While health experts have referred to New York's polio case as the "tip of the iceberg," a national outbreak similar to COVID-19 or monkeypox is not expected, USA Today reported Aug. 19.
Public Health
The nation's seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases decreased by nearly 10 percent this week, marking the fourth consecutive week of decline, according to the CDC's COVID-19 data tracker weekly review published Aug. 19.
Preliminary reports on monkeypox vaccinations suggest the vaccine is not 100 percent effective, and some breakthrough cases are occurring, the World Health Organization said during an Aug. 17 media briefing.
Renaming monkeypox will not solve missteps in the nation's response to its outbreak and would do little to prevent hateful people from shaming others, a physician writes in a piece published Aug. 17 in The Atlantic.
Though COVID-19 in the U.S. has plateaued, uncertainty still surrounds the trajectory of the pandemic and symptoms associated with the virus.
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A child in Nebraska is suspected to have died from a rare instance of being infected by a brain-eating amoeba, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services said Aug. 17.
Global monkeypox cases have increased by about 20 percent for the second week in a row, with nearly 7,500 new monkeypox cases reported last week, the World Health Organization said in a news conference Aug. 17.
Next week, NYC Health + Hospitals will expand its wastewater surveillance program to test for polio and monkeypox, alongside COVID-19 and flu,, the New York City-based system said Aug. 15.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, acknowledged the agency failed to effectively respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, and committed to prioritizing future public health responses through a series of changes, The Washington Post reported Aug. 17.
Researchers have raised concern over the potential for modes of monkeypox transmission beyond intimate contact after detailing the case of an infected man with no recent sexual contact whose highest-risk exposure was attending a crowded outdoor event that was not…