Health - SFL

Dengue-infected tissue - CDC; Frederick Murphy, Cynthia Goldsmith

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Dengue Virus Antibodies Enhance Zika Virus Infection

Previous flavivirus infection could help explain the severity of symptoms in some people infected during the ongoing Zika outbreak, researchers report.

The Scientist - by Tanya Lewis - April 28, 2016

Scientists at Florida Gulf Coast University and their colleagues have found that human cells were more likely to be infected with Zika virus in vitro if they contained antibodies to dengue virus. Their findings, detailed Monday (April 25) in a bioRxiv preprint, could help explain why Zika infection appears to be more severe in areas where dengue is endemic, and points to a potential unintended effect of dengue vaccination.

Antibodies to dengue can increase the virus’s infectivity for certain types of immune cells through a process called antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE), resulting in the production of more virus and more severe illness.

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CLICK HERE - Quest Diagnostics - Zika Virus Infection - Important Testing Information and Helpful Resources

nbcnews.com - by Maggie Fox - April 28, 2016

The first commercial U.S. test to diagnose Zika virus won emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration Thursday.

It's a rare piece of good news as states and the federal government struggle to get out ahead of the Zika virus epidemic as it makes its way north to the U.S.

Quest Diagnostics says it should be able to handle any demand for the test, which uses the same method that government labs use to look for Zika virus in a patient's blood.

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cdc.gov - Press Release
For Immediate Release: Thursday, July 17, 2014
Contact: CDC Media Relations
(404) 639-3286

Seven months after the mosquito-borne virus chikungunya was recognized in the Western Hemisphere, the first locally acquired case of the disease has surfaced in the continental United States. The case was reported today in Florida in a male who had not recently traveled outside the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working closely with the Florida Department of Health to investigate how the patient contracted the virus; CDC will also monitor for additional locally acquired U.S. cases in the coming weeks and months.

Deaths due to overdoses of prescription painkillers like OxyContin dropped sharply in Florida, the first such decline in a decade, according to a new report published by the CDC. (Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times)

latimes.com - by Lisa Girion - July 1, 2014

Public health officials have identified a sharp decline in overdose deaths involving prescription painkillers for the first time in a decade.

Deaths involving OxyContin, Vicodin and other narcotic painkillers dropped by 26% over two years in Florida after a crackdown on pain clinics that dispensed high volumes of the medications, according to a government study released Tuesday.

Lawmakers there barred doctors in these "pill mills" from selling the drugs they prescribed.

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STUDY - Decline in Drug Overdose Deaths After State Policy Changes — Florida, 2010–2012