Category Archives: Health

Health

2 Utah children identified in worldwide hepatitis investigation

Leave a comment

States with children under investigation for hepatitis up to May 18 are shown in a map. Health officials have identified two Utah children diagnosed with hepatitis “with no known cause” as part of a worldwide investigation that began in the U.S. last winter. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

SALT LAKE CITY — Health officials have identified two Utah children diagnosed with hepatitis “with no known cause” as part of a worldwide investigation that began in the U.S. last winter.

The Utah children, under age 10, were hospitalized with serious liver illness and have since recovered, the Utah Department of Health and Human Services said.

Hepatitis causes liver inflammation that can lead to severe illness, health officials noted. The condition is similar to that seen in children in other states.

“There are many causes of hepatitis, but evaluation of these children did not find a clear source. While rare, children do get hepatitis and we don’t always know the cause,” State Epidemiologist Dr. Leisha Nolen said in a statement.

“We are working with local health care providers, public health departments, and (the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) to understand if these children became sick because of the same factors causing increased hepatitis in children across many parts of the world. We encourage providers to report any suspect cases to public health for further investigation.”

According to the CDC, the investigation began when five children at an Alabama hospital were diagnosed with hepatitis. They each tested negative for hepatitis A, hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses, but tested positive for adenovirus. Another review of records at the hospital identified four more patients who had both hepatitis and adenovirus infections, the CDC said.

As of May 18, the most recent update by the CDC, 36 states and territories reported a combined total of 180 pediatric patient cases under investigation over the past seven months, many of which occurred many months ago. The proportion of patients requiring liver transplants due to the disease stands at 9%.

Utah health officials said though the cause of the local cases remains unclear, data suggests they may also be related to an adenovirus type 41 infection, which causes mild colds or stomach illnesses. The two Utah cases were identified by doctors and reported to public health officials.

Six children in the U.S. have died due to the disease, as of the latest CDC report, according to USA Today.

“No further information about the cases will be provided to protect patient confidentiality,” the Utah health department said.

“We understand parents may be concerned. Call your child’s health care provider if you’re worried about their health or symptoms they may be having,” Nolen said.

Common symptoms of liver inflammation are fever, fatigue, nausea, loss of appetite, stomach pain, vomiting, dark-colored urine, light-colored stools, joint pain and yellowing of the skin. Ways to protect children and others include frequent hand-washing, covering coughs and sneezes, staying home when sick and keeping up to date on vaccinations, health officials said.

Related stories

A lifelong Utahn, Ashley Imlay covers state politics and breaking news for KSL.com.

More stories you may be interested in

Read original article here

Health

US is offering vaccines to certain people exposed to monkeypox. Here’s what you should knoww

Leave a comment

Vaccines for monkeypox are now available to some health care workers treating infected people.

“I’m happy to report, even with the first case in Boston at Massachusetts General Hospital, our colleagues across the government have been able to get vaccines to that hospital. And just yesterday they’ve already started offering the vaccines to health care workers who have been exposed,” Dr. Raj Panjabi, who leads the White House’s monkeypox response, told CNN’s Laura Coates on Monday night.

“The first part is to identify those who are infected and to isolate them and make sure that they get the care they need,” Panjabi said. “The second part is to ensure we vaccinate those who’ve been exposed to the infected individuals. If we do that again and again — and that’s our approach at the White House and across the government — then we have a better chance of ending this outbreak.”

A senior Biden administration official said Tuesday that, in general, small clusters of people who have been exposed to a monkeypox patient with symptoms could be offered vaccination — but this is not a mass vaccination effort.

In the United States, the Jynneos vaccine, given as two doses four weeks apart, is licensed to prevent smallpox and monkeypox in adults.

“Because monkeypox virus is closely related to the virus that causes smallpox, the smallpox vaccine can protect people from getting monkeypox,” the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website says. “Smallpox and monkeypox vaccines are effective at protecting people against monkeypox when given before exposure to monkeypox. Experts also believe that vaccination after a monkeypox exposure may help prevent the disease or make it less severe.”

Scientists have known for years that smallpox vaccines can be effective in preventing monkeypox, too. The variola virus that causes smallpox and the monkeypox virus belong to the same family.

“The viruses come from the same family of viruses, and what we’ve seen in prior monkeypox outbreaks is that vaccinating contacts does abort infection or attenuate infection in those individuals with monkeypox,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security at the Bloomberg School of Public Health.

But don’t expect a large-scale rollout of vaccines.

“I think that we will need to use vaccinations in contacts of cases. This isn’t something where everybody lines up and gets vaccinated,” Adalja said of the current outbreak. “That’s going to be critical to stopping cases.”

What vaccines could work against monkeypox?

The senior administration official said Tuesday that there’s sufficient vaccine to cover the United States’ current level of cases.

“Right now, we have over 1,000 doses of [Jynneos] available, and we expect that level to ramp up very quickly in the coming weeks as the company provides more doses to us,” Dr. Jennifer McQuiston, deputy director of the Division of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology within the CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, said Monday.

The CDC estimates that the vaccine is at least 85% effective in preventing monkeypox, based on data from Africa.

Another vaccine, called ACAM2000, is licensed in the United States to prevent smallpox. Although the vaccine could be used to prevent monkeypox, it is not licensed for that.

The United States has more than 100 million doses of ACAM2000, McQuiston said.

“ACAM2000 is an older-generation smallpox vaccine that has some potential significant side effects with it,” she said. “So a decision to use that widely would have to have some serious discussion behind it.”

ACAM2000 is a live virus vaccine — and once the shot is given, a lesion will develop at that site. Because the virus grows at the site of the lesion, it can spread to other parts of the body or even to other people, according to the CDC, which is why people who get ACAM2000 “must take precautions” to prevent the spread.

In comparison, the Jynneos vaccine is given as a live virus that is non-replicating. That means there is no visible “take” and, as a result, no risk of viral spread, according to the CDC. Some common vaccine side effects include pain at the injection site, muscle pain, headache or fatigue.

Who should get vaccinated against monkeypox?

Most people won’t be vaccinated against monkeypox. It’s based on direct exposure.

The CDC’s Advisory Committee and Immunization Practices voted last year to recommend vaccination for select groups at risk for monkeypox and other related viruses due to their occupations. That could include research lab personnel and health care workers, for instance, who treat infected people.

Amid the global outbreak, World Health Organization officials plan to make recommendations on who should be prioritized to receive a smallpox vaccination to lower their risk of monkeypox.

“We will be making recommendations on who should be prioritized for this,” Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonoses lead and technical lead on Covid-19, said during a social media Q&A Monday.

“This is not something that everybody needs. It is a virus that is spreading between people who are coming in close contact with those who are cases,” Van Kerkhove said. “We really need to discuss evidence-based use of these measures, access and equity.”

Andy Seale, strategies adviser for the WHO Department of Global HIV, Hepatitis and STI Programmes, added that vaccinations should be considered for countries where monkeypox is endemic, which are in West and Central Africa.

“Communities are already saying to us, ‘if we get this right, if we contain this, if we get the access right for the outbreak, we have to do this for the endemic countries as well,’ ” Seale said.

Can someone get vaccinated after being exposed to monkeypox?

Vaccination after exposure to monkeypox virus can still offer some protection, according to the CDC.

“That’s the norm. We usually don’t do vaccination of everybody beforehand. We use vaccination as post-exposure prophylaxis,” Adalja said.

“Because monkeypox has a long incubation period, just like smallpox — it’s 12 days or so, on average, for monkeypox — you can intervene with a vaccine in an exposed person, and it will abort the infection,” he said. “Or if you do get an infection, maybe it gets to them really late or late in the incubation period, it makes the infection less severe.”

But the sooner an exposed person gets the vaccine, the better. The CDC recommends giving the vaccine within four days of exposure in order to prevent illness. If it’s given between four and 14 days of exposure, vaccination may reduce the symptoms but may not prevent the disease itself.

Overall, people who have been exposed to the monkeypox virus and have not gotten the vaccine within the past three years should consider getting vaccinated, according to the CDC.

Will a smallpox vaccination protect against monkeypox?

There probably is some “remnant” of protection against monkeypox for adults who were vaccinated against smallpox as children, Adalja said, but it may not be full protection.

“The smallpox vaccination program ended in the 1970s in the United States. Obviously, if someone is in the US military and they got vaccinated last year, I’m sure they’re completely protected,” Adalja said. “But people who got vaccinated as children in the era when smallpox was a routine childhood vaccination, they may have some residual immunity.”

The senior Biden administration official said Tuesday that, theoretically, there is some protection offered from a previous smallpox vaccination, but there is not good evidence on how much protection — and that protection could wane over time.

Has the monkeypox virus changed with this outbreak?

The official said that it doesn’t seem like anything has changed about the biology of the monkeypox virus and that the chances of contracting it are still very low for the general public.

WHO officials have not found evidence of the monkeypox virus changing or mutating in this outbreak. Therefore, there is no evidence to suggest that the licensed vaccines won’t work against the currently circulating virus.

“It’s a very stable virus. So we don’t yet have evidence that there’s mutation in the virus itself,” Rosamund Lewis, head of smallpox secretariat at WHO Emergencies Programme, said during the Q&A on Monday.

“We are beginning to collect that information,” Lewis added. “We will be convening our groups of virologists and other experts who will discuss this very question based on the sequence of the genome of some of the cases that are being detected.”

That is a “key question” that is important to answer, said Dr. Daniel Rhoads, co-chair of the College of American Pathologists Microbiology Committee.

“Did something change with the biology, or is this just an unusual situation that hasn’t happened before or we haven’t recognized it before? I think anytime there’s a change in geography for these endemic diseases, that’s a key question,” said Rhoads, a pathologist at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

“Whenever we see a new infection or an infection transmitted in what seems to be a new way, I always wonder, is this just something we haven’t recognized before that’s always been around? Or is this an actual biological change, which would be due to a mutation in the virus? I don’t know,” Rhoads said.

“My guess is, once they sequence the virus causing the current outbreak, they’ll be able to compare it to known sequences, and then hopefully we’ll have some insight as to whether or not this is kind of the same old monkeypox or if there’s something that appears to be different.”



Read original article here

Health

“Long COVID” or “post-COVID” symptoms affect 1 in 4 seniors who survived infection, study finds

Leave a comment

As many as one in four seniors and one in five adults under 65 experienced “long COVID” or “post-COVID” symptoms after surviving a coronavirus infection, a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday. 

The study — published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report — is the latest to try and quantify how many of the millions of Americans who have now tested positive for the virus are facing long-term issues caused by their infection.

By comparing electronic health records in a large national database of patients, the study’s authors found 38.2% of COVID-19 survivors “experienced at least one incident condition” — a list that includes heart, lung, kidney and gastrointestinal problems, pain, fatigue, loss of smell or taste, mental health issues, and more —  in the months after their infection. By contrast, just 16% of other people were diagnosed with such conditions.

“As the cumulative number of persons ever having been infected with SARS-CoV-2 increases, the number of survivors suffering post-COVID conditions is also likely to increase,” the study’s authors wrote. 

The study only looked at data from March 2020 to November 2021, before the massive Omicron variant surge over the winter. Based on surveys of antibodies, the CDC estimates that the share of Americans who have survived the virus rose to nearly 60% over the winter, up from a third in December.

Among the 26 conditions examined by the study, the most common symptoms were “respiratory symptoms and musculoskeletal pain” in both seniors and other adults. 

Among seniors aged 65 years and older, the researchers warned they were at “increased risk for neurological conditions” and other mental health issues ranging from mood disorders to substance abuse.

Another study also published this week, from scientists at Northwestern University, reported that many so-called “long haulers” were facing conditions like brain fog and numbness for more than a year after their initial infection. 


Doctor urges people not to give up on pandemic precautions because of long COVID risk

06:55

The CDC study’s authors also note there are some factors that might complicate their estimates. 

For example, doctors may have been “more likely to document possible post-COVID conditions” among people who have survived the virus, leading to an overestimate of the risk of these symptoms. 

On the other hand, the study’s comparison to others without a prior infection was drawn from other patients who were “seeking care.” That could lead to an underestimate of the true risk elevated by an infection, the study’s authors said, given these others might actually be “sicker” than a true control group.

Previous studies have reached varying estimates of the share of survivors who face long COVID symptoms. Some of that may be the result of the wide range of ways scientists have defined post-COVID in their studies, looking at different time intervals since infection or different symptoms.

“You see numbers out there of like 30, 50 percent. I think that’s clearly not quite right in terms of thinking about how many people are really disabled by this in a significant way,” Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House’s top COVID-19 official, told the “In the Bubble” podcast earlier this month. 

“But that said, what that means, unfortunately, is other people minimize long COVID,” Jha added.

The latest report is among several ongoing studies the CDC has backed with the aim of understanding the impact of post-COVID symptoms. 

The CDC revamped its guidance on post-COVID earlier this month, adding conditions like “depression or anxiety” to the list of commonly reported symptoms. The agency also laid out a list of reasons some people might be at higher risk after surviving COVID-19, like those who have faced a more severe illness or who were unvaccinated. 

However, the guidance notes that more research – including both from the CDC and elsewhere at the National Institutes of Health – still needs to be done into how to treat these post-COVID patients. 

Advocates said recently that they are in talks with the Biden administration over long COVID plans to be released in August. The NIH has said it plans to launch studies this year into trialing potential drugs to treat post-COVID conditions.

“I think we need to start trying out new therapies. I am interested in questions like, does getting Paxlovid reduce your likelihood of long COVID. Because if you have a much shorter duration of viremia is that going to make a difference?” said Jha.

Alexander Tin

CBS News reporter covering public health and the pandemic.



Read original article here

Health

Monkeypox is spreading among gay men worldwide

Leave a comment

The World Health Organization (WHO) has now confirmed nearly 100 cases of monkeypox in over a dozen countries, with the largest number in the UK. While most cases so far are among gay and bisexual men, health officials emphasise that anyone can contract the virus through close personal contact.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) reported the first case in the current outbreak on 7 May in a man who had recently travelled to Nigeria, where monkeypox is endemic. This was soon followed by two additional cases who share a household and four cases among gay and bisexual men, all of whom appear to have contracted the virus locally. As of 23 May, UKHSA has reported 70 confirmed cases in England and one in Scotland.

The latest WHO update on 21 May listed 92 confirmed and 28 suspected cases. After the UK, the most cases have been reported in Spain and Portugal, with smaller numbers in several other European countries, Canada, the United States and Australia. An informal tally by Global.health, compiled from various sources, listed more than 300 confirmed or suspected cases worldwide as of 25 May.

Cases so far have “mainly but not exclusively been identified amongst men who have sex with men,” according to WHO. Among the Global.health cases with a known sex and age, all but three are young or middle-aged men. Many of the affected men identify as gay or bisexual or sought care at sexual health clinics. Several cases are reportedly linked to a sauna in Spain and a fetish festival in Belgium. Many of the men reported recent international travel.

Monkeypox background

Monkeypox, which is related to smallpox, is not a new disease. Despite its name, it is most commonly associated with rodents. Although primarily seen in Central and West Africa, isolated cases are occasionally reported in Europe and elsewhere, often involving travellers. The current outbreak is the largest ever seen outside of Africa.

Smallpox vaccination prevents monkeypox as well, and monkeypox cases have been rising over the past few decades since routine smallpox vaccination was discontinued; WHO declared that smallpox had been eradicated worldwide in 1980. This means only older people have vaccine-induced immunity.

Glossary

rash

A rash is an area of irritated or swollen skin, affecting its colour, appearance, or texture. It may be localised in one part of the body or affect all the skin. Rashes are usually caused by inflammation of the skin, which can have many causes, including an allergic reaction to a medicine.

stigma

Social attitudes that suggest that having a particular illness or being in a particular situation is something to be ashamed of. Stigma can be questioned and challenged.

lesions

Small scrapes, sores or tears in tissue. Lesions in the vagina or rectum can be cellular entry points for HIV.

immunocompromised

Having a weakened immune system, therefore, a reduced ability to fight infections and other diseases.

virological suppression

Halting of the function or replication of a virus. In HIV, optimal viral suppression is measured as the reduction of viral load (HIV RNA) to undetectable levels and is the goal of antiretroviral therapy.

Less severe than smallpox, monkeypox typically causes flu-like symptoms (e.g., fever, fatigue, muscle aches), swollen lymph nodes and a rash. The rash can appear on the face, genitals, palms, soles of the feet and elsewhere on the body. The sores can be flat, raised or pus-filled, and may resemble other conditions such as herpes, syphilis or chickenpox. In the current outbreak, several cases initially presented with a genital rash, and some did not report other symptoms. The virus has an incubation period of up to three weeks, and the illness typically lasts two to four weeks.

The monkeypox virus is transmitted through close personal contact, including skin-to-skin contact and kissing. Close contact may involve household members and health care workers. The virus can also spread via clothes or linens that have been in contact with fluid from sores. Health officials say monkeypox can be transmitted via respiratory droplets at close range, but the virus does not appear to spread through the air over longer distances in the same way as the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Monkeypox is generally not considered a sexually transmitted infection, and it is not known whether it can be transmitted through semen during intercourse. “Monkeypox is not a sexually transmitted infection in the typical sense, but it can be transmitted during sexual and intimate contact,” Dr John Brooks, an epidemiologist with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a 23 May media briefing.

Experts historically thought monkeypox was not easily transmitted between humans, and it is unclear why it is now spreading more extensively. Some have suggested the virus may have evolved to become more easily transmissible, but so far genetic sequencing does not support this hypothesis. More likely, the virus entered a social or sexual network by chance and found favourable conditions for transmission.

Public health advice

Health officials are urging anyone with an unusual rash or lesions on any part of their body, especially the genitals, to contact their health care provider or a sexual health clinic. People who suspect they may have monkeypox are advised to refrain from close social contact until they get tested. High-risk contacts of known cases should isolate and self-monitor for symptoms for up to 21 days. People with confirmed monkeypox should isolate, abstain from sexual activity and avoid close physical contact until the rash heals completely, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

“If anyone suspects they might have rashes or lesions on any part of their body, particularly if they have recently had a new sexual partner, they should limit their contact with others and contact NHS 111 or their local sexual health service as soon as possible—though please phone ahead before attending in person,” said UKHSA chief medical adviser Dr Susan Hopkins.

People with monkeypox usually recover without treatment. The strain circulating in Europe has a fatality rate of around 1%; there have been no deaths reported in the current outbreak. Monkeypox is more likely to cause severe illness in children, pregnant women and immunocompromised people.

Dr Claire Dewsnap, President of the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, talks about monkeypox in aidsmapCHAT.

However, people with HIV who are on antiretroviral treatment with viral suppression and a CD4 count above 200 “are not at any particular risk of becoming significantly more unwell,” Dr Claire Dewsnap, president of the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, said during a 23 May aidsmapCHAT.

“There is little data currently to gauge the impact of HIV on morbidity and mortality associated with monkeypox,” according to the European AIDS Clinical Society. “It is likely that persons with advanced and uncontrolled HIV may be at a higher risk of severe disease and prolonged viral shedding.”

Monkeypox can be controlled through ring vaccination, in other words targeted smallpox vaccination for close contacts of an infected individual. The outbreak has spurred calls for resuming universal smallpox vaccination, but experts say this is not necessary to control monkeypox in the general population at this time.

The older live smallpox vaccine (made from a virus called vaccinia) can cause adverse events, especially in immunocompromised people, but there is a newer, safer non-replicating smallpox and monkeypox vaccine (brand names Imvanex or Jynneos). It was approved by European and US regulators in 2013 and 2019 respectively, and is recommended for use in the current outbreak by UK authorities. The UK and other countries maintain a stockpile of smallpox vaccine in case of bioterrorism and are increasing their supplies.

Smallpox vaccines are now being given to high-risk contacts of known cases and health care providers. Because the monkeypox incubation period is so long, vaccination up to two weeks after exposure can reduce the risk of symptomatic infection or severe illness. The new vaccine has been tested and shown to be safe for people with HIV. For people on antiretrovirals with a high CD4 count, Dewsnap advised, “If you’re offered a smallpox vaccine, you should take it.”

Antiviral medications used to treat smallpox can also be used for monkeypox, including tecovirimat (TPOXX), which prevents viral egress from cells, and the nucleoside analogues cidofovir (Vistide; familiar as a treatment for cytomegalovirus retinitis) and brincidofovir (Tembexa).

Health officials and researchers are still learning about the ongoing outbreak, but monkeypox does not spread as easily as COVID-19, and most do not expect a new pandemic of that scale. Experts expect monkeypox cases to increase as new people within social and sexual networks are exposed and previously-exposed individuals move through the incubation period. But they hope contact tracing, isolation and vaccination can bring the outbreak under control.

Based on an ECDC epidemiological assessment, “the likelihood of monkeypox spreading in persons having multiple sexual partners in the European Union/European Economic Area is considered high.” But given that the disease has so far been mild, the overall risk is considered moderate for this group and low for the broader population.

Meanwhile, many in the LGBT community are concerned that a disease primarily striking gay and bisexual men could lead to the same kind of blame and stigma seen with HIV and AIDS. Acknowledging who is most affected is important for targeting education and resources, but stigma could discourage ill or exposed people from seeking care, and calling it a “gay disease” could lead others to assume they’re not at risk.

“It’s a virus – it doesn’t choose, it doesn’t judge, it doesn’t have any morality to it,” aidsmap executive director Matthew Hodson said. “Fight the disease, don’t fight people who might be a greater risk for acquiring the infection.”

Read original article here

Health

What is monkeypox and its signs and symptoms?

Leave a comment

“The countries that are reporting monkeypox now are countries that do not normally have outbreaks of monkeypox,” Rosamund Lewis, head of the smallpox secretariat, WHO Emergencies programme, said Tuesday during a news briefing at the United Nations in Geneva.

“This is an emerging disease. It has been emerging for the last 20 to 30 years, (so) it’s not unknown, it’s very well described,” Lewis told reporters. “The risk for the general public, therefore, appears to be low, because we know that the main modes of transmission have been as described in the past.”

Cases in other parts of the world than Africa are typically linked to international travel or imported animals infected with the pox, the CDC said.

Several cases of monkeypox reported in the UK have been among people who had no known travel or contact with others, but there is no cause for alarm, US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said Thursday on CNN’s “New Day.”

“At this time, we don’t want people to worry,” Murthy said. “These numbers are still small; we want (people) to be aware of (the) symptoms, and if they have any concerns to reach out to their doctor.”

What are the initial symptoms of monkeypox?

There is an incubation period of some seven to 14 days, the CDC said. Initial symptoms are typically flu-like, such as fever, chills, exhaustion, headache and muscle weakness, followed by swelling in the lymph nodes, which help the body fight infection and disease.

“A feature that distinguishes infection with monkeypox from that of smallpox is the development of swollen lymph nodes,” the CDC said.

Next comes a widespread rash on the face and body, including inside the mouth and on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet.

The painful, raised poxes are pearly and fluid-filled, often surrounded by red circles. The lesions finally scab over and resolve over a period of two to three weeks, the CDC said.

In the current outbreak, there appear to be a higher number of cases causing rash in the groin area of patients, according to the WHO and CDC.

“In some cases, during the early stages of illness, the rash has been mostly in the genital and perianal area,” Dr. John Brooks, chief medical officer for the CDC’s Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention said Monday in a news briefing.

“In some cases, it has produced anal or genital lesions that look like other diseases like herpes or chickenpox or syphilis,” he said.

A “notable fraction of cases” in the current outbreak have been seen among gay and bisexual men, “but by no means is the current risk of exposure to monkeypox exclusively to the gay and bisexual community in the US. Anyone, anyone, can develop [and] spread monkeypox,” Brooks said.

Overall, monkeypox risk is moderate for people with multiple sexual partners and low for the broader population, according to a rapid risk assessment report published Monday by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

However, monkeypox is not considered a sexually-transmitted disease.

How is monkeypox spread?

Close contact with an infected individual is required for the spread of the monkeypox virus, experts say.

Infection can develop after exposure to “broken skin, mucous membranes, respiratory droplets, infected body fluids or even contact with contaminated linen,” Neil Mabbott, personal chair in immunopathology at the veterinary school of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, said in a statement.

“When the lesions have healed, the scabs (which might carry infectious virus) can be shed as dust, which could be inhaled,” said Dr. Michael Skinner, who is on the faculty of medicine in the department of infectious disease at Imperial College London, in a statement.

Transmission between people can occur through large respiratory droplets, and because such droplets typically travel only a few feet, “prolonged face-to-face contact is required,” the CDC said. This puts healthcare workers and household members caring for or living with someone who is actively infected at greater risk, according to WHO.
Smallpox, which was eradicated worldwide in 1980, was also spread primarily by direct and prolonged face-to-face contact between people, as well as objects contaminated by infected fluids, such as bedding or clothing.

“Smallpox patients became contagious as soon as they developed sores spread the virus though droplets with coughing or sneezing. They remained contagious until their lesions resolved,” said Dr. Paritosh Prasad, director of the Highly Infectious Disease Unit at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York.

However, based on available historical information, monkeypox appears to be less contagious than smallpox, Prasad said.

“Monkeypox can be a serious infection, with mortality rates from this type of monkeypox virus having been around 1% in other outbreaks. These are often in lower-income settings with limited access to health care,” said Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton in the UK. There are no reported deaths from the current outbreak.

However, in the developed world, “it would be very unusual to see anything more than a handful of cases in any outbreak, and we won’t be seeing (Covid)-style levels of transmission,” Head said in a statement.

Common household disinfectants can kill the monkeypox virus, according to the CDC.

How is monkeypox treated?

There are no specific drugs available to treat the symptoms of monkeypox, so “treatment is generally supportive,” Jimmy Whitworth, professor of international public health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said in a statement.

“However, a vaccine is available that can be given to prevent the development of disease,” Whitworth said.

In the US, a two-dose vaccine called Jynneos is currently licensed to prevent monkeypox and can also be used for smallpox. The vaccine has been stockpiled by the US government in case of a resurgence of the eradicated disease.

“Right now, we have over 1,000 doses of that available and we expect that level to ramp up very quickly in the coming weeks as the company provides more doses to us,” Dr. Jennifer McQuiston, deputy director of the Division of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology within the CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, told reporters during a call Monday.

“We are hoping to maximize vaccine distribution to those that we know would benefit from it,” McQuiston said. “Those are people who’ve had contact with a known monkeypox patients, health care workers, very close personal contact, and those in particular who might be at high risk for severe disease.”

Where did monkeypox originate?

Monkeypox got its name in 1958 when “two outbreaks of a pox-like disease occurred in colonies of monkeys kept for research,” the CDC said.

However, the main disease carrier of monkeypox is still unknown, although “African rodents are suspected to play a part in transmission,” the agency said.

The first known case of monkeypox in people was “recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo during a period of intensified effort to eliminate smallpox,” the CDC said. Since then, most cases have been concentrated in 11 African countries — with several outbreaks in the US and Europe related to travel or importation from endemic countries.

A outbreak occurred in the US in 2003 after forty-seven people in six states — Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin — became ill due to contact with their pet prairie dogs, the CDC said.

“The pets were infected after being housed near imported small mammals from Ghana,” the CDC said. “This was the first time that human monkeypox was reported outside of Africa.”

CNN’s Jacqueline Howard, Nadia Kounang, Jen Christensen, Michael Nedelman, Paula Newton, John Bonifield, Naomi Thomas, Alex Hardie and Benjamin Brown contributed to this report.



Read original article here

Health

Sacramento County Has California’s First Probable Case Of Monkeypox Virus – CBS Sacramento

Leave a comment

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – Sacramento County public health officials say they are investigating a probable travel-related case of the monkeypox virus.

The likely case – which would be California’s first – was announced by public health officials on Tuesday.

READ MORE: Gun Found In Desk Of Second Grader At South Sacramento School, District Says

“This case appears to be related to recent travel to Europe,” said Dr. Olivia Kasirye, Sacramento County’s Public Health Officer, in a statement.

Dr. Kasirye noted that the risk to the general public is “extremely low.”

California Department of Public Health officials say they started investigating the suspected case back on Saturday. The person initially tested positive for the orthopox virus and is now isolating.

“Because the disease is rare, health care providers may not be familiar with the presentation of monkeypox and the possibility of monkeypox transmission during intimate or sexual contact may not be well known,” said California State Epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan in a statement. “As such, CDPH is promoting awareness amongst healthcare providers and the public, including appropriate infection control for monkeypox cases in the healthcare setting.”

 While it’s not an STD, the World Health Organization says the most recent surge in monkeypox cases is spread primarily through sex between men, entering the body through broken skin, the respiratory tract, or the eyes, nose, or mouth.

READ MORE: Call Kurtis Investigates Whether You’re Getting What You Paid For At The Pump

Health officials in Europe have been raising the alarm about an outbreak of the rare disease in recent weeks. More than 90 cases across a dozen countries have been recorded so far – including the U.K., Spain, Israel, France, Switzerland, Australia and the US.

Only one case of monkeypox has been confirmed in the US, a person in Boston. However, other suspected cases have been recorded in Florida and New York.

While confirmation testing from both the CDC as well as the California Department of Public Health is pending, Sacramento County officials say symptoms and their preliminary testing lead them to believe that the monkeypox confirmation is likely for their case.

UC Davis Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Dean Blumberg says there are things we already know about the Monkeypox virus.

“Monkeypox is a viral infection and it’s transmitted primarily through animals like rodents and primates in central and west Africa to humans but it may be transmitted person to person also by prolonged close contact with someone,” he said.

People suffering from monkeypox will show distinctive rashes and lesions. It can be spread through close contact with someone infected. Other common symptoms of monkeypox include fever, headache, muscle aches, backaches, swollen lymph nodes, chills, and exhaustion. Health officials say the incubation period can range from 5-21 days, with the illness typically lasting for 2-4 weeks.

MORE NEWS: Elk Grove Zoo Could Open By Summer 2027

The smallpox vaccine, which works to protect against monkeypox, is being delivered to public health authorities.

Read original article here

Health

Scientists Create Tomatoes Genetically Engineered To Boost Vitamin D

Leave a comment

Dr. Jie Li examines vitamin D-enriched tomatoes. Credit: Phil Robinson

Tomatoes that have been gene-edited to produce vitamin D, known as the sunshine vitamin, could be a simple and sustainable innovation to address a worldwide health problem.

Researchers used gene editing to turn off a specific molecule in the plant’s genome which increased provitamin D3 in both the fruit and leaves of tomato plants. It was then transformed into vitamin D3 through exposure to UVB light.

Vitamin D is created in our bodies after our skin is exposed to UVB light, but the major source is food. This new biofortified crop could help millions of people with vitamin D insufficiency, a growing issue linked to an increased risk of cancer, dementia, and many leading causes of mortality. Research has also shown that vitamin D insufficiency is linked to increased severity of infection by Covid-19.

Tomatoes that produce vitamin D could be a simple and sustainable innovation to address a global health concern.

Tomatoes naturally contain one of the building blocks of vitamin D3, called provitamin D3 or 7-dehydrocholesterol (7-DHC), in their leaves at very low levels. However, Provitamin D3 does not normally accumulate in ripe tomato fruits.

Scientists in Professor Cathie Martin’s group at the John Innes Centre employed CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to make revisions to the genetic code of tomato plants so that provitamin D3 accumulates in the tomato fruit. The leaves of the edited plants contained up to 600 ug (micrograms) of provitamin D3 per gram of dry weight. The recommended daily intake of vitamin D is 10 ug for adults.

When growing tomatoes leaves are usually waste material, but those of the edited plants could be used for the manufacture of vegan-friendly vitamin D3 supplements, or for food fortification.

“We’ve shown that you can biofortify tomatoes with provitamin D3 using gene editing, which means tomatoes could be developed as a plant-based, sustainable source of vitamin D3,” said Professor Cathie Martin, corresponding author of the study which appears in Nature Plants.

“Forty percent of Europeans have vitamin D insufficiency and so do one billion people worldwide. We are not only addressing a huge health problem, but are helping producers, because tomato leaves which currently go to waste, could be used to make supplements from the gene-edited lines.”

Previous research has studied the biochemical pathway of how 7-DHC is used in the fruit to make molecules and found that a particular enzyme Sl7-DR2 is responsible for converting this into other molecules.

To take advantage of this the researchers used CRISPR-Cas 9 to switch off this Sl7-DR2 enzyme in tomato so that the 7DHC accumulates in the tomato fruit.

They measured how much 7-DHC there was in the leaves and fruits of these edited tomato plants and found that there was a substantial increase in levels of 7-DHC in both the leaves and fruit of the edited plants.

The 7-DHC accumulates in both the flesh and peel of the tomatoes.

The researchers then tested whether the 7-DHC in the edited plants could be converted to vitamin D3 by shining UVB light on leaves and sliced fruit for 1 hour. They found that it did and was highly effective.

After treatment with UVB light to turn the 7-DHC into Vitamin D3, one tomato contained the equivalent levels of vitamin D as two medium sized eggs or 28g tuna – which are both recommended dietary sources of vitamin D.

The study says that vitamin D in ripe fruit might be increased further by extended exposure to UVB, for example during sun-drying.

Blocking the enzyme in the tomato had no effect on growth, development, or yield of the tomato plants. Other closely related plants such as aubergine, potato and pepper have the same biochemical pathway so the method could be applied across these vegetable crops.

Earlier this month the UK Government announced an official review to examine whether food and drink should be fortified with vitamin D to address health inequalities.

Most foods contain little vitamin D and plants are generally very poor sources. Vitamin D3 is the most bioavailable form of vitamin D and is produced in the body when the skin is exposed to sunlight. In winter and in higher latitudes people need to get vitamin D from their diet or supplements because the sun is not strong enough for the body to produce it naturally.

First author of the study Dr. Jie Li said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has helped to highlight the issue of vitamin D insufficiency and its impact on our immune function and general health. The provitamin D enriched tomatoes we have produced offer a much-needed plant-based source of the sunshine vitamin. That is great news for people adopting a plant-rich, vegetarian or vegan diet, and for the growing number of people worldwide suffering from the problem of vitamin D insufficiency.”

Reference: “Biofortified tomatoes provide a new route to vitamin D sufficiency” by Jie Li, Aurelia Scarano, Nestor Mora Gonzalez, Fabio D’Orso, Yajuan Yue, Krisztian Nemeth, Gerhard Saalbach, Lionel Hill, Carlo de Oliveira Martins, Rolando Moran, Angelo Santino and Cathie Martin, 23 May 2022, Nature Plants.
DOI: 10.1038/s41477-022-01154-6



Read original article here

Health

Germany orders 40,000 vaccine doses as precaution against monkeypox spread

Leave a comment

May 24 (Reuters) – Germany has ordered 40,000 doses of a Bavarian Nordic (BAVA.CO) vaccine to be ready to vaccinate contacts of those infected with monkeypox if an outbreak in Germany becomes more severe, but officials are banking on other precautionary measures for now.

Speaking at a press conference, German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said on Tuesday that measures such as an isolation period of at least 21 days recommended for infected people would suffice for now to contain the outbreak.

“If infections spread further we will want to be prepared for possible ring vaccinations that are not yet recommended at this point but might become necessary,” said Lauterbach, referring to the strategy of vaccinating contacts of an infected person.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Register

He said the outbreak of monkeypox could be contained and did not signal the start of a new pandemic, adding that early intervention can prevent the pathogen from becoming firmly established in communities.

So far, five cases have been registered in Germany, all men, said Lothar Wieler, the head of Germany’s Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases, also speaking at the press conference.

An employee of the vaccine company Bavarian Nordic works in a laboratory of the company in Martinsried near Munich, Germany, May 24, 2022. The company, headquartered in Denmark, is the only one in the world to have approval for a smallpox vaccine called Jynneos in the U.S. and Imvanex in Europe, which is also effective against monkeypox. REUTERS/Lukas Barth


Read More

A World Health Organization official on Monday issued similar guidance, saying the outbreak does not require mass vaccinations because measures like hygiene and safe sexual behaviour will help control the spread. read more

The WHO has registered more than 250 confirmed and suspected monkeypox infections, with a geographic spread that is unusual for the disease which is endemic in parts of west and central Africa but rare elsewhere. Many but not all of the cases have been reported in men who have sex with men, with the WHO targeting sexual transmission in particular.

U.S. health officials said this week that there are more than 1,000 doses of the Bavarian Nordic vaccine in the national stockpile and they expect that level to ramp up very quickly in the coming weeks. read more

The vaccine is branded Jynneos in the United States where it is approved for use against smallpox and monkeypox. It is also approved for smallpox in Europe, where it is called Imvanex, but has been provided for off-label use in response to monkeypox cases.

The Danish company said last week it secured a contract with an undisclosed European country to supply Imvanex in response to new cases of monkeypox.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Register

Reporting by Ludwig Burger and Riham Alkousaa
Editing by Madeline Chambers, Kirsten Donovan

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read original article here

Health

Why humans get less sleep than other primates

Leave a comment

And so Yetish suggests that ancient humans may have traded some hours of sleep for sharing information and culture around a dwindling fire. “You’ve suddenly made these darkness hours quite productive,” he says. Our ancestors may have compressed their sleep into a shorter period because they had more important things to do in the evenings than rest. 

How much we sleep is a different question, of course, from how much we wish we slept. Samson and others asked Hadza study participants how they felt about their own sleep. Out of 37 people, 35 said they slept “just enough,” the team reported in 2017. The average amount they slept in that study was about 6.25 hours a night. But they awoke frequently, needing more than 9 hours in bed to get those 6.25 hours of shut-eye.

By contrast, a 2016 study of almost 500 people in Chicago found they spent nearly all of their time in bed actually asleep, and got at least as much total sleep as the Hadza. Yet almost 87% of respondents in a 2020 survey of US adults said that on at least one day per week, they didn’t feel rested.

Why not? Samson and Yetish say our sleep problems may have to do with stress or out-of-whack circadian rhythms. Or maybe we’re missing the crowd we evolved to sleep with, Samson says. When we struggle to get sleep, we could be experiencing a mismatch between how we evolved and how we live now. “Basically we’re isolated, and this might be influencing our sleep,” he says.

A better understanding of how human sleep evolved could help people rest better, Samson says, or help them feel better about the rest they already get. 

“A lot of people in the global North and the West like to problematise their sleep,” he says. But maybe insomnia, for example, is really hypervigilance — an evolutionary superpower. “Likely that was really adaptive when our ancestors were sleeping in the savannah.”

Yetish says that studying sleep in small-scale societies has “completely” changed his own perspective. 

“There’s a lot of conscious effort and attention put on sleep in the West that is not the same in these environments,” he says. “People are not trying to sleep a certain amount. They just sleep.”

* This article originally appeared in Knowable Magazine, and is republished under a Creative Commons licence. 

—

Join one million Future fans by liking us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter or Instagram.

If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called “The Essential List” – a handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Worklife, Travel and Reel delivered to your inbox every Friday.



Read original article here

Health

1 in 5 Adult Covid Survivors in the U.S. May Develop Long Covid, Says CDC

Leave a comment

People in both groups who had a history of one of the 26 health conditions in the previous year were excluded from the study — an attempt by the researchers to consider medical issues that patients developed only after they had Covid.

The study, which involved patients seen at health facilities that use a record system managed by Cerner Corp., a large medical data company, said the Covid patients included people admitted to hospitals, seen in emergency departments or diagnosed in an outpatient setting. The researchers did not indicate how many patients were in each group, one of several limitations of the study’s findings.

Between 30 days and 365 days after their coronavirus diagnosis, 38 percent of the patients experienced one or more new health problems, compared to 16 percent of the non-Covid patients, the study said. The younger age group, 18-to-64, was somewhat less likely to have those problems — 35 percent developed long Covid issues, compared with 15 percent of uninfected people. In the 65-and-older group, 45 percent had new health conditions, compared with 19 percent of uninfected people.

Based on those percentages, the study authors calculated that nearly 21 percent of the younger group and nearly 27 percent of the older group developed health problems that could be attributed to long Covid.

The study did not look at the vaccination status of the patients and did not report characteristics like race, ethnicity, sex or geographic location. It also did not identify which coronavirus variants were linked to each case.

The C.D.C. authors concluded that post-Covid conditions might “affect a patient’s ability to contribute to the work force and might have economic consequences for survivors and their dependents.” They added that “care requirements might place a strain on health services” in “communities that experience heavy Covid-19 case surges.”

Dr. Al-Aly said he agreed that people who had Covid should be medically evaluated for potential new health problems.

“Now that we are in possession of knowledge that Covid-19 can lead to serious long-term consequences,” he added, “we need to develop additional tools to reduce the risk of long Covid.”

Read original article here