CDC adds Chicago, Miami to international traveler virus testing program

 Federal regulators are expanding their viral testing program for international travelers to Chicago and Miami as part of an effort to detect early signs of pathogens coming into the country.

Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and Miami International Airport were added to the program due to the high volume of international travelers that come through both airports. The program monitors for COVID-19, RSV, the flu and potentially new pathogens.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), these airports were chosen to specifically collect more samples from travelers coming from Asia, Africa and the Southern Hemisphere.

The CDC’s Traveler-based Genomic Surveillance (TGS) program launched in 2022 and currently operates at airports in Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Newark, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington.

TGS operates by taking nasal swabs from international travelers who participate voluntarily. Their participation is anonymous.

The CDC said in a statement that the program has “already spotted new COVID-19 variants weeks before any other programs in the U.S., buying critical time for CDC scientists to learn more about the variants and to adjust public health response quickly as needed.”

“Since it began in 2021, TGS has collected samples from more than 475,000 air travelers and covers flights from more than 135 countries from across the globe,” the CDC said.

https://thehill.com/homenews/4529227-cdc-adds-chicago-miami-to-international-traveler-testing-program/

HHS opens probe into hack at UnitedHealth unit

 The Department Of Health and Human Services has opened an investigation into UnitedHealth Group following a cyberattack on its unit Change Healthcare, it said on Wednesday.

The probe would focus on identifying the extent of the breach and compliance by UnitedHealth and the unit with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, a federal law that protects sensitive patient health information.

UnitedHealth said it would cooperate with the investigation. "Our immediate focus is to restore our systems, protect data and support those whose data may have been impacted," it said.

The cyberattack at Change, disclosed on Feb. 21 and initially attributed to "suspected nation-state associated cybersecurity threat actor", was later blamed on hackers who identified themselves as the "Blackcat" ransomware group.

The hack disrupted electronic pharmacy refills and insurance transactions as the Change unit processes about 50% of medical claims in the United States.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/1-hhs-opens-probe-hack-173600853.html

'Using tap water for your nasal rinse? Beware amoeba dangers'

 Folks with sinus issues often turn to neti pots or "nasal rinsing" to help clear their clogged passages.

Unfortunately, too many don't follow standard advice to avoid using tap water, and that's leading to sometimes fatal amoebic infections, a new report finds.

"A recent study showed that nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults think tap water is safe for nasal rinsing," wrote a team led by Julia Halston of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But tap water often comes from rivers and lakes that can carry dangerous amoebas such as Acanthamoeba, which "can cause a variety of severe human infections," Halston's group warned.

These include a potentially fatal form of encephalitis called granulomatous amebic encephalitis (GAE), which attacks the central nervous system.

Various skin diseases, rhinosinusitis, pulmonary (lung) disease, and osteomyelitis (bone infections) have also been linked to waterborne amoebic infection.

The immunocompromised are at highest risk for Acanthamoeba infections -- people such as those with diabetes, cancer patients on chemotherapy, people living with HIV and recipients of organ transplants.

The researchers stressed that while very rare, non-skin Acanthamoeba infections are deadly: 82% of people with the illness will die.

In the new report, the CDC team reviewed 10 known cases of Acanthamoeba infections contracted via nasal rinsing between 1994 and 2022 (with nine of those cases occurring over the past decade).

All of the patients had compromised immune systems (most commonly cancer-related), and averaged 60 years of age. In nine patients, the infection affected their sinuses, but six also had brain infections. Six had infections of the skin and three experienced bone disease from their Acanthamoeba infection. Many were infected at multiple body sites.

At least half of the patients said they'd used tap water while rinsing their nasal passages, and the water source for the other five patients was unknown. Most had been using nasal rinses regularly for months or years.

"Three patients with confirmed or suspected GAE died and three survived," Halston's group said.

The findings were published March 13 in the CDC journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Based on these findings, the CDC team is stressing once more that nasal rinses always be performed with sterile water, not unboiled tap water.

Amoeba "could theoretically be introduced during any rinsing encounter, but the risk for infection likely increases over time with continued exposure," they noted.

Unfortunately, misinformation about tap water persists.

Even though Acanthamoeba and other amoeba species have been detected in more than half of U.S. tap water samples, "a recent study reported that 33% of US adults believe that tap water is sterile, and 62% believe it to be safe for rinsing sinuses," Halston and her colleagues noted.

That misinformation could lead to tragedy, so "educating against the use of unboiled tap water for nasal rinsing may be effective in preventing invasive Acanthamoeba infections," they said.

More information: Acanthamoeba infection and nasal rinsing, United States, 1994–2022. Emerg Infect Dis. 2024 Apr, doi.org/10.3201/eid3004.231076

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-03-nasal-beware-amoeba-dangers.html

Lara Trump: Preventing Cheating In November Is Top RNC Priority

 RNC co-chair Lara Trump says that "protecting the vote" in the upcoming November election is the most critical task for the committee.

"We have three pillars that we need to focus on at the RNC to ensure victory on November 5, turn out the vote, protect the vote, and raise money," she told Fox news' "Sunday Morning Futures" on March 10.

"But I would argue that maybe the most important of those three is protecting the vote, election integrity," she added.

Trump was asked by host Maria Bartiromo about her opinion of Attorney General Merrick Garland's speech earlier this month in which he suggested that it's racist not to allow the least secure methods of casting a vote in America. 

On March 3, Mr. Garland said the U.S. Department of Justice was “fighting back” against “efforts by states and jurisdictions to implement discriminatory, burdensome, and unnecessary restrictions on access to the ballot, including those related to mail-in voting, the use of drop boxes, and voter ID requirements.” -Epoch Times

"We have to ensure that, when people go vote, they feel like their vote counts, that they are inspired to go vote. We can never allow what happened in 2020 and the questions surrounding that election to ever happen again," said Trump.

Lara, the daughter-in-law of former President Donald Trump, suggested that Democrats are against voter ID because they seek to expand their voter base with illegal immigrants.

"Democrats are bleeding and hemorrhaging voters. They understand that they cannot fool people in this country any longer so they have to import people," she said. "The only reason you wouldn’t want voter ID is if you want people who cannot vote to vote in these elections. It is insane."

Roughly 81% of Americans support voter ID, according to a February poll by Pew Research. Along party lines, however, 95% favor the concept, while 69% of Democrats - still a majority, support it.

According to Lara Trump, the RNC has established an "election integrity division" and devoted "vast resources dedicated solely to this cause," which include a "nationwide network of volunteers," such as poll workers and poll watchers.

To those who might cheat in the upcoming election, "We will go after you [and] you will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law," Trump said.

Legal Ballot Harvesting

As the Epoch Times notes further, Trump also told Ms. Bartiromo that the RNC would use legal ballot harvesting in this election cycle. “It is already underway, and we will expand it again,” she said.

Last week, Ms. Trump and Michael Whatley, chair of the North Carolina Republican Party, were elected to lead the RNC to replace Ronna McDaniel. Both were endorsed by President Trump last month.

The leadership overhaul comes just days after President Trump dominated the Republican presidential primaries on Super Tuesday on March 5, solidifying his hold on the Republican nomination and the party itself.

Last month, Ms. Trump also told The Epoch Times in an exclusive interview that she would mount a ballot-harvesting campaign in this election, something Republicans have been averse to in the past.

“We need to have the biggest legal ballot harvesting operation this country has ever seen,” Ms. Trump said. “It feels, for a long time, like the Democrats have been playing chess, and we’ve been playing checkers,” she said. Her goal is for the Republican Party “to be the opposite, to be steps ahead of them, and on our toes, and ahead of the game, and facing forward the whole time.”

Ballot harvesting, legal in some states, allows people to deliver absentee or mail-in ballots to drop-off points on behalf of other voters. Republicans have been skeptical of the procedure, fearing it would lead to election fraud. Democrats have been much more willing to use the strategy.

“Whether or not [Democrats] do it legally, that’s up for discussion,” Ms. Trump said, adding that it’s time for Republicans to start “attacking the game differently.”

She also suggested that the RNC embrace early voting for the upcoming election. “The truth is, if we want to compete with the Democrats, we cannot wait until election day,” she said. “If we want to compete, we must embrace early voting.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/lara-trump-preventing-cheating-november-top-rnc-priority

Catalyst AGAMREE® Now Commercially Available in U.S. for Treatment of Duchenne

 AGAMREE^® (vamorolone) a Novel Alternative Corticosteroid with Demonstrated Properties in Maintaining Efficacy and a Well-Tolerated Side Effect Profile

Available in the U.S. by Prescription for Patients Aged Two Years and Older

Catalyst Pathways^® Program will Support AGAMREE Patients and Available to Help Ensure DMD Patients Affordable Access and Product Education

https://www.biospace.com/article/releases/catalyst-pharmaceuticals-announces-agamree-now-commercially-available-in-the-u-s-for-the-treatment-of-duchenne-muscular-dystrophy-dmd-/

Merck to Trial Multi-Valent Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine and Single-Dose Regimen for GARDASIL®9

  Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, today, at the EUROGIN 2024 HPV Congress, announced plans to initiate clinical development of a new investigational multi-valent HPV vaccine designed to provide broader protection against multiple HPV types. Separately, the company also plans to conduct clinical trials in both females and males to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a single-dose regimen of GARDASIL^®9 (Human Papillomavirus 9-valent, recombinant), compared to the approved three-dose regimen.

https://www.biospace.com/article/releases/merck-announces-plans-to-conduct-clinical-trials-of-a-novel-investigational-multi-valent-human-papillomavirus-hpv-vaccine-and-single-dose-regimen-for-gardasil-9/

Silence: Positive Topline 36-Week Data from Ongoing Phase 2 in High Lipoprotein(a)

 Study met primary endpoint and demonstrated highly significant reductions in Lp(a) to week 36

Lipoprotein(a) reduction was consistent with phase 1 results

Topline 48-week data expected in 2Q 2024

https://www.biospace.com/article/releases/silence-therapeutics-announces-positive-topline-36-week-data-from-ongoing-phase-2-study-of-zerlasiran-in-patients-with-high-lipoprotein-a-/