Late fall heading into winter is known as respiratory virus season, but this year things are a little different. Three respiratory viruses are surging—RSV, COVID-19, and the flu—in what plenty of people are now calling a “tripledemic” of infectious diseases. Here’s a breakdown of what it’s like out there right now: Flu […]
A team of Johns Hopkins engineers has evaluated promising large-scale technologies to filter out a class of harmful industrial “forever chemicals” commonly found in the country’s drinking water. Known as forever chemicals because they degrade extremely slowly in the environment, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly known as PFAS, are a group […]
A Public Health Success Story The chickenpox (varicella) vaccination program has made a significant public health and economic impact since it started in 1995. The United States became the first country to include the vaccine as part of the routine childhood immunization schedule. Before the program began, chickenpox used to […]
Risk Factors for C. diff C. diff can affect anyone. Most cases of C. diff occur when you’ve been taking antibiotics or not long after you’ve finished taking antibiotics. There are other risk factors: Being 65 or older Recent stay at a hospital or nursing home A weakened immune system, such as people with […]
A Newsy investigation examines how red flag laws work and why hundreds of people are being told to give up their guns. An 18-year-old with several swastikas and a school kill list on his bedroom wall was prohibited from possessing firearms after the Denver Police Department petitioned in June for […]
Epidemiologist Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH, likens predicting a flu season’s severity to forecasting a hurricane’s strength and its exact path 5 days before it makes landfall. With influenza, as with hurricanes, “[w]e have to expect the unexpected,” Osterholm, founder and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy […]
HME Director Chris Murray shares his thoughts on the Burden of Proof studies, which aim to help the public, research funders, and decision-makers navigate confusing health guidance. For Dr. Murray, the most surprising aspect of the findings was that for some associations that he took as grounded in really strong evidence in […]
Overview Flu can be serious and lead to hospitalization or death. Flu vaccination is the best way to protect against flu. Between 140,000 and 710,000 people were hospitalized with flu each year during 2010–2020. People from some racial and ethnic minority groups are more likely to be hospitalized with flu. […]
More than 2 years into the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, the global population carries heterogeneous immune histories derived from various exposures to infection, viral variants, and vaccination.1 Evidence at the level of binding and neutralizing antibodies and B-cell and T-cell immunity suggests that a history of infection with severe acute […]
The ongoing monkeypox outbreak was recently declared to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization.1 Young children are at risk for severe disease; therefore, early recognition and prompt treatment are important.2 We report a case of perinatally acquired monkeypox virus infection and adenovirus coinfection in […]
