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Florida has seen a huge surge in leprosy cases, with rising evidence suggesting the disease is becoming endemic in the southeastern United States. Leprosy, which is scientifically known as Hansen's disease, is a chronic infectious disease that primarily affects the skin and peripheral nervous system. The number of reported leprosy cases in the southeastern states has more than doubled over the past decade, according to the CDC. Florida is witnessing an increase in leprosy cases lacking traditional risk factors, the body added. It noted that Central Florida accounts for 81 per cent of cases reported in the state and almost...

A deadly bacteria that kills up to 50 percent of people it infects has now been listed as endemic along the US gulf coast. Dr Julia Petras, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who made the warning, said Burkholderia pseudomallei was now likely lurking in soil and stagnant water across the 1,600 miles from Texas to Florida. People infected with the bacteria suffer melioidosis, a severe condition that can trigger pneumonia and sepsis and can be fatal. Doctors are now on alert for the disease, which can initially be misdiagnosed as another infection. The CDC...

It is been two years and nine months since the start of the COVID pandemic. In my region of Pennsylvania, the newest milder omicron variants are certainly about, but in greatly reduced numbers compared to last year. There is relatively little morbidity. Nonetheless, we are still forced to mask at the hospital, and once a week, symptomatic or not, because I’m unvaccinated, I am expected to be tested for the virus. Unfortunately, I see no end to this. Regarding the pandemic, I feel like one does after a dangerous storm passes through your town. You spent time in preparation, boarding...

Dr. Anthony Fauci, Chief White House medical adviser and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, appeared to make yet another pivot Sunday in his ever-changing approach to how the United States should approach the Covid-19 pandemic. After a few weeks of laying low, Fauci's appearances on major network shows have started to tick up as the BA.2 subvariant, a more transmissible but less lethal version than others we've seen, spreads across parts of the country, particularly the northeast. During an appearance on ABC's "This Week," guest anchor Jonathan Karl asked Fauci about an op-ed written by...

California officials will unveil Thursday a plan for coexisting with the coronavirus, which scientists say is likely to be around for the foreseeable future. The plan presumes the most populous state is entering an endemic stage, where the virus still exists in a community but becomes manageable as immunity builds. "The focus is going to be being prepared and being ready," California's health secretary, Dr. Mark Ghaly, said Monday in presaging the announcement.

Dear Marylanders, Our state continues to lead the nation in health and economic recovery, and Maryland is emerging from the Omicron wave faster and stronger than just about any other state in America. To continue our recovery, this week, I announced a $2 million VaxCash 2.0 promotion as part of our new COVID-19 booster action plan to get more Marylanders fully protected from COVID-19 and its variants. For the next 12 weeks, we will award a total of $2 million in cash prizes to 12 Marylanders who have received their booster shot. Entry is simple: you must be 18 or...

According to the latest data, COVID cases in San Francisco are down by 50 percent while hospitalizations are down 10 percent.UCSF Dr. Bob Wachter San Francisco Bay Area could be in a regional endemic state in the next 4 weeks as omicron peak subsides. SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- COVID cases are going down significantly in San Francisco giving emergency medicine doctors hope as we approach the potential downfall of omicron in the city. According to the latest data, COVID cases in San Francisco are down by 50 percent while hospitalizations are down 10 percent. Recent Stories from ABC 7 News...

COVID-19 could become endemic sometime this year as vaccination rates increase, getting the US to a place where Americans “learn to live with it,” a former member of President Biden’s coronavirus task force said Sunday. Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, who was a member of Biden’s Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board, said the virus could finally get under control with the help of vaccine mandates. That would make it endemic like the flu, which is a constant presence but not a major concern.

In a new study, Ellebedy's team found Pfizer vaccinations rev up "T helper cells" that act as the drill sergeant in those training camps, driving production of more diverse and stronger antibodies that may work even if the virus changes again. Ellebedy said baseline population immunity has improved so much that even as breakthrough infections inevitably continue, there will be a drop in severe illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths—regardless of the next variant. "We are not the same population that we were in December of 2019," he said. "It's different ground now." Think of a wildfire tearing through a forest after...

Never mind how virulent the coronavirus is. The key point is that it is now endemic. Perhaps it will become milder over time, perhaps it won’t. Obviously, we must hope that it does, that it follows the same trajectory as other viruses, becoming less lethal but more transmissible until it joins that sprawling family of rhinoviruses, adenoviruses, and, indeed, coronaviruses that we collectively call “colds.”… … What if COVID-19 is as ineradicable and endemic as influenza? What if it comes and goes seasonally, leaving its victims with a dollop of immunity that wanes over time? What if, like the flu,...

SHARE | PRINT | EMAILIs that the sound of normalcy I’m hearing out there? Ever more authors and sources admitting that the virus is a medical problem that cannot be addressed or solved through politicized “mitigation measures.” This is what I’m reading between the lines of such news stories as this one:Early in the pandemic, many people seized on the hope that Covid-19 could be stopped in its tracks and buried for good once vaccines rolled out. But hope for a zero-Covid country fizzled for most scientists long ago. Writer Karol Markowicz has a theory that the we are seeing...

"This virus isn't going away"As COVID-19 has evolved, it's gone from an epidemic, to the current pandemic and, eventually, will become an endemic, health experts say. But what does that mean? Will it change our way of life? When will it happen? Here's what to know about COVID's next — and lasting — phase. What Is an Endemic? Contrary to the leading part of the term, an endemic does not mean COVID will end. Health experts say an endemic virus remains in the population, but at a relatively low level. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines an endemic...

I work for a state wide community college..we got email today explaining their actions going into 2022. It was declared that COVID is now moving to the ENDEMIC phase..

Reuters reports that India has rejected the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. India is able to produce a domestic version that is more affordable and easier to store. The extreme cold storage required for these vaccines is not a practical solution for a majority of this nation, where a portion of the population does not have running water, regular electricity, or internet.India’s government will not buy COVID-19 shots from Pfizer (PFE.N)/BioNTech (22UAy.DE) and Moderna (MRNA.O), three government sources told Reuters, mainly because domestic output of more affordable and easier-to-store vaccines has jumped.That essentially means the globally popular vaccines, which their...

The number of new COVID-19 cases and deaths in India has dropped dramatically since a second wave of the virus peaked in May. First the Alpha and then the Delta variant — which was first detected in India and is now causing strife elsewhere in the world — ravaged the country. But the seven-day average of daily reported cases this week is just a tenth of the 400,000 recorded during the peak. Reported deaths are down, too, with an average of fewer than 500 per day, down from more than 4,000 per day. According to health authorities, more than 439,000...

According to an excellent book, The Great Influenza by John M. Barry, the deadliest plague in history—1918-1919—started in Haskell County, Kansas, and one man, Dr. Loring Miner, knew firsthand about it, because many of his patients were dying, but no one would listen. He issued a warning, published in Public Health Reports to alert health officials to this new outbreak and it is the first reference to the outbreak on public record.

The Associated Press TRENTON, N.J. - Three people in Piscataway are dead in what police are calling a murder-suicide.

/begin my translationA Series of Top Officials in Tibet Struck down by Altitude Sickness, Returning to Beijing [Yonhap News 2005-10-03 14:46] (Hong Kong) By Chung Juho -- Top Han Chinese officials in Tibet were struck down by its local endemic, and being sent back to Beijing. Yang Chuan-tang, the Party Secretary of Tibet Autonomous District, went into a coma due to heart and brain blood vessel illness, and was shipped back to Beijing in an emergency airlift, according to Oct. 3rd edition of Hong Kong's Ming-bao. Overworked Secretary Yang collapsed in Oct. 1 while preparing for the 40th Anniversary of Tibet Autonomous...