Editor's Note New findings highlight an urgent need to improve preventive measures against animal-borne diseases jumping to humans and potentially causing another global pandemic, US Today reported on July 21. The article details a study from Harvard Law School and New York University that examined animal-human interactions in 15 countries,…
Editor's Note This spring, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is expected to announce that individuals who test positive for COVID-19 no longer need to isolate if they’ve been fever-free for 24 hours and symptoms are mild or improving. Current guidelines, in place since 2021, recommend isolating for…
Editor's Note Many people have reportedly been experiencing cold-like symptoms this winter, which have often been attributed to “some bug”; however, there’s a strong chance these symptoms were due to a new surge of COVID-19, Wired January 10 reports. There’s a new, large global surge in daily COVID-19 infections currently…
Editor's Note According to a new study from the University of Michigan, a surge in multiple respiratory viruses was associated with different pediatric acute care across emergency departments (EDs) across the state. The findings appeared in JAMA Network Open on December 7. The study used data from more than 2.7…
Editor's Note Hospitals in Fresno County, California are operating over capacity by 20% to 40% due to a sharp rise in respiratory diseases such as flu, COVID-19 and RSV, according to a December 18 press release from the Fresno County Department of Public Health. In addition to straining resources, the…
Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is sounding the alarm regarding low vaccination rates for COVID-19 and flu for all adults, as well as low RSV vaccination rates for adults 60 and older. According to the December 14 announcement, study data show anti-virals are also being…
Editor’s Note Seasonal flu cases are spiking across the country, according to data published December 15 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Although the surge is nationwide, activity is highest in the southeast, south-central, and west coast regions. As a result, weekly flu hospital admissions are…
The healthcare sector has begun grappling with a repeat challenge this fall and winter: the simultaneous surge of three significant respiratory diseases—flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and COVID-19 among both children and adults. When these diseases collide, they constitute what experts have termed a “tripledemic,” which poses a significant strain…
Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is hosting a new dashboard—Respiratory Virus Hospitalization Surveillance Network (RESP-NET)—that tracks hospitalization rates for laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, influenza, and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) by age, sex, race/ethnicity, state, and season. The information is based on data from a network of acute…