Page 10 - HOH

A28 SCIENCE
Monday 30 deceMber 2019
'Tough year' for measles and other infectious diseases in US

By MIKE STOBBE was Scott Mosman, an out-
AP Medical Writer doors-loving mechanical
NEW YORK (AP) — This year, engineer in Taunton, Mas-
the germs roared back. sachusetts.
Measles tripled. Hepatitis It's not clear when Mosman
A mushroomed. A rare but was bitten by a mosquito,
deadly mosquito-borne but it likely happened while
disease increased. working in his yard, said
And that was just the Unit- Sami Fam, a friend and for-
ed States. mer colleague.
Globally, there was an ex- "He's kind of a big kid who
plosion of measles in many always thought he was in-
countries, an unrelenting vincible," said Fam.
Ebola outbreak in Africa The 58-year-old Mosman
and a surge in dengue fe- died in October.
ver in Asia. There were also Better diagnosing may
backslides in some diseas- be a contributor to the in-
es, like polio, that the world crease in reports of eastern
was close to wiping out. equine encephalitis and a
"It's been a tough year for In this Aug. 26, 2019, file photo, Salt Lake City Mosquito Abatement District biologist Nadja Reissen few other diseases spread
infectious diseases," said examines a mosquito in Salt Lake City. by bites from mosquitoes
Dr. Jonathan Mermin of Associated Press or ticks. Some also ebb and
the U.S. Centers for Disease flow in cycles. But research-
Control and Prevention. But it was a shock to learn A vaccine for hepatitis A The virus is spread to peo- ers say larger increases also
A look back at some U.S. how low they had dipped is now included in routine ple through mosquitoes may be related to climate
disease trends in 2019: in some places, said Dr. childhood vaccines, but that mostly feed on infect- change, as warmer weath-
MEASLES Patricia Schnabel Rup- most adults are too old to ed birds but sometimes bite er can contribute to booms
There were nearly 1,300 pert, health commissioner have gotten it as children. humans. Few people who in insects and a northward
cases of measles in the in Rockland County, north Attempts to give the vac- are infected get sick but expansion of where they
U.S. through November, of New York City. Distrust of cine to vulnerable adults those who do can devel- live.
That's the largest number vaccines had taken root in met resistance, said the op a dangerous infection THE GOOD NEWS
in 27 years. There were no segments of the Orthodox CDC's Dr. Neil Gupta, who of the brain, spinal cord or This year, some infectious
deaths but about 120 peo- community. The county tracks the outbreaks. surrounding tissues. There diseases did trend down.
ple ended up in the hospi- took the unusual step of Public health workers took is a vaccine for horses, not Preliminary reports show
tal. barring thousands of un- the shots out to people in people Legionnaires' disease down
This from a disease that vaccinated children from drug rehab centers and to The numbers remain very by about 20%. West Nile
vaccines had essentially dozens of schools. shelters and the streets to low — just 38 cases this virus cases fell two-thirds,
purged from the country HEPATITIS A reach the homeless. Gup- year. compared to 2018.
for a decade. Hepatitis A tends to be ta said he's optimistic that But that's more than dou- And some other infectious
"How can we have gone thought of as a kind of food cases may drop in 2020. ble the annual number in terrors of the past, includ-
from eliminating the dis- poisoning, often traced EASTERN EQUINE ENCEPHA- the past decade, and it ing tuberculosis, continued
ease to reviving a disease? to an infected restaurant LITIS included 15 deaths. That to recede.
It's mind-shattering that we worker with poor hygiene. This rare and deadly illness prompted health warnings And the nation is a far cry
would go in that direction," But the latest wave began saw a small but worrisome in some places and even from where it was at the
said U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLau- in San Diego among home- increase last summer. East- calls to cancel outdoor beginning of the 20th cen-
ro, D-Conn., who heads a less people and people ern equine encephalitis got events scheduled for dusk, tury, when roughly 50% of
congressional subcommit- who use illicit drugs. In 2017, its name because it was when mosquitoes are most U.S. deaths were attributed
tee that oversees public there were 1,500 cases in first seen in horses in Massa- active. to infectious diseases. To-
health spending. four states tied to the out- chusetts. Among those who died day, it's more like 5%.q
Three-quarters of this year's break. This year, it boomed
Jewish communities in or Florida and Tennessee the Science teachers, students get Times
cases were in Orthodox to 17,000 in 30 states, with
near New York City. As do hardest hit.
Hepatitis A usually is not Square New Year’s stage
most U.S. outbreaks, it start-
ed with travelers infected considered a fatal disease,
overseas who spread it to but it can be for people Associated Press Jared Fox, who teaches at the Wash-
people who hadn't gotten whose livers are already NEW YORK (AP) — This year's New Year's ington Heights Expeditionary Learning
a measles vaccine. damaged by hepatitis C Eve celebration in Times Square will spot- School, and seniors Ricardo Herrera and
Vaccination rates in New or longtime drinking. Nearly light efforts to combat climate change Diane Arevalo are working on a clean-
York are good, overall. 200 died this year. when high school science teachers and air and greening project in the school's
students press the button that begins the Upper Manhattan neighborhood.
famous 60-second ball drop and count- Aida Rosenbaum, a Bronx Latin School
down to next year. teacher, and seniors Daniel Soto and
"On New Year's Eve, we look back and Van Troy Ulloa led a fundraising walk to
reflect on the dominant themes of the raise money for places without clean
past year, and seek hope and inspira- water.
tion as we look forward," Times Square Young climate activists gained new
Alliance President Tim Tompkins said in prominence this year, when Swed-
a statement Saturday announcing the ish teenager Greta Thunberg sparked
plan. The honorees, he said, "are work- school strikes around the world after she
ing to solve this global problem through began skipping class to press for more
science." action on fighting global warming. q