Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Posted

Two infants die of whooping cough in Louisiana as national case numbers climb | CNN

Quote

In his 20 years working in pediatric infectious disease, Dr. John Schieffelin has never seen another illness like pertussis.

Also known as whooping cough, it’s a contagious respiratory illness that can develop into a painful, full-body cough. The coughing fits can be severe, often accompanied by a whooping sound when the person tries to catch their breath. And it’s continuous, even if a person needs to be placed on a ventilator, says Schieffelin, an associate professor of pediatrics at Tulane University.

Quote

“For infants, it’s really rather terrifying,” he said. “They’re just coughing so much, they can’t eat, they can’t drink, and they often get a pneumonia, which means we have to put them on a ventilator. … They just never stop coughing.”

In Louisiana, two infants have died of pertussis in the past six months, according to the state health department, the first deaths from the disease in the state since 2018.

Quote

Louisiana has had 110 cases of pertussis reported so far this year, the health department said – already approaching the 154 cases reported for all of 2024.

Cases are on the rise nationally, too. There were more than 35,000 cases of whooping cough last year in the US, the highest number in more than a decade, and 10 people died — six of them less than 1 year old. Experts say they see peaks and valleys with these kinds of illnesses over the years, but there have been about 6,600 cases already in 2025, almost four times the number at this point last year.

Quote

“When you start to see these outbreaks … it tends to be as a result of that increased circulation of the microbe in the community, as well as populations with no immunity or reduced immunity that are susceptible to the infection,” said Dr. Lisa Morici, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the Tulane University School of Medicine.

Concerned about increasing cases, experts are urging vaccination. The US had more than 200,000 cases of whooping cough every year before the vaccine was introduced. By 1948, the vaccine was widely used, and infection rates began to drop. They started to rise again in the 1980s, largely due to increased surveillance and some waning vaccine immunity, but fell during the Covid-19 pandemic, when spread of many infectious diseases slowed due to measures like masking and distancing.

Quote

Children are recommended to get a dose of the diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis, or DTaP, vaccine at the ages of 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, between 15 to 18 months and again between 4 to 6 years, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Adolescents should get a booster with a version of the vaccine called Tdap between age 11 and 12, and adults are urged to get Tdap boosters every 10 years.

Infants too young to be vaccinated are susceptible to the bacteria, which is why officials recommend that pregnant women get the vaccine in their third trimester, so the antibodies will be passed to the newborn. This prevents 78% of pertussis cases in young infants and is 91% effective against hospitalization, the CDC says.

Quote

Another strategy that can protect infants is “cocooning,” in which members of the child’s household all get vaccinated to ensure protection, Schieffelin said. Boosters are recommended because protection from the vaccine can fade over time, which may be one reason for the ongoing outbreaks.

Declining vaccination rates are another reason. The percentage of US kindergartners who received the DTaP vaccine has steadily declined over the past five years, leaving thousands vulnerable to infection. Organizers within the state say that although many people have become hesitant about vaccinations, another issue is a lack of access.

 

  • Rage+1 2
Posted
10 minutes ago, Parliament said:

Do I need a script or doctor's note for a shingles vax?  Or just make an appointment at the pharmacy?

Don't be a wimp. Be like those folk out in West Texas and just get shingles.

  • Haha 2
Posted
30 minutes ago, Parliament said:

Do I need a script or doctor's note for a shingles vax?  Or just make an appointment at the pharmacy?

I've read that Ivermectin is a preventative for shingles.

  • Rage+1 1
Posted
6 hours ago, Willfully Horn said:

Read that the shingles vaccine somehow affects the onset of dementia. Preventatively.

https://apnews.com/article/dementia-alzheimers-shingles-vaccine-6e5354efbefff22240af1a91addb88a4.

 

That's why I got it. But it's also the most painful because they use shingle nails to inject it. Got the Tetnus too and hardly felt it.

I got the original Covid and the boosters and I've had headaches, muscle aches, joint aches and I've felt more fatigue so I'm not so high on those. And I still got Covid last summer. It's a bitch to go through all that and still get sick.

  • Haha 1
Posted
1 minute ago, Pato del Muerto said:

So he was DOGEing before DOGE was even a thing?

No, see, when people are responding to the first ongoing, novel global pandemic in over a century, any after-the-fact criticism should subject them to the death penalty.

But when they are under minimal pressure, and are simply choosing to cripple all vaccinations, vaccination programs, etc.....well, that's not politicization at all, that's just good stuff.

Did you not get the memo?  If RFK Jr. does it, it's good.  Period.

Posted
3 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

No, see, when people are responding to the first ongoing, novel global pandemic in over a century, any after-the-fact criticism should subject them to the death penalty.

But when they are under minimal pressure, and are simply choosing to cripple all vaccinations, vaccination programs, etc.....well, that's not politicization at all, that's just good stuff.

Did you not get the memo?  If RFK Jr. does it, it's good.  Period.

Bluster more brisket. Marks shit the bed and shit on the process on far more than the COVID vax (the process for which he did fuck up as well). Marks was at the top of the chain for the aduhelm and elevidys fiascos. There is a longish thread discussing the former on this board. There were ample reasons to turn him over with new FDA leadership.  

Posted
1 minute ago, Anastasis said:

Bluster more brisket. Marks shit the bed and shit on the process on far more than the COVID vax (the process for which he did fuck up as well). Marks was at the top of the chain for the aduhelm and elevidys fiascos. There is a longish thread discussing the former on this board. There were ample reasons to turn him over with new FDA leadership.  

Cool.  Do you think the new FDA leadership won't be as or more "politicized," as that is the exact term you used to convey the reason for your dislike of Marks?

  • Drool 1
Posted
6 hours ago, Hard Times said:

That's why I got it. But it's also the most painful because they use shingle nails to inject it. Got the Tetnus too and hardly felt it.

I got the original Covid and the boosters and I've had headaches, muscle aches, joint aches and I've felt more fatigue so I'm not so high on those. And I still got Covid last summer. It's a bitch to go through all that and still get sick.

nah they use a quarter

  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Haha 2
Posted (edited)
15 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Cool.  Do you think the new FDA leadership won't be as or more "politicized," as that is the exact term you used to convey the reason for your dislike of Marks?

When his replacement overrides the reviewers and ad boards that are all saying "No" and approves novel biologicals based on thin outcomes and safety data, some of which end up killing people, I'll be here to comment. 

The process has been extremely politicized at FDA a while now. But esp during the initial covid vax approval, during the booster roll outs, the extension to young children, and the examples given wrt other biologics. I hope that Makary is able to turn some of that around. If he doesn't or if it goes off the rails, I will be here to talk about it. 

 

BTW, here is that aduhelm thread that was mentioned. Surly was pretty uniform in its criticism. 

 

Edited by Anastasis
Posted
2 hours ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

Texas DHHS Friday update on measles: 481 cases, 56 hospitalized (that is a cumulative since the initial outbreak).

Jump in hospitalizations too and some of those from Vitamin A toxicity, presumably because there are cases of hospitalization with elevated liver enzymes. Can vaccine exemptions also include the exemption that anti vaxxers don't get to move about freely in our society when there is a preventable outbreak?

  • Like 1
  • Rage+1 1
Posted
2 hours ago, Newdoc said:

Jump in hospitalizations too and some of those from Vitamin A toxicity, presumably because there are cases of hospitalization with elevated liver enzymes. Can vaccine exemptions also include the exemption that anti vaxxers don't get to move about freely in our society when there is a preventable outbreak?

How about the taxpayers don't pay their hospital bills and if they somehow have health insurance, they aren't lumped in with our coverage?

Posted
2 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

How about the taxpayers don't pay their hospital bills and if they somehow have health insurance, they aren't lumped in with our coverage?

We could beg the question with a lot of stupid choices people make. Motorcycle wo a helmet, meth binges, 18 Dr. Peppers a day, etc, etc. But on the other hand most of these bad choices don’t have the potential to exponentially affect others. And the vast majority of hospitalizations are under age victims of their parents’ stupidity. 

  • Hook 'Em 1
Posted
11 hours ago, Newdoc said:

We could beg the question with a lot of stupid choices people make. Motorcycle wo a helmet, meth binges, 18 Dr. Peppers a day, etc, etc. But on the other hand most of these bad choices don’t have the potential to exponentially affect others. And the vast majority of hospitalizations are under age victims of their parents’ stupidity. 

Hiring Tom Herman...

  • Haha 1
  • Rage+1 1
Posted

Austin Public Health loses $15 million to federal grant cuts

Austin Public Health is losing millions in funding and 27 full-time employees due to cuts at the federal level, the agency's director said.

Five of Austin Public Health's grants have been eliminated so far, resulting in the loss of an estimated $15 million over time. That money paid for APH’s Refugee Services Clinic, COVID vaccination program and diabetes care program, among other services.

APH did not specify the funding agency for all of the lost grants. The Department of Government Efficiency has made cuts at a number of federal and state health organizations. Last week, it announced it would terminate hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to the Texas Department of State Health Services, including some COVID-era funding that was distributed to local health departments.

At an Austin City Council public health committee meeting Wednesday, APH Director Adrienne Sturrup described learning about the cancellation of funds that filter through the Texas Department of State Health Services, one grant at a time, across recent weeks.

"I've called it death by a thousand cuts," she said.

Sturrup expressed concern about more cuts that could be coming.

“There is no federal windfall that’s going to come through to support our efforts,” she said. “It will really be, unfortunately, us taking a hard look at what are the things that we just can't support, and where we're going to have to turn to the community for help.”

Sturrup said APH is working with Austin City Manager TC Broadnax to find open positions in other city departments for the affected employees. But APH representatives said they anticipate an additional 28 full-time employees could lose their jobs.

APH’s 2025 fiscal year budget included around $39.4 million in grants — around 30% of its total budget. Grants pay for about half of full-time positions at the agency.

Some of the lost dollars were associated with COVID-era grants, but Sturrup said that funding helped the department to respond to other threats including mpox and measles.

“Public health nationally has historically been underfunded. The additional dollars that came through from the pandemic not only gave us the opportunity to scale up to respond to the community's needs, but in some ways to right-size,” she said. “That is one of the reasons why the state health department allowed locals to continue to use those funding dollars after the pandemic ended.”

Sturrup said APH is working with City Council to extend certain affected programs with local funding — but some may shut down entirely. One program in limbo is a clinic that provides vaccinations and medical support to refugees and asylum seekers.

“We will be able to float that program for a little bit longer," Sturrup said.

But there are no guarantees about the program's future. Sturrup said similar programs from agencies in other jurisdictions have had to shut down.

"They can't afford to take the risk to continue to provide services with the uncertainty of reimbursement,” she said.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...