unvaccinated or have received just one of the two recommended doses of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, according to City of Columbus Public Health. The outbreak, the largest in the U.S. since 2019, is happening as resistance to school vaccination requirements is spreading across the country. The percentage of parents who said they were against vaccination requirements for school was even higher. "As I think about the challenges that we have to public health vaccine, misinformation is among the biggest threats," she said. "Here in Ohio, we have some pretty active anti-vaccine groups," said Tara Smith, a professor of epidemiology at the Kent State University College of Public Health.

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