After the Spanish American War, members of the United States Army Yellow Fever Commission ventured to Cuba. The group was looking to study yellow fever due to the large amount of casualties during the war caused by the disease.
This commission was led by Major Walter Reed, a U.S. Army surgeon during the Spanish American War.
While many have never heard of Walter Reed, his story was once well known.
It’s been a busy year for polio around the world.
Some countries have been able to finally put an end to the virus. Other countries, like the Philippines, have found unexpected returns of polio.
But, as we head into a new decade, there’s hope to end polio completely.
Flu season is in full swing and has been causing many to worry about the progression and outcome of the season.
As of December 7th, the CDC revealed there has been “3.7 million flu illnesses, 32,000 hospitalizations and 1,800” flu-related deaths so far in the United States. Typically flu season ramps up in early fall and peaks sometime between December and March. Unless there’s a late surge of the virus like we saw in 2019, the season will die down by May.
The CDC monitors flu indicators, such as influenza-like illnesses and flu related hospitalizations. The organization can track trends and determine when the season has started and peaked.
Due to the recent worldwide rise in measles, it can be hard to distinguish whether a person is infected with the measles or influenza. Both viruses have similar symptoms, and, with measles cases increasing during flu season, it makes identifying the viruses even harder.
Some questions that might arise regarding the two viruses are:
How severe is each virus? What are the symptoms and how can you tell the viruses apart? How are the viruses transmitted? How can you prevent catching one of the viruses? And what treatments are available?
For most people who like to spend their time outdoors, the risks of a tick bite are nothing new. With the rise of tickborne disease in cities, the pests might be a problem for even more people.
Maybe you like to spend weekends hiking with friends and family. Or, even just riding your bikes along scenic trails in the countryside. You know that there’s a chance that you’ll find a tick on your clothes here or there, but are not worried about it because they hardly ever get on you.
Then, you get home and see a tick on the back of your knee.
