COVID-19 hospitalization remains higher among older adults At least one household member and six healthcare workers who encountered the index case-patient are being investigated after showing symptoms of viral infection. CIDRAP

New data published yesterday(Thursday) in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) show older adults continue to be hospitalized for COVID-19 at a much higher rate than other age groups. ...

RSV can be deadly—especially for older adults. Why aren’t more of them getting the new vaccine? About 6,000 to 10,000 people 65 and older die from RSV in the U.S. annually, the CDC says. Lindsey Leake Fortune

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US markers show more COVID decline, with RSV rise in the southeast Though KP.3.1.1 variant levels continue to rise, the proportion of XEC viruses is also trending upward. CIDRAP

COVID-19 activity declined last week, with wastewater levels—still highest in the West—now at moderate levels, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today (Friday) in its latest respiratory virus updates. ...

DHS Announces $210 Million of Additional Funds to Protect Faith-Based Institutions and Nonprofit Organizations | Homeland Security DHS announced that it will distribute $210 million in Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) funds through the Federal Emergency Management Agency as the second tranche of additional funding that the Biden-Harris Administration secured to protect faith-based institutions and nonprofit organizations against targeted attacks. U.S. Department of Homeland Security

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Marburg virus outbreak in Rwanda draws concern over possibility of international spread A large outbreak of Marburg virus in Rwanda is drawing international concern about the possibility of spread beyond the country’s borders. Helen Branswell STAT

The number of cases detected so far, 27, already makes the outbreak one of the biggest involving Marburg on record. Nine of those individuals have died. There are currently no licensed vaccines to combat the disease. 

California faces ‘unprecedented’ local spread of dengue fever, possibly driven by climate change California last week clocked its fourth case of locally transmitted dengue fever this year — an alarming rise in a sometimes-deadly disease that experts fear could be fueled by climate change. The … aneklason The Hill

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Survey: COVID home test results can enhance disease tracking At least one household member and six healthcare workers who encountered the index case-patient are being investigated after showing symptoms of viral infection. CIDRAP

Online nonprobability survey estimates suggest that 54 million US COVID-19 infections went uncounted in official records after home tests were widely deployed and institutional testing waned starting in February 2022. ...

WHO recommends maternal shot and antibody therapy to prevent RSV in infants The recommendations, to administer both the shot and the antibody or either, come after the WHO's strategic advisory group on immunization met last week. For countries that decide to use a maternal vaccine, WHO said it recommends a single shot in the third trimester of pregnancy. Drugmaker Pfizer's shot is approved in the United States for use in women during the middle of the third trimester of pregnancy to protect their babies. Yahoo News

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