Global

Ahead of Hajj, CDC alerts doctors to look out for meningococcal disease tied to travel to Saudi Arabia | CNN The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging doctors to be on the lookout for potentially deadly meningococcal disease linked to travel to Saudi Arabia. Jen Christensen CNN

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Since April, there have been 12 confirmed cases of meningococcal disease associated with travel for Umrah, an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad in Saudi Arabia....

New virus variants threaten a summer Covid-19 wave, but experts say the risk remains uncertain | CNN Covid-19 levels are about the lowest they’ve ever been in the United States, but another new crop of virus variants once again threatens to disrupt the downward trend as the country heads into summer. Deidre McPhillips CNN

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The mutations of the FLiRT variants make increased transmissibility — and a possible summer wave — a real threat. Covid-19 is settling into some seasonal patterns, which have included a summer bump in years past, but the exact level of risk for this year is unclear.

Extreme heat will put millions more older adults at risk in the future By 2050, as many as an additional 246 million adults 69 and older could experience temperature extremes that exceed 37.5° Celsius. Aimee Cunningham Science News

The new projection suggests that more than 23 percent of the global population of these older adults — largely concentrated in Africa and Asia — will encounter this intense heat, compared with 14 percent today.

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COVID patient testing, isolation of sick staff cut in-hospital viral spread, modeling study suggests Interventions such as testing patients for COVID-19 on admission, isolation of ill healthcare workers (HCWs), and universal HCW masking from March 2020 to July 2022 significantly reduced SARS-CoV-2 transmission among patients and staff in UK hospitals, suggests a simulation study led by UK Health Security Agency researchers in London. CIDRAP

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