WASHINGTON — A first-of-its-kind drug for hepatitis B is letting some patients stop treatment without showing signs of the dangerous liver vir…
Africa's top public health body confirms a new Ebola outbreak in Congo's Ituri province. There are 246 suspected cases and 65 deaths so far. Uganda also reports one death from a case it says was imported from neighboring Congo. Most cases are in Mongwalu and Rwampara health zones. The Africa CDC says preliminary tests suggest a non-Ebola Zaire strain. Uganda's Health Ministry confirms the imported case and has quarantined contacts. The WHO is sending aid and funds to help Congo's response. The outbreak is the 17th in Congo since 1976 and raises concerns due to its proximity to Uganda and South Sudan.
Oceanwide Expeditions has revealed that 30 passengers disembarked from its cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak on April 24. They left the ship on the remote island of St. Helena, nearly two weeks after the first passenger died. The company had previously said that a Dutch man's body was removed there, and that his wife also disembarked. She later died in South Africa. Authorities across four continents are tracing contacts of passengers who left the ship. Three passengers have died in the outbreak, and several others are sick. Argentina's Health Ministry tells The Associated Press that a team of investigators has yet to leave for the southern town they suspect is where a Dutch couple contracted the virus.
San Mateo County Health is working with Santa Clara County Public Health to notify the public of a confirmed case of measles after an adult wh…
San Mateo County Health is reporting the flu-related death of an adolescent patient in December, the second flu-related death in the county th…
A bat found Oct. 24, near the Little People’s Park playground at Portola Valley Town Center, has tested positive for rabies, according to San …
A recent study of schoolchildren finds that the youngest students harbor the most germs. Researchers looked at nasal swabs and symptom reports of more than 800 students and staff in Kansas City, Missouri. Kids in pre-kindergarten and elementary school had the highest rates of virus detection compared with older students and staff. The pre-K kids, ages 3 to 5, had the highest rates of actual illness, too. Young children can have up to 10 respiratory viruses as their immune systems are introduced to different infections for the first time. Those viruses include colds, flu and more.
COVID-19 activity is rising in much of the country. Data shows overall respiratory virus spread is very low in the U.S. But COVID-19 is rising in most states, with more people of all ages going to emergency rooms because of it. The stratus variant is most common. It can cause a "razor blade" sore throat and is considered a "variant under monitoring" by the World Health Organization, but it is only marginally better at evading people's immune systems. Flu and RSV activity remain very low. Doctors say hot summer weather can drive people indoors where respiratory viruses like to spread.
COVID-19 activity is rising in much of the country. Data released Friday by federal health officials shows overall respiratory virus spread is low. But COVID-19 is rising in many states in the mid-Atlantic, the South, the southeast and on the West Coast. More people of all ages are going to emergency rooms because of COVID-19. Flu and RSV activity remain very low. Doctors say hot summer weather can drive people indoors where respiratory viruses like to spread.
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s new vaccine advisory panel plans to revisit long-settled questions about childhood vaccines. On Wednesday, the new committee announced it would be looking into the childhood vaccine schedule and into specific shots like the hepatitis B and MMR-chickenpox combination. Pediatricians and scientists are expressing alarm. The American Academy of Pediatrics criticized the committee, calling its process "no longer credible." The panel also discussed COVID-19 vaccines and shots that protect infants from RSV.
