Poliomyelitis

Cellulitis is a common bacterial skin infection caused by bacteria known as group A Streptococcus (group A strep) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) . These bacteria are typically found on the skin and in the nose and throat of healthy individuals. Although cellulitis is not contagious, it can affect anyone. Certain skin injuries (cuts, burns, piercings, insect bites) and skin conditions, such as shingles (a viral skin condition), eczema (an allergic skin condition), or athlete's foot (a fungal skin infection), allow bacteria to enter the skin, thus increasing your risk of developing cellulitis. Many people develop cellulitis when bacteria enter the skin through lacerations (deep cuts or tears in the skin) or surgical wounds. This allows cellulitis to develop anywhere in the body, but it typically affects the arms and legs. This article discusses the transmission, risk factors, and treatments of cellulitis. Sasi Ponchaisang / EyeEm / G...

Moraxella catarrhalis (M. catarrhalis), also known as Branhamella catarrhalis (B. catarrhalis), is a type of bacteria that causes upper respiratory (nose, sinuses, and throat) and lower respiratory (lungs, bronchi, and bronchioles) infections. M. catarrhalis is typically found in the nasopharynx of young children and is one cause of childhood infections such as otitis media (middle ear infection), sinusitis (inflammation of the sinuses), and conjunctivitis (pink eye). Marco VDM / Getty Images It can also cause respiratory disease in adults, such as bronchopneumonia. In older people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) (a long-term, inflammatory lung disease that blocks airflow to the lungs) or chronic bronchitis, it causes lower respiratory tract infections. Although rare, systemic (widespread) infections may occur, including infective endocarditis and meningitis. First reported in 1896, M. catarrhalis was originally named Micrococcu...

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a vaginal infection. Antibiotics may help treat the condition and reduce symptoms. Some antibiotics can cause side effects, and some BV drugs have warnings from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that BV is the most common vaginal condition in those aged 15–44 years. This article discusses the different medications available for BV, the antibiotics that doctors may prescribe, and frequently asked questions that people may have for a doctor treating BV. BV occurs when there is an imbalance of the vaginal flora, which are the types of bacteria that naturally live inside the vagina. BV can occur in anyone with a vagina, but according to research from 2020 , a person may be at an increased risk of developing BV if they: have multiple sexual partners are sexually active at a young age are douching regularly Research also mentions that people with BV may have a higher chance of contracting a sexuall...

Vaccine update: issue 325, April 2022, flu special edition (print version) Ref: UKHSA gateway number 20211389 PDF , 1.12 MB , 13 pages This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology. Request an accessible format. If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email publications@phe.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Pharmac is being accused of kicking an own goal on flu jabs, after those aged 65 and over were given access to a flu jab that's designed for seniors for free last year, then told they would have to pay up to $60 this year. The drug-buying agency funds the influenza vaccine Afluria Quad for everyone aged 65 and over, people with certain health conditions, and Māori and Pasifika down to age 55. But last year, supply delays of Afluria Quad meant Pharmac temporarily funded an alternative called Fluad Quad, for those aged 65 and over. But it hasn't yet agreed to fund it permanently, so those who want it again must pay for it. Fluad Quad is the only available flu vaccine that works with an immune enhancer or adjuvant – an ingredient that boosts effectiveness of the vaccine in people aged 65 and over READ MORE: * Kiwis urged to get flu jab as spike in flu cases expected due to border opening * Free flu vaccines extended to younger Māori, Pasifika as 'severe' season looms *...

The recent news of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) in Malawi imported from Pakistan and of polio outbreak in Israel caused by 'circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 3' (cVDPV3) are visible signs of floundering polio eradication. When a virus in oral polio vaccine (OPV) de-attenuates by mutations, acquiring transmission efficiency and neuro-virulence, it is called cVDPV. The eradication target, when launched in 1988, was 2000, as "a gift of the twentieth century to the twenty-first". The World Health Organization assumed the task, assigned by unanimous resolution in the World Health Assembly (WHA), the forum of Ministers of Health of all nations. The resolution was perfectly timed: Rotary International launched its 'PolioPlus' project in 1985, to provide polio vaccines to under-five children of all developing countries before 2005. Of the six WHO regions, three — Americas, Europe and Western Pacific — had already independently resolved to eradicate polio in...

Scientists have leveraged on a novel vaccine platform to deliver M2e to immune cells. This allowed them to prove that a single shot immunization containing M2e was able to trigger long-lasting immune responses that could protect effectively against multiple strains of the flu. Influenza, commonly referred to as "flu," is a major global public health concern and a huge economic burden to societies. Seasonal influenza epidemics afflict between 13 to 100 million individuals annually, including three to five million cases of severe illness and 300,000 to 600,000 deaths worldwide. This represents a top global public health concern and an extraordinary economic burden to all societies. Pandemics are less frequent, but are generally more severe and pose a greater threat. Over the past century, there have been at least four devastating pandemics caused by the Influenza A virus which took the lives of hundreds of millions of individuals. Although vaccination arguably represents th...

Part 1: The Force of a Train By: Evan Kutzler John Bradshaw knew the dangers of being a railroad foreman and, later, the superintendent of bridges and buildings on the Seaboard Air Line Railway. It did not save him. He first felt ill aboard an incoming train on Saturday, October 5, 1918. From the Jackson Street Depot, the most direct path home would have taken Bradshaw east on Finn Street and Brannan Avenue to his wife and daughter at 420 Barlow Street. "He reached home," the Americus Times-Recorder reported, "and shortly after summoned a physician, his illness growing steadily worse until death relieved his sufferings." The Americus Undertaking Company, on the first floor of the Allison Building, prepared his body for transportation. At noon on Monday, October 7, an outgoing train took his body for burial to North Carolina. The death hinted at what was to come. No official death record exists for Bradshaw and the Times-Recorder did not call it influenza. Th...

This is the weekly edition of CNN's coronavirus newsletter. Look out for your roundup every Wednesday. If you haven't subscribed yet, sign up here . (CNN) With mask mandates being dropped, governments declaring it's time to "learn to live with Covid" and an increasing number of people being fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, it almost feels like the pandemic is over in much of the world. But there is one group that remains particularly vulnerable to catching the virus: little kids. There is still no vaccine for children under five -- and there won't be one for at least few more months. Even then, it's not clear how widely it will be available. Yet kids are getting infected in large numbers. Three quarters of children in the United States have had Covid-19, according to a new study by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Kids are less likely than adults to be hospitalized or to die from Covid-19, but in the US alone, 475 childre...