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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - The wind is blowing, the leaves are piling up and so are the tissues in the trash can.
Fall allergies can make you pretty miserable, but how do you know when it's allergies or when it's something more serious?
Whether it's allergies or COVID-19, the flu, or RSV, they all make you feel pretty miserable, but there are big differences.
As certain as the falling leaves, as are the allergies of the fall ravaging their victims.
"Primarily, ragweed pollen, but other other weed pollens are out there as well," said AHN Allergy Specialist Russell Traister. "So, this is definitely the big time of year for that."
Dr. Traister said those piling up wet leaves are breeding grounds for trouble.
"Sometimes, you'll get some mold accumulation and you got mold spores," he explained. "So sometimes this time of year if you're stirring up the leaves and they're moldy and wax, you can get some mold spores, and if you're allergic to those you can have some symptoms as well."
As we all know, there's the calling card for fall allergies - itchy, watery eyes, itchy runny noses, and the like.
He said you don't normally get the itching with things like the flu, COVID-19, or RSV.
"Definitely one thing that would be missing with allergies is a fever," Dr. Traister said. "So, oftentimes with COVID and sometimes the flu and other viruses, you can have a fever so that's typically not associated with allergy symptoms."
He said while it's too late to start allergy shots for the fall, there is still relief out there to be had.
"That can be like a nose spray like a steroid, nose spray like Flonase that people use, and of course your antihistamines like Zyrtec Claritin and Allegra," he said.
While it may mean the approaching of winter, the upcoming frost that's expected on Monday does bring some relief.
"That's when sort of the allergy season sort of ends," Dr. Traister said.
To be effective, Dr. Traister said you need to use those nasal sprays consistently to build up your defense over several days. As for the antihistamines, he said those are highly effective in bringing relief within an hour or so.
John Shumway joined KDKA in October 1988 as a General Assignment Reporter. During his years at KDKA, he has anchored the morning and weekend news and is currently a featured General Assignment Reporter on the station's 4, 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts.
October 19, 2023
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In a cohort of individuals with MS, a diagnosis of COVID-19 was linked to an increased risk of disability progression compared with those without, according to a presentation from ECTRIMS 2023.
Important research is ongoing trying to find environmental triggers that could cause exacerbations in MS where infections have been proposed as a possible trigger, Jan Hillert, MD, PhD, professor of neurology in the department of clinical neuroscience at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and colleagues wrote.
Hillert and fellow researchers sought to examine the impact of COVID-19 on physical disability progression in patients with MS at Karolinska University Hospital, assessed by Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scores.
Their retrospective cohort study included 231 individuals with MS (without reported COVID-19 infection, n = 143; with reported COVID-19 infection, n = 88), as well as data on clinicodemographic variables and EDSS scores between September 2017 and February 2023 collected from the Swedish MS registry and/or electronic journal system. TakeCare. Researchers compared EDSS changes in participants with reported COVID-19 infection against those without from January 2020 to October 2021. Logistic regression models were used to calculate ORs for EDSS progression depending on status of COVID-19 infection, adjusted for relevant clinicodemographic variables.
According to results, participants with reported COVID-19 infection registered an increased risk of EDSS progression compared to those without reported COVID-19 infection (OR = 8.20; 95% CI, 1.62-41.51).
The results indicate that COVID-19 infection was associated with EDSS worsening, Hillert and colleagues wrote. However, additional studies in bigger cohorts are required for more robust conclusions.
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Hillert J, et al. The effect of COVID-19 infection on physical disability progression in MS patients at Karolinska University Hospital. Presented at: ECTRIMS 2023; Oct. 11-13, 2023; Milan.
Disclosures: Hillert reports receiving honoraria for serving on advisory boards for Biogen, Bristol-Myers-Squibb, Janssen, Merck KGaA, Novartis, Sandoz and Sanofi-Genzyme and speakers fees from Biogen, Janssen, Novartis, Merck, Sandoz, Sanofi-Genzyme and Teva,; serving as principal investigator for projects sponsored by, or received unrestricted research support from, Biogen, Bristol-Myers-Squibb, Janssen, Merck KGaA, Novartis, Roche and Sanofi-Genzyme; receiving funding for MS research from the Swedish Research Council and the Swedish Brain foundation. Please see the study for all other authors relevant financial disclosures.
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This article is republished from The Conversation. Read the original article.
Ending pandemics is a social decision, not scientific. Governments and organizations rely on social, cultural and political considerations to decide when to officially declare the end of a pandemic. Ideally, leaders try to minimize the social, economic and public health burden of removing emergency restrictions while maximizing potential benefits.
Vaccine policy is a particularly complicated part of pandemic decision-making, involving a variety of other complex and often contradicting interests and considerations. Although COVID-19 vaccines have saved millions of lives in the U.S., vaccine policymaking throughout the pandemic was often reactive and politicized.
A late November 2022 Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that one-third of U.S. parents believed they should be able to decide not to vaccinate their children at all. The World Health Organization and the United Nations Childrens Fund reported that between 2019 and 2021, global childhood vaccination experienced its largest drop in the past 30 years.
The Biden administration formally removed federal COVID-19 vaccination requirements for federal employees and international travelers in May 2023. Soon after, the U.S. government officially ended the COVID-19 public health emergency. But COVID-19s burden on health systems continues globally.
I am a public health ethicist who has spent most of my academic career thinking about the ethics of vaccine policies. For as long as theyve been around, vaccines have been a classic case study in public health and bioethics. Vaccines highlight the tensions between personal autonomy and public good, and they show how the decision of an individual can have populationwide consequences.
COVID-19 is here to stay. Reflecting on the ethical considerations surrounding the riseand unfolding fallof COVID-19 vaccine mandates can help society better prepare for future disease outbreaks and pandemics.
Ethics of Vaccine Mandates
Vaccine mandates are the most restrictive form of vaccine policy in terms of personal autonomy. Vaccine policies can be conceptualized as a spectrum, ranging from least restrictive, such as passive recommendations like informational advertisements, to most restrictive, such as a vaccine mandate that fines those who refuse to comply.
Each sort of vaccine policy also has different forms. Some recommendations offer incentives, perhaps in the form of a monetary benefit, while others are only a verbal recommendation. Some vaccine mandates are mandatory in name only, with no practical consequences, while others may trigger termination of employment upon noncompliance.
COVID-19 vaccine mandates took many forms throughout the pandemic, including but not limited to employer mandates, school mandates and vaccination certificatesoften referred to as vaccine passports or immunity passportsrequired for travel and participation in public life.
Because of ethical considerations, vaccine mandates are typically not the first option policymakers use to maximize vaccine uptake. Vaccine mandates are paternalistic by nature because they limit freedom of choice and bodily autonomy. Additionally, because some people may see vaccine mandates as invasive, they could potentially create challenges in maintaining and garnering trust in public health. This is why mandates are usually the last resort.
However, vaccine mandates can be justified from a public health perspective on multiple grounds. Theyre a powerful and effective public health intervention.
Mandates can provide lasting protection against infectious diseases in various communities, including schools and health care settings. They can provide a public good by ensuring widespread vaccination to reduce the chance of outbreaks and disease transmission overall. Subsequently, an increase in community vaccine uptake due to mandates can protect immunocompromised and vulnerable people who are at higher risk of infection.
COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates
Early in the pandemic, arguments in favor of mandating COVID-19 vaccines for adults rested primarily on evidence that COVID-19 vaccination prevented disease transmission. In 2020 and 2021, COVID-19 vaccines seemed to have a strong effect on reducing transmission, therefore justifying vaccine mandates.
COVID-19 also posed a disproportionate threat to vulnerable people, including the immunocompromised, older adults, people with chronic conditions and poorer communities. As a result, these groups would have significantly benefited from a reduction in COVID-19 outbreaks and hospitalization.
Many researchers found personal liberty and religious objections insufficient to prevent mandating COVID-19 vaccines. Additionally, decision-makers in favor of mandates appealed to the COVID-19 vaccines ability to reduce disease severity and therefore hospitalization rates, alleviating the pressure on overwhelmed health care facilities.
However, the emergence of even more transmissible variants of the virus dramatically changed the decision-making landscape surrounding COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
The public health intention (and ethicality) of original COVID-19 vaccine mandates became less relevant as the scientific community understood that achieving herd immunity against COVID-19 was probably impossible because of uneven vaccine uptake, and breakthrough infections among the vaccinated became more common. Many countries like England and various states in the U.S. started to roll back COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
With the rollback and removal of vaccine mandates, decision-makers are still left with important policy questions: Should vaccine mandates be dismissed, or is there still sufficient ethical and scientific justification to keep them in place?
Vaccines are lifesaving medicines that can help everyone eligible to receive them. But vaccine mandates are context-dependent tools that require considering the time, place and population they are deployed in.
Though COVID-19 vaccine mandates are less of a publicly pressing issue today, many other vaccine mandates, particularly in schools, are currently being challenged. I believe this is a reflection of decreased trust in public health authorities, institutions and researchersresulting in part from tumultuous decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Engaging in transparent and honest conversations surrounding vaccine mandates and other health policies can help rebuild and foster trust in public health institutions and interventions.
COVID-19 outbreak hits Somerset County Jail in Madison
by Ariana St Pierre, WGME
FILE -{ }Somerset County Jail (BDN file photo)
MADISON (WGME) -- Thirteen inmates are in isolation after a COVID-19 outbreak at the Somerset County Jail in Madison.
Officials from the jail told the Morning Sentinel that two staff members are also staying home.
They say the outbreak began in one of the three mens housing units over the weekend.
They add the 13 inmates, who are among 126 being held at the jail, are all in quarantine and are being treated for cold-like symptoms.
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As the leaves turn and temperatures drop, its important to remember that fall brings with it another chilly visitor: the annual flu season.
Influenza activity will begin increasing this month before peaking later around December. To combat the spread of the sometimes-fatal virus, Student Health Services is giving out flu vaccinations on the University of North Georgias Gainesville and Dahlonega campuses.
Students who have paid the health fee (typically included with tuition) are eligible to receive the shot for free, while those who havent paid the fee will have $15 charged to their banner account. Vaccinations are available by appointment or walk-in during regular clinic hours.
Student Health Services encourages everyone eligible to receive a flu vaccination, especially as other viruses such as COVID-19 and the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) are still circulating
Jennifer Cook, Student Health Services Assistant Director
For students who believe they may have already contracted the flu, the clinic offers in-house testing for the virus. Treatment will vary between patients, but Cook says most people will just need over-the-counter cold medications to start feeling better. Those with asthma or other vulnerable conditions may need a prescription for anti-viral medications.
These need to be started fairly quickly after becoming symptomatic to be effective, Cook said.
The severity of the 2023-2024 flu season will depend on which strains are circulating and how well they match up with the current vaccine. This year, the clinic is offering the FluLaval injection, a Quadrivalent vaccine that protects against four different forms of the virus: two influenza A strains and two influenza B strains.
Data from the CDC suggests that the vaccine can reduce the risk of contracting the flu by approximately 40 to 60 percent. For those who do become ill, the shot will decrease the severity of flu symptoms.
Vaccination rates may be a factor in theflus mobility on campus this semester. In response to lower than anticipated turnout last fall, Student Health Services ordered fewer doses of the vaccine this year.
Data shows the Gainesville and Dahlonega clinics administered 670 flu shots in the fall of 2021, only for that number to drop to 389 in the fall of 2022.
So far, the two clinics have administered 363 of the 1,000 vaccines they ordered this fall.
If by chance we do use up our supply, we can order more, Cook said.
The COVID-19 vaccine saw a similar decrease in demand, ultimately prompting Student Health Services to stop ordering new doses. In the past, the clinic was required to order the shots in large quantities and would be unable to administer them all before they expired.
Unfortunately, the clinic cannot order only a handful of the COVID-19 vaccination, Cook said. Student Health cannot justify ordering the vaccine especially as it can be obtained easily through local pharmacies and the Health Department.
Like with the COVID-19 boosters, students may be getting flu shots from local providers and pharmacies. There is no data to confirm the actual rate of flu-vaccinated UNG students.
Regardless of where they get it, Student Health Services encourages students to get the vaccine as soon as possible. Influenza will rapidly gain pace as the months turn colder and students travel for the holidays.
Flu shots and stickers rest on a table during a drive-through flu shot clinic at Alaska Regional Hospital in Anchorage on Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021. (Emily Mesner / ADN)
Flu and cold season has arrived early in Alaska this year, prompting reminders from public health officials about the importance of getting yearly influenza vaccines, and soon.
Were definitely having a busier, earlier flu season than we have in recent years, said Anna Frick, an epidemiologist with the Alaska Department of Health.
Its here, its in multiple parts of the state, and seems to be on the rise. So now is a great time to go get that shot, she said.
The flu typically peaks in the state around December and January. This year, cases have been steadily rising since late September.
Last week, there were 380 lab-confirmed influenza cases in the state, compared to 259 the previous week, and 205 the week before, according to a weekly respiratory virus bulletin put out by the state.
The trend appears to be unique to Alaska; flu seasons in the Lower 48 do not appear to have taken off yet, Frick said.
She said that it was hard to know why the flu came earlier this year to Alaska, but it might have to do with the cold, wet weather in recent weeks that kept people inside more than they might otherwise be.
[COVID deaths in Alaska down significantly in 2022 but still the 4th leading cause of death]
Similar spikes have not yet been seen in the state involving other respiratory illnesses that tend to also take off in the cooler months, including respiratory syncytial virus, also known as RSV, or COVID-19, Frick said.
Influenza is a viral infection that attacks the respiratory system, the nose, throat, bronchial tubes and lungs. Anyone can get the flu, but young children, older adults and those with chronic illnesses are especially vulnerable.
For the first two years of the pandemic, exceptionally mild flu seasons were recorded in Alaska and nationwide. In 2020 Alaska reported less than 100 total influenza cases, fewer than any season in recent history. There was a slight uptick in 2021, but it was still below pre-pandemic averages.
Frick said social distancing, masking and other pandemic precautions likely contributed to those mild seasons.
During the pandemic, the flu season behaved kind of oddly, and thats probably due to the changing package of measures we had in place to try to mitigate the spread of COVID, she said.
A lot of the things we were doing to disrupt the spread of COVID would have also disrupted the spread of flu, she said.
Last years flu and RSV season was particularly bad nationwide and in Alaska, where hospitals reported full pediatric units while the contagious illnesses made rounds through the fall and winter.
[Where to get a free flu shot in Anchorage this season]
RSV is is a common respiratory virus that typically causes mild, cold-like symptoms. It can sometimes be serious, especially for infants and older adults, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This year, two new RSV vaccines for older adults, and a new monoclonal antibody treatment that protects infants and young children from the illness, are available as an added form of protection.
State health officials have said theyre hopeful the newly approved RSV protections could mean significantly fewer hospitalizations in Alaska this year, and have encouraged higher-risk Alaskans to talk to their doctors about their options.
The CDC recommends that most Americans older than 6 months get their flu shot by the end of October, which is typically when the flu season begins to take off.
Around Alaska, private-sector doses of the vaccine are available in pharmacies around the state and are available for free with insurance. You can visit the state health departments website to find a nearby public health center thats distributing the flu vaccine.
SUSAN JOHNSON Special to the Daily Sun
1923: Emory Kolb, chief boatman for the survey party who successfully navigated the Colorado River, accompanied by Mrs. Kolb, were in the city from the Grand Canyon Monday. In speaking of the expedition down the river, Mr. Kolb said: The trip down the river this time was much easier than when my brother and myself went down before owing to the fact that the river was at just about the right height to cover many of the big rocks and let us through and not high enough to make the passage over exceedingly dangerous. Of course, the big flood down the river laid us up, but luckily we happened to be at a point I was sure I remembered from a previous trip. Down about a half mile there was a canyon opening out where I felt sure we could land our boats and get away from the big rush of floodwaters. I proved to be right about it and we succeeded in getting the boats out of the way of the main floods, but the big waves came down lashing the boats against the canyon walls, keeping us up all night to save them from being broken up. It was lucky that some of the party happened to be awake when the first of the floodwaters came down, as we were on a narrow strip and up against a canyon wall, which was flooded deep with water.
Editor Chris Etling takes you behind the scenes of just one example of how we look through archives for information used in the Flagstaff History column.
1948: When a Spokane housewife told the judge her husband thought the height of entertainment was listening to the Lone Ranger she was granted a divorce. If every wife in the country who considers her husband's favorite amusements downright juvenile would ask for a divorce, the courts would be really crowded. Think of the number of non-funny paper readers married to men who read the funnies before they read the front page of their newspapers. Look at all the women who cant understand how a grown man can get so much enjoyment out of detective stories and Western magazines.
On the other hand, there are just as many husbands who dont understand why a woman will spend her leisure time reading trashy love stories and listening to soap operas or how she can play bridge all afternoon. What seems juvenile entertainment to a woman and what seems juvenile entertainment to a man are two entirely different matters. And fortunately that fact is accepted matter-of-factly in most families, rather than being regarded as incompatibility and grounds for divorce.
Cornelius J. Schaap, DAILY SUN typesetting machine operator, and his best friend, Annie, the crippled dog, constant companions, will no longer be a familiar sight on the SUN office steps, where they spent many happy hours together during the past two years. Mr. Schaap, the friendly, congenial old-timer, died Saturday afternoon of a heart attack. The old printer, one of the most skilled of his trade in the nation, travelled more or less regularly between print shops in Prescott, Las Vegas and Flagstaff. He is survived by a sister and brother.
1973: Flagstaff residents might be warned that a new type of bug will be sweeping the nation as the winter season approaches the flu bug. And if its as complicated as its name B Hong Kong 572 look out. Two types of virus, A and B, will make their miseries known across the United States, but a nationwide epidemic is not expected, say officials at the Center of Disease Control. Hong Kong flu Type A struck in the winter of 1968-69 and was blamed for killing 27,900 Americans and leaving countless thousands memorably ill. The new Type B flue has been reported in Japan, Australia and England. There are two theories as to how the new strain appears. One is that it simply is a variation in an existing virus. The other is that it results from a recombination or genetic interchange between a human type of virus and one that affects animals or birds. When a new flu virus comes along, previous vaccines usually do not work against it. As a result, it is likely two vaccines will be available this winter.
1998: With a bandana wrapped around his forehead and a granite expression on his stony face, Navajo medicine man John Yazzie conducts a healing ceremony for one of his extended family members. Helping him conduct the ceremony that involves bathing, prayer and songs is his grandson, Cedric Yazzie. Through an interpreter, Yazzie explains how Cedrics presence and his willingness to learn the ways of the Navajo medicine man is reassuring to the 74-year-old grandfather, who yearns to see the traditional Navajo way of life preserved. I sincerely believe that we can keep the traditional ways, that Cedric can pass it on to his sons and grandsons, Yazzie said. Theres some rituals you have to go through. We have to make Mother Earth an offering, pray for her. Thats how we have to do it. To walk in beauty.
With a sharp eye and strong gait, Yazzie ambles across his field of blue corn, explaining how many of his children and grandchildren still live at least part time at his camp, providing hope that traditional rural living will continue in at least his neck of the reservation. Using strong fingers, Yazzie breaks loose hard-packed soil around the stalks of a clump of corn, pulling out invasive weeds. Not tall at all, the corn is stout much like Yazzie, who holds his smallish frame strongly erect as he moves from corn to melons to squash to tomatoes, all with careful grace. Life breathes into Yazzie as he explains that a coyote ate a watermelon only the night before, and that the crows are forever pecking on his honeydew. The way I was raised, we mainly subsisted off the land, Yazzie said. Yazzies family helps him plant the fields and keep up the irrigation system. They help at harvest time too.
Susan Johnson has lived in Flagstaff for over 30 years and loves to delve into her adopted hometowns past. She has written two books for the History Press, Haunted Flagstaff and Flagstaffs Walkup Family Murders, and, with her son Nick, manages Freaky Foot Tours. Youll find her hiking the trails with her corgi, Shimmer.
All events were taken from issues of the Arizona Daily Sun and its predecessors, the Coconino Weekly Sun and the Coconino Sun.
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Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has returned to the Upper Midwest of the United States with a vengeance.After a break from spring through early fall, new case reports are stacking up for commercial flocks.
The new bird flu reports include the following:
The discovery of bird flu in a commercial flock usually results in depopulation, meaning the impacted birds must all be euthanized
With the states first case since March 2023, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation on Oct. 20 for the new bird flu cases.Her action permits the state to track, monitor, detect, contain, dispose and disinfect the virus.
Iowa lost 15 million birds to bird flu in 2022 through March 2023.
The resumption of cases has agriculture officials again educating people on the HPAI warning signs. They include:
Scientists say some wild birds have developed immunity to bird flu, which is seen as an encouraging sign. Since wild birds have spread flu around the globe, immunity might lessen the spread in the future.
HPAI has infected commercial poultry, totaling more than 59 million in 47 states since 2022. In April 2022, just one person who recovered was inflected with HPAI.
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