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The spouse of an active-duty member of the Air Force stands in the gap for her husband of 11 years. Together, the family is facing an uphill battle against the Department of Defense for exercising the innate rights of all U.S citizens, rights that service members do not relinquish. Maj. Brennan Schilperoort is a C-130J transport aircraft pilot who has honorably served the nation in the Air Force for over 17 years. Maj. Schilperoort applied for a flu shot medical exemption in November 2023, previously having a severe adverse reaction to it, but the Air Force refused him consideration. Another...

In 2020, the United States faced the shock of a new pandemic -- but also a baffling medical mystery: the disappearance of the seasonal flu. While COVID-19 cases dominated headlines and hospital beds, flu diagnoses plummeted to "too low to estimate," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with later estimates at a mere 2000.

Moderna said on Wednesday it had withdrawn an application seeking approval for its flu and Covid combination vaccine candidate after discussions with the US Food and Drug Administration. The company said it would resubmit the application later this year with vaccine efficacy data from a late-stage trial of its experimental seasonal influenza vaccine, which it expects to report this summer. The decision comes a day after the US FDA said it would require new clinical trials for approval of annual Covid-19 boosters for healthy people under 65 years old. Shares of the company have been battered by declining Covid revenue...

This article is a preprint and has not been peer-reviewed [what does this mean?]. It reports new medical research that has yet to be evaluated and so should not be used to guide clinical practice.ABSTRACT Background The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine during the 2024-2025 respiratory viral season. Methods Employees of Cleveland Clinic in employment in Ohio on October 1, 2024, were included. The cumulative incidence of influenza among those in the vaccinated and unvaccinated states was compared over the following 25 weeks. Protection provided by vaccination (analyzed as a time-dependent covariate)...

Well, this is interesting. Cleveland Clinic decided to track 53,000 employees to see if the flu vaccine prevented them from getting the flu and, well...

Scientists invent a new chewing gum that may help prevent viral transmission. (New Africa/Shutterstock) In a nutshell * A plant-based chewing gum made from lablab beans can trap and neutralize flu and herpes viruses in the lab, offering a potential new way to reduce transmission directly in the mouth, where these viruses often spread. * The antiviral protein in the gum (FRIL) stays stable for over two years at room temperature, making it a promising option for global use without the need for refrigeration or injections. * Though results so far are limited to lab tests, the gum has passed...

Americans are facing the highest death toll from influenza since 2018, just as more people become vulnerable because of growing vaccine skepticism taking hold in statehouses and the Trump administration.Flu-related deaths hit a seven-year high in January and February, the two months that usually account for the height of flu season, according to a Stateline analysis of preliminary federal statistics. There were about 9,800 deaths across the country, up from 5,000 in the same period last year and the most since 2018, when there were about 10,800.Despite that, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has canceled or postponed...

Almost 6 in 10 Americans who identify as Republican do not trust the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to provide reliable information on H5N1 bird flu, according to a new poll from health care nonprofit KFF. The CDC has confirmed 70 cases of the virus in humans since 2022, with one person dying from a severe form of the disease in January. Officials say the virus’s health risk to most people remains low, but public health researchers are concerned about the virus and its mutations About 6 in 10 adults regardless of political affiliation said they trust the...

This is the latest video news in the ongoing saga of a missionary, Mark Grenon, and Chlorine Dioxide. Remember during Covid how the crooked censors howled when Trump brought up the subject of Chlorine Dioxide, Ivermectin, and HCQ? Here in this video Mike Adams discusses the amazing medicinal qualities of Chorine Dioxide for man and animals and how the subject takes on a much broader therapeutic dimension regarding the country of Columbia and its collusion with our government over the persecution of Mark Grenon and his sons. Two of his sons remain in jail over administering and promoting this medical...

A duck farm on Long Island has hatched a new generation of chicks — beginning to replace the nearly 100,000 mallards they were forced to kill due to the spread of avian flu. Crescent Duck Farm in Aquebogue welcomed 3,700 new chicks just over a month after farm operators were forced to cull 99,000 ducks when an outbreak of H1N5 — bird flu — spread across the susceptible flock. About half of the newborn birds are female — with hens beginning to lay their own eggs at the age of six months. New York state had sanitized 15,000 eggs from...

A component found in all fungi may provide a shield against flu-related lung damage, according to a new study. A team of scientists demonstrated that beta-glucan, administered to mice before their exposure to influenza, can reduce lung damage, improve lung function and lower the risk of illness and death. Beta-glucan is found in all fungi, including mushrooms and yeast, as well as grains like oats and barley. The scientists discovered that a unique structure of this component can boost defenses against pathogens. While most research focuses on stopping the virus from replicating, this study explored how to regulate the body's...

The 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic left a troubling legacy in Europe: More than 1300 people who received a vaccine to prevent the flu developed narcolepsy, an incurable, debilitating condition that causes overpowering daytime sleepiness, sometimes accompanied by a sudden muscle weakness in response to strong emotions such as laughter or anger. The manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), has acknowledged the link, and some patients and their families have already been awarded cpmpensation. But how the vaccine might have triggered the condition has been unclear.In a paper in Science Translational Medicine (STM) this week, researchers offer a possible explanation. They show that the...

As avian flu drives egg prices to record levels and increasingly poses a risk to humans, moves by the White House to cut spending and restrict communications have hobbled public health officials’ response, with the new administration yet to outline a clear strategy on how it plans to stem the spread of the virus. Widespread funding cuts across the government and new restrictions on funding for National Institutes of Health grants have also created uncertainty among infectious disease researchers and local health officials, who are unsure about what resources they will have to work with going forward. Meanwhile, cuts to...

The United States is fighting a "quad-demic" this winter with four major viruses—COVID-19, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and norovirus—with infants at particular risk, Dr. Ryan Fulton recently warned. "This year, we've seen earlier and more intense surges of RSV and the flu compared to what we're used to," Dr. Fulton, section chief of general pediatrics at Carilion Children's Hospital and faculty member at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, said in a statement. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported an increase in visits to doctors on a scale not seen in 15 years....

New York officials are taking precautions against the avian flu after seven cases were detected at live bird markets in New York City. The markets were ordered on Friday to shut down for about one week to combat the illness, the Associated Press (AP) reported on Friday. “The order came after seven cases of bird flu were found in poultry during routine inspections of live bird markets in the New York City boroughs of the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens,” the outlet said, noting that officials said there have been no cases of the avian flu among New Yorkers. In an...

Four viruses are currently circulating in the United States, which some have referred to as a "quad-demic." Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed an increase in three respiratory viruses—COVID-19, flu and RSV—and the gastrointestinal disease norovirus. Emergency department visits are "high" and "very high" for flu and RSV, respectively, and "elevated" for COVID-19 across the U.S., according to the CDC. As of the week ending Jan. 4, 18.6% of tests for influenza are returning positive, as are 11.6% of RSV tests and 6.9% of COVID tests. Meanwhile, for norovirus, 27.91% of weekly tests have come back...

Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) is a virus that lives in the respiratory tract. This virus was first discovered in 2001, and has since become one of the causes of upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs). HMPV is very similar to the RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) virus, which often infects children and can cause lung disease. ... the elderly, and those with lung or heart disease, are more susceptible to more serious infections.[...] The following are symptoms commonly experienced by HMPV sufferers: Dry or phlegmy cough Cough is the main symptom of HMPV, it can be a dry or phlegmy cough. This condition...

A surge in cases of the flu-like human metapneumovirus (HMPV) in China has raised fears of another Covid-style pandemic. [...] but health experts say HMPV is not like Covid, and point out it has been around for many years. They say China and other countries are simply experiencing the seasonal increase in HMPV typically seen in winter. First identified in the Netherlands in 2001, HMPV spreads through direct contact between people, or when someone touches a contaminated surface. The virus leads to a mild upper respiratory tract infection for most people. It is usually almost indistinguishable from flu. Symptoms for...

People across America are feeling the sting of the rising cost of eggs in part being driven by the bird flu outbreak. In October, Vice President-elect Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) pointed to the skyrocketing price of eggs as evidence of President Joe Biden (D) and Vice President Kamala Harris’s (D) economic policies, per Breitbart News. “Eggs, when Kamala Harris took office, were short of $1.50 a dozen. Now, a dozen eggs will cost you around $4, thanks to Kamala Harris’ inflationary policies,” he said.

As you deck the halls and traverse afar this holiday season, taking precautions to protect yourself from a quartet of infectious diseases can lessen your odds of bringing an illness into the new year. Flu, COVID, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and norovirus are making their winter rounds nationwide, and you may have heard the term “quad-demic” pop up online or in conversation (the first three are sometimes called a “triple-demic”). While the unofficial term for the four maladies circulating in tandem evokes a sense of impending doom, the quadruple threat isn’t so different from respiratory virus seasons past. “All of...