• U.S. measles total climbs by 60 to reach 940 cases

    The nation’s number of measles cases continues to climb steadily, with 60 more cases reported over the last week, raising this year’s total to 940 cases. Meanwhile, in global measles development, European officials today warned of a high risk of more widespread circulation due to gaps in vaccine coverage.

  • Antibiotics found in some of the world's rivers exceed “safe” levels

    Concentrations of antibiotics found in some of the world’s rivers exceed “safe” levels by up to 300 times, the first ever global study has discovered. Researchers looked for 14 commonly used antibiotics in rivers in 72 countries across six continents and found antibiotics at 65 percent of the sites monitored.

  • Coal-fired power plants may affect your drinking water

    When you get a drink of water from your fridge or sink, do you think about where that water came from? A new study takes a national look at whether coal-fired power plants are unintentionally affecting drinking water treatment plants.

  • Immune to drugs: Antimicrobial resistance could kill 10 million a year

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) contends that, “Antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest public health challenges of our time.” Annually, at least 700,000 people die from drug-resistant diseases, and that number is expected to increase to 10 million deaths per year by 2050 if nothing is done. In the U.S., antimicrobial resistance causes more than 2 million infections and 23,000 deaths per year – the equivalent of a Boeing 747 crashing each week. Nicole Fisher writes in Forbes that at present, the incentives to get something done are so misaligned, that in addition to the personal tragedies, there are other frightening possibilities. For example, experts note that “without immediate global action, the crisis of drug resistance bacteria and viruses could lead to an economic catastrophe as bad as the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, and by 2030 could force as many as 24 million people into poverty.”

  • Statistical model helps predict future disease outbreaks

    Researchers have created a statistical method that may allow public health and infectious disease forecasters to better predict disease reemergence, especially for preventable childhood infections such as measles and pertussis.

     

  • Scent-based strategy blocks mosquito transmission of disease

    Could it be that your scent is just a bit too attractive? It is known that mosquitoes are drawn to certain human chemical odors that lead the insects to sources of food. New technology would temporarily modify skin microbiome to reduce attraction of disease-causing mosquitos by altering human scents.

  • Current vaccination policies not enough to prevent measles resurgence

    Current vaccination policies may not be sufficient to achieve and maintain measles elimination and prevent future resurgence in several advanced countries. “Our results suggest that most of the countries we have studied would strongly benefit from the introduction of compulsory vaccination at school entry in addition to current immunization programs,” says the author of a new study.

  • Will the next cyberattack be in the hospital?

    You may not think of hackers targeting hospitals, but this is where our wired world may be most vulnerable, and the results could be deadly. Israeli startup Cynerio aims to stop hackers from targeting medical devices, a potent new danger in our connected world.

  • Predicting top 25 U.S. counties at risk for measles outbreaks

    A team of researchers has identified 25 U.S. counties that are most likely to experience measles outbreaks in 2019. As of late May, the U.S. has seen more than 800 [cases of measles this year, the highest number in decades. Although measles was officially eliminated from the U.S. in 2000, the ongoing outbreak shows that the nation remains at risk.

  • Anti-vaccine advocates spread misinformation at an anti-vaccine rally amid raging measles outbreaks

    Andrew Wakefield, Del Bigtree, and other prominent anti-vaccine advocates unleashed fear and toxic misinformation on Monday, 13 May, at a well-attended symposium in New York’s Rockland County, the location of one of the largest and longest-standing measles outbreaks in the country. Beth Mole writes in ArsTechnica that the event was billed as being a “highly informative night of science and discussion addressing your concerns, fears, and doubts,” but that the speakers made numerous unsubstantiated and egregiously false claims—as usual. In one instance, Brooklyn Orthodox Rabbi William Handler reportedly made the unsubstantiated claim that getting measles, mumps, and chickenpox reduces the risk of cancer, heart disease, and stroke by 60 percent. He did not provide a citation.

  • Tracking down the people behind a pamphlet that's fueling New York's measles outbreak

    Dr. Patricia Ruppert, the health commissioner of Rockland County, New York, where there have been 225 measles cases confirmed since October, told CBS News that misinformation is fueling the rise in cases, especially within the county’s orthodox Jewish community. For at least the last four years, what’s come to be known as the “PEACH pamphlet” has been targeting orthodox Jewish communities in the Northeast. “It holds a lot of unscientific and erroneous information,” Ruppert said. The pamphlet claims vaccines are a contributing factor in causing autism even though the overwhelming consensus of the scientific community is that vaccines do not cause autism. But Ruppert had no idea who is behind the pamphlet. So we tried to find out.

  • U.S. measles cases pass 800, on track for record year

    With 75 more measles cases reported in United States over the past week, the number of infections topped 800, putting this year on pace to pass the total for 1994, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Monday.

  • Truth decay: Vaccination scare threatens the global war on polio

    Enraged by false reports on social media that polio drops had made their children ill, an unruly mob in Masho Khelhe, Pakistan, ransacked and then burnt a clinic where physicians vaccinated children against polio. The attack on 22 April came as long-festering suspicions and propaganda about the worldwide vaccination campaign boiled over across northern Pakistan in a heady mix of fear and wildfire rumor. Ben Farmer writes in the Telegraph that the hysteria of 22 April marked a worrying setback for a campaign which had been on the cusp of eradicating what was once a worldwide scourge, but has faltered. The scale of last month’s panic highlighted how divisive the vaccination program remains to some, despite years of public education, and also how it continues to be used as a focus of extremist propaganda. Anti-vaccine disinformation on social media has made the situation worse, officials say. They are particularly worried how the suspicion appeared to have spread from the illiterate rural poor and even gripped middle class families.

  • Breaking down the anti-vaccine echo chamber

    In these days of Facebook and Twitter, it is easy enough to block out the opinions of those you disagree with, and only associate with people whose voices reinforce your own opinions. These echo chambers have real-world implications; currently, the U.S. is in the midst of its largest measles outbreak in decades. That’s why it’s important to find ways to communicate across the vaccination divide.

  • Examining the safety of using dispersants in oil spill clean ups

    A new study of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill recovery efforts makes a series of recommendations to federal agencies on how to safely clean up after spills.