STD epidemic in US is ‘out of control,’ warn experts, CDC

Associated Press – September 19, 2022

NEW YORK — Sharply rising cases of some sexually transmitted diseases — including a 26% rise in new syphilis infections reported last year — are prompting US health officials to call for new prevention and treatment efforts.

“It is imperative that we … work to rebuild, innovate, and expand (STD) prevention in the US,” said Dr. Leandro Mena of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a speech Monday at a medical conference on sexually transmitted diseases.

Infections rates for some STDs, including gonorrhea and syphilis, have been rising for years. Last year the rate of syphilis cases reached its highest since 1991 and the total number of cases hit its highest since 1948. HIV cases are also on the rise, up 16% last year.

And an international outbreak of monkeypox, which is being spread mainly between men who have sex with other men, has further highlighted the nation’s worsening problem with diseases spread mostly through sex.

David Harvey, executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors, called the situation “out of control.”

Officials are working on new approaches to the problem, such as home test kits for some STDs that will make it easier for people to learn they are infected and to take steps to prevent spreading it to others, Mena said.

Another expert said a core part of any effort must work to increase the use of condoms.

“It’s pretty simple. More sexually transmitted infections occur when people are having more unprotected sex,” said Dr. Mike Saag, an infectious disease expert at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Syphilis is a bacterial disease that surfaces as genital sores but can ultimately lead to severe symptoms and death if left untreated.

But by 2002, cases began rising again, largely among gay and bisexual men, and they kept going. In late 2013, the CDC ended its elimination campaign in the face of limited funding and escalating cases, which that year surpassed 17,000.

By 2020, cases had reached nearly 41,700 and they spiked even further last year, to more than 52,000.

The rate of cases has been rising, too, hitting about 16 per 100,000 people last year. That’s the highest in three decades.

https://nypost.com

CDC Warns Rare, Deadly Bacterial Illness Is Now in the US

Newsmax – July 28, 2022

A bacteria that causes a rare but serious disease has been discovered in soil and water samples in the Gulf Coast region of Mississippi after two people who live near each other fell ill.

In a notice issued Wednesday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised Gulf Coast residents, particularly those with certain health conditions, to take precautions against Burkholderia pseudomallei and prevent a disease it causes called melioidosis.

Symptoms of melioidosis can include fever, joint pain and headaches. It can also cause pneumonia, abscesses and blood infections.

Melioidosis is fatal in about 10% to 50% of people who are infected worldwide, and it typically surfaces in tropical and subtropical areas, such as South and Southeast Asia, northern Australia, Puerto Rico and parts of Central and South America.

Unfortunately, the environmental conditions found in the Gulf Coast states are conducive to the growth of this bacteria, the CDC noted.

Though it is a serious illness, risk to the general population still remains low, the CDC added.

One of the two known cases happened in 2022. The other occurred two years earlier. That they lived in close geographic proximity but were unrelated to each other prompted state health officials and the CDC to test household products, soil and water in and around both patients’ homes, with their permission.

Three of the samples from soil and puddle water in 2022 tested positive for the bacteria. Public health officials now believe the bacteria has been present in the area since at least 2020.

People who live in that area and have health conditions such as diabetes, chronic kidney disease, chronic lung disease or consume excessive amounts of alcohol should avoid contact with soil or muddy water, especially after heavy rains, the agency said.

https://www.newsmax.com

CDC: US infants are falling sick with a life-threatening virus that triggers fever, delirium, seizures, and sepsis

– July 13, 2022

Federal health officials in the US are warning doctors and parents that a dangerous virus is spreading across the US causing fevers, seizures, confusion and other “sepsis-like” issues that can be life-threatening for young infants.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Tuesday that parechovirus is currently circulating in “multiple” US states. So far, the CDC has only collected positive samples of PeV-A3, which is the specific type of parechovirus that is most often associated with severe disease. At least one newborn is dead in Connecticut.

Baby Ronan was less than two weeks old when his mom starting noticing he was becoming “very angry,” and “crying a lot,” WTNH New Haven reported.

His chest turned red, and then his face too, and at 14 days old he was admitted to the hospital, where he started having seizures. At 34 days old, the child died.

There is no known treatment for parechovirus. Older children who get infected may “only have mild illness,” like a cold, while others may remain completely asymptomatic during their infection, and feel nothing at all, the CDC says.

https://www.insider.com

CDC Warns: ‘One of the Worst Outbreaks of Meningococcal Disease Among Gay and Bisexual Men in U.S. History’

Michael W. Chapman – June 27, 2022

(CNS News) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a statement that it is working with the Florida Department of Health to “investigate one of the worst outbreaks of meningococcal disease among gay and bisexual men in U.S. history.”

So far, there have been “24 cases and 6 deaths among gay and bisexual men,” reported the CDC in its June 22 press release.

Meningococcal disease refers to any illness caused by the bacteria Neisseria meningitidis, said the CDC. “These illnesses are often severe, can be deadly, and include infections of the lining of the brain and spinal cord (meningitis) and bloodstream.”

The disease is spread to other people “by sharing respiratory and throat secretions (saliva or spit),” said the health agency.  “Generally, it takes close (for example, coughing or kissing) or lengthy contact to spread these bacteria.”

To counter spread of the disease, the CDC is “recommending gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men get a meningococcal vaccine (MenACWY) if they live in Florida, or talk with their healthcare provider about getting vaccinated if they are traveling to Florida.” The also recommend routine vaccination for people with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

“Getting vaccinated against meningococcal disease is the best way to prevent this serious illness, which can quickly become deadly,” said José R. Romero, M.D., director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

“Because of the outbreak in Florida, and the number of Pride events being held across the state in coming weeks, it’s important that gay and bisexual men who live in Florida get vaccinated, and those traveling to Florida talk to their healthcare provider about getting a MenACWY vaccine,” said Romero.

https://www.cnsnews.com

‘It’s Life or Death’: The Mental Health Crisis Among U.S. Teens

Matt Richtel – May 3, 2022

Depression, self-harm and suicide are rising among American adolescents. For one 13-year-old, the despair was almost too much to take.

One evening last April, an anxious and free-spirited 13-year-old girl in suburban Minneapolis sprang furious from a chair in the living room and ran from the house — out a sliding door, across the patio, through the backyard and into the woods.

Moments earlier, the girl’s mother, Linda, had stolen a look at her daughter’s smartphone. The teenager, incensed by the intrusion, had grabbed the phone and fled. (The adolescent is being identified by an initial, M, and the parents by first name only, to protect the family’s privacy.)

Linda was alarmed by photos she had seen on the phone. Some showed blood on M’s ankles from intentional self-harm. Others were close-ups of M’s romantic obsession, the anime character Genocide Jack — a brunette girl with a long red tongue who, in a video series, kills high school classmates with scissors.

In the preceding two years, Linda had watched M spiral downward: severe depression, self-harm, a suicide attempt. Now, she followed M into the woods, frantic. “Please tell me where u r,” she texted. “I’m not mad.”

American adolescence is undergoing a drastic change. Three decades ago, the gravest public health threats to teenagers in the United States came from binge drinking, drunken driving, teenage pregnancy and smoking. These have since fallen sharply, replaced by a new public health concern: soaring rates of mental health disorders.

In 2019, 13 percent of adolescents reported having a major depressive episode, a 60 percent increase from 2007. Emergency room visits by children and adolescents in that period also rose sharply for anxiety, mood disorders and self-harm. And for people ages 10 to 24, suicide rates, stable from 2000 to 2007, leaped nearly 60 percent by 2018, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

https://news.yahoo.com

US Reports Its First Human Case of H5 Bird Flu

Newsmax – April 29, 2022

The first known human case of H5 bird flu in the United States has appeared in a person in Colorado, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Thursday.

The person tested positive for avian influenza A(H5) virus and was involved in the culling of poultry presumed to have had H5N1 bird flu, the CDC said in a statement.

“This case does not change the human risk assessment for the general public, which CDC considers to be low,” the agency added.

The patient reported fatigue for a few days as the only symptom and has since recovered, the CDC said, adding that the person was being isolated and treated with the influenza antiviral drug oseltamivir.

H5N1 viruses have been found in U.S. commercial and backyard birds in 29 states and in wild birds in 34 states since the CDC started monitoring for illness among people exposed to the viruses in late 2021.

“CDC has tracked the health of more than 2,500 people with exposures to H5N1 virus-infected birds and this is the only case that has been found to date. Other people involved in the culling operation in Colorado have tested negative for H5 virus infection, but they are being retested out of an abundance of caution,” the CDC said.

Globally, this is the second human case associated with this specific group of H5 viruses, which are currently predominant, the CDC said. The first was reported in Britain in December 2021.

https://www.newsmax.com

Health officials warn of ‘large’ outbreak of serious bacterial illness in Florida that is primarily affecting gay and bisexual men

Ricky Scaparo – April 13, 2022

Health officials are warning Florida residents about a “large” outbreak of a potentially fatal bacterial illness known as meningococcal disease that’s primarily affecting gay and bisexual men.

So far this year, there have been 21 confirmed cases of meningococcal disease as of Monday, according to Florida Department of Health data. That’s higher than the state’s five-year average of cases of the disease.

“[Florida Department of Health] epidemiologists are investigating each case as well as contacting people with potential or direct exposure to known cases to provide them with information and treatment options,” the department said in a statement.

Most of the cases are in central Florida, and more than half are in people between the ages of 20 and 39, according to state health department data. The “large, ongoing” outbreak is primarily among men who have sex with men, including those living with HIV, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In addition, the Florida health department recommends the meningococcal conjugate vaccine to the following groups during this outbreak: College and university students, people with weakened immune systems (immunocompromised) and people with HIV.

Multiple cases of meningococcal disease have also been reported among Florida college students over the last few months, but at this time, there is no evidence that the cases among college students are related to the larger outbreak among men who have sex with men, CDC officials said.

https://endtimeheadlines.org

Lone star tick, linked to Heartland virus, has now spread to 6 states in the US

Ricky Scaparo – March 17, 2022

Ticks carrying a mysterious and rare virus that can sicken or even kill older adults or people with underlying conditions have been found in at least six states, a new study reported Wednesday.

Test samples revealed that lone star ticks in Georgia had picked up the Heartland virus, Emory University researchers reported in Emerging Infectious Diseases, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention publication.

“We want to bring awareness rather than panic,” said Gonzalo M. Vazquez-Prokopec, a co-author of the study and an associate professor of environmental sciences at Emory. “People tend to go out more in the spring and they might get exposed to ticks, which are increasing rapidly, particularly in the South, this time of year.”

Not much is yet known about the Heartland virus, which when transmitted to a person by a tick bite can cause fever, fatigue, decreased appetite, headache, nausea, diarrhea, and muscle or joint pain. It’s unclear if other ticks can also spread the virus or if people can be infected in other ways, the CDC said.

As of January 2021, just 50 cases of the disease caused by the virus have been reported, according to the CDC. In severe cases, patients have ended up in the hospital and while most have fully recovered with supportive care, a few older individuals with medical conditions have died, the CDC reported.

Some people infected with the virus have been diagnosed with lower than normal white blood cell counts and lower than normal counts of platelets, which aid in blood clotting. Liver function tests can show increased levels of liver enzymes, which can indicate illness.

The Heartland virus was discovered in 2009 in northwest Missouri after two men were hospitalized with symptoms including high fevers, diarrhea, and muscle pains. The virus has been reported in lone star ticks from Missouri, Alabama, Illinois, Kansas, and New York, although it’s unknown if the virus has spread to other areas of the U.S., according to the CDC.

https://endtimeheadlines.org

While the World is watching Ukraine, A national vaccine pass has quietly rolled out

Ricky Scaparo – February 26, 2022

Even as the omicron variant loosens its grip on the world, destinations continue to require travelers to show proof of vaccination. And, increasingly, a paper CDC vaccination card is not cutting it. While the United States government has not issued a federal digital vaccine pass, a national standard has nevertheless emerged.

To date, 21 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico offer accessibility to the SMART Health Card, a verifiable digital proof of vaccination developed through the Vaccination Credential Initiative (VCI), a global coalition of public and private stakeholders including Microsoft, Salesforce, Oracle, the Mayo Clinic and other health and tech heavyweights.

And very soon, at least four more states will be rolling out access to SMART Health Cards. “We’ve seen a notable uptick in states that have officially launched public portals where individuals can get verifiable vaccination credentials in the form of SMART Health Cards with a QR code,” says Dr. Brian Anderson, co-founder of the VCI and chief digital health physician at MITRE.

There is already an impressively widespread availability of SMART Health Cards in the U.S. More than 200 million Americans can now download, print or store their vaccination records as a QR code.

Several Republican-leaning states that had rejected so-called vaccine passports over fears they limited freedom are now embracing the technology behind them.

At least five states with bans on “passports” or governor opposition to them — Arizona, Mississippi, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Utah — are developing or have already rolled out the technology. But they’re largely doing it quietly and for slightly different reasons.

https://endtimeheadlines.org

U.S. Government Continues To Panic Over Mild Omicron

Mac Slavo – December 2, 2021

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed that the United States government is set to impose new Covid restrictions on travelers. These new control measures will require a negative test within one day of travel for all arrivals, including vaccinated people.

That means that even those who bowed down to the state and big pharma dutifully got injected two or even three times, will still have to live through the same draconian dictatorship as the unvaccinated. The move comes after the CDC confirmed America’s first case of the Omicron variant in California in an individual who arrived from South Africa on November 22, according to RT. The fully vaccinated traveler later tested positive on November 29 after showing mild symptoms.

Has anyone wondered yet why omicron is only popping up in the vaccinated?

More COIVD-19 Vax Deaths: Think They’ll Blame This On COVID-21?

Nonetheless, the ruling class has decided that the unvaccinated need not travel. Currently, the United States denies entry to all unvaccinated individuals from other countries, while fully inoculated people who have received approved vaccines can travel to America if they provide a negative Covid test taken within three days of arrival. The CDC also encourages vaccinated individuals to take a test on the third to the fifth day after they enter the US.

All this testing is going to do is boost the numbers and increase the fear of this cold. This is all coming to a head, and we could begin to see the real plans taking shape in the coming months.

https://www.shtfplan.com