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Approximately 60,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate, a chemical used as both a fertilizer and an explosive, is missing after likely disappearing during a rail trip from Wyoming to California last month. The reason is being reported as “an unknown cause,” and should allegedly pose no risk to public health or the environment if the loss was a result of a leak during the rail trip.

Only a small number of the 3,000 plus species of mosquitoes across the world, only a small number suck human blood, and may pose the risk of carrying dangerous diseases such as Zika, dengue, West Nile virus and malaria that can be deadly. Understanding how mosquitoes smell out humans could save up to half a million lives lost to those diseases each year, and if scientists can learn how to control their sense of smell, then their behavior and feeding habits can be changed.

Findings from a survey of third- and fourth-year medical students following the overturning of Roe v. Wade indicate a serious deterrence and reluctance in graduates pursuing residency programs and careers as doctors in states where strict abortion laws have resulted in the banning of the procedure. According to the results of the survey, 57.9% of respondents were unlikely or very unlikely to apply to a single residency program in a state with abortion restrictions.

The American Heart Association has released a scientific statement in the journal Circulation which details evidence showing that schoolchildren as young as 4 know how to call for help in a medical emergency and that, by age 10 to 12, children can administer effective chest compressions when performing CPR. The implementation of this evidence in our nation’s children will hopefully lower the current rates of about 70% to 90% of people who suffer cardiac arrest outside of the hospital dying before reaching a hospital due to the lack of help.

The US FDA’s independent vaccine advisors have voted in support of approving a new vaccine to protect infants from respiratory syncytial virus, known as RSV. The maternal vaccine is a single-dose shot would be given to a pregnant people late in pregnancy, and will result in protection for the first six months of the baby’s life.

Developing vaccine ammunition for the next potential pandemic threat: H5N1 flu

As wild bird and poultry continue to be decimated by the highly pathogenic bird flu spreading across the globe since 2020, serious concerns are being raised surrounding the vaccination defense currently available should the bird flu transition to human hosts. There is alarming insight in the scientific community suggesting that the current U.S. stockpile of H5N1 flu shots likely won't offer much protection in the event of a pandemic.

• H5N1 kills nearly all the birds that it infects, and among the reported cases in people since 2003, 56% have proven fatal. Vaccines for poultry have been tested since April, but vaccines for people are only currently being considered if the virus eventually undergoes a complicated string of mutations that allow it to spread from person to person. There’s no evidence of that yet.
  
  
• Despite the lack of vaccination preparation, many scientists believe H5N1 to have pandemic potential. Developing new, better-tailored shots for the current strain would be complicated, though, because most flu vaccines are grown in chicken eggs, and requires individually inoculating each egg with a modified virus.

Dr. Suresh Mittal, a virology professor at Purdue University, states: "In a real pandemic situation, the poultry will be at threat, and then the supply of the eggs will be highly compromised."

Dr. Gregory Poland, founder and director of the Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group, states: "What we need is a library of H5N1 vaccine candidates that are ready to go. We’re putting people and economies at cataclysmic risk by not being prepared."

Healthcare personalization is a rapidly evolving field that is being driven by technological advancements and data analytics. With the increasing availability of electronic health records, wearables, remote patient monitoring, and telemedicine, healthcare providers have access to vast amounts of data that can be analyzed to create personalized treatment plans for patients. In this blog post, we will explore in more detail the various aspects of healthcare personalization and their implications for the future of healthcare.

Investigating persistent symptoms of chronic Lyme disease cases

New research published by the CDC may provide some answers in the form of immune system biomarkers in the blood to explain the puzzling cases of lingering Lyme disease symptoms. These cases may last many months, years, or even decades even after receiving antibiotic intervention to treat Lyme disease. This new study has identified elevated levels of interferon-alpha being connected to these persistent cases of Lyme disease.

Key takeaways

• Interferon-alpha is one of a handful of key signaling proteins the body makes to tell immune cells to fight off bacteria or viruses. If the blood levels are too high, the immune system can overact, causing pain, swelling and fatigue — symptoms often seen with Lyme disease.
  
  
• These new findings present a potential shift in reasoning behind these chronic symptoms. Previously, these lingering cases were blamed on the bacteria that cause Lyme or blamed low levels of undetectable levels of infection remaining after treatment.
  
  
• The EPA has warned that rising temperatures and climate change will result in an increase in prevalence, activity, and survival of disease-carrying ticks. Alongside complicated testing for Lyme disease caused by detection issues and difficulties measuring antibodies found in the blood, this disease deserves further research resources to discover better testing strategies and/or develop a Lyme disease vaccine.

By the digits

• 79 people diagnosed with Lyme disease included in this study.
  
  
• 30,000 to 500,000 people develop Lyme disease from a tick bite each year.
  
  
• About 10% experience symptoms like fatigue and brain fog along with muscle, joint and nerve pain that persists even after treatment.
  
  
• 75% of children with Lyme disease were better within six months of antibiotics.
  
  
• 9% had symptoms affecting their functioning after six months.

Is There a Doctor in the House?

A 12-year-old boy with sickle cell disease and type 1 diabetes mellitus is brought to the office by his mother for an initial visit. The family recently moved to the area. Type 1 diabetes mellitus was diagnosed in the patient 6 years ago. Since that time, he has been treated with insulin and dietary management. His insulin regimen has not changed during the past year; however, his mother says he has been only marginally compliant with his insulin and dietary regimens. His diabetic diary shows home fingerstick blood glucose concentrations ranging from 140–200 mg/dL during the past 3 months. He admits to checking his glucose concentrations infrequently. Measurement of hemoglobin A1c obtained last week was 5.4%. The patient's vital signs are temperature 36.8°C (98.2°F), pulse 72/min, respirations 24/min, and blood pressure 110/64 mm Hg. Physical examination shows no abnormalities.

Which of the following is the most likely explanation for the discrepancy between the patient's home fingerstick blood glucose concentrations and his hemoglobin A1c?

New research may have discovered a link between Alzheimer’s risk and a genetic predisposition toward higher blood pressure and cholesterol. The study included about 39,000 people with a clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and over 400,000 controls without the disease, and they found that people who had certain genes that led to higher levels of a type of cholesterol called high-density lipoprotein had a slightly higher chance of developing Alzheimer’s. They found a similar increased risk for people with the genes responsible for higher systolic blood pressure.

A study published by JAMA found that 1 in 5 adults ages 65 and up either skipped, delayed, took less medication than was prescribed, or took someone else’s medication last year because of concerns about cost. The findings suggest that rising inflation and high prescription drug costs are expected to be responsible for this alarming shift in compliance.

Recent research indicates that Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders between the ages of 20 and 49 have the highest death rates from any type of cancer among all racial groups of that age bracket. Previously the federal government grouped together people of Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander descent when collecting data, which clouded the disparities that have now been highlighted in this study.

Fears surrounding a potential summer rise in mpox cases has spurned further vaccine research, leading several studies to conclude that two doses of vaccine are more effective than one. Vaccine effectiveness across three different studies estimate ranges from 36% to 75% for one dose and 66% to 86% for two doses of the Jynneos developed vaccine.

Thank you for reading! More next week,

My best wishes for a productive and idea-filled week ahead. Thanks for your ongoing efforts to improve the lives of the patients we all serve. Please send any news, comments, suggestions and ideas to hello@morningmed.email.

Quiz answer: The correct answer is A) "His sickle cell disease is affecting his hemoglobin A1c"

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