Month: August 2021

From Harris Health System/KTRK An 11-month-old baby with Covid-19 being airlifted Thursday to a hospital 150 miles away because of a shortage of pediatric beds in the Houston area. CNN —   An 11-month-old girl with Covid-19 had to be airlifted to a hospital 150 miles away because of a shortage of pediatric beds in the Houston area, officials said. The child tested positive for Covid-19, according to Amanda Callaway, a spokeswoman for Harris Health System. Callaway said the girl was having seizures and needed to be intubated but Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital, where she was first taken, does not offer pediatric services. ...

A man in Arizona went nearly a month without knowing he had contracted the plague, which can be deadly if not treated promptly, according to a new report. The man recovered, but his case underscores the need to identify infections with serious and potentially contagious pathogens, such as Yersinia pestis — the bacterium that causes plague — in a timely manner, according to the report, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The 67-year-old man first went to the emergency room on June 18, 2020, with symptoms of dehydration, nausea and weakness, according to the case report, which was published Thursday (Aug. 5) in the CDC journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Doctors treated him with IV fluids and released him shortly thereafter. But he came back the next day...

A Granite Stater has died after contracting Jamestown Canyon virus, a mosquito-borne infection that has been present in New Hampshire since at least 2013, health officials said Friday.The victim was an adult from Dublin, New Hampshire, who was hospitalized with worsening neurological symptoms before dying, officials said. Jamestown Canyon virus was identified as a contributing cause of the person's death.This was the first known case of the virus in a person in New Hampshire this season."Jamestown Canyon Virus and the other mosquito-borne infections can cause serious illness," said Dr. Benjamin Chan, the state epidemiologist. "As summer progresses into fall, the risk from mosquito-transmitted infections is expected to increase. So, residents and visitors to New Hampshire should take ...

But whether the recent spike in demand will meaningfully boost vaccination rates, which are still below 50 percent in more than a dozen states, remains to be seen. The newfound enthusiasm for the shots may wane as quickly as it started, depending on how deep the fear of Delta runs and how long the current surges last. Other factors in play include the increasing willingness of employers to issue vaccine mandates and the likelihood that the Food and Drug Administration will issue a full approval of at least one shot — Pfizer’s — in the coming weeks. Karen Landers, a state health officer in Alabama, doesn’t think hard-hit states are likely to see a reprieve any time soon. The rush for vaccines will help over the long term, but it can take up to six weeks after the initial shot for people ...