Month: May 2019

he number of measles cases in the U.S. has reached 839 across 23 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as outbreaks across the country show no sign of slowing.

There have been 75 new cases reported in the past week, and the total number of cases is inching closer to the record 963 cases reported in 1994. The current outbreak is still the largest since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000.

No new states reported outbreaks in the past week, but the number of cases in New York — home of the largest outbreak in the country — continued to climb.

There have been 225 reported cases in Rockland County, New York, as of May 10, and the state reported 466 cases in Brooklyn and Queens since September. Most of these cases have involved members of the Orthodox Jewish community.

The outbreak began when an unvaccinated child traveled to Israel, and returned home infected with measles. The child infected others, most of whom were also unvaccinated. Nine out of 10 unvaccinated children will catch the highly contagious disease if exposed to it, according to the CDC.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) has imposed an emergency order that will fine people in four ZIP codes in Brooklyn $1,000 if they are not vaccinated.

As of May 6, New York officials said 22,833 doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine have been administered to people who are under 19 years old in Brooklyn since October.

Some states have begun taking steps to limit exemptions for parents who don’t want to vaccinate their children.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D), who is also running for president, signed a bill Friday that eliminated personal or philosophical exemptions from the MMR vaccine.

“We should be listening to science and medicine, not social media,” Inslee said during a press conference. “It is science and truth that will keep us healthy, rather than fear.”

The Maine legislature is debating a bill that would remove “philosophical” objections to vaccinations but keep in place religious ones.

Only three states have outlawed any nonmedical exemptions for vaccinations: California, Mississippi and West Virginia.

Your odds of getting bit by a tick and contracting a disease are getting higher each year in Ohio.

In the past four years, the number of cases of Lyme disease nearly doubled, with 293 cases reported in 2018, according to Ohio Department of Public Health data.

Massillon City Health Commissioner Terri Argent said the growing tick population is a cause for concern.

Last year, four cases of Lyme Disease were reported in the city. So far, this year there are no cases, but Argent expects that could change as summer approaches.

The greatest risks grow during the summer months when more people will be outside, she said.

As of Monday, there already were 27 cases statewide this year.

“The incidence of Lyme disease locally has increased every year and is projected to continue to increase every year,” said Dr. Timothy McDermott, a veterinarian and Ohio State University extension educator in Franklin County. “We worry about new tick species that are on the radar.”

McDermott, who travels all over the state to teach Ohioans about ticks, said he has met people who have contracted Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and mammalian meat allergy from bites. Health records show there were 38 Rocky Mountain spotted fever cases last year across the state.

Tick-borne diseases can be caused by viruses, bacteria or parasites and can be “tremendously impactful, depending on your lifestyle,” he said. “There can be extremely serious health risks with profound and lasting consequences.”

In the past decade, there have been no deaths reported in Ohio as a result of Lyme disease, but there’s still reason for concern, according to experts.

With more ticks, “the disease percentages we’re seeing is correspondingly increasing,” McDermott said.

The most common ticks in Ohio include the American dog tick that likes open grass habitats; the deer tick that prefers wooded areas; and the Gulf Coast tick. Deer ticks have been documented in 66 out of 88 of Ohio’s counties, said Richard Gary, an entomologist with the Ohio Department of Public Health.

If you notice a tick, experts say to remove it immediately using tweezers, by grasping the tick as close as possible to the skin’s surface and pulling it away from your skin with steady pressure. If you’re worried about illness, you can place the tick in alcohol and send it off to get tested through the University of Massachusetts.

The incubation period for Rocky Mountain spotted fever takes five to 10 days from infection. Lyme disease can take between three and 30 days to show symptoms, Gary said.

Ticks, which are not insects but eight-legged arachnids, use two pairs of their legs to hold on to grass or bushes, and then another pair of legs to latch on to their prey as it goes by.

They have piercing sucking mouths called hypostomes. (“Picture a harpoon or a shovel that has serrations in it,” McDermott said.) Diseases, if they carry them, are stored in their gut.

The increase in ticks has been linked to the destruction of natural habitats and a warming climate.

With more encroaching development, less hunting and fewer natural predators, tick-carrying deer are living closer to humans, leading to more interaction.

Climate change is expected to help more ticks flourish. As long as it’s above freezing, ticks can feed year-round.

While Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever are more common, a bite from an infected Lone Star tick can mean you’ll become allergic to red meat. The state does not keep data on how many Ohioans have developed the allergy.

“Yeah, bacon cheeseburgers would be a thing of the past,” McDermott said, but emphasized that “it has not been diagnosed for a very long time.”

TUCSON – A surge of Hepatitis A has been hitting Tucson and the rest of southern Arizona, health officials say.

With more than 150 confirmed cases since November in Pima County alone, Pima County Health Department has implemented several exposure control and prevention measures throughout the area.

According to officials, the liver infection can be prevented through receiving a vaccine. Despite the vaccine routinely given to children, many adults have not been vaccinated for Hepatitis A, resulting in 173 confirmed cases of the viral disease since November and 161 related cases to this recent outbreak.

Health department officials say there have been 121 people have been hospitalized for Hepatitis A.

To help stop the outbreak in Pima County, the health department has set up 106 vaccination clinics across the county as of April 19.

They said through this, they have encountered 3,468 people with outbreak risk factors. Of those, 1,712 people received the vaccine. Officials say 1,159 people declined the vaccine and 597 were previously immunized.

Health officials say people who are most at risk are:

• People who are experiencing homelessness
• People who use injection and non-injection illicit drugs
• People who are traveling to countries where Hepatitis A is common
• Men who have sex with men
• People who have been recently incarcerated
• People who live with, or have sex with, someone who has Hepatitis A
• People with chronic liver disease, such as cirrhosis, alcoholic liver disease, Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C

Liver with Hepatitis B infection highlighted inside human body and close-up view of Hepatitis B Viruses, medical concept, 3D illustration

Public health authorities in Maine say the state’s sharp rise in hepatitis cases is continuing.

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention says the increase in cases of hepatitis B and C in the Pine Tree State can be attributed to its ongoing opioid crisis. The agency says acute hepatitis B rates increased nearly 400 percent and acute hepatitis C rates went up more than 300 percent from 2013 to 2018.

The agency says the overall case counts of the diseases are in the double digits.

Hepatitis B and C can start as short-term infections, and the virus can remain in the body and result in chronic infection, leading to problems such as liver damage.

May is National Hepatitis Awareness Month, and May 19 is National Hepatitis Testing Day.