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Health

CDC warns not to use eye drop brand as it investigates death, infections across 11 states

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(NEXSTAR) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is asking people to stop using a brand of artificial tears that could be behind dozens of infections across the U.S.

The CDC says lab and epidemiological evidence have tied the use of EzriCare Artificial Tears to a multi-state cluster of Pseudomonas aeruginosa patients, but the investigation is ongoing and there is not yet a definite link.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria live in the environment, are highly resistant to antibiotics and can cause infections in the blood, lungs (pneumonia) and other body parts. Often these cases occur after surgery.

The CDC is investigating at least 50 cases in 11 states that have led to hospitalization, permanent vision loss and even one death. The cases are located in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Texas, Utah and Washington.

While working to determine the cause of the illnesses, CDC investigators found that the majority of people used artificial tears, with EzriCare being the most popular brand. Investigators identified the drug-resistant bacteria in open bottles of the drops, the CDC said. Testing of sealed bottles is ongoing.

“CDC recommends that clinicians and patients immediately discontinue the use of EzriCare Artificial Tears until the epidemiological investigation and laboratory analyses are complete,” according to a Jan. 20 news release.

EzriCare said in a statement Wednesday that they were not aware of any testing that definitely linked the eye drops to Pseudomonas aeruginosa, but said they stopped selling the product.

“To the greatest extent possible, we have been contacting customers to advise them against continued use of the product, the company said in a statement on its website. “We also immediately reached out to both CDC and FDA and indicated our willingness to cooperate with any requests they may have of us.”

A 2019 report found that 2,700 people in the U.S. died from Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections and another 32,600 were hospitalized.

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Business

Goldman Sachs says 4 cities likely to see a 2008-style housing crash: report

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(NEXSTAR) – Goldman Sachs is predicting dark days in 2023 for some of the pandemic’s red-hot U.S. housing markets.

The investment bank shied away from predicting a nationwide crash, but warned that residents in four cities in particular could see plummeting values that echo the 2008 housing collapse, according to a note to clients obtained by the New York Post.

The “overheated” markets mentioned in the note were: San Jose, California; Austin, Texas; Phoenix, Arizona; and San Diego, California.

Goldman now believes that interest rates will remain high longer than expected, and notified clients that the bank is raising its forecast for the 30-year fixed mortgage rate to 6.5% for year-end 2023.

September 2022 marked the first time since the 2008 housing crisis that the average long-term mortgage rate surpassed 6%.

High mortgage rates, combined with soaring home prices, are currently driving some buyers away and contributing to a cooling housing market.

Austin, ranked the hottest real estate market in the U.S. in 2021 by Zillow, has fallen to 30th for 2023. The company’s report called the market “ice cold” and stated that homes are now spending an average of 68 days on the market, more than any other major U.S. metro. The Austin Board of Realtors has pushed back against the report, saying that there is still “incredibly high demand.”

But just how bad could things get in 2023?

Prices are expected to fall less than 2% in cities like New York and Chicago, according to Goldman, and even grow in others, like Baltimore and Miami.

In cities where valuations have drifted far from fundamentals, the decline is expected to be far more devastating, according to the note.

“This [national] decline should be small enough as to avoid broad mortgage credit stress, with a sharp increase in foreclosures nationwide seeming unlikely,” Goldman Sachs wrote. “That said, overheated housing markets in the Southwest and Pacific coast, such as San Jose MSA, Austin MSA, Phoenix MSA, and San Diego MSA will likely grapple with peak-to-trough declines of over 25%, presenting localized risk of higher delinquencies for mortgages originated in 2022 or late 2021.”

National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in his 2023 forecast that he sees “hopeful signs” for the country as a whole and expects housing prices to be flat on average.

“Half of the country may experience small price gains, while the other half may see slight price declines,” Yun said. The exceptions, however are markets like the San Francisco Bay Area, where San Jose is located, which he predicts will see potential 10-15% drops in 2023.

“Mortgage rates are the lifeblood that drive home sales,” Yun said. The average rate on a 30-year loan was 6.15% this week, nearly a full point below the 7.08% high of September 2022.

The same rate was 3.56% at this time last year, according to Freddie Mac.

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Science

Earth’s inner core may have ‘paused’ its rotation and reversed, new study suggests

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(NEXSTAR) – Deep in the center of the Earth is the inner core, which spans roughly 746 miles and is composed of primarily pure, solid iron, NASA explains. Though we’ve long believed – and research has shown – that the inner core rotates, a new study suggests it may have “paused” its spin and could even have reversed.

The liquid outer core that surrounds the inner core causes Earth’s magnetic field. According to NASA, as the molten iron and nickel in the outer core move, they create electrical currents that result in a magnetic field. The outer core also allows the inner core to spin on its own, Nature explains.

Though scientists can’t track the core directly, they can analyze seismic waves caused by earthquakes – and Cold War-era nuclear weapon tests – as they reach the core. That’s what study co-authors Yi Yang and Xiaodong Song, seismologists at Peking University in Beijing, did for their new research, which was published in the Nature Geoscience journal on Monday.

Based on their analysis of seismic waves caused by similar earthquakes dating back to the 1960s, Yang and Song said they found that the inner core’s rotation seems to have “paused” between 2009 and 2020 and could even be reversing “by a small amount.”

Sounds concerning, right? Don’t be alarmed – this likely isn’t the first time our inner core has come to a halt. Instead, they believe the change is “associated with a gradual turning-back of the inner core as part of an approximately seven-decade oscillation.”

According to Yang and Song, results from their study also suggest “another overturn or a slowdown of the rotation around the early 1970s.”

The seismologists said their findings – changes in how fast seismic waves traveled through the inner core – coincide “with changes in several other geophysical observations, especially the length of day and magnetic field,” which are both areas that are impacted by the inner core’s movement, research has shown.

While the changes are “valid,” what Yang and Song found may not be exactly what’s happening in the depths of our planet. John Vidale, a professor of earth sciences at the University of Southern California that wasn’t involved in the study, noted “several competing ideas” about the Earth’s core to The Wall Street Journal.

This includes theories that the inner core reverses its rotation more frequently than the 70 years Yang and Song determined and that it stopped rotating in the early 2000s.

“No matter which model you like, there’s some data that disagrees with it,” Vidale told The New York Times.

Vidale recently co-authored a study that showed the inner core changed its spin between 1969 and 1974, and that it seems to oscillate “a couple of kilometers every six years.”

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Business

When will Netflix start charging for password sharing?

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(NEXSTAR) – Whether you’re sharing a Netflix password with someone or borrowing theirs, be prepared to start paying for it. The streaming giant has been warning that a password-sharing crackdown was imminent, and it appears they are nearly ready to roll out some new rules.

In a letter to shareholders last week, Netflix said it expects to roll out paid account sharing “more broadly” toward the end of the first quarter of 2023. Netflix estimates more than 100 million households share accounts, which “undermines our long-term ability to invest in and improve Netflix.”

Executives explained in the letter that they expect some users to cancel their accounts when paid sharing is launched but that “borrower households” will start their own accounts.

How the paid password sharing will be enforced, and how much it will cost, haven’t yet been released.

Features Netflix tested in Latin America last March cost roughly $3 or $4. During last week’s earnings call, COO and Chief Product Officer Greg Peters said the company is working to find “the right price points.”

Netflix was already exploring ways to crack down on password sharing in 2021 when it tested out a log-in verification process. If a user the company suspected was not the account owner tried to log in, Netflix would send a code via email or text to the account owner. That code needed to be entered within a certain amount of time, or the user would not be able to access the service.

In March 2022, Netflix began testing two new features – one that allowed members to add a sub-account for people living outside their household for a small fee, and the second that allowed users who share an account to transfer their profile information to a new account or sub-account – in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru.

In these countries, Netflix warns that devices that connect to your account from outside your household may be blocked. Netflix can detect devices outside your home using information like “IP addresses, device IDs, and account activity from devices signed into the Netflix account.”

A month later, executives hinted at a crackdown again after blaming password sharing, as well as increased competition from other streaming services, for its first loss of subscribers in more than a decade.

In July, Netflix tested a separate feature in another round of countries that allowed users to buy additional “homes” to use a TV or TV-connected device outside their household, The Verge reports. Users could buy the extra “home” to allow users access to Netflix outside their home. Any TVs that weren’t connected to the additional home were blocked after two weeks, Netflix said.

Then, in November, Netflix launched a new feature that allows you to view devices that have streamed from your account and log out those you don’t want to have access “with just one click.” Though Netflix suggested using the feature to log out of a hotel TV or a friend’s device while traveling for the holidays, you’re also able to remove any device using your login.

Netflix’s move to tackle password sharing is a shift from the company’s previous view of the common practice. Then-CEO Reed Hastings (he stepped down as CEO last week) said in 2016 that Netflix wouldn’t charge users for sharing their passwords. Instead, he called password sharing “something you have to learn to live with,” CNBC reports.

Hastings had also never been a fan of ads, calling them a distraction from the entertainment the service provides. But, in November, Netflix launched a fourth plan, “Basic with Ads,” that includes an “average of 4 to 5 minutes of ads per hour.” Users on this plan also don’t have access to Netflix’s full library.

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Health

Myths surrounding MMR vaccine may be contributing to Ohio measles outbreak

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DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – A health official in Ohio says declining vaccination rates have likely contributed to a measles outbreak within the state.

As of Thursday, Ohio has 82 confirmed cases of measles, 32 of which required hospitalization. All but five of the cases were among children ages 1–5, and none of the patients were fully vaccinated; four had unknown vaccination statuses, and at least 23 of the patients were ineligible for vaccination due to their age, according to the public health department of Columbus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recently reported on studies showing a significant decline in measles vaccination rates among eligible children, noting that around 40 million eligible children throughout the country missed a dose in 2021.

“This decline is a significant setback in global progress towards achieving and maintaining measles elimination and leaves millions of children susceptible to infection,” the CDC wrote in November.

Health leaders in Ohio believe the decline is due to myths surrounding the measles vaccine that could still be prevalent.

“The vaccine hesitancy is something that we’re all going to pay dearly for the next several years from the COVID fiasco,” said Charles Patterson, the health commissioner for Clark County Combined Health District.

Some health officials fear the worst is yet to come, believing uncertainty around the COVID-19 vaccine has caused other vaccines, like the MMR dose, to come into question.

Patterson says myths around the MMR vaccine began in 1998, when a now-discredited researcher claimed to have observed a link between the MMR vaccine and the predisposition of children to pervasive developmental disorders. Since that time, his claims have been debunked, and the study was declared unethical.

“That article has since been retracted, the professor who did the research has admitted it was flawed research and just flat out not true,” said Patterson. “There have been at least nine studies since then that have shown there is no causal relationship between MMR and autism.”

Despite this, Patterson said measles among unvaccinated populations has been a concern for decades.

“In the year 2000, measles was declared gone from the United States,” said Patterson. “Unfortunately, we are starting to see it back now and that’s a huge problem because of the reduction in vaccines that are out there.”

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Health

After COVID, flu and RSV, is a strep outbreak next?

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(NEXSTAR) – As the U.S. continues to see high levels of three viral infections – COVID-19, influenza, and RSV – there’s growing concern over a bacteria that can cause serious illness, especially in children.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it’s tracking a “possible increase in invasive group A strep” among children.

At least 94 people in the United Kingdom, including 24 children, have died from complications caused by a strep A infection. “To my knowledge, we’ve never seen a peak like this at this time of year, at least not for decades,” microbiologist Shiranee Sriskandan at Imperial College London told Nature.

France, Ireland, the Netherlands and Sweden have also observed strep A increases over the past few months, the World Health Organization said.

When asked if the U.S. was destined to follow the trend we’re seeing in Europe, Dr. Andrew Pekosz, a virologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said it was too soon to say if we’d see a “large strep A outbreak.” He warned that it could be a problem if we do see a rise in the bacterial infection at the same time we’re contending with a viral “tripledemic.”

“Often times severe disease is caused when you have that combination of a virus infection and a bacterial infection,” Pekosz said. He added that viral infections can sometimes lead to bacterial infections, so the rise in strep A isn’t totally unrelated to the other types of sickness we’re seeing peak.

Secondary bacterial infections, like getting strep A while you’re fighting off the flu or COVID, can also cause more severe disease, Pekosz said.

Strep A infections are particularly dangerous for children, the CDC says. While strep commonly looks and feels like a sore throat, it can sometimes lead to more serious illness like scarlet fever. In rare instances, strep A can also cause necrotizing fasciitis and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome, both of which are extremely dangerous and can lead to death.

Getting strep now is especially dangerous, as the country is experiencing a shortage of amoxicillin, a liquid antibiotic commonly prescribed to help kids fight strep A. The CDC expects the shortage to “last several months.”

The CDC says concerned parents should contact their pediatrician to get a strep test if they believe their child may have the bacterial infection.

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Health

Babies born with syphilis hits peak level in 32 years in Pennsylvania

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Story at a glance

  • Congenital syphilis occurs when a pregnant person with syphilis passes the infection on to the baby during pregnancy.
  • It can cause miscarriages, stillbirths, premature births, low birth weight, or death shortly after birth.
  • Syphilis is treatable with antibiotics, and doctors advise routine testing during pregnancy.

(WBRE/WYOU) — The Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) is urging mothers-to-be to get tested for syphilis to reverse the recent trend of babies being born with the disease.

Acting Secretary of Health and Pennsylvania Physician General Denise Johnson said she is strongly encouraging pregnant people to seek prenatal care and to get tested in an effort to prevent babies from being born with syphilis.

The DOH says congenital syphilis occurs when a pregnant person with syphilis passes the infection on to the baby during pregnancy. It can cause miscarriages, stillbirths, premature births, low birth weight, or death shortly after birth.

“Congenital syphilis can be a painful disease that is dangerous for the overall health of babies. It also is preventable,” Johnson said. “We need to educate pregnant people about the importance of testing for syphilis throughout the pregnancy in order to stop children from being born with the disease and to reduce the chance of stillbirths.”

According to the DOH, so far in 2022, there have been 12 confirmed cases of births with congenital syphilis in Pennsylvania, excluding Philadelphia, along with two stillbirths, making it the highest number of cases since 1990.

Also, the DOH said it’s seen a disturbing trend over the past five years with 39 confirmed cases of congenital syphilis (excluding Philadelphia) since 2018, compared with six confirmed cases of the disease over the previous five years.

The number of congenital syphilis cases across the U.S. has risen steadily over the last eight years, growing from 334 in 2012 to 2,184 in 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Over the last 10 years, the number of early syphilis cases of women of reproductive age has jumped exponentially from 29 cases in 2010 to 211 cases in 2021, the Pennsylvania DOH said.

The department said it’s focusing on educating pregnant women and other women of reproductive age while also reminding healthcare professionals about the importance of testing pregnant patients for syphilis.

“Pregnant patients need to understand that syphilis can be treated and cured with antibiotics. If anyone tests positive for syphilis during pregnancy, they should seek treatment right away,” Johnson said. “We hope that by openly talking about this issue, we can reduce the stigma surrounding syphilis testing, and ultimately, increase the number of healthy childbirths across the state.”

Nationwide, syphilis cases among women between the age of 15 and 44 have grown from 1,294 in 2012 to 6,924 in 2020, according to the CDC.

Watch: Press Conference on the rise of syphilis cases during pregnancy

The DOH recommends all healthcare providers test all pregnant patients for syphilis at the first prenatal visit, during the third trimester and at delivery.

Additional information about congenital syphilis during pregnancy, testing, and treatment can be found online at the DOH’s website.

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Health

These are the most common COVID symptoms right now: study

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Story at a glance

  • Viruses evolve over time.
  • The latest symptoms of COVID-19 are tied to new dominant subvariants – BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 – which now comprise the majority of cases reported in the U.S.
  • A sore throat was the most frequently reported symptom, followed by a runny nose and a blocked nose.

(NEXSTAR) – As with any virus, the symptoms of COVID have changed, and a new study shows they have, again, changed slightly.

Virus symptoms can change for a number of reasons, like vaccines and new variants. When the BA.5 omicron subvariant became the dominant strain in the U.S., for example, COVID patients began reporting extreme fatigue more often and loss of taste or smell less.

The new symptoms are tied to new dominant subvariants – BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 now comprise the majority of cases reported in the U.S., according to the CDC.

The ZOE Health Study — a joint effort by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, King’s College London, Stanford University School of Medicine and the health app ZOE — shared an updated list of the top COVID symptoms currently being reported by its participants last week.

Reviewing data from COVID-positive study participants for the 30 days prior to December 5, researchers found a sore throat was the most frequently reported symptom, followed by a runny nose and a blocked nose.

Here are the top 10 reported COVID symptoms noted in the ZOE Healthy Study since early November:

  1. Sore throat
  2. Runny nose
  3. Blocked nose
  4. Sneezing
  5. Coughing without phlegm
  6. Headache
  7. Coughing with phlegm
  8. Hoarse voice
  9. Muscle aches and pains
  10. Altered sense of smell

With the exception of sneezing and hoarse voice, all of these symptoms have been linked to COVID since the start of the pandemic, CDC data shows. Notably missing from this list compared to current CDC guidelines are the gastrointestinal-related symptoms of diarrhea and nausea or vomiting and some “traditional” symptoms: loss of smell, shortness of breath, and fever.

According to ZOE, the traditional symptoms have been reported less frequently among recent COVID patients. In an October report, ZOE listed fever as a commonly-reported symptom for unvaccinated COVID patients. A recent breakdown of symptoms based on vaccination status was not immediately available.

These COVID symptoms are also similar to those of the flu and RSV. All three respiratory viruses – currently prevalent in the U.S., causing a “tripledemic” – have overlapping symptoms, with some variation. A chart from the Children’s National Hospital recently compared the symptoms associated with COVID, the flu, and RSV at a glance.

The severity of symptoms can vary from person to person, and methods of treatment depend on the virus. While examining your symptoms is a good place to start, doctors recommend getting tested to help inform next steps.

Alix Martichoux contributed to this report.

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Health

CDC urges masking return as tripledemic surges

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Story at a glance

  • The CDC is asking the public to wear face masks indoors.
  • A number of major cities are now mulling a return to masking measures.

(NewsNation) — Concerns are growing nationwide for rapidly increasing cases of what health officials have deemed a tripledemic: the flu, RSV and COVID-19, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is once again urging the public to wear face masks indoors.

According to the agency’s Dec. 8 report, 13.7 percent of Americans now live in communities now rated “high” COVID-19 Community Levels, up from 4.9 percent of the population last week. An additional 38.1 percent of Americans are in “medium” areas and 48.2 percent are in “low” areas. 

A number of major cities are now mulling a return to masking measures.

In California, more than 10 counties, including Los Angeles, Maricopa, Nassau and San Bernardino, are now in the “high” tier.

Los Angeles County health officials are again strongly recommending that everyone wears masks indoors.

Over the past week, Los Angeles hospitals saw an average of 1,245 COVID-positive patients every day — that’s a nearly 20 percent jump over the previous seven days.

“When you put on your mask for these few weeks during this surge, it is about the people of LA County. it is about every individual, every visitor, our health care workers, essential workers and other people who serve. in addition to vaccination, it is one of the easiest things everyone can do right now,” Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County director of public health, wrote in a press release.

In New York, a health advisory notice was sent out alerting hospitals, local health departments, emergency rooms and labs to prepare for rapidly rising cases of respiratory illness.

The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island are in orange, meaning high-risk levels, while Manhattan is in yellow, the medium-risk level, according to the latest CDC data.

On Dec. 9, state officials urged schools to return to indoor masking to curb the spread of respiratory illnesses.

As the Christmas and New Year’s holidays approach, when families are expected to gather across the country, health officials fear that could put a significant strain on our health care system if people don’t take the proper precautions.

“Our immune system has not been revved up. The vaccine rates are lower. We are a prime sitting target for other respiratory illnesses as we relax our guard down and begin to have contact with other people,” said Bruce Hirsch, an attending physician in infectious diseases at Northwell Health.

Medical centers across America are reporting higher rates of hospitalizations, and nursing homes are pushing boosters for residents.

As for RSV, the ones at greatest risk are children 6 months and younger who haven’t built up strong immune systems yet. An RSV vaccine is reported to become available by this time next year.

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Health

Can I test for the flu or RSV at home?

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(NEXSTAR) – The country seems to be collectively battling a host of viruses right now, with influenza ripping through communities and RSV crowding hospitals with sick, young patients.

So if you’re one of the many sick Americans right now and have already tested negative for COVID-19, you may be wondering what exactly you have – is it the flu, RSV or just a common cold?

Unfortunately, nailing down a test for influenza and RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, is not quite as convenient as the COVID-19 rapid test, but there are still a number of options. RSV is a common cause of cold-like symptoms that can be serious for infants and the elderly.

“There are currently no fully at-home tests for flu or RSV,” James McKinney, spokesperson for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), told Nexstar.

This is unfortunate for people who come down with influenza, as the existing antiviral drugs work best when started early, one or two days after symptoms begin, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

While you may not be able to get the results at home, there is an at-home testing kit from Labcorp the FDA approved under an emergency use authorization earlier this year. You can test for COVID-19, flu and RSV by self-swabbing and sending the kit to a laboratory for analysis. For those who aren’t insured or don’t meet the criteria for the $0 upfront cost option, the price is a hefty $169.

There are also a “handful of home collection tests for flu/COVID,” if not RSV, according to McKinney. CVS also offers in-store testing for the flu at their Minute Clinic locations.

If you’re determined to figure out what you have after experiencing symptoms, healthcare providers at hospitals and urgent care centers are able to test for both influenza and RSV.

‘Tripledemic’ wallops the U.S.

The U.S. flu season keeps getting worse as healthcare providers are already scrambling to treat waves of RSV patients – many of them pediatric cases – who require hospitalization.

While the CDC said Monday that there may be reason to hope that RSV cases are leveling off in parts of the country, the same can’t be said for the flu.

Health officials said Friday that 7.5% of outpatient medical visits last week were due to flu-like illnesses. That’s as high as the peak of the 2017-18 flu season and higher than any season since.

“Turns out that the cold weather the gathering indoors, all of that is good for respiratory viruses and bad for symptoms,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said during a media briefing on Monday. “But what I would say is, you know, there are other pathogens out there, we want to make sure that we are on top of the ones that people can do something about that is prevention with vaccines, flu and COVID, for sure. And then intervention with antivirals, again, influenza and COVID.”

The annual winter flu season usually doesn’t get going until December or January, but this one began early and has been complicated by the simultaneous spread of other viruses.

The measure of traffic in doctor’s offices is based on reports of symptoms like coughs and sore throats, not on lab-confirmed diagnoses. So it may include other respiratory illnesses.

CDC officials estimate that there have been at least 8.7 million illnesses, 78,000 hospitalizations and 4,500 deaths from the flu this year, including 14 pediatric deaths.

Dr. Walensky also addressed COVID-19, which has so far not seen the abnormally high infection rate, but is starting to tick higher.

“In the past week, we’ve started to see the unfortunate and expected rise of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations nationally after the Thanksgiving holiday,” Walensky said. “This rise in cases and hospitalizations is especially worrisome as we move into the winter months when more people are assembling indoors with less ventilation.”

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