In the ICU at Massachusetts General Hospital, nurses use Gatorade to combat flu-related dehydration (due to shortages of intravenous fluids)

January 11, 2018

“This winter’s flu season is turning into a “moderately severe” one that might get worse because of an imperfect vaccine and steady cold weather, flu experts and public health officials said this week… About 80 percent of cases are of the H3N2 strain, which caused many hospitalizations and deaths this year in Australia, where winter

“We are arguably as vulnerable—or more vulnerable—to another (flu) pandemic as we were in 1918.”

January 8, 2018

“People in public health hate H3N2 flu seasons, like the one gripping most of North America right now. So do folks who work in hospitals and in the care facilities that look after the elderly. To put it flatly, H3N2 is the problem child of seasonal flu. It causes more deaths than the other influenza

CDC deactivated its emergency response center for Zika.. The first probable locally acquired Zika case in 2017 has been confirmed in Texas….

October 11, 2017

County health officials on Thursday reported the case involves a Laguna Heights resident who sought testing at a county clinic. The individual is believed to have contracted the virus through a mosquito bite. “Based on the information that we have, the source of the transmission appears to be mosquito-borne that took place several months ago.

Locally transmitted ZIKA case in Texas! Are we ready?

July 27, 2017

“Officials in Texas reported what they believe is a case of mosquito transmission of the virus within the state’s border, the first within the continental United States this year. If correct, it would be the first known instance of local mosquito transmission within the continental United States this year.” (A) This past April – “The

“Houston Braces for Another Brush With the Peril of Zika” *. But they are doing passive not active surveillance. IS YOU AREA’S HEALTH CARE SYSTEM PREPARED FOR A SURGE OF AN EMERGING VIRUS LIKE ZIKA?

July 20, 2017

“With 4.5 million people in a hot, muggy metropolis built atop a bayou, America’s fourth-largest city, Houston, is a perfect target for the mosquito-borne Zika virus. But it may be better prepared than any other urban center to stop an outbreak. The city last year increased its mosquito-control budget by 33 percent. Officials are testing

In June WEST NILE was identified nationwide. Today it’s POWASSAN VIRUS. – ARE WE PREPARED FOR A SURGE OF EMERGING MOSQUITO AND TICK BORNE VIRUSES?

July 18, 2017

Last Fall I was tested for Lyme disease after the summer in a tic infested area only to find that I had West Nile sometime in the past. Last month I read that the West Nile virus was found in New York City. “The New York City Health Department says it had detected the first

Study Findings: Five percent of pregnant women with a confirmed Zika infection.. went on to have a baby with a related birth defect

June 10, 2017

DOCTOR tracked ZIKA last year and proposed the designation of REGIONAL EMERGING VIRUSES REFERRAL CENTERS. It seems that when it was an isolated mainland event in south Florida, public concern disappeared and public health authorities breathed a sigh of relief. Even though we now know that more ZIKA outbreaks are likely and that the consequences