Flu Vaccine Misconceptions
By Julia Vann With flu season approaching, it’s now more important than ever to get the flu vaccine. However, according CNBC, less and less people have been getting the flu shot every year. It’s time to look at the reasons why and the misconceptions associated with them. Misconception 1 A lot of people assume […]
Antibiotic Resistant Infections
by Julia Vann Imagine a society where a minor cut could threaten your life. It may seem silly, but that is exactly the danger we currently face with the rise of antibiotic resistant infections. According to a year long research study conducted by the Annals of Emergency Medicine, bacteria resistant to the most common […]
World Antibiotic Awareness Week
World Antibiotic Awareness Week (Nov. 13-19): The Fight Against Antimicrobial Resistance “This year’s theme: Seek advice from a qualified healthcare professional before taking antibiotics.” (WHO) Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is known as infections that no longer respond to drug treatments. For the most part, AMR can happen one of two ways. The first way is […]
California vaccination bill
On June 25th, California’s assembly voted to approve a bill that would end religious and personal belief exemptions from vaccinations for school children. To officially pass, Gov. Jerry Brown will have to sign off on the bill as well. The bill would make California the 32nd state to ban exemptions based on personal beliefs, but […]
Chloroquine ineffective for Ebola treatment
Chloroquine, an antimalarial drug once thought to be a viable treatment for Ebola, was ineffective in a new study using mice and hamster models. Chloroquine has been proven safe for humans and is also inexpensive. For more than 30 years, chloroquine has been effective due to its antiviral properties in HIV-1, coronaviruses, dengue, chikungunya and influenza treatments, […]
Journey towards polio eradication
Polio eradication remains a priority for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “Without eradication, a resurgence of polio could paralyze more than 200,000 children worldwide every year within a decade,” says Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, Director of the CDC. The journey towards polio eradication has been a collaborative effort. In 1998, the CDC […]
MERS-CoV linked to camels
MERS-CoV, formally known as Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome, is a new coronavirus first reported in 2012 in Saudi Arabia. About 1,000 infections have been reported to the World Health Organization, including infections in the U.S. According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Emerging Infectious Diseases, MERS-CoV has been linked to people […]
H5N8 transmission concerns
H5N8 virus, a new strain of avian flu (HPAI), has been tracing an alarming path from its origination in China through South Korea, Russia, Japan, Canada, multiple countries in Europe and the central United States. Researchers believe that since its discovery in early 2014, the virus was carried from Russia to various parts of the world […]
Ebola virus treatment options
The Ebola outbreak of the past year was a reminder of the lack of treatment options for people infected. According to the World Health Organization’s Ebola Response Roadmap Situation Report, as of November 2014, 15,935 Ebola cases have been reported and 5,689 deaths. No vaccines or treatments are currently available and interventions are at early stages. Although […]
Malaria transmission via mosquitoes
Malaria was eliminated during the 1950s in the United States with the help of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Yet every year, approximately 1,500 cases of malaria are reported, mainly from returning sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia travelers. According to the World Health Organization, in 2013 alone, 500,000 deaths were reported. A […]
H5 viruses in birds spread rapidly
Avian H5 viruses have spread rapidly globally according to a report by the CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID). The first Eurasian Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N8 was reported in January 2014 in countries such as South Korea, China, Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Italy by December. […]
U.S. helps launch African CDC
The African Centres for Disease Control (African CDC) is set to launch in 2015 according to a press release by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The U.S. and the African Union Commission have joined forces to create the new program. The Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) was signed by U.S. Secretary of State John […]