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Dr BR Ambedkar says ‘Sanatana Dharma’ or Hindu Dharma, is a contagious disease: VCK Chief on Udhayanidhi Stalin’s comment – Times of India
- Dr BR Ambedkar says ‘Sanatana Dharma’ or Hindu Dharma, is a contagious disease: VCK Chief on Udhayanidhi Stalin’s comment Times of India
- Tamil Nadu BJP Chief Annamalai Reacts To Udhayanidhi Stalin’s Anti-Sanatan Speech India Today
- MK Stalin’s Son’s “Sanatana Dharma” Remark Sparks Row | Left, Right & Centre NDTV
- Udhayanidhi Stalin’s call for Hindu genocide does BJP a big favour in Tamil Nadu Firstpost
- Udhayanidhi’s ‘eradicate Sanatana’ not a call to genocide. It’s internal critique of Hinduism ThePrint
- View Full Coverage on Google News
ambedkar: Dr BR Ambedkar says ‘Sanatana Dharma’ or Hindu Dharma, is a contagious disease: VCK Chief | TOI Original – Times of India Videos – Times of India
- ambedkar: Dr BR Ambedkar says ‘Sanatana Dharma’ or Hindu Dharma, is a contagious disease: VCK Chief | TOI Original – Times of India Videos Times of India
- Udhayanidhi Stalin Statement | Udhayanidhi Stalin First Reaction After ‘Sanatana Dharma’ Row CNN-News18
- ‘INDIA Bloc’s Poll Strategy?’ BJP Slams Udhayanidhi Stalin’s Remark On Sanatana Dharma India Today
- Udhayanidhi Stalin’s call for Hindu genocide does BJP a big favour in Tamil Nadu Firstpost
- Udhayanidhi’s ‘eradicate Sanatana’ not a call to genocide. It’s internal critique of Hinduism ThePrint
How Long Are You Contagious When You Have COVID?
Nobody wants to give COVID-19 to a loved one (or anyone). But determining just how long you’re contagious isn’t an exact science, as it can vary from person to person.
So you may have a hard time figuring out whether you’re putting others at risk. However, there are rules you can follow and things you can know to help protect those around you — and to ease other concerns about your infection, too.
Here, experts share guidelines for how long you might be able to spread COVID-19 and when you’re most contagious, including with the viral strain that is currently dominant.
Most people are contagious for about 10 days.
It’s not always clear how long a person is contagious because, like a lot of things with COVID-19, the exact timeline depends on many factors, said Dr. Stuart Ray, a professor of medicine and infectious diseases at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.
But, Ray said, the conventional wisdom is that you are contagious and must isolate for five full days after your symptoms begin — with your first day of symptoms counting as day zero.
But keep in mind that you aren’t in the clear after five days.
“It’s often said then that you should wear a mask after that to try and protect others because it’s hard to be certain how long you’re infectious,” Ray said.
“That period often lasts up to 10 days,” he added — and once again, your first day of symptoms counts as day zero.
Long story short, you are likely contagious for about 10 days after symptoms begin. You should isolate for the first five days and wear a mask on at least days six through 10.
But you’re most infectious at certain points.
The phase when you’re most contagious starts about 48 hours before you test positive and ends five days after your symptoms begin, according to Dr. Neha Vyas, a family medicine doctor at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. She called this the “period of maximal contagiousness.”
So, you’ll want to be extra careful at this stage — though it’s hard to know if you’re sick before you have symptoms, which makes those first 48 hours really tricky.
Meanwhile, the amount of time between infection and symptoms has gotten shorter and shorter as COVID-19 mutates, which means omicron subvariants like XBB — currently the dominant strain in the U.S. — can spread faster.
If you’re exposed to someone who tests positive for COVID-19, you can test yourself even before you have symptoms. Or, if you recently attended a crowded indoor event, you can take a test a few days later. Beyond that, there isn’t really a way to know you’re infected before you start showing symptoms.
And in the later period of your illness, remember that you can still spread COVID-19, which is why it’s important to wear a mask until at least the 10-day mark.
If you have symptoms after 10 days, you could still spread the virus.
Anyone whose symptoms persist past day 10 and who continues to test positive can likely pass the virus to others. If that’s you, keep wearing a mask and avoiding indoor spaces and events, Ray said.
“If you are immunocompromised or you had a really [severe] COVID infection … then you could be contagious still for 20 days” after symptoms begin, added Vyas.
Long periods of contagiousness like this are rare, she stressed. But if you fall into either of those two categories, talk to your doctor for further guidance.
At-home antigen tests are a good way to tell if you’re still contagious.
It’s not uncommon for someone to test positive on a lab test for weeks after a COVID-19 infection, “but it would be very unusual for someone to test positive for weeks on an antigen test,” Ray said.
Antigen tests are the type that you may have picked up from the pharmacy (from brands like iHealth) or received from the government (which is still sending out free tests, by the way).
Ray added that a positive antigen test is correlated with a virus’s ability to grow and infect. So if you have a positive antigen test, you are likely contagious.
And that works the other way around, too.
“We generally say if your symptoms are completely resolved and you have a negative test, you’re unlikely to be infectious,” Ray said.
If you want to be extra cautious, you can take two COVID tests.
If you’re past the 10-day mark and no longer symptomatic, but you’re feeling anxious about potentially spreading the virus to a loved one, there are things you can do.
“You can take two COVID tests 48 hours apart,” Vyas said. “If they’re both negative, you can [be] fairly certain that you’re not contagious anymore.”
She added that most people won’t need to do this as long as they follow the 10-day guidance. But if you’re nervous about passing on the virus, this is a good tactic.
If you live in a home with others, you should do what you can to protect them.
“If possible, a contagious individual should use a separate bedroom and bathroom, especially during this five-day period [after symptoms begin],” said Dr. Ali Khan, the chief medical officer at Oak Street Health.
When that isn’t possible, wear a well-fitting mask — ideally an N95 or KN95 — around other people in your home.
Khan added that an infected person should have their own tableware and sheets, and that they should avoid high-touch items.
“Don’t forget to wash your hands frequently,” Khan said — and this goes for people who are not infected, too.
Lastly, to protect both yourself and your loved ones, make sure you’re up to date on your COVID-19 boosters.
“It’s definitely not too late to get COVID-19 and flu shots, as they will still curb severe symptoms, even if you do contract illness,” Khan said.
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Three grizzly bears infected with highly contagious strain of BIRD FLU in Montana are euthanized
Three young grizzly bears were euthanized after they were found suffering from a highly contagious strain of bird flu after eating infected animals in Montana.
The state’s Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) department said the bears were found near the cities of Augusta, Dupuyer and Kalispell, which surround the Flathead National Forest.
All three bears were observed to be in poor condition, and showed signs of disorientation and partial blindness, among other neurological issues.
The FWP said the animals were put down, while noting that these were the first-ever cases of the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus documented in grizzly bears.
It comes as the especially contagious strain of bird flu continues to plague the US, with more than 43 million hens killed by the virus, causing egg prices to spike.
Three young grizzly bears were euthanized when they were found to have contracted highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in Montana
All three bears were observed to be in poor condition, and showed signs of disorientation and partial blindness. It was the first time the virus was reported in grizzly bears. Pictured: A large grizzly roaming in Bozeman, Montana
The FWP said the grizzlies were likely infected after eating birds carrying the virus.
While there have been previous reports of black and brown bears getting infected with the bird flu, this was the first case involving grizzlies.
The FWP noted that last year, when the new strain of highly infectious bird flu hit the nation, a fox and skunk had tested positive for the virus, with other predators like raccoons and coyotes also catching it across the country.
Although avian flu typically peaks in the spring, the disease has lingered into 2023, and is currently active in all 50 states.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 57 million poultry across the US were infected with the virus as of January 11. It has killed the vast majority of infected birds.
Although the risk of humans catching the virus is relatively low, bird flu can infect those who work directly with the infected livestock. The CDC only recorded one case of a person with bird flu last year.
In people, the disease can cause fevers, coughing, nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, eye infections and difficulty breathing.
In bears and other wild mammals, the the virus causes neurological issues like seizures.
While the virus rarely affects humans, people are feeling the impacts of the bird flu through their wallets.
The national average price for a dozen eggs hit $3.59 in November, up from $1.72 a year earlier, the latest government data shows
Red Star chickens feed in their coop Tuesday at Historic Wagner Farm in Glenview, Illinois. More than 43 million laying hens have been slaughtered in the last year to contain bird flu
The national average price for a dozen eggs hit $3.59 in November, up from $1.72 a year earlier, the latest government data shows. Prices have likely risen even higher since then.
The lingering bird flu outbreak, combined with soaring feed, fuel and labor costs, has contributed to the more than doubling of egg prices, and hatched plenty of sticker shock for consumers.
If prices remain this high, Kelly Fischer, 46, said she will start thinking more seriously about building a backyard chicken coop in Chicago because everyone in her family eats eggs.
‘We (with neighbors) are contemplating building a chicken coop behind our houses, so eventually I hope not to buy them and have my own eggs and I think the cost comes into that somewhat,’ the public school teacher said while shopping at HarvesTime Foods on the city’s North Side.
‘For me, it´s more of the environmental impact and trying to purchase locally.’
A shopper checks eggs before he purchases at a grocery store in Glenview, Illinois on Tuesday. Anyone going to buy a dozen eggs these days will have to be ready for soaring prices
In some places, it can even be hard to find eggs on the shelves, but egg supplies overall are holding up because the total flock is only down about 5 percent from from its normal size of around 320 million hens.
Farmers have been working to replace their flocks as soon as they can after an outbreak.
Jada Thomson, a University of Arkansas agricultural economist, said there may be some relief coming in egg prices in the next couple months because egg farmers have been steadily replacing their flocks lost to bird flu last year and demand will ease a bit now that people are done with their holiday baking.
But she said bird flu remains a wildcard that could still drive prices higher if there are more sizeable outbreaks at egg farms.
Genetic Mutation Makes New Subvariant Extra Contagious – Rolling Stone
There’s a new, more contagious form of the novel-coronavirus. It’s got a greater ability to evade our antibodies. And it’s spreading easier than ever.
You’ve read these words before, and you’ll almost certainly read them again as the Covid pandemic grinds into its fourth calendar year. But pay attention, because there’s something new about XBB.1.5, also known as Kraken, the latest Omicron subvariant that’s quickly becoming the dominant form of SARS-CoV-2 across much of the world. XBB.1.5 evolved after a couple of big genetic twists and turns.
The virus still has the potential to surprise us. And that can mean only one thing: “SARS-CoV-2 seems like it’s going to be with us for a long time,” says Matthew Frieman, a University of Maryland School of Medicine immunologist and microbiologist.
Kraken features a key mutation that geneticists call “F486P.” It’s a seemingly small change on the spike protein, the part of the virus that helps it to grab onto and infect our cells. F486P works by boosting the spike’s ability to “bind” to one particular part of our cells called the ACE2 receptor. That small change has enormous implications. F486P allows XBB.1.5 to retain all the most dangerous qualities of its parent subvariants, while also adding a new quality: extreme transmissibility.
Basically, F486P makes XBB.1.5 really, really contagious — much more contagious than its immediate predecessors. But it also inherited from these same predecessors an alarming potential to evade our antibodies. “Due to the F486P spike mutation, XBB.1.5 exhibits a substantially higher viral receptor-binding affinity … while it retains similar antibody-evasion [properties],” says Lihong Liu, a Columbia University Covid Covid researcher. In short, XBB.1.5 is the first subvariant in its immediate family to be both more immune-evasive and more contagious.
The appearance of the F486P mutation is a reminder that, even as many people get on with their lives, the pandemic isn’t nearly over. The virus keeps finding ways to spread faster while also increasingly sneaking past all those antibodies we’ve built up from vaccines, boosters, and past infection.
XBB.1.5 first showed up in viral samples in the northeast United States back in October. Two months later, it’s present in nearly 30 countries and, according to the latest projection from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, could already be the dominant form of Covid in the United States. Not coincidentally, there’s been a surge in serious Covid cases in the Northeast U.S., XBB.1.5’s birthplace and the region where it’s thickest in the air.
We’ve been through this sort of thing before, of course. Some new subvariant evolves, becomes dominant and drives a surge in cases. But by now, most people in most countries have a healthy mix of Covid antibodies from vaccines, past infection, or both. So while infection rates rise and fall to the rhythm of viral evolution, hospitalizations and deaths have been trending downward in most of the world for many months now.
There’s no reason to expect XBB.1.5 will significantly alter this dynamic. For all its new genetic wrinkles, it’s still Omicron. And between vaccines, boosters, and immunity from past infection, we’ve got lots of ways to protect against that particular variant and its offspring.
If there’s a big exception, it’s China, where three years of lockdown finally began lifting in early December following widespread public protest. Now the Chinese health system is buckling under the country’s first big, nationwide Covid outbreak. Notably, XBB.1.5 hasn’t shown up in China. Yet.
Most of the world is in a pretty good position to struggle through XBB.1.5. China isn’t. For many hundreds of millions of Chinese with weaker immunity, COVID’s evolutionary twists and turns are pretty ominous.
It started with BA.2 and BA.2.75, two of the early Omicron subvariants that were dominant in many countries last spring and summer, respectively. At some point, someone — or several someones — who had recovered from BA.2 caught BA.2.75, or vice versa. The two forms of the virus combined in those hosts, producing the “recombinant” XBB, which later evolved into XBB.1 and then XBB.1.5.
Peter Hotez, an expert in vaccine development at Baylor College, describes these recombinants as “Scrabble” variants. “Because they tend to use high-value Scrabble letters like X, B and Q.” What they all have in common is that they’re “receptor-binding domain escape variants,” Hotez says.
In plain English, they’ve got sticky spike proteins and they’re really good at dodging our antibodies, especially the antibodies we get from vaccines. “In my understanding, XBB.1, the parent of XBB.1.5 is almost completely resistant to vaccine-induced humoral immunity,” says Kei Sato, a University of Tokyo virologist.
But XBB.1.5 is even stickier and more evasive. And it’s all because of the F486P mutation. The original XBB and its immediate offspring XBB.1 included F486S rather than F486P. F486S altered the spike protein, but didn’t make the spike protein any stickier and thus more transmissible.
With F486P, XBB and XBB.1 achieved greater immune-evasion without also adding greater transmissibility. Then XBB.1.5 came around and bucked that comforting trend. The mutation upgrade, from F486S to F486P, made the spike protein stickier and the virus more transmissible.
For most of us, this genetic innovation is most worrying for the trend that it signals. There was some speculation as early 2021 — just six months or so into the pandemic — that SARS-CoV-2 would run out of genetic space, so to speak, and stop mutating in significant ways.
That hasn’t happened. “There seems to be still more mutational space in the genome,” Frieman says. XBB.1.5 is proof that the virus can still change, still get more contagious and more evasive. That it can, after all this time, still surprise us.
What the science shows about being contagious
How can we stop the winter “tripledemic” of respiratory viruses from wrecking upcoming holiday travel and family gatherings? People know when they have Covid symptoms, but do minor sniffles at the end of a coronavirus infection, for example, mean they’re still contagious?
So many Covid questions!
It’s a good time to brush up on what scientists know, and still don’t know, about how long people remain infectious with viral diseases — Covid, influenza, RSV — that are spreading across the U.S.
How long am I contagious with Covid?
If you’ve been exposed to someone who has tested positive for Covid, symptoms from any of the omicron subvariants generally appear two to four days later.
How contagious you are is connected to how much of the virus, known as the viral load, is in your body. Your viral load will likely peak soon after the start of symptoms, according to Dr. Chanu Rhee, an infectious disease physician and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. This means you are likely most contagious a day or so before symptoms appear and during at least the first two or three days after.
As your immune system reduces your viral load, your infectiousness should decline in tandem.
“If folks are still very, very symptomatic, with a lot of coughing and a lot of upper respiratory symptoms, then the thought is they’re probably more infectious,” said Dr. Lisa. A. Cosimi, an infectious disease specialist at Harvard Medical School.
But determining whether you’re still somewhat infectious during the waning days of a Covid illness can be tricky.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people who are experiencing moderate to severe symptoms to isolate for 10 days. If your Covid illness is mild, the CDC advises that to protect others you should consider yourself infectious for at least five days from the onset of symptoms — or five days after a positive test, which counts as day zero.
A study of 66 people with nonsevere Covid published in the New England Journal of Medicine in July found that the median time until the participants were likely no longer infectious was six days when the delta variant of the virus was dominant, and eight days during the omicron wave.
According to an October study of 4,565 people with Covid, “overall, existing data suggest that infectiousness (using viral culture as a proxy) beyond 10 days is possible although less common.”
The investigators called for more research about whether people remain infectious after that point.
There have, however, been cases of immunocompromised people who have remained infectious for months, according to various infectious disease experts.
As far as relying on Covid tests to determine whether someone is still contagious, PCR tests are good at diagnosing Covid. They are not reliable for determining ongoing infectiousness because they can detect fragments of the virus, which pose no risk of transmitting to others, for weeks or months after infection.
At-home rapid antigen tests aren’t perfect either. Researchers rely on what are known as viral culture tests in which they take a swab of the coronavirus and see if they can grow the virus in the lab, as the best proxy for infectiousness. But everyday people don’t have access to such tests.
In a recent study of 40 people with Covid, three quarters of them tested positive six days after their first positive test or the start of their symptoms, whichever came first.
As part of the research, the participants also received what are known as viral culture tests in which scientists see if they can grow the virus taken from a swab in the lab. It’s considered the best proxy for infectiousness.
About half of that group had a negative viral culture test at that time, suggesting they weren’t contagious.
Cosimi, the Harvard Medical School infectious disease specialist, was the lead author of the study and said that after day five of Covid — if people test negative when they have improved yet still have lingering symptoms — they’re likely not contagious.
She also said that if non-immunocompromised people feel well by day 11 but still test positive on an antigen test, “it is exceedingly unlikely” they’re still infectious.
According to the CDC, if you have no symptoms after day five, or if your Covid symptoms are improving and you haven’t had a fever for 24 hours, you can end your isolation period.
For days six through 10, you can go out but should wear a mask.
You don’t need to test to end your isolation period in these contexts. The CDC says you can take the mask off early if you test negative on two consecutive rapid antigen tests 48 hours apart.
There’s a condition, though.
“You should still wear a mask through day 10 because theoretically, you’re still infectious, even if your degree of infectivity has gone down,” said Rhee.
How long am I contagious if I’ve had Covid or am fully vaccinated and have a breakthrough infection?
Several studies have shown that vaccination helps the body clear the coronavirus more quickly.
Most of the studies, however, looked at patients infected with the older variants, Rhee said.
“The impact of prior immunity on infectiousness is not as clear for omicron variants.”
On average, unvaccinated people do indeed take longer to beat the infection, said Dr. Yonatan H. Grad, associate professor of immunology and infectious diseases at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and senior author of a recent paper in the journal eLife in which he and his colleagues reached this conclusion.
“We do not know about duration of infectiousness,” Grad said in an email.
If I’m taking Paxlovid, am I contagious?
A study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases in July found that taking Paxlovid accelerates coronavirus clearance, which the authors said might reduce infectiousness.
Recent research has cast doubt on whether Paxlovid is driving cases of viral rebound, given that people who don’t take Paxlovid commonly rebound as well.
“What we don’t know is whether those rebounds are infectious or not,” said Dr. Donald Milton, a professor of environmental and occupational health at the University of Maryland.
Consequently, the CDC recommends restarting the isolation clock at day zero if a rebound occurs.
How long am I contagious with the flu or other viral illnesses?
With flu, RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) and the common cold, experts say, people are generally most infectious between a day or two before symptoms begin and then for a few days afterward.
The CDC recommends that people with the flu stay home until at least 24 hours after their fever subsides without the use of fever- reducing medication or after their symptoms have improved — at least four to five days after getting sick.
A 2010 study identified a close correlation between the decrease of flu symptoms, in particular fever, and a decrease in viral shedding, which indicates infectiousness.
“If you’re really sick, if you’ve got a fever, you may be infectious for a little bit longer,” said Aubree Gordon, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. “The level of symptoms can be a guide for when you need to stay home. But that does not mean if you have mild symptoms you aren’t contagious.”
Classic common cold symptoms include congestion, cough, a runny nose and low-grade fever. Some cold symptoms can last from 10 to 14 days, according to the CDC.
For colds — which for adults may include RSV, a virus that can pose a serious threat to children under age 2 — Dr. David Strain, a senior clinical lecturer at the University of Exeter Medical School, said, “on the most part, you will only be infectious for as long as you’ve got symptoms.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Dog flu is highly contagious and can spread during the holidays. Here’s what it looks like
Your neighbor might not be the only individual catching the flu this season in D-FW — veterinarians say it’s possible your dog could catch canine influenza, especially after boarding them during the holidays.
Across North Texas, many pet shelters and clinics have reported outbreaks of dog flu in their facilities last month, including Operation Kindness in Carrollton, which briefly suspended adoptions in November.
Canine flu tends to break out in pockets, and the virus can be highly contagious on a local level, said Lori Teller, a clinical associate professor at Texas A&M’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
“It’s not super common throughout the U.S., but when it does occur in an area, like the Dallas shelter or recently in Waco, a lot of dogs can become infected by it,” Teller said.
Teller added that dog flu is likely on the rise due to more people getting out with their dogs. Early on in the pandemic, most pets stayed at home and were less likely to catch influenza.
Here’s everything you need to know about canine flu, including what it looks like, how it spreads and what to do if your dog gets infected.
Canine influenza is a disease that attacks cells in a dog’s respiratory tract, according to local no-kill animal shelter, Operation Kindness.
Similar to the human flu, dog flu also spreads via respiratory droplets, including by sniffing and licking other dogs and objects. Infected dogs can also transmit the virus through barking, coughing and sneezing.
“It’s easily spread among dogs because they use their nose and their mouth to do almost everything,” Teller said.
The infection can also stay in the environment for up to 48 hours, including on surfaces and clothing.
But unlike regular influenza that spikes during the fall and winter months, dog flu is not considered a seasonal virus. Infections in dogs can occur anytime in the year, and most occur in areas where dogs congregate, such as dog parks, doggy daycare centers and boarding kennels.
In addition, while all dogs are susceptible to the flu, younger and older dogs are more likely to catch the illness, Teller said. Dogs with underlying health conditions are also more prone to infection.
The virus isn’t deadly, but dog flu can develop into more serious health complications, Teller said. Less than 10% of dogs who get the flu develop pneumonia.
Canine influenza can also occasionally infect cats — but never humans. According to the CDC, no humans have reported catching canine influenza.
Dogs that catch the flu appear sluggish and may act uninterested in playing or interacting with people, Teller said. Other primary symptoms include coughing and sneezing.
“They may appear to ache,” she added. “Like if they’re trying to get up, they may look achy and uncomfortable.”
Symptoms can last anywhere from one to three weeks, but it usually takes seven to 10 days for the illness to run its course. It takes about two days for symptoms to develop in dogs, and owners may not know their dog is contagious until it’s too late.
Some signs of canine influenza overlap with another upper respiratory illness known as kennel cough, so it’s important to see your veterinarian to get your dog tested and determine the best treatment.
Since there is no cure for the canine flu, veterinarians are likely to treat symptoms by recommending antibiotics, anti-inflammatory medications or increasing fluid intake, according to Operation Kindness.
The best way to protect your dog from the flu is by getting the canine flu vaccine, which is an initial two-shot series that requires an annual booster. Owners that regularly board their dogs should consider requesting a vaccine from their veterinarian, Teller said.
Other preventative measures include cleaning shared spaces and surfaces, washing bedding and sanitizing dog toys and bowls.
While humans cannot catch the flu from their dogs, people can spread the virus from dog to dog. To prevent transmission, owners should practice good hygiene and change their clothes after interacting with a potentially infected dog.
Why are common cold cases spiking right now? Doctors break down the ‘very contagious’ rhinovirus
During the height of the pandemic, COVID-19 restrictions caused a drop in cases of other respiratory viruses, like rhinovirus. But now, it seems, rhinovirus is back in a big way.
The virus, which typically causes the common cold, is behind a large wave of illnesses in Los Angeles County, where data show that at least 30% of positive respiratory virus tests have come back for rhinovirus and its sister illness enterovirus over the past few weeks. That’s a massive increase over the next-closest illness, parainfluenza (a respiratory illness commonly in infants and children that’s different from influenza), which has turned up in a little over 5% of positive respiratory virus tests.
Rhinovirus also came up in a report issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week, which noted that cases of the virus (along with enterovirus) jumped up this summer — even though rhinovirus usually peaks in the spring and fall.
Add that to news that hospitals are filling up with kids infected with illnesses that typically increase in the winter — including, yep, rhinovirus — and it’s understandable to have questions. But what is rhinovirus and why is this spike happening now? Here’s what you need to know.
What is rhinovirus?
Rhinovirus is the most common cause of the common cold, according to the CDC. Rhinoviruses can also trigger asthma attacks and have been linked to sinus and ear infections, per the CDC.
The viruses can cause some sore throats, ear infections and sinus infections, along with pneumonia and bronchiolitis, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says.
Rhinoviruses spread easily — they can be passed along when the virus gets on an object that another person touches and then touches their own eyes, nose or mouth, the AAP says. People can also inhale the virus after an infected person coughs or sneezes.
Rhinovirus symptoms
According to the CDC, symptoms of rhinovirus typically include:
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sore throat
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runny nose
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coughing
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sneezing
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headaches
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body aches
In kids, the virus may also cause a mild fever and a mild decrease in appetite, according to the AAP. People with rhinoviruses usually get better within seven to 10 days.
Why is this spike in cases happening now?
A lot has to do with people interacting more than they did last year, Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, tells Yahoo Life. “Kids are back in school, and everybody is close to each other again, spreading viruses that we haven’t spread very much for the past two years,” Schaffner says. “These viruses are taking the opportunity to spread among children who hadn’t experienced them in the past, due to the pandemic.”
Social distancing and mask-wearing “certainly influenced how little rhinovirus we saw during the pandemic,” Dr. Rosemary Olivero, pediatric infectious disease specialist at Corewell Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital at Michigan University, tells Yahoo Life. But, she adds, “that comes with a flip side: Many of us may have lost our short-lived immunity to rhinovirus, which may be contributing to seeing even more of this virus this year.”
But rhinovirus is also “very contagious” and, as a result is “spreading fast,” Dr. Danelle Fisher, pediatrician and chair of pediatrics at Providence St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., tells Yahoo Life. “Some kids get the common cold from it, and some get much sicker — it can be really bad,” she adds.
Fisher says she’s having conversations about rhinovirus with patients’ parents “multiple times a day.” She continues, “These viruses are stronger than they have been in years.”
What does this mean for cold and flu season?
It could be intense. “I do think this could be a bad season, primarily because the world has pulled back all COVID-19 mitigation measures at this point,” Dr. Shengyi Mao, an internist and pediatrician at the Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center, tells Yahoo Life. “Mask-wearing and social distancing helped not only with spread of COVID-19, but also other respiratory viruses, so I suspect more individuals will get respiratory viruses.”
Severe illnesses and hospitalizations are expected to follow, Mao says. “It’s a numbers game,” she explains. “The more people who get sick also means the more people will become severely ill.”
How to protect yourself
Again, rhinoviruses are highly contagious, and it can be difficult to avoid them entirely. But you can lower the risk that you or family members will become ill.
That includes practicing “tried-and-true” methods of avoiding illness, such as using good hand hygiene and avoiding people who are sick, Olivero says.
There’s also this to consider: While there’s no vaccine to prevent rhinovirus, there are vaccines to prevent other respiratory illnesses. “It is paramount that we vaccinate ourselves against those viruses where a vaccine is available: COVID-19 and influenza, which will keep hundreds of thousands of Americans out of the hospital and reduce disease severity overall,” Olivero says.
If you or your child becomes infected with rhinovirus, Fisher points out that, unfortunately, there is “no cure — you just have to suffer through it.” However, the CDC says that lots of rest and drinking plenty of fluids can help. Over-the-counter medications like acetaminophen (Tylenol) and cold medications can help you feel better, but they won’t make your illness go away any faster.
“Rhinoviruses and other respiratory viruses are back,” Schaffner says. “Be aware.”
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Los Angeles County public health officials investigating person’s death possibly caused by monkeypox
LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Health officials on Thursday said they were investigating a death in Los Angeles County that was possibly caused by monkeypox.
The investigation was announced by Dr. Rita Singhal, chief medical officer of the county Department of Public Health.
“We are early in the investigation and do not have additional details available at this time,” Singhal said. “As soon as details become available, we will share them while maintaining confidentiality and privacy.”
The death is the second in the United States being investigated as possibly caused by monkeypox, according to Singhal.
She said the county will be working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state as it investigates the circumstances of the person’s death.
The U.S. leads the world with monkeypox infections – as of Wednesday, 21,274 cases had been reported – with men accounting for about 98% of cases and men who said they had recent sexual contact with other men about 93% of cases.
Monkeypox, which can cause a rash, fever, body aches and chills, is spread through close skin-to-skin contact and prolonged exposure to respiratory droplets. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that men or transgender people who have had multiple male sex partners consider vaccination.
City News Service contributed to this report.
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