Jun 23rd, 2022 - I previously reported on the history of the current outbreak of monkeypox among mainly men who have sex with men (MSM) in this Medscape blog. As we discussed, there is a large monkeypox outbreak going on across the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, Canada, the United States, and other countries. Prior to this outbreak, monkeypox had usually been reported from West and Central Africa (regions i...

Jun 23rd, 2022 - The CDC and Florida Department of Health are investigating a growing meningococcal disease outbreak in Florida, which the CDC called "one of the worst outbreaks" of the disease in U.S. history. At least 24 cases and seven deaths have been reported, mostly among gay and bisexual men, the agency announced Wednesday. Recent data shows that about half of the cases linked to the outbreak are among H...

Jun 20th, 2022 - North Korean officials have reported a major outbreak of another infectious disease, which is affecting at least 800 families so far. Medical crews and disease investigators were sent to Haeju City in South Hwanghae province for an "acute enteric epidemic," which refers to a digestive illness. South Korean officials have said the outbreak may be cholera or typhoid, Reuters reported. The new out...

Jun 17th, 2022 - Editor's note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape's Coronavirus Resource Center. A small helping of good news from the COVID-19 pandemic: Americans didn't seem to fill all that time spent at home during the early months of the outbreak by filling their stomachs. A study of over 100,000 adults found that the nation, as a whole, put on the same amount of weight as a result of ...

Jun 16th, 2022 - This transcript has been edited for clarity. Hi. I'm Art Caplan. I'm at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, where I run the Division of Medical Ethics. Sadly, I don't have to remind viewers that we have seen an explosion of gun violence in the United States over the past year, and it really is worse than it was even 4 or 5 years ago. Children have been obliterated at a number of schools. There...

Jun 15th, 2022 - The cupboard in Nicolás Rascovan's microbial paleogenomics lab at Institut Pasteur in Paris, France, is filled up with cardboard boxes that look as if they were shipped from an office supply store. Yet, instead of pencils and Post-it notes, the boxes are filled with ancient human remains from South America — several-thousand-year-old vertebrae, petrus bones (which protect inner ear structures),...

Jun 15th, 2022 - LONDON (Reuters) - The World Health Organization will convene an emergency committee on Thursday next week to assess whether the monkeypox outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). That is the highest level of warning issued by the U.N. agency, which currently applies only to the COVID-19 pandemic and polio. There have been 1,600 confirmed and 1,500 suspect...

Jun 15th, 2022 - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The re-emergence of monkeypox virus in the U.S. and elsewhere may add fuel to the fire for healthcare workers stretched to the limit by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. "Although monkeypox is unlikely to reach the pandemic spread of COVID-19, physicians and other healthcare workers must be vigilant, with a high index of suspicion and careful adherence to appropriate in...

Jun 15th, 2022 - Editor's note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape's Coronavirus Resource Center. A few months ago, it seemed as though the country was poised to finally tame the pandemic, after two years of restrictions and tens of billions in government spending. The Biden administration in March released the first national covid-19 preparedness plan to help Americans safely 'return to nor...

Jun 15th, 2022 - The World Health Organization announced Tuesday that it will rename the monkeypox virus after a group of scientists voiced concerns that the name is "discriminatory and stigmatizing." The virus has infected more than 1600 people in 39 countries so far this year, the WHO said, including 32 countries where the virus isn't typically detected. "WHO is working with partners and experts from around t...

Jun 14th, 2022 - BEIJING (Reuters) - Authorities in China's capital Beijing raced on Monday to contain a COVID-19 outbreak traced to a 24-hour bar known for cheap liquor and big crowds, with millions facing mandatory testing and thousands under targeted lockdowns. The outbreak of 228 cases linked to the Heaven Supermarket Bar, which had just reopened as restrictions in Beijing eased last week, highlights how ha...

Jun 13th, 2022 - (Reuters) - Ukraine's southern city of Mariupol is at risk of a major cholera outbreak as medical services are likely already near collapse, Britain's defence ministry said on Friday. "Ukraine suffered a major cholera epidemic in 1995, and has experienced minor outbreaks since, especially around the Azov Sea coast - which includes Mariupol," the ministry said. There is likely also a critical sh...

Jun 13th, 2022 - KYIV (Reuters) - Cholera and other deadly diseases could kill thousands of people in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol as corpses lie uncollected and summer brings warmer weather, its mayor said on Friday. Mayor Vadym Boichenko said wells had been contaminated by the corpses of people killed during weeks of Russian bombardment and siege, and that the collection of bodies by the city's Rus...

Jun 13th, 2022 - Sixty cases of norovirus and gastrointestinal illness have been reported in four Canadian provinces as of June 10. Spot prawns have been identified as the source, according to a public health notice. The investigation into the outbreak is ongoing, and more information is needed to determine how the spot prawns became contaminated with norovirus. The public health notice will be updated as the i...

Jun 13th, 2022 - When Esther Freeman, MD, PhD, thinks back on what she learned about monkeypox during her training as a dermatologist and an infectious disease epidemiologist, it was widely considered a viral disease with rare outbreaks limited primarily to Central and Western Africa. Dr Esther Freeman "Monkeypox is something we have traditionally only seen very rarely in the U.S.," Freeman, director of Global ...

Jun 9th, 2022 - Editor's note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape's Coronavirus Resource Center. The two newest subvariants of Omicron, BA.4 and BA.5, are spreading across the U.S. and making up a higher percentage of new cases, prompting concerns about increased transmissibility. The subvariants represent 13% of new COVID-19 cases, according to the latest CDC data, up from 7.5% the week be...

Jun 9th, 2022 - As reported, monkeypox cases continue to rise — with a global tally of more than 1 200 cases. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is racing to identify cases and communicate how to mitigate spread of the virus. But in those efforts, they have unintentionally caused confusion, experts say. Last week, the CDC issued a travel alert advising the public to "practice enhanced prec...

Jun 9th, 2022 - As of May 27, the global number of cases of infection with the monkeypox virus had risen to 401, 21 of which were in Germany. No deaths have been reported to date in Europe, North America, Canada, or Australia, but there is a lot of uncertainty regarding the subject. At a press briefing by the Science Center Germany, experts provided an overview of the available knowledge and ventured a predict...

Jun 8th, 2022 - This transcript has been edited for clarity. Hello. I'm Paul Auwaerter with Medscape Infectious Diseases, speaking from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Monkeypox joins the legion of occasional emerging infectious diseases that, as an infectious diseases consultant, we have to become at least familiar with, even if we've never seen it personally, and consider it when the occasio...

Jun 3rd, 2022 - LONDON (Reuters) - As cases of monkeypox in wealthier Western nations spark a flurry of scientific research to combat the outbreak, scientists are urging the world to make sure lower-income nations benefit from the fruits of that labor as well. More than 550 confirmed cases of monkeypox have been reported by at least 30 countries outside of Africa, where the virus is typically found, according ...