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A nurse administers a Moderna COVID-19 booster vaccine at an inoculation station next to Jackson State University in Jackson, Miss., Friday, Nov. 18, 2022.

AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis

Blog Post

What’s Going on with COVID? And What’s BA.2.86?

| Sep. 07, 2023

The virus responsible for COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) undergoes constant genetic changes as it mutates over time. This is normal and what most viruses do. Because of this, we do anticipate the continual emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants. While some of these variants might appear and then fade away - think of the Delta variant which became the dominate variant in the late summer and fall of 2021 in the U.S. - others could increase, potentially taking the place of older variants.

Uganda's Minister of Health stands next to a box of vaccine labeled with World Health Organization Uganda on it

AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda

Analysis & Opinions - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

2022 Uganda Ebola Outbreak: Select Lessons Learned

| Apr. 17, 2023

On September 20, 2022, the Uganda declared an outbreak of Sudan ebolavirus in the Mubende District. It was the country’s first Sudan ebolavirus outbreak in a decade, and its fifth of this kind of Ebola. In total during this outbreak, there were 164 cases (142 confirmed and 22 probable), 55 confirmed deaths and 87 recovered patients. Due to the Ugandan Government’s successful containment of the outbreak including with support from the World Health Organization and other public health partners, there were no documented cases of international transmission of the Sudan Ebolavirus. The outbreak was declared over on January 11, 2023, nearly 17 weeks after its detection.

A sign stands outside Seattle Children's Hospital

AP/Elaine Thompson, File

Analysis & Opinions - CNN

I'm an Epidemiologist, and My Daughter’s RSV Case Shook Me

| Nov. 18, 2022

Syra Madad writes that it's impossible to know what impact the COVID-19 virus will have next, but with signs of increased flu activity ahead of the holiday season, coupled with the increasing burden of RSV, healthcare systems should be bracing for more impact to come. She urges everyone to do their part and help reduce the spread of RSV, get vaccinated against seasonal flu and stay up-to-date with their Covid-19 vaccination.

There is a circular multicolor polio virus particle in the middle.

Sarah Poser, Meredith Boyter Newlove/CDC via AP, File

Analysis & Opinions - CNN

How a virus seemingly returned from the dead

| Aug. 15, 2022

Polio is a highly contagious virus that spreads through person-to-person contact (most commonly through contact with an infected person's poop). While most people who get infected do not experience any symptoms, about 1 in 4 people develop flu-like symptoms and a much smaller fraction of people (less than one in 100) develop more serious symptoms including paresthesia (feelings of pin and needles in legs), meningitis (infection of the covering of the spinal cord and/or brain) and paralysis. Among those paralyzed, 5% to 10% die when the virus affects their breathing muscles.

This 1997 image provided by the CDC during an investigation into an outbreak of monkeypox, which took place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), formerly Zaire, and depicts the dorsal surfaces of the hands of a monkeypox case patient, who was displaying the appearance of the characteristic rash during its recuperative st

This 1997 image provided by the CDC during an investigation into an outbreak of monkeypox, which took place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), formerly Zaire, and depicts the dorsal surfaces of the hands of a monkeypox case patient, who was di

Analysis & Opinions - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Prevent The Spread of Monkeypox Within Your Home

| July 12, 2022

Monkeypox is a viral disease that is transmitted person to person through direct contact with the infectious rash, scabs or bodily fluids including respiratory secretions. Research is ongoing on the potential for sexual transmission through semen or vaginal fluids. Indirect transmission can occur through touching contaminated objects, like towels, bedsheets or sex toys. Most people with monkeypox recover on their own without requiring treatment, beyond supportive care or hospitalization. Due the similarity between monkeypox and smallpox, and because this virus has been found in humans for decades, FDA approved monkeypox tests, treatments (TPOXX), and vaccines exist, but their use has so far been very limited.

A dirty surgical mask in the gutter surrounded by dead leaves.

Elizabeth McDaniel

Analysis & Opinions - Medium

5 Lessons Learned in Pandemic Year 2

| May 24, 2022

Ask yourself, what would you say to someone if they told you in just over two years, a virus too small to see with the naked eye but brutal enough to kill a population the size of Delaware would sweep through the nation?

As leaders in one of the largest healthcare systems in the United States, we would say: this would be a travesty of epic proportions.