COVID Deaths Decline, but Vaccine Access Remains Uneven in the U.S.
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Rachel Feltman: Happy Monday, listeners! For American scientist‘s Science quickly, I am Rachel Feltman. You listen to our weekly roundup from new scientists, where we dive into some of the titles you may have missed last week.
We will start by checking the latest news from public health. A report published by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week argues that Chagas disease, also nicknamed “insect kissing”, is now an endemic disease in the United States caused by Trypanosoma Cruzi Parasites that hide in the excrement of insects of oozing known as kisses of kisses, the disease can cause fevers, vomiting, diarrhea, rashes, pain, loss of appetite and headache for a few weeks or months after infection. If the parasite is not eliminated with treatment during this acute phase, people with chagas can continue to develop digestive problems, as well as cardiac conditions that can be fatal. Although occasional contacts do not distribute the disease from one person to another, transmission is possible through blood transfusions, organ transplants and between pregnant and babies. You can also get the disease without insect bite if you eat uncooked food contaminated by excrement of an infected insect.
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The new CDC report warns that kisses kisses are now sufficiently widespread in certain parts of the United States so that the disease is considered endemic, which means that it has a constant presence in the country. In the County of Los Angeles, for example, experts estimate that 45,000 people have a Chagas disease and more than 44,000 of them do not know this.
This is not all bad news in the world of public health: according to a recent report by the National Center for Health Statistics of the CDC, last year, COVID-19 finally filed the list of the 10 main causes of death in the United States for the first time since 2020, although it remains in the 15 main causes. The country’s overall mortality rate dropped by 3.8% between 2023 and 2024, which may be due in part to the decrease in disrected deaths. The fact that drug overdoses fell by almost 27% during this period, reaching their lowest level in five years, could also be a contributing factor.
The sour note of this news is the fact that coid vaccines had more difficulty accessing many people under the age of 65. At the end of last month, the Food and Drug Administration approved ceremonial vaccines updated for older Americans and people with certain underlying health conditions, in contrast with previous years, when shots were recommended for everyone six months and more. Last week, the American Academy of Family Physicians officially recommended coastal vaccines for people aged six months and more, including pregnant people. The organization joins the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists in the publication of advice which contradicts federal policy. This contradictory advice is not only confusing for people who wondered if they should get the chance. Oregonian reported last week that in Oregon, which is one of the many states that currently requires a prescription to obtain a cocovated vaccine, many doctors hesitate to prescribe JAB due to potential liability problems and insurance coverage.
Speaking of vaccines, we have more sunny Down Under news: the end of the devastating epidemic of Koala Chlamydia could finally be in sight.
Bacteria strains Chlamydia PecorumWhich, according to experts, were introduced to Australia by infected cattle in the late 1700s, absolutely devastated the populations of Koala Sauvages. While the human version of chlamydia is often asymptomatic, easily treated with antibiotics and is generally only a cause of serious illness if it is not treated, infected koalas are faced with a risk of blindness, infertility and death. Makeing worse antibiotics is a poor treatment option for these animals, as their intestines require specific microbes to digest otherwise toxic eucalyptus, their main source of food. Because the Koalas develop this necessary aspect of their microbiome by consuming an excretion of poop of their mother called PAP, healing a woman from Chlamydia has not only an impact on her own intestine but can also have a devastating effect on one of her future offspring.
But the help is finally on the way. Last week, the researchers announced that the Australian pesticide and veterinary drug authority had approved a dose dose koala vaccine for the first time. The blow has been developing for more than a decade and has shown a reduction of at least 65% of the disease when tested in the wild, according to one of the researchers at the University of Sunshine Coast. Researchers hope to make the vaccine available for free, but its success will depend on the financing of the generous government, because people will always have to go out to find and inject koalas in need. So keep hanging on, little guys!
Now explode in space for some news from physics. Yesterday scored the 10th anniversary of the very first direct detection of gravitational waves. After a decade of operation, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Observatory, better known as Ligo, captured some 300 black holes, the detection rate that increases considerably because researchers have improved the system detectors. Ligo can now detect changes in space-time less than 1/700 Trillionième The width of human hair.
In another exciting Ligo development, using the most recently observed data from one of the most recently observed, scientists have provided the best evidence to date for the theorem of the Stephen Hawking black holes area. The team published its results last Wednesday in Physical examination letters. The Hawking theorem in 1971 establishes that the horizons of black holes events can only maintain or increase their total surface over time, without ever decreasing. The researchers saw a clear increase in the surface when two black holes merged, from around 240,000 square kilometers at around 400,000 square kilometers. They understood this by observing the Ringdown phase, which is a period after the black holes gathered during which the newly formed black hole vibrates like a bell on foot. The study of the way in which gravitational waves changed during this phase allowed scientists to calculate the mass and rotation, which contributed to finding the surface of the black hole.
Last week, there were also fascinating space news from home. An article published in Nature On Wednesday, reports that a sample taken by the perseverance of NASA, March Rover, could contain signs of life. The discovery comes from an old dry river bed in the Jezero crater, where a rock rich in clay has been found to contain “potential biosignatures”. A potential biosignature is a substance or a structure that can suggest biological origins, but a more in -depth investigation is necessary to determine whether it has really been produced by living organisms. The rock contains stains of minerals of iron phosphate and chemically reduced iron sulfide, which, on earth, are generally considered as associated with the microbial lifespan. But we also know other processes that can produce the same substances, so although new discoveries are exciting, we are still in the first stages of potentially proving the existence of life on Mars.
This is all for the roundup of this week’s new scientists. We will be back Wednesday to explore real science behind your intestinal feelings.
Science quickly is produced by me, Rachel Feltman, with Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper and Jeff Delviscio. This episode was published by Alex Sugiura. Shayna has and Aaron Shattuck checks our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Subscribe to American scientist For new scientists up to date and in -depth.
For Scientific American, Here is Rachel Feltman. Spend a good week!
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