CDC launches new national campaign to tackle mental health, substance use among teens

(NEW YORK) — Emergency rooms across the country are seeing a spike in tick bite cases, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

July has already seen the highest number of tick-related ER visits since 2017, with the Northeast region reporting the most cases, the CDC said.

Young children and elderly adults appear particularly vulnerable, with those under 10 and over 70 years old having the highest rates of emergency room visits, according to the CDC.

For residents in the New York tristate area, the threat is particularly severe. The Fordham Tick Index, which monitors tick activity in southern New York, Connecticut and Northern New Jersey, currently rates the bite risk as “very high” – 9 out of 10 on its scale.

The CDC reports that climate change may be contributing to the increasing numbers. In regions where Lyme disease is already present, milder winters result in fewer disease-carrying ticks dying during cold months, the agency notes.

According to CDC data, May typically marks the annual peak for tick-bite emergencies. These rising numbers have prompted health officials to remind the public about the dangers posed by these tiny insects.

The CDC warns that ticks can transmit various diseases through their bites, many of which share similar symptoms. Most people who visit emergency rooms report fever and chills, headaches, fatigue and muscle aches. Some patients also develop distinctive rashes, particularly those associated with Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

With outdoor activities in full swing this summer, the CDC has issued several recommendations to prevent illness. The agency advises avoiding wooded and brushy areas with high grass and leaf litter, and staying in the center of trails when hiking. It also recommends using Environmental Protection Agency-registered insect repellents containing DEET, Picaridin, or other approved ingredients.

The CDC recommends treating outdoor clothing and gear with permethrin, which remains effective even after multiple washes. Those planning to use both sunscreen and insect repellent should apply sunscreen first, followed by the repellent.

Health officials are also emphasizing that no area is immune to tick activity.

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(NEW YORK) — More than 14 million children around the world have not received a single dose of any vaccine, according to new data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF.

This is 4 million more children than the 2024 target set by the WHO and 1.4 million more children than in 2019, which is the baseline year for measuring progress.

About 25% of the world’s infants live in 26 countries that are affected by conflict, fragility or humanitarian crises, but they make up half of all unvaccinated children, according to the global health agency.

Children are unvaccinated or under-vaccinated for many reasons including lack of access, disrupted supply, conflict and instability, or misinformation about vaccines.

“Stalling of vaccine coverage, even the smallest drops in immunization coverage as measured at the country level, can have devastating consequences,” Dr. Kate O’Brien, director of the WHO’s Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals, said during a press briefing on Monday. “It opens the door to deadly disease outbreaks and puts even more pressure on health systems that are already stretched. Immunization Agenda 2030 targets are in reach to protect more children [with] life-saving vaccines.”

Immunization Agenda 2030 is in reference to a series of goals put forth by the World Health Assembly to address challenges in improving access.

However, there were some bright spots in the report. In 2024, 89% of infants globally, equivalent to about 115 million, received at least one dose of the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP)-containing vaccine, and 85%, roughly 109 million, completed all three doses.

By comparison, in 2023, about 171,000 more children received at least one vaccine and one million more children received the three doses.

Protection against measles also improved, with 84% of children receiving the first dose and 76% receiving the second dose. While these are slight increases from the previous year, it means 30 million children are unprotected, especially as the world faces an increasing number of outbreaks.

“The good news is that we have managed to reach more children with life-saving vaccines. But millions of children remain without protection against preventable diseases, and that should worry us all,” Catherine Russell, executive director of UNICEF, said in a statement.

“We must act now with determination to overcome barriers like shrinking health budgets, fragile health systems along with misinformation and access constraints because of conflicts. No child should die from a disease we know how to prevent,” Russell said.

The release of the data came just a few weeks after Health and Human Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the U.S. was pulling its funding from GAVI, an international organization that works to improve access to vaccines, claiming the organization “ignored the science.”

Kennedy claimed in a video posted online that the U.S. had provided $8 billion in funding to GAVI since 2001.

Public health officials called on governments around the world to help fill the gaps in funding, although the U.S. withholding funds was not explicitly stated.

“It is really, really important that maintaining these coverage trends, which are quite easily fragile unless efforts are sustained,” Dr. Ephrem Lemango, associate director for health and global chief of immunization at UNICEF, said during Monday’s press briefing.

“It is important that we maintain our commitment to immunization, and we’re calling on governments and partners and communities to do all that is necessary to maintain immunization coverage, including closing the funding gaps, serving communities in conflict and fragile settings, and addressing misinformation,” Lemango said.

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(NEW YORK) — The first oral pill for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) could be around the corner after pharmaceutical company Apnimed Inc. reported positive results from its stage III clinical trial.

Currently, many people diagnosed with OSA patients require a machine that covers their nose or both the nose and mouth during sleep and delivers air through a mask to help keep their airways open.

Apnimed’s lead candidate AD109 showed “clinically meaningful and statistically significant reductions” in airway obstruction after 26 weeks, the company said in a press release.

AD109, a once-a-day pill, is a neuromuscular modulator that increases upper airway muscle tone, which is how contracted the muscles are in the upper airway.

OSA patients treated with the medication saw a nearly 50% reduction in the severity from baseline at week 26, compared to 6.8% of those in the placebo group.

The reduction was “significant” at the end of the study period, which concluded at 51 weeks. At the end of the trial, nearly 23% of participants saw “complete disease control.”

The results were part of Apnimed’s 12-month study looking at the safety and efficacy of AD109 in adults with mild, moderate and severe OSA.

AD109 was well-tolerated among participants with only mild or moderate adverse events. Which was consistent with prior studies, according to Apnimed. No serious adverse events were reported in the trial.

“With two large Phase 3 studies now demonstrating a consistent and significant efficacy profile for AD109, we are closer to delivering the first oral pharmacotherapy for over 80 million U.S. adults with OSA,” Dr. Larry Miller, CEO of Apnimed, said in a statement. “Given the scale of unmet need in OSA, where the majority of patients remain untreated, we believe AD109, as a simple once-daily oral drug, has the potential to expand and reshape the treatment landscape, which would represent a significant commercial opportunity for Apnimed.”

OSA is a sleep disorder in which the airways become narrowed or blocked while sleeping, causing breathing to pause, according to MedlinePlus.

Soon after falling asleep, people experience loud and heavy snoring. The snoring is often interrupted by a long silent period during which breathing stops and then followed by a loud snort and gasp as the patient attempts to breathe.

This can cause excessive daytime sleepiness and affect quality of life, mental well-being and cardiovascular health.

In addition to a CPAP machine, there are lifestyle changes that people with sleep apnea can make including avoiding alcohol or medications that cause drowsiness and losing excess weight.

Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded approval of Eli Lilly’s obesity medication Zepbound to include treating moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea for people with obesity.

The clinical trial did examine patients with a wide range of “weight classes” and did not see differences in efficacy based on weight.

Apnimed plans to file a New Drug Application with the FDA in early 2026, according to Miller.

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