[Health] The Infectious Diseases Thread

[Kraken]

I got my second pneumonia vaccine earlier this week. The pharmacy person at Walgreen's told me I didn't need it because the first shot was supposed to be one-and-done. But the pharmacist who administered it last year told me to come back in a year. So the first clerk huddled with another pharmacist who said that the second shot is a different vaccine. Which they didn't have in stock and would order. They did, and I did, and now I should be impervious to pneumonia -- which carries off a lot of old people, so I'm glad I stood my ground.

Other than a slightly sore arm I had no reaction to that shot at all.

[Smoove_B]

Nice! DId they push RSV on you as well?

Get all the vaccinations.

[Kraken]

I got the RSV vax when I got my fall covid and flu shots.

[Smoove_B]

Ok, I've updated my records.

When the time comes I will let you in the DMZ just outside my bunker and we'll re-evaluate then.

[LordMortis]

I got my second pneumonia vaccine earlier this week. The pharmacy person at Walgreen's told me I didn't need it because the first shot was supposed to be one-and-done. But the pharmacist who administered it last year told me to come back in a year. So the first clerk huddled with another pharmacist who said that the second shot is a different vaccine. Which they didn't have in stock and would order. They did, and I did, and now I should be impervious to pneumonia -- which carries off a lot of old people, so I'm glad I stood my ground.

Other than a slightly sore arm I had no reaction to that shot at all.

My PCP told me the pneumonia was updated this year and recommended it, as I have asthma, had pertussis, a weakened immune system, and am prone to those sorts of problems. There was no two vaccines about it. She also said go to CVS and get the shingles vaccine. That's the first time it's been recommended. Finally they always ask about updating Tetanus. I shrug and then they don't actually give it to me. I have no idea when I got my last tetanus shot.

[Smoove_B]

Not very often we get to hear about a new domestic disease:

An elderly man on the Kenai Peninsula has died from Alaskapox, making him the first person to be killed by the viral disease that was identified only nine years ago, state health officials reported Friday.

Aside from being the first fatal human case, it is the documented first human infection outside of the Fairbanks area, indicating that the virus, which is known to be harbored by small mammals, has spread beyond the wildlife populations in that Interior community.

The patient, who had an immune system that was compromised because of treatment for cancer, first reported signs of the infection in September when a tender lesion appeared in his armpit area, according to a bulletin issued by the state Division of Public Health’s epidemiology section.

Not sure you're going to hear much about it anyway, but in case you do now you can pretend you're up on emerging zoonotic infections.

[LordMortis]

If only you had posted this in R&P I could have fired the sarcasm shotgun.

[Max Peck]

You'll know that it's time to worry about Alaskapox when TPTB decide they need to change the name in order to prevent (further) stigmatization of the good people of Alaska.

[Smoove_B]

That's a good point - the naming convention does go against what they've been trying to do since the Sin Nombre virus here in the U.S. back in 1994, my favorite of all viruses.

[Isgrimnur]

Measles will be the first to reappear as you need higher vaccine coverage in the population to prevent spread.

Measles Strikes a Florida Elementary School With Over 100 Unvaccinated Kids

On Friday, Broward County Public School reported a confirmed case of measles in a student at Manatee Bay Elementary School in the city of Weston. A local CBS affiliate reported that the case was in a third-grade student who had not recently traveled. On Saturday, the school system announced that three additional cases at the same school had been reported, bringing the current reported total to four cases.
...
At Manatee Bay Elementary School, the number of children at risk could be over 100 students. According to a Broward County vaccine study reported by the local CBS outlet, only 89.31 percent of students at Manatee Bay Elementary School were fully immunized in the 2023/2024 school year, which is significantly lower than the target vaccination coverage of 95 percent. The school currently has 1,067 students enrolled, suggesting that up to 114 students are vulnerable to the infection based on their vaccination status.
...
About 1 in 5 unvaccinated people with measles are hospitalized, the CDC adds, while 1 in 20 infected children develop pneumonia and up to 3 in 1,000 children die of the infection.

Those who are not immunocompromised and are fully vaccinated against measles (who have received two doses of the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine) are generally not considered at risk. The two doses are about 97 percent effective at preventing measles, and protection is considered to be life-long.

[Scuzz]

Since December I have had a flu shot, the first pneumonia shot, the RSV and my first shingles shot.

The last two I got Tuesday.

I also did the crap in a bucket Cologuard test.

[Isgrimnur]

Unvaccinated Florida kids exposed to measles can skip quarantine, officials say

A sixth student at Florida's Manatee Bay Elementary School outside of Fort Lauderdale has a confirmed case of measles, health officials announced late Tuesday. However, health officials are not telling unvaccinated students who were potentially exposed to quarantine.

The school has a low vaccination rate, suggesting that the extremely contagious virus could spark a yet larger outbreak. But in a letter sent to parents late Tuesday, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo—known for spreading anti-vaccine rhetoric and vaccine misinformation—indicated that unvaccinated students can skip the normally recommended quarantine period.
The letter, signed by Ladapo, noted that people with measles can be contagious from four days before the rash develops through four days after the rash appears. And while symptoms often develop between eight to 14 days after exposure, the disease can take 21 days to appear. As such, the normal quarantine period for exposed and unvaccinated people, who are highly susceptible to measles, is 21 days.

"Because of the high likelihood of infection, it is normally recommended that children stay home until the end of the infectious period, which is currently March 7, 2024," Ladapo's letter states, adding that the date could change as the situation develops. "However, due to the high immunity rate in the community, as well as the burden on families and educational costs of healthy children missing school, [the health department] is deferring to parents or guardians to make decisions about school attendance."

Local media outlets reported that, on Tuesday, more than 200 of the school's 1,067 students were absent.

[Max Peck]

I get the feeling he heads up the Department of Illness rather than the Department of Health.

[Blackhawk]

"However, due to the high immunity rate in the community, as well as the burden on families and educational costs of healthy children missing school, [the health department] is deferring to parents or guardians to make decisions about school attendance."

If there were a high immunity rate in the community, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

[gilraen]

Just wait until one of those kids goes to a nearby amusement park...

[LordMortis]

due to ... the burden on families and educational costs of healthy children missing school, [the health department] is deferring to parents or guardians to make decisions about school attendance."

Local media outlets reported that, on Tuesday, more than 200 of the school's 1,067 students were absent.

[LawBeefaroni]

Last week I had to attend a few meetings in-person at various sites away from my regular office. Due to the shittiness of the commute, I worked from home all week when I wasn't in traffic on the Kennedy or Edens or at one of the meetings.

Turns out it was a good week to be out of the office. We had measles exposure (unknown at the time) in one of the buildings I'm usually in a lot and a floor in my building had a COVID mini-outbreak. Anyone who was in the building with the measles exposure has to report it to IDPH and go through Smoove-B contract tracing stuff, I assume.

I was back in the office on Tuesday and everyone was wearing masks. I was very out of the loop.

So now two known, concurrent cases in Chicago: Chicago confirms two cases of measles after city resident and migrant child diagnosed

Chicago authorities have identified two cases of measles as of Friday, one city resident and a migrant child at a shelter, the first cases reported in Chicago since 2019.

I'd note that the migrant shelter with the measles case is the same one that had a child that died in December. He died from sepsis due to multiple infections: Group A strep, COVID-19, Adenovirus, and a cold. Basically a cocktail of infections due to living undiagnosed/untreated in horrible conditions. Heartbreaking and enraging.

And now, with measles!

[Isgrimnur]

[LawBeefaroni]

Second case identified at the shelter.

A second confirmed case of measles has been reported at a shelter for migrants in Pilsen, the Chicago Department of Public Health said on Sunday.

According to CDPH, there has been an increase in measles cases worldwide in recent months due to lower vaccination coverage.

[LawBeefaroni]

And then there were 8.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Three more cases of measles have been identified at a Chicago migrant shelter Wednesday, city health officials confirmed.

The three additional cases bring the shelter's total to seven measles cases. Eight have been identified citywide since last week, but one case is not related to the new arrivals.

Since the weekend, about 900 measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccinations have been administered at the Pilsen shelter.

A team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention arrived Tuesday to help local health officials manage the outbreak and administer further vaccines. Public health officials said they are also screening and offering vaccinations to migrants as they arrive at the city's landing zone.

....

State officials are moving families who have been exposed to measles from shelters to unnamed hotels, specifically pregnant women and babies who are not able to be vaccinated.

[LawBeefaroni]

10 now. 2 at public schools. Which is interesting, given that MMRV is a required vaccine for CPS students. Yet...

Mayor Johnson: City is "moving quickly" to vaccinate CPS students against measles

At least four of the eight measles patients identified in Chicago's Pilsen migrant shelter have been children, and two of the children are students in the Chicago Public Schools.

There have now been 10 measles patients identified in Chicago in sum.

...

Meanwhile, this email went out to parents Wednesday afternoon:

Dear CPS Staff and Families,

As we have been communicating for the past few days, the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) has confirmed a handful of measles cases in the City of Chicago.

I know that news like this can be unsettling, but I want to assure our CPS community that our schools are safe. This situation is NOT like what we experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since COVID was a novel, or "new" virus, no one had immunity. By contrast, the vast majority of Chicago residents—more than 90 percent—are protected from measles by the Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) vaccine. This is one of the highest vaccination rates in the country. The MMR vaccine is a safe, highly-effective vaccine that is given in childhood and is a requirement for students enrolled in CPS schools.

Huge risk to any immunocompromised kids that can't get the vaccine since CPS is not enforcing the vaccine requirement for those that can.

[Punisher]

Since it's supposed to be a requirement is it possible that the vaccine just wasn't effective or is it much more likely that the requirement just isn't enforced?
And if it's just not being enforced is this just more fallout from the covid vaccine causing so many peoples getting stupid about it?

[gilraen]

MMR vaccine is highly effective but it requires 2 doses. So obviously you have immunocompromised kids that cannot get the vaccine at all, and kids that never got it because "religious freedom" or whatever. But then I would imagine you also have kids that got the first dose and then never got the 2nd dose (because of COVID lockdowns or parents just didn't keep up with it). But the registrar clerk in a school won't know the difference when the parents just shove the vaccine papers at them, "see, my kid got the shot".

I'm glad I got an MMR booster a year before COVID started and people got even dumber than normal.

[em2nought]

I imagine the guy in the iron lung died just in time as there will probably be somebody else needing it soon.

[LawBeefaroni]

Since it's supposed to be a requirement is it possible that the vaccine just wasn't effective or is it much more likely that the requirement just isn't enforced?
And if it's just not being enforced is this just more fallout from the covid vaccine causing so many peoples getting stupid about it?

It's extremely effective.

It looks like the requirement was waived.

While students typically are required to be vaccinated to enroll in school in Illinois, asylum seekers can be exempted from vaccination.

[Isgrimnur]

Central Florida is a hot spot for leprosy, report says

In 2020, 159 cases were reported nationwide, compared with 200,000 new cases each year around the world, according to the World Health Organization. The new letter says Central Florida accounted for 81% of cases in Florida and nearly 1 out of 5 leprosy cases nationwide.

[Isgrimnur]

Rare but severe cases of meningitis are on the rise, CDC warns

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health advisory Thursday about a rise in rare but severe forms of meningococcal infections. These bacterial infections can cause potentially life-threatening inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord.

The CDC says 422 cases were reported in 2023, the highest annual number seen since 2014. Of the 94 cases with known outcomes, 17 died. Since March 25, 143 cases have been reported to the CDC — 62 more cases than what was seen over the same time period in 2023.

The spike is notable in part because infections are disproportionately affecting people ages 30 to 60, as well as African American individuals and those with HIV. Typically, infants younger than 1, teenagers and young adults ages 16 to 23 as well as individuals older than 85 have a higher risk of contracting meningococcal disease.

[Smoove_B]

I'll never forget how angry I was after learning about prions and how they violate all the basic "rules" of life they made us learn in biology. With that, please do enjoy this unfortunate story:

A new study might point to the first signs of a frightening public health scenario: Researchers found two recent cases of prion disease—universally fatal ailments caused by rogue proteins—that could have been caused by the victims eating contaminated deer meat. This connection is still far from confirmed, but doctors are calling for more research into the matter.

The report was published earlier this month in the journal Neurology. It describes the case of a 72-year-old man who visited doctors after he began to rapidly experience confusion and aggression sometime in 2022. Though he received treatment for his symptoms, which included seizures, his condition deteriorated quickly and he died just a month later. An autopsy then determined that he had developed a sporadic form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the most common prion disease in humans. What made the case most notable: the man had a hunting friend in the same lodge who had recently died of CJD and had eaten venison from the same deer population.

I know Eightball would have liked this story, so I'll pour out some coffee for him this morning, where ever he might be.

[em2nought]

Central Florida is a hot spot for leprosy, report says

In 2020, 159 cases were reported nationwide, compared with 200,000 new cases each year around the world, according to the World Health Organization. The new letter says Central Florida accounted for 81% of cases in Florida and nearly 1 out of 5 leprosy cases nationwide.

It's the armadillos.

[Smoove_B]

Bird flu is spreading:

Researchers around the world are growing more uneasy with the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) in US dairy cows as the virus continues to make its way into new herds and states. Several experts say the US is not sharing enough information from the federal investigation into the unexpected and growing outbreak, including genetic information from isolated viruses.

To date, the US Department of Agriculture has tallied 32 affected herds in eight states: Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota, and Texas. In some cases, the movement of cattle between herds can explain the spread of the virus. But the USDA has not publicly clarified if all the herds are linked in a single outbreak chain or if there is evidence that the virus has spilled over to cows multiple times. Early infections in Texas were linked to dead wild birds (pigeons, blackbirds, and grackles) found on dairy farms. But the USDA reportedly indicated to Stat News that the infections do not appear to be all linked to the Texas cases.

Spread of the virus via cattle movements indicates that there is cow-to-cow transmission occurring, the USDA said. But it's unclear how the virus is spreading between cows. Given that even the most symptomatic cows show few respiratory symptoms, the USDA speculates that the most likely way it is spreading is via contaminated milking equipment.

Of note:

So far, the USDA says that genetic sequences of H5N1 viruses infecting cows has not revealed any mutations that "would make it more transmissible to humans and between people." But last Thursday, Stat reported that international experts have faulted the USDA for not sharing more genetic data from its investigation, among other information. Until this weekend, the agency had only shared a few genetic sequences in an international database of viral genome sequences (GISAID).

"A country with capacity like the United States should be able to generate this information within days," Marion Koopmans, head of the department of viroscience at Erasmus Medical Center in the Dutch city of Rotterdam told Stat last week. "I would expect very fast, very transparent updates, and it’s somewhat amazing not to see that happening."

In an alternate universe, Chinese pundits are spreading a rumor that Bird Flu was actually released from a U.S. government bio-weapons lab in Wisconsin.

[LordMortis]

In an alternate universe, Chinese pundits are spreading a rumor that Bird Flu was actually released from a U.S. government bio-weapons lab in Wisconsin.

I hear we have senators who are experts in the field of gain of function. Maybe they should be held accountable?

[em2nought]

We should have these "events" listed on our calendars to make it easier to keep track.

[Punisher]

I don't get what the big deal is.
I mean it's just the flu.. you know like Covid and probably soon Leprosy and Polio.
In fact it would make everything a lot easier to judt categorize everything as the flu then we just need to find 1 cure for everything!
Problem solved! I'm a problem solver!

[Kraken]

I got a bird flu inoculation during the Ford administration, so I assume I'm good. Or maybe it was Bush the First. I only remember my government encouraging me to roll up my sleeve. Being pro-vaccine in general, I did. But I thought "bird flu" was a cover for vaccinating citizens against a US biological agent.

[Smoove_B]

Everything is fine. This is totally normal.

Viral fragments of bird flu have been identified in samples of milk taken from grocery store shelves in the United States, a finding that does not necessarily suggest a threat to human health but indicates the avian flu virus is more widespread among dairy herds than previously thought, according to two public health officials and a public health expert who was briefed on the issue.

The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that it had been testing milk samples throughout the dairy production process and confirmed the detection of viral particles “in some of the samples,” but it declined to provide details.

...

The greater concern, however, “is that it’s showing up in a lot more samples, meaning the infection is more widespread in dairy herds than we thought,” said one public health official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share information not yet made public.

If this sounds eerily like what was happening in early 2020, then you've been receiving and reading my newsletter. Again, the fact that it's in the milk isn't the issue here (broadly). Instead, that we're just learning about it now suggests there have been failures at a federal level with respect to monitoring and communication.

If the universe was testing us to see if we learned anything, we just failed. Again.

EDIT: Or maybe the cynical take is that information is intentionally being suppressed because we know what it will do to the economy. But I guess that's potentially R&P so I'll park it there.

[Zarathud]

Or maybe the CDC doesn’t want MAGAs to rush to buy milk so they can drink it and later claim they’re under “bird flu.”

[Blackhawk]

It's a bovine conspiracy!

[LordMortis]

Everything is fine. This is totally normal.

Viral fragments of bird flu have been identified in samples of milk taken from grocery store shelves in the United States, a finding that does not necessarily suggest a threat to human health but indicates the avian flu virus is more widespread among dairy herds than previously thought, according to two public health officials and a public health expert who was briefed on the issue.

The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that it had been testing milk samples throughout the dairy production process and confirmed the detection of viral particles “in some of the samples,” but it declined to provide details.

...

The greater concern, however, “is that it’s showing up in a lot more samples, meaning the infection is more widespread in dairy herds than we thought,” said one public health official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share information not yet made public.

If this sounds eerily like what was happening in early 2020, then you've been receiving and reading my newsletter. Again, the fact that it's in the milk isn't the issue here (broadly). Instead, that we're just learning about it now suggests there have been failures at a federal level with respect to monitoring and communication.

If the universe was testing us to see if we learned anything, we just failed. Again.

EDIT: Or maybe the cynical take is that information is intentionally being suppressed because we know what it will do to the economy. But I guess that's potentially R&P so I'll park it there.

I was under the impression that pasteurization got rid of things like bird flu from milk which is in support of not drinking raw milk. What happened to this line of thinking?

[Victoria Raverna]

Pasteurization "killed" the virus but the "dead" virus is still in the milk? The milk is safe to drink but the cows were infected.

[ImLawBoy]

It's a bovine conspiracy!

Banned.