Free Republic

Eight-foot piles of rat-infested trash are choking the streets around Gracie Mansion — which has gotten white-glove shoveling treatment as Mayor Zohran Mamdani crows he can’t “imagine how it could get better’’ in the city. While Hizzoner’s Upper East Side neighbors are forced to trudge through garbage-plagued roads, roaming rodents and mounds of snow tainted with dog pee a full week after Winter Storm Fern, the sidewalks outside the lefty mayor’s digs on East 88th Street are squeaky clean. “Clean as a whistle for the mayor,” Rivers said. “Look at this side.” “This side” is marred by massive piles of...

The Pentagon has ordered a pause on training new recruits living with HIV. What’s more, military leadership is considering reinstating a ban that prohibits Americans who are HIV positive from enlisting in the Armed Services altogether, reports CNN. A decision is likely to come down “in the next few weeks.”

For the week ending Dec. 27, the CDC reported that nearly 1 in 10 outpatient visits nationwide — 8.2% — were for flu-like illnesses. That’s the highest logged since the CDC started tracking such visits in 1997. The flu has accounted for more than 11 million illnesses this season and 120,000 hospitalizations.

Scientists have identified why certain lung cancer cells become highly resistant to treatment after developing mutations in a key gene called EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor). In a study, the researchers reveal a previously unknown survival mechanism and demonstrated that disrupting it can shrink tumors in laboratory models. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths globally. Many cases are driven by mutations in the EGFR gene. These mutations are found in up to 40–60% of adenocarcinoma. The researchers screened more than 21,000 genes to identify what protects these mutant proteins from being broken down. They discovered that cancer...

People who have had mpox (also known as monkeypox) may experience persistent physical effects, such as skin discoloration and scarring, as well as ongoing psychological and social impact, according to a study published in Annals of Internal Medicine. In an analysis of more than 150 people who had mpox during the large outbreak in 2022, nearly 60% reported lasting physical aftereffects, 49% reported ongoing issues related to their social life and 45% reported increased depression 11 to 18 months later.

"What should I eat?" is perhaps the most common question patients with inflammatory bowel disease ask their doctors. Now, new research provides one potential answer. Their national, randomized controlled clinical trial found that a short-term, calorie-restrictive diet significantly improved both physical symptoms and biological indicators of mild-to-moderate Crohn's disease. The findings were notable, demonstrating significant declines in objective markers of inflammation in biologic samples alongside improvements in clinical symptoms. The study compared the symptoms and biological indicators of patients with mild-to-moderate Crohn's disease as they either followed a fasting mimicking diet or ate their normal diet for three consecutive months....

An outbreak of deadly bacteria at a Bay Area homeless encampment has sparked urgent calls for action in Los Angeles, with officials warning the disease may already be circulating in the city. The bacterial disease leptospirosis was found in rats at encampments in the hippie college town of Berkeley, leading health officials there to issue an urgent warning to the homeless to clear out. Officials told them to relocate at least a third of a mile from the “red zone” encompassing several square blocks as soon as possible. The warning comes as authorities attempted remove the encampment last year but...

CUBA has been overwhelmed by a disease known as “the virus” – leaving hospitals on the verge of collapse as the Communist regime faces accusations of a cover-up. High fevers, red spots, peeling skin, swollen joints, vomiting and diarrhoea are among symptoms crippling the island’s population – but Cubans have no idea what they are suffering from. his week the Canadian government announced health screenings and quarantine of up to seven days for those coming back from the country. And in December, Spain told its citizens to stay away from Cuba due to a “serious epidemic”. Known just as “the...

The infamous Black Death -- a pandemic that killed as many as one third to one half of Europeans within just a few years -- may have been aided in its devastation by an unknown volcanic eruption.That's the hypothesis presented in research published December 4 in Communications Earth & Environment, which argues that the eruption triggered several seasons of climate instability and crop failures. That instability, in turn, forced several Italian states to import grain stores from new sources -- specifically, from regions surrounding the Black Sea. Riding along on those grain stores, the researchers posit, were fleas infected with...

"...the New York City Health Department warns that “progress toward ending the HIV epidemic in New York City has slowed at a time when federal funding for HIV testing, treatment and prevention is under significant threat.” ... "...,the health department reports that 1,791 people were newly diagnosed in 2024. This marks a 5.4% increase from 2023. In total, the surveillance data show that 136,034 people report living with HIV. Of those, 68,600 have AIDS. (New York City’s population is nearly 8.5 million.)"

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Europe face a new health threat from a mosquito-borne disease far more unpleasant than the West Nile virus. Chikungunya virus has spread beyond Africa since 2005, causing outbreaks and scores of fatalities in India and the French island of Reunion. It also has been detected in Italy, where it has begun to spread locally, as well as France. Unlike West Nile virus, where nine out of 10 people are going to be totally asymptomatic, or may have a mild headache or a stiff neck, if you get Chikungunya you're going to be sick....

Gov. Greg Abbott originally called for the removal of rainbow crosswalks and other symbols of pride from public roads across Texas on Oct. 8, saying they pose safety concerns and misuse taxpayer dollars. In a statement, Abbott said any city that does not comply within 30 days could risk the “withholding or denial of state and federal road funding and suspension of agreements with TxDOT.” Almost a month later, the City of Dallas has submitted a request for an exception from compliance with the standards outlined in the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) October letter. "The City of Dallas installs...

A Maryland mayor’s decision to eliminate the city’s only rainbow crosswalks has become the latest flash point in a nationwide campaign to strip LGBTQ+ symbols from public spaces. The Salisbury crosswalks, installed in 2018 and repainted each year by volunteers, were removed on November 11 after Salisbury Mayor Randy Taylor ordered crews to mill away the paint at dawn, The Washington Post reports. Taylor, who narrowly won office in 2023, said the city must ensure “neutrality” on government property.

bout two years ago, an HIV outbreak was first identified in Penobscot County, Maine, home of Bangor. In recent weeks, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed another case, bringing the total of new HIV diagnoses in the cluster to 30. Of note, 29 of those people were coinfected with hepatitis C virus; 29 reported injection drug use within a year of their HIV diagnoses; 27 have been unhoused within a year of diagnoses; 20 were linked to care within 30 days of diagnoses; and 16 of the 27 people currently living in Maine were virally suppressed at...

The United States will need more than 1,500 additional experienced HIV health care providers to meet goals for HIV testing and treatment, according to an analysis presented at IDWeek 2025. The study identified substantial geographic and racial/ethnic disparities, with especially pressing shortages in the South. As HIV treatment has improved, fewer people living with the virus are developing advanced immune suppression and opportunistic illnesses. Modern antiretroviral therapy is highly effective and generally convenient and well tolerated, so some routine HIV care can now be managed by primary care providers. But people aging with HIV have a host of coexisting health...

Treatment Action Group (TAG) is profoundly disappointed and outraged at the lack of health care protections for people living with and affected by HIV, tuberculosis (TB), and hepatitis C (HCV) in the bill to end the U.S. government shutdown. With only a promise of a future vote to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits, millions of people now face unaffordable health insurance costs. As we approach World AIDS Day on December 1, we demand that legislators defend access and affordability of health care, especially for those with preexisting conditions. Several of the fiscal year 2026 appropriations bills, which...

A 47-year-old airline pilot from New Jersey is the first person known to have died from alpha-gal syndrome, a red meat allergy caused by a tick bite. Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine publicly reported the cause of death Wednesday after months of investigation. Their findings were published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice. The man’s death had previously been seen as a mystery, since medical examinations showed no evidence of a heart attack or other life-threatening issues. According to the researchers, the man started feeling sick four hours after consuming a hamburger...

A study presented at the recent 20th European AIDS Conference (EACS 2025) has found that the apparent rise in sexually transmitted infections (STIs), at least in gay and bisexual men with HIV in France, are due to more frequent testing rather than more infections. Dr Sophie Novelli of the Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health (CESP) of the French national scientific health research agency INSERM presented data from 2016 to 2023 taken from the PRIMO cohort. PRIMO is a long-standing cohort, founded in 1996, of people diagnosed with HIV during very early infection. It includes men and women of all...

Just 40 percent of the $110 billion the United States has invested into global HIV/AIDS prevention since 2003 actually went toward on-the-ground deliveries of life-saving medical supplies, with at least two recipients using more than $30 billion in taxpayer money to pay "exorbitant" executive salaries and push "leftwing ideology," a State Department audit found. When the Trump administration unveiled its "America First Global Health Strategy" earlier this month, it contended the nation’s "foreign assistance programs are deeply broken" and often plagued by fraud, mismanagement, and waste. An internal State Department review of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)...

Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's, has resigned because the company they sold to back in 2000, Unilever, doesn't want them to be woke anymore. I have to give you the full text because it's hilarious. Grab your popcorn. It's with a broken heart that l've decided I can no longer, in good conscience, and after 47 years, remain an employee of Ben & Jerry's. I am resigning from the company Ben and I started back in 1978. This is one of the hardest and most painful decisions l've ever made. This isn't because l've lost my love for...