The Olympic Norovirus Outbreak Has Spread to Athletes ( Time) The norovirus outbreak at the Winter Olympics has officially spread to athletes, according to a statement from the Swiss Olympic team. Two Swiss athletes, whose names and sports were not included in the statement, contracted norovirus, according to the team. The statement adds that both athletes have been treated by the Swiss team's doctors and no longer show symptoms of the highly contagious viral stomach flu, which causes diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. Go to article

3rd New Case of Legionnaires at Vets Home Where 13 Died ( New York Times) A third new case of Legionnaires' disease has been reported this week in a resident at a western Illinois veterans' home where the illness has been linked to the deaths of 13 people since 2015 and sickened dozens more, state public health and veterans' affairs officials said Thursday. Go to article

Yemeni Health Under Relentless Pressure ( Lancet) Renewed calls for funding, reports of increasing conflict, and the ongoing blockade of the Red Sea ports draw the picture of a worsening humanitarian situation in Yemen. Sharmila Devi reports. The UN has said that more than 85,000 people have fled an upsurge in fighting in the past 10 weeks in Yemen, where barely 50% of medical facilities are functioning in any form and some 22·2 million people need aid, 3·4 million more than last year. Go to article

End of a Cholera Epidemic in South Sudan Declared ( Lancet) An announcement on Feb 7 declared the end of a cholera epidemic in South Sudan. Talha Burki reports on controlling an epidemic in a country in the midst of civil war. On Feb 7, 2018, South Sudan announced that the country's long-running cholera epidemic was at an end. The disease broke out in June, 2016. Over the following 18 months, there were more than 20,000 cases and 436 reported deaths. No new cases have been reported since December, 2017. Go to article

Flu Vaccine Act Introduced by Sen. Edward Markey: For the Creation of a Universal Influenza Vaccine ( Outbreak News Today) Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) on Thursday introduced the Flu Vaccine Act, legislation to conduct or support comprehensive research for the creation of a universal influenza vaccine that could be administered once or twice and provide a lifetime of protection. The legislation is calling for a total investment of $1 billion - $200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023 for the National Institutes of Health. Go to article

ASPR's New Vision for a Regional Disaster Health Care System Will Help Prepare Nation for 21st Century Health Security Threats ( ASPR Blogs) Early this week, I had the opportunity to discuss with colleagues at the University of Maryland Medical Center-Shock Trauma the concept of a regional disaster health care system that is capable of responding more effectively and efficiently to the ever-increasing array of 21st century health security threats. Go to article

US Study Finds 36% Flu Vaccine Protection, 25% Against H3N2 ( CIDRAP) An eagerly awaited estimate today of flu vaccine effectiveness in the US so far this season confirmed that protection against the H3N2 strain is low and not much different than a similar report from Canada earlier this month. Go to article

See also: Interim Estimates of 2017-18 Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness - United States, February 2018 ( MMWR) In the US, annual vaccination against seasonal influenza is recommended for all persons aged greater than or equal to 6 months. During each influenza season since 2004-05, CDC has estimated the effectiveness of seasonal influenza vaccine to prevent laboratory-confirmed influenza associated with medically attended acute respiratory illness. This report uses data from 4,562 children and adults enrolled in the US Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Network during November 2, 2017-February 3, 2018. Go to article

Flu Season Shows Signs of Leveling Off ( New York Times) This nasty flu season, which has been worsening for months, may finally be leveling off. Health officials on Friday said about 1 of every 13 visits to the doctor last week was for fever, cough and other symptoms of the flu. That's no reason for health officials to celebrate yet: That level is among the highest in a decade. But it's no worse than last week, and flu activity had been increasing each week since November. Go to article

Day Zero: The impact of Cape Town's Water Shortage on Public Health ( PLOS Blogs: Public Health Perspectives) A story that's been making the rounds recently is the impending water shortage in Cape Town. Multiple years of droughts have resulted in lower and lower water levels in the reservoirs that supply the city with water, and while there have been efforts to reduce consumption by residents of the city, the decrease hasn't been enough to mitigate the effects of the drought. As a result, the mayor and city council have been warning citizens that there will soon be a day when the entire metro area will be without running water, and the taps will be turned off. This affects a huge number of people; the Cape Town metro area has about 3.7 million residents that will be impacted, about the same as the population of Connecticut, or the Seattle-Tacoma metro area. Go to article

In the Future We Won't Edit Genomes--We'll Just Print Out New Ones ( MIT Technology Review) At least since thirsty Sumerians began brewing beer thousands of years ago, Homo sapiens has had a tight relationship with Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the unicellular fungus better known as brewer's yeast. Through fermentation, humans were able to harness a microscopic species for our own ends. These days yeast cells produce ethanol and insulin and are the workhorse of science labs. Go to article

With New CRISPR Inventions, Its Pioneers Say, You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet ( STAT) No one would be surprised if scientists announced tomorrow that CRISPR had leapt tall test tubes in a single bound, but until that happens, fans of the superhero genome-editing system will have to be content with a trio of almost-as-flashy (but potentially more useful) new tricks, all unveiled on Thursday. Go to article

Life Cycle Synchronization Is a Viral Drug Resistance Mechanism ( PLOS Computational Biology) Viral infections are one of the major causes of death worldwide, with HIV infection alone resulting in over 1.2 million casualties per year. Antiviral drugs are now being administered for a variety of viral infections, including HIV, hepatitis B and C, and influenza. These therapies target a specific phase of the virus's life cycle, yet their ultimate success depends on a variety of factors, such as adherence to a prescribed regimen and the emergence of viral drug resistance. Go to article

" Sonic Weapon Attacks" on US Embassy Don't Add Up--for Anyone ( Scientific American) Heated charges have flown back and forth for months between the two countries that bracket the Strait of Florida. US State Department officials contended Cuba staged a sonic attack on employees of the American embassy, causing a variety of neurological symptoms. Cuba has not only denied such an attack ever took place but has also emphasized the physical impossibility of a sound wave causing neurological damage trained on such a distant target. Go to article