As US states lift more coronavirus restrictions, experts are worried people who aren't fully vaccinated could contribute to further spread of the virus.
With concerns it could become the dominant strain soon, medical experts are underscoring the importance of full vaccination.
By many metrics, the US is doing relatively well against the pandemic coronavirus. National tallies of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are all at lows not seen since early last year. Several states have hit the goal of having 70 percent of adults vaccinated with at least one dose, and many areas are easing or lifting health restrictions in response to suppressed transmission levels.
Beware of RSV, yeah you know me, warns the CDC.
On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued health advisory about about a familiar foe: RSV, which is short for the respiratory syncytial virus. This virus seems to be now spreading throughout various parts of the Southern U.S. The CDC is calling this increased “interseasonal” RSV activity, because June ain’t usually RSV season. Instead, RSV activity typically tends to pick up during the Fall and Winter months and then fall in the Spring, similar to what cold and flu viruses do.
The coming flu season may be a doozy.
Even as coronavirus was devastating populations around the world, killing 3.7 million people globally, doctors and public health officials noticed something else was missing: There was almost no flu.
A curious thing happened during the Covid-19 pandemic: With masks, social distancing, and Purell galore, we kept most other germs at bay.
Flu vanished. Cases of respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, which in a normal winter puts nearly 60,000 children under age 5 in the hospital, were nonexistent. Most of us appeared to sidestep the soup of bugs that cause colds.
Fully vaccinated people are exhaling this weekend, ditching masks and easing up on social distancing, per the latest Covid-19 guidance put out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new advice marks a significant milestone in the nation’s effort to stamp out the disease, and signals the beginning of a return to normalcy. But scientists say there are good reasons not to toss out your mask stash just yet.
Humans in the 21st century spend most of their time indoors, but the air we breathe inside buildings is not regulated to the same degree as the food we eat and the water we drink. A group of 39 researchers from 14 countries, including two from the University of Colorado Boulder, say that needs to change to reduce disease transmission and prevent the next pandemic.
The more-infectious coronavirus driving a catastrophic COVID-19 epidemic in India was detected in 44 countries, according to the World Health Organization, which urged more studies to understand its severity and propensity to cause reinfections.
When it comes to being indoors, the six feet rule of social distancing misses the bigger point of how coronavirus spreads, according to two Massachusetts Institute of Technology experts.