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Neuroscientists from the University of Maryland have come a step closer to understanding how disorders such as autism and schizophrenia develop in children, opening the door for potential new treatments. Inflammation in the brain during early childhood has been previously linked to autism and schizophrenia. But the mechanisms behind this link have been unclear. Now Maryland researchers have identified how this inflammation can affect human brain cells and their development, offering a potential mechanism for this association. Their results were published on October 12 in the journal Science Translational Medicine. In their research, the team conducted a post-mortem analysis of...

More than 100 young children suffered seizures after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, according to a new study. One hundred and four children under 6 years old suffered a seizure within 42 days of a COVID-19 shot, researchers with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other institutions found. Others suffered strokes, blood clotting disorders, and appendicitis, the researchers said. They analyzed health records from the Vaccine Safety Datalink, a CDC-funded network that features sites operated by Kaiser Permanente, Marshfield Clinic, Health Partners, and Denver Health. The researchers examined events that fit one or more of 23 prespecified...

Ailing Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein's office has admitted the 89-year-old did suffer a brain infection, despite her own insistence that she'd just been battling the flu. The New York Times reported on Thursday that Dianne Feinstein, 89, has been diagnosed with vision and balance impairments as well as facial paralysis known as Ramsay Hunt syndrome in addition to encephalitis, a brain infection. 'It was a really bad flu. I'm doing better thank you,' Feinstein said initially about her condition.

When Sen. Dianne Feinstein walked into the Capitol last week, ending a monthslong medical absence, she was accompanied by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a small entourage of aides — and a close personal confidant with a storied political pedigree. Nancy Carinne Prowda blended into the swarm around the legendary California Democrat. The San Francisco Chronicle made note of her presence but left unreported amid the spectacle was the larger role that Prowda, the eldest child of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has come to play in Feinstein’s life as the 89-year-old has dealt with the absence of her deceased...

A Case Report: Multifocal Necrotizing Encephalitis and Myocarditis after BNT162b2 mRNA Vaccination against COVID-19 Abstract The current report presents the case of a 76-year-old man with Parkinson’s disease (PD) who died three weeks after receiving his third COVID-19 vaccination. The patient was first vaccinated in May 2021 with the ChAdOx1 nCov-19 vector vaccine, followed by two doses of the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine in July and December 2021. The family of the deceased requested an autopsy due to ambiguous clinical signs before death. PD was confirmed by post-mortem examinations. Furthermore, signs of aspiration pneumonia and systemic arteriosclerosis were evident. However, histopathological...

Sophia Garabedian had been dealing with a persistent fever and painful headache when her parents found her unresponsive in her bed one morning last fall. Doctors ultimately diagnosed the then-5-year-old Sudbury, Massachusetts, resident with eastern equine encephalitis, a rare but severe mosquito-borne virus that causes brain swelling. Garabedian survived the potentially fatal virus after about a month in Boston hospitals, but her parents say her ordeal and ongoing recovery should be a warning as people take advantage of the outdoors this summer. “It’s been a rough year,” said David Garabedian, her father. “With any brain injury, it’s hard to tell....

Former U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan died Monday at age 66 — nearly three years after she was first hospitalized with what doctors later said was encephalitis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes Powassan virus as an illness spread by the bite of infected ticks. Encephalitis is an inflammation of the brain often caused by an infection like the Powassan virus, according to the Mayo Clinic. "The recovery process for viral encephalitis varies by case with differing impacts on the brain, speech, vision, memory and muscle control.."

While mosquitoes are often associated with West Nile virus, there is another mosquito-borne virus that is currently making headlines: the Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) virus, a rare disease that can cause inflammation in the brain (called encephalitis). It mainly affects people in parts of the Great Lakes region, along the Eastern seaboard, and the Gulf Coast. Now, a fifth case in humans has just been confirmed in Massachusetts, and EEE activity has been detected in 10 counties there, according to the Massachusetts Department of Health. As a result, many outdoor activities in areas of concern have been canceled or postponed,...

A Massachusetts woman passed away this weekend after contracting eastern equine encephalitis, a rare mosquito-borne disease that can target the central nervous system. After her death, the woman’s daughter shared a touching tribute to the woman who taught her how to live life to the fullest. Laurie Sylvia started noticing symptoms just six days before her death at the age of 59. According to WCVB-TV, the cause of Sylvia’s death was, in fact, EEE, though the illness is incredibly rare in the United States. The virus, transmitted through mosquitos, causes brain infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The...

The disease, which kills up to 75% of those infected, starts with flu-like symptoms and causes a brain-swelling condition known as encephalitis. The virus has not yet spread beyond two areas in south India, according to officials, but they have issued a series of warnings to people living in the stricken towns where more than 200 people are being treated in hospitals. Over 25 people are under strict observation and another three are in a critical condition. … There is no vaccine for nipah, which is listed alongside ebola and zika as one of eight priority diseases by the World...

9-Year-Old Boy Dies After Mosquito Bite John Fontaine Got Eastern Equine EncephalitisPOSTED: 7:44 am EDT September 1, 2006 UPDATED: 8:12 am EDT September 1, 2006 BOSTON -- A 9-year-old Middleboro, Mass., boy died from Eastern equine encephalitis Thursday. He is the state's first EEE fatality this year. John Fontaine developed a fever on Aug. 18 and was hospitalized two days later. His two-week battle with EEE ended at Boston Children's Hospital Thursday morning. Middleborough was among the communities in southeastern Massachusetts that have undergone two rounds of aerial spraying to kill the mosquitoes that carry the virus. The first round...

LONGMEADOW, Mass (WWLP) — While Saturday wasn’t too hot or humid, like most of our summer has been, 22News found that our recent weather conditions have contributed to the arrival of a potentially deadly disease in the Bay State. Mosquitoes: we’ve talked about them for months, and for the first time this year mosquitoes have infected someone in Massachusetts with eastern equine encephalitis, or triple E. The Massachusetts Department of Health just confirmed that a July 15th laboratory test in Plymouth County has tested positive for EEE, a dangerous virus that can cause inflammation of the brain and in one...

First vaccine from China to be prequalified by WHO A newly accessible vaccine against Japanese encephalitis is going to make the protection of more children in developing countries easier. The vaccine, manufactured in China, only needs to be given in one dose, it can be used for infants, and it is less expensive than other Japanese encephalitis vaccines. Today, WHO has added the vaccine to its list of prequalified medicines, meaning that WHO has given the vaccine its stamp of approval in safety and efficacy terms, and United Nations procuring agencies can now source this vaccine. This is the first...

A second Vermonter has died from the eastern equine encephalitis, a rare and potentially fatal brain infection spread by mosquitoes, Health Department officials confirmed on Tuesday. Scott Sgorbati, 49, of Sudbury, died within the last few days after fighting the virus for several weeks. Two weeks ago, Richard Hollis Breen, 87, of Brandon died of EEE, after being sick with the disease for five days. Vermont Health Commissioner Dr. Harry Chen on Tuesday offered condolences to the families of both men and reminded Vermonters that EEE is a very rare virus. On average there are only six cases a year...

DNR confirms Montcalm County deer found with encephalitis 10/5/2005, 3:41 p.m. ET The Associated Press FAIRPLAIN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has confirmed that a deer found in Montcalm County's Fairplain Township, which is east of Greenville, tested positive for Eastern equine encephalitis. With the addition of this case announced Wednesday, five deer in Michigan recently have tested positive for the deadly disease, which also poses a health risk to humans. Four infected deer were found late last month in neighboring Kent County's Cannon and Plainfield townships. Michigan is only the third state where the...

FoxNews - on the Record w/Greta Van SusterenSeptember 9th, 2005 Transcript of an interview with Michael Baden, renowned Forensic Pathologist. Van Susteren / BadenOfficials say the grim job of collecting and identifying the dead could take months.  Are the dead bodies dangerous to those now collecting them?  And how do you give the person dignity in death under these circumstances?  And what about disease or even mosquitoes?  Joining us live in New York is Forensic Pathologist Doctor Michael Baden.Hi Gretta.  Doc...Good evening Doctor Baden.Doctor Baden, earlier in the show Trace Gallager my colleague talked about the mosquitoes that have now descended upon New Orleans once...

Eighteen children died from Japanese encephalitis in northern India, pushing the death toll from the mosquito-borne disease to 118 over the past 10 days, officials said Sunday. More deaths were feared as 152 infected children were in serious condition, said Avnish Mehrotra, a spokesman for Uttar Pradesh state's health department. The disease, which is preventable by vaccination, was spreading to new areas in Uttar Pradesh, but health authorities say there isn't enough money to immunize children. At least four youngsters died in areas that had been free from Japanese encephalitis. "We have confirmation that this dreaded disease has spread to...

LUCKNOW, India - Mosquito-borne Japanese encephalitis spread to new areas of India's most populous state on Saturday as the death toll from the preventable disease rose to 100 amid a shortage of funds to pay for vaccinations, officials said. At least 28 more children were reported sick in the Hardoi, Bahraich and Hardoi districts of northern Uttar Pradesh state, and at least 100 children have died from the disease in the last 10 days, state officials said. Vaccination protects against the disease, which often hits children, but state health authorities say there isn't enough money to immunize all children in...

Bird Flu Virus Can Cause Human Encephalitis Doctors in Vietnam report the troubling finding that the avian flu virus can cause potentially lethal encephalitis as well as severe respiratory infections. Early in February 2004, two Vietnamese children -- a 9-year-old girl and her 4-year-old brother -- died of encephalitis and were later found to be infected with the virus, according to a report in the Feb. 17 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine by physicians in Ho Chi Minh City. This is the first report indicating the virus can infect the brain. The 52 cases of human infection...

4 people are critically ill on Staten Island, suffering from a mysterious infectious disease ------------------------- New York City health officials issued a medical alert Friday night to doctors and hospitals in the 5 boroughs and triggered the national alert system through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Though it was not clear whether the cases are the result of the same disease or are related in any way, the Health Department asked that all clinicians be vigilant. City health officials checked the new Syndromic Surveillance Network, a hospital computer system that allows the Health Department to look for...