For the first time, scientists deliberately infected women with the Zika virus to learn whether such a strategy could help test vaccine candidates against the pathogen, wrote Mariana Lenharo in a recent article published by the journal Nature.
These study participants who were infected only reported mild symptoms.

When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a complete response letter in May 2023, it indicated that the agency could not approve the biologics license application (BLA) for a Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer (NMIBC) vaccine candidate, thousands of people impacted by this common cancer were disappointed.

During the global outbreak of dengue fever in 2023, most locally acquired cases in the continental United States have been confirmed in the State of Florida.
However, California reported on October 20, 2023, that the Pasadena Public Health Department (PPHD) reported a case of dengue in a Pasadena resident who did not travel outside the U.S. this year.
This is the first confirmed case of dengue in California not associated with travel.

The World Health Organization (WHO) today announced its 29th Situation Report for the multi-country mpox outbreak, which details the latest epidemiology of the global outbreak that began in May 2022 and has impacted 115 countries.
On October 20, 2023, the WHO confirmed a cumulative total of 91,123 laboratory-confirmed cases of mpox, including 157 deaths, have been reported to WHO.

Walgreens Inc. today announced flu activity is 66% lower than this time last year. However, flu activity is 34% higher when looking at pre-pandemic seasons, such as 2018-2019.
Unfortunately, flu activity increased 13% over the past week, according to the 2023-2024 Walgreens Flu Index®.
On October 19, 2023, the leading markets with the highest flu activity were in the south-central U.S., led by Texas.

This new study compared the neutralizing antibody response after a mpox infection or Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA-BN, JYNNEOS®) vaccination.

Tasked with coordinating United States readiness for its next significant global infection threat, the White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response will emphasize emerging coronavirus infections, zoonotic influenzas, and infections caused by filoviruses and pathogens.
But mosquito-transmitted virus (arbovirus) infections are equally important, and their spread has begun accelerating in the American South, wrote Peter J. Hotez, M.D., Ph.D., and Angelle Desiree LaBeaud, M.D., in a Perspective published by the New England Journal of Medicine on October 14, 2023.

To better understand the health risk of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-associated acute respiratory infections (ARI) in pregnant women, a new study revealed the proportion of ARI testing positive for RSV.
Between 2010 and 2022, among 8,126 pregnant women in community, inpatient, and outpatient settings, the proportion with respiratory infections that tested positive for RSV ranged from 0.9% to 10.7%, with a meta-estimate of 3.4% (95% CI: 1.9; 54).
Additionally, these RSV-positive pregnant women had higher odds of preterm delivery (odds ratio 3.6 [1.3; 10.3]).

Although malaria was eliminated in the United States in the mid-1950s, malaria cases continue to be imported from endemic regions, reported the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Many tourists visiting the Middle East often take camel rides to enjoy the views of the desert. While this is a glamorous adventure, most people are unaware that camels are a source of various zoonotic diseases.
New epidemiological or molecular evidence shows zoonotic diseases are spreading from camels to humans. These transmissions occur through camel milk, meat, and direct contact with camels.