Disease Surveillance

The artificial stone that is used to make bathroom and kitchen countertops has been linked to cases of death and lung injury in the workers who cut, grind, and polish them. The workers are are inhaling dangerous amounts of silica dust, and this is damaging their lungs. Workers have been diagnosed…

Last December, three migrant children died while being in US custody after contracting the flu. The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) says that, due to the short-term nature of the holding and the complexity of operating the vaccination programs, neither the CBP nor their medical contractors…

Antiretroviral therapy(ART) has been an incredible breakthrough in the treatment of AIDS. Because of its conception in 1995, there has been an estimated 9.5 million lives saved between 1995 and 2015. However, the United Nations created a 90-90-90 goal in 2014, that they wished to achieve by 2020.…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that with the changing and warming of the earth, temperature sensitive insects, such as mosquitoes and ticks, will be able to increase their distribution globally. With their new reach, more than a billion people are estimated to be exposed to…

Two confirmed cases of Legionnaires’ disease among residents at Rocky Hill nursing home in Connecticut are being investigated. One person has died. Officials confirmed two cases of the type of pneumonia and identified the Legionnaires bacteria in water samples. This disease is a type of pneumonia…

As the rate of homelessness is increasing in Los Angeles so are the number of rodents, which is now putting the county at risk for a public health crisis. In the past 6 months, an employee at the Los Angeles Police Department contracted Typhus and a rat fell from a ceiling at a Buffalo Wild Wings…

For patients with compromised immune systems, a new fungal infection posses a serious health threat. Candida auris, the fungal disease, is a type of yeast and spreads quickly as it is highly contagious and has shown drug resistance. The fungi has spread across at least 30 countries and is primarily…

Since the second person diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, seizures have been a common symptom only thought to be a side effect of the brain degenerating disease. However, recent evidence has began to grasp attention suggesting the seizures or abnormal electrical signaling may precede the symptom of…

A respiratory outbreak at a senior home in Virginia caused two deaths and 18 others to be hospitalized. Their health department said 54 people became ill with respiratory symptoms ranging from pneumonia to upper respiratory symptoms at Greenspring Retirement Community. The outbreak had been…

Research suggests that drinking alcohol in older age may lower mortality risk, but scientists need to be more cautious about potential biases; therefore, they need to do more research. Some studies have shown that light to moderate drinking helps protect women against stroke. This is due to the…

According to studies, women that sleep with a television or light puts women at a higher risk  of becoming overweight or obese. The rate of obesity has almost tripled across the globe since the 1970’s, and in the United States there is about 70% of the population overweight or obese. Doctor Dale P.…

The Ebola outbreak in the Congo continues. Currently, over 1,500 lives have been claimed, however, the number continues to grow. The virus is now spreading into Uganda, and some are criticizing the lack of aid. They site the promise that was made to never again allow this to occur after the West…

In 2016, Zika virus broke headlines as the outbreak ensued. Since then, the outbreak has been overshadowed by more recent events such as the measles crisis. However, Zika is still thriving in Brazil and UCLA Pediatric Infectious Disease Doctor, Dr. Karin Neilson, speculates that the outbreak in…

Four children ages 2-13 who visited the San Diego County fair in June exhibited symptoms of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli. The two-year-old died from complications of the bacteria, and the others were sickened. Emergency physician Dr. Robert Glatter from Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan explained…