Undiagnosed disease in Congo may be linked to malaria: Africa CDC
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(NEW YORK) — A deadly, undiagnosed disease that has been spreading in one region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) may be linked to malaria, health officials said Thursday.
As of Dec. 14, the latest date for which data is available, 592 cases have been reported with 37 confirmed deaths and 44 deaths under investigation, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the public health agency of the African Union.
Over the last week, 181 samples from 51 cases were tested in a laboratory, Dr. Ngashi Ngongo, Africa CDC chief of staff, said during a Thursday press briefing.
Laboratory testing showed 25 out of 29 tested were positive for malaria. Additionally, rapid testing showed 55 out of 88 patients were positive for malaria.
Ngashi said there are two hypotheses: The first is that the undiagnosed disease is severe malaria “on a background of malnutrition and viral infection” and the second is the disease is a viral infection “on a background of malaria and malnutrition.”
Malaria is a serious disease caused by a parasite that infects a certain type of mosquito, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Most people contract malaria after being bitten by an infected mosquito.
Most cases of malaria occur in sub-Saharan Africa, but it also occurs in parts of Oceania and in parts of Central and South America and Southeast Asia.
Malaria can be deadly if is not diagnosed and treated quickly, the CDC said.
What we know about the disease
The disease first appeared in a remote area in the province of Kwango, in the southwestern part of the DRC on the border with Angola, according to Africa CDC.
The first case was documented on Oct. 24. Patients have been experiencing flu-like symptoms including fever, headache, coughing and difficulty breathing as well as anemia, Africa CDC said during a press briefing earlier this month.
A plurality of cases, or 42.7%, have occurred in children under 5 years old. This age group also has the largest number of deaths, with 21 so far, data from Africa CDC shows. Children between ages 5 and 9 make up the second highest number of cases
Africa CDC said in a post on X earlier this month that it took five to six weeks after the first case was reported for local authorities to alert the national government, highlighting “gaps in Africa’s disease detection systems: limited surveillance, testing delays & weak lab infrastructure.”
-ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud contributed to this report.
While the United States has made considerable progress fighting the HIV/AIDS crisis since its peak in the 1980s, headway has not been equal among racial/ethnic groups.
Overall, HIV rates have declined in the U.S. and the number of new infections over the last five years has dropped among Black Americans and white Americans. However, Hispanic and Latino Americans have not seen the same gains.
Between 2018 and 2022, estimated HIV infections among gay and bisexual men fell 16% for Black Americans and 20% for white Americans, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Meanwhile, Hispanic Americans saw rates held steady, the CDC said.
There may be several reasons for the lack of decline, including Hispanic Americans facing health care discrimination, experts told ABC News. Some may also face the stigma that prevents patients from accessing services or makes them feel ashamed to do so. There is also a lack of material that is available in their native language or is culturally congruent, experts said.
“Where we are in the HIV epidemic is that we have better tools than ever for both treatment and for prevention, and we have seen a modest slowing in the rate of new infections, but we have seen a relative increase in the rate of new infections among Latino individuals, particularly Latino men who have sex with men,” Dr. Kenneth Mayer, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and medical research director at Fenway Health in Boston, told ABC News.
“So, the trends are subtle, but they’re concerning because it does speak to increased health disparities in that population,” he continued.
Hispanic Americans make up more cases and more deaths
Although Hispanic and Latino Americans make up 18% of the U.S. population, they accounted for 33% of estimated new HIV infections in 2022, according to HIV.gov, a website run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This is in comparison with white Americans, who make up 61% of the U.S. population but just 23% of HIV infections.
Hispanic and Latino gay men currently represent the highest number of new HIV cases in the U.S.
What’s more, Hispanic males were four times likely to have HIV or AIDS compared to white males in 2022 and Hispanic females were about three times more likely than white females to have HIV over the same period, according to the federal Office of Minority Health (OMH).
Additionally, Hispanics males were nearly twice as likely to die of HIV Infection as white males and Hispanic females to die of HIV Infection in 2022, the OMH said.
Erick Suarez, a nurse practitioner and chief medical officer of Pineapple Healthcare, a primary care and HIV/AIDS specialist located in Orlando, Florida, told ABC News that watching the lack of progress made in the HIV/AIDS crisis for the Hispanic and Latino population is like “traveling back in time.”
“When I say traveling back in time for the Hispanic/Latino population with HIV, I mean [it’s like] they are living before 2000,” he said, “Their understanding of treatment and how to access it is in that pre-2000 world. … The state of HIV and AIDS in the Hispanic/Latino population in the United States right now is a few steps back from the general American population.”
He said many Hispanic/Latino HIV patients come to the United States unaware of their HIV status. If they are aware of their status, they come from countries where prevention and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is hard to find or doesn’t exist.
When they get to the United States, they be afraid or unsure of where or how to access health care. Even Hispanic/Latino Americans whose families have been here for generations, have trouble accessing health care due to racial and ethnic disparities, Suarez said.
Previous research has shown Hispanic/Latino Americans with HIV reported experiencing health care discrimination, which could be a barrier to accessing care.
Facing discrimination, stigma
Hispanic and Latino patients with HIV report facing discrimination in health care, experts told ABC News. A CDC report published in 2022 found between 2018 and 2020, nearly 1 in 4 Hispanic patients with HIV said they experienced health care discrimination.
Hispanic men were more likely to face discrimination than Hispanic women and Black or African American Hispanic patients were more likely than white Hispanic patients to face discrimination, according to the report.
There may also be stigma — both within the general population and within their own communities — associated with HIV infection that could prevent patients from accessing services, according to the experts.
Suarez said one of his most recent patients, who is Cuban, traveled two hours to a clinic outside of their city to make sure no one in their familial and social circles would know their status.
“The interesting part is that even though I speak with them like, ‘You understand that everything that happens within these walls is federally protected, that it is private information. No one will ever know your information, and our goal is for you to get access healthcare. You can do this in your own city,'” Suarez said.
“Now, because of the stigma, they will travel long distances to avoid contact with anyone and make sure that no one knows their status. So, stigma is a huge factor,” he continued.
Rodriguez said this stigma and mistrust has led to many Hispanic and Latino Americans to not seek medical care unless something is seriously wrong, which may result in missed HIV diagnoses or a missed opportunity to receive post-exposure prophylaxis, which can reduce the risk of HIV when taken within 72 hours after a possible HIV exposure.
Making resources ‘available, attainable and achievable’ Experts said one way to lower rates is to make information on how to reduce risk as well as how to get tested and treated available in other languages, such as Spanish, and making sure it is culturally congruent.
However, Rodriguez says translating documents is not enough. In the early 2010s, when the CDC was disseminating its national strategy to reduce HIV infection, the agency began to circulate materials on how to reduce HIV incidence, reducing stigma and increasing use of condoms for sex, Rodriguez said.
He said that of a compendium of 30 interventions, maybe one was in Spanish. When he took the materials back to his native Puerto Rico, many were having trouble understanding the materials because it has been translated by someone who is of Mexican heritage.
Secondly, rather than the materials being written in Spanish, they had been translated from English to Spanish, which doesn’t always translate well, Rodriguez said.
“When we talk about Hispanics, we have to talk about, first of all, the culture. Our culture is very complex. Not one Spanish language can speak to all of the Hispanic communities,” he said. “And then we also have to look at the generations of Hispanics. Are you first generation, second generation, third generation? “
He added that the key is making resources “available, attainable and achievable.”
This month, the White House convened a summit to discuss raising awareness of HIV among Hispanic and Latino Americans and to discuss strengthening efforts to address HIV in Hispanic and Latino communities.
Mayer said it’s also important to make sure information is disseminated on social media that is culturally tailored for Hispanic and Latino experiences.
“It’s important for social media to seem culturally relevant, to make sure that they understand that HIV is not just a disease of old white guys, and that they may have a substantial risk,” he said. “Make sure that they’re educated by what they can do to protect themselves since we have highly effective pre-exposure prophylaxis, and we have ways to decrease STIs with a doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis.
The experts added that having more Hispanics and Latinos represented in medicine, research and public health may encourage more Hispanic and Latino Americans with HIV or at risk of HIV to seek care or treatment.
“Seeing and being able to recognize that your healthcare provider looks like you, sounds like you, in some way it represents you, is a key aspect of getting people on treatment and access,’ Suarez said. “And not only that, but keeping them in treatment and having them come back and stay and keep that going, that’s a key issue.”
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(WASHINGTON) — With e-cigarettes and flavored vapes booming in popularity, the Supreme Court on Monday will examine whether the Food and Drug Administration unlawfully blocked the marketing and sale of more than a million new sweet and candy-flavored nicotine products in recent years.
The case comes as kid-friendly flavors, such as fruit, candy, mint, menthol and desserts, which are not approved by the FDA and are on the market illegally, have been fueling an explosion in retail sales of e-cigarettes.
While vaping among youth is declining, more than 1.6 million children use the products, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 90% of them consume illicit flavored brands.
Two manufacturers of flavored nicotine-laced e-liquids such as “Jimmy the Juice Man Peachy Strawberry” and “Iced Pineapple Express” sued the FDA after their product applications were rejected, alleging regulators imposed unclear and unreasonable requirements to win approval.
Triton Distribution and Vapetasia acknowledged that their products may appeal to youth but insisted that a “growing body of scientific evidence” shows that “flavors are crucial to getting adult smokers to make the switch and stay away from combustible cigarettes.”
A federal appeals court sided with the companies last year, saying the agency had acted arbitrarily. If the Supreme Court upholds that ruling, it could clear the way for broader marketing and sale of flavored nicotine products.
Since 2009, when Congress passed legislation aimed at curbing tobacco use among young people, the government has almost universally denied tobacco company requests to sell flavored nicotine e-liquids, citing risks of addiction among minors.
Under federal law, companies must provide the FDA with reliable and robust evidence to show that the products would promote public health and that, on balance, the benefits to adult smokers would outweigh the risks of youth addiction.
The FDA has said the two companies in this case provided insufficient evidence that the benefits of their flavored e-products in helping tobacco smokers quit exceed the dangers of hooking children.
“If you ask adults who smoke if they were to switch to e-cigarettes what kind of flavors are they interested in, the majority of responses are tobacco flavor. If you ask kids, they like the fruit or candy flavor,” said Caroline Cecot, an administrative law expert at George Washington University Law School. “This was a big part of what the FDA was sort of thinking about. And we have this evidence.”
Nearly a quarter of high school students who use e-cigarettes consume illicit menthol-flavored varieties, according to the 2023 National Youth Tobacco Survey.
Josie Shapiro, the 2024 national youth ambassador for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids who testified before Congress on the dangers of nicotine addiction, said illicit flavored vapes hooked her at age 14.
“I think that by marketing any sort of flavored product as bubble gum or any of the genres of candy, it’s going to catch the eyes of children,” Shapiro said. “I’m still addicted, and I’m still trying to fight my addiction. Honestly, the FDA needs to regulate all flavored tobaccos to flavor ‘tobacco’ products and get them off the market.”
Public health experts have credited the FDA’s restrictions on flavored nicotine products with helping to drive down the number of teenagers who vape gradually from an “epidemic” level just five years ago.
The case, Food and Drug Administration v. Wages and White Lion Investments, LLC, will be decided before the end of the Supreme Court’s term in June 2025.
(NEW YORK) — President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that heart surgeon-turned-TV-host Dr. Mehmet Oz would lead the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
“America is facing a Healthcare Crisis, and there may be no Physician more qualified and capable than Dr. Oz to Make America Healthy Again,” Trump said in a statement. “He is an eminent Physician, Heart Surgeon, Inventor and World-Class Communicator, who has been at the forefront of healthy living for decades.”
The position of CMS administrator requires Senate confirmation.
Here’s what to know about Oz, his medical career and some medical claims he’s made that have come under fire.
Is Oz a real doctor?
Oz graduated with a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and completed a Master of Business Administration from UPenn’s Wharton School of Business at the same time.
He completed his surgical training in cardiothoracic surgery at New York Presbyterian Hospital (Columbia Campus).
He was previously the director of the Cardiovascular Institute at New York Presbyterian Hospital and vice-chairman and professor of surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. His title was then changed to Professor Emeritus of Surgery in 2018.
Medicine “was my calling,” Oz said in a Wharton Magazine profile from 2010. “I knew it from a very early age. I played a lot of sports growing up, and like a lot of other athletes, I really enjoyed the challenge of using my hands. I just loved the idea of being in a field where you could [do that].”
Oz began his TV career as a health expert on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” before launching “The Dr. Oz Show,” which ran from 2009 to 2022. The show ended when Oz launched an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania.
What would Oz run as CMS administrator?
CMS administers the Medicare program, the federal health insurance program for those mostly aged 65 and older.
The agency also works with state programs to administer Medicaid, which is health insurance for disabled and low-income Americans, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which provides low-cost coverage to children with families that don’t qualify for Medicaid.
Oz has supported Medicare Advantage, which is run by commercial insurers and has been promoted by Trump. Project 2025 — a plan of conservative policy proposals proposed by the Heritage Foundation and not endorsed by Trump — has proposed Medicare Advantage be the default option for Medicare coverage.
Experts have said this could privatize the program and prevent people from receiving care from doctors and hospitals that don’t accept Medicare Advantage.
In Tuesday’s announcement, Trump said Oz would work closely with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. the president-elect’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees CMS.
What are Dr. Oz’s past controversies?
During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Oz promoted hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug, as a COVID-19 treatment. Trump later touted the drug as a “game changer,” although medical researchers warned more study was needed.
In June 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration revoked emergency authorization for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to treat COVID-19, saying evidence shows the recommended dose is unlikely to be effective against the virus.
Oz also made past statements indicating that he endorsed spacing out childhood vaccines and expressed ambivalence towards a discredited theory that vaccines cause autism, according to a 2022 study. In later episodes of his TV show, Oz would go on to endorse the measles, mumps, rubella shot.
Oz also came under fire due to his claims about certain “miracle” products to help consumers lose weight.
During a 2014 hearing before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on consumer protection, then-Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri grilled Oz, claiming he had a role in “perpetuating” scams.
“When you feature a product on your show, it creates what has become known as the ‘Oz effect,’ dramatically boosting sales and driving scam artists to pop up overnight using false and deceptive ads to sell questionable products,” she said. “While I understand that your message is also focused on basics like healthy eating and exercise, I’m concerned that you are melding medical advice news and entertainment in a way that harms consumers.”
During the hearing, Oz defended his statements, saying he believed in the benefits of the products he promoted on his show.
“I actually do personally believe in the items I talk about in the show. I passionately study them. I recognize that often times they don’t have the scientific muster to present as fact. But, nevertheless, I give my audience the advice I give my family all the time. I give my family these products, specifically the ones you mentioned. I’m comfortable with that part,” he said.
