Five diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease in New Hampshire, health officials say
(NEW YORK) — Authorities warned residents of Lincoln, New Hampshire, to monitor themselves for symptoms of Legionnaires’ disease after five people fell ill in June and July.
The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services on Monday linked the outbreak of the bacterial pneumonia — which is caused by inhaling water droplets contaminated with Legionella bacteria — to a cooling tower behind the RiverWalk Resort in downtown Lincoln.
“Anybody who has visited the area near the contaminated cooling tower should monitor themselves for symptoms,” Dr. Benjamin Chan, New Hampshire state epidemiologist, said in a DHHS statement.
“People who develop fever or other symptoms of pneumonia within 14 days after spending time in this area should talk to their healthcare provider about testing for Legionella infection,” he added.
The cooling tower has been sanitized and put back into operation after discussion with state officials, RiverWalk Vice President Renee Blood told ABC News affiliate WMUR-TV.
“Out of an abundance of caution, additional testing will be performed later this week,” Blood told WMUR.
The test results are expected next week.
DHHS said the cooling tower’s continued operation could mean further exposure risks, particularly for people within a half-mile of the facility.
“Anyone who is visiting the specified area should assess their health risk,” DHHS said. “Those who are older, are current or former smokers, have weakened immune systems, or have certain medical conditions like chronic lung disease and diabetes are at higher risk for developing Legionnaire’s disease.”
Symptoms usually begin between two and 14 days following exposure and can include fever, cough and shortness of breath. The bacteria can also cause serious pneumonia, the stage known as Legionnaires’ disease. The condition can be fatal if left untreated.
DHHS noted, however, that most healthy people exposed to Legionella bacteria do not fall ill.
(NEW YORK) — A New Hampshire resident died after being infected with a rare mosquito-borne disease, health officials said Tuesday.
The resident, an adult from Hempstead — near the southeastern border with Massachusetts — had tested positive for Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus (EEEV). The patient was hospitalized due to severe central nervous system disease and died of their illness, according to an update from the state’s Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS).
This is the first reported human case of EEEV in New Hampshire in a decade after three people contracted the disease in 2014, two of whom died, DHHS said.
It’s unclear when the resident, who recently passed away, first became infected with EEEV. No other details were available including name, age or sex.
In addition to the person infected with EEEV, the virus has also been found in one horse and seven mosquito batches in New Hampshire so far this summer, according to the health department.
Neighboring states have been experiencing similar threats. In Massachusetts, 10 communities were designated as being under high or critical risk of the virus, according to the state’s Department of Public Health. Many of the areas began implementing targeted mosquito spraying to protect residents.
“In New Hampshire, mosquitos transmit infections including Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus, West Nile Virus, and Jamestown Canyon Virus,” Dr. Benjamin Chan, New Hampshire’s state epidemiologist, said in a statement.
“We believe there is an elevated risk for EEEV infections this year in New England given the positive mosquito samples identified. The risk will continue into the fall until there is a hard frost that kills the mosquitos. Everybody should take steps to prevent mosquito bites when they are outdoors,” the statement continued.
EEEV is a rare but serious disease that spreads by bites from infected mosquitoes. It does not spread via touching or droplets from coughing or sneezing, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Most people who are infected either show mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. However, severe cases usually begin with fever, headache, chills and vomiting before progressing to encephalitis, which is swelling of the brain, or meningitis, which is swelling of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord.
Many survivors have ongoing neurologic problems including convulsions, paralysis and intellectual disability, and about 30% of encephalitis cases from this virus result in death.
There are no human vaccines and no treatments specifically for EEEV. The CDC says rest, fluids and over-the-counter pain medications may help relieve some symptoms.
As of Tuesday, four cases have been reported aside from the New Hampshire case — with one case each in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont and Wisconsin, according to the CDC.
The New Hampshire DHHS said residents can protect themselves by using effective mosquito repellents, wearing long-sleeve shirts and long pants when outside and avoiding outdoor activities when mosquitoes are the most active, including early in the morning and during evening hours.
Additionally, residents are advised to remove standing water from around their homes, which attracts mosquitoes, and to make sure doors and windows have tight-fitting screens.
(NEW YORK) — Actress Halle Berry is among the new wave of women in their 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond speaking out about menopause to take the conversation out of the shadows and into the spotlight.
In May, Berry, a 58-year-old mom of two, stood outside the U.S. Capitol and yelled, “I’m in menopause.”
On Thursday, Berry joined nearly two dozen other women in a conversation about menopause live on ABC News’ Good Morning America.
Menopause — the end of a woman’s reproductive years — is a natural process that impacts millions of women each year.
Yet for years, the topic has been considered taboo to talk about publicly and has been chronically underfunded when it comes to research.
Here are the answers to 10 commonly asked questions about menopause:
1. What is menopause?
Menopause is the point in a woman’s life when she has not had any menstruation, including no bleeding or spotting, for 12 months, according to the U.S. Office on Women’s Health.
It occurs when the ovaries naturally stop producing estrogen and progesterone, which causes a woman’s menstrual cycles to end permanently.
2. What age does menopause start in most women?
The average age for menopause, when your periods stop permanently, is 52, according to the Office on Women’s Health.
A woman may experience menopause earlier if they have never been pregnant, if they smoke or if they have certain health conditions, including some autoimmune diseases.
Only about 1% of women in the U.S. go through premature menopause, or menopause that happens before the age of 40. About 5% of women naturally go through early menopause between ages 40 and 45, data shows.
3. What are the symptoms of menopause?
Menopause brings with it many symptoms, the type and severity of which can vary from person to person.
Symptoms of menopause may include hot flashes, mood changes, depression and anxiety, difficulties sleeping, urinary incontinence, irregular periods or bleeding, vaginal dryness and infections, and changes in libido, according to the Office on Women’s Health.
4. How long does menopause last?
For most women, the period of menopause lasts four years, according to the Office on Women’s Health.
5. Do menopause symptoms continue post-menopause?
Yes, after menopause, women may continue to experience symptoms including vaginal dryness, hot flashes and low hormone levels, according to the Office on Women’s Health.
6. What is perimenopause?
Perimenopause, the period of time before menopause when ovaries make varying amounts of the hormones estrogen and progesterone can start as early as 40 years old and can last up to 10 or more years.
7. What are the symptoms of perimenopause?
Symptoms of perimenopause include everything from changes in mood to increased anxiety and depression, changes in sleep, brain fogginess, and changes in frequency and severity of headaches.
Additional physical changes may include changes in hair patterns, breast tenderness, midsection weight gain, vaginal dryness, changes in bleeding patterns and changes in libido.
8. Does pregnancy still happen during perimenopause?
Yes, women can still get pregnant during perimenopause as the body may still ovulate.
9. Is it possible to find relief from menopause symptoms?
Yes, there are ways to treat symptoms of menopause so women are advised to have open and honest conversations with their doctor to get relief.
For some symptoms, your doctor or health care provider can work with you to find medications that help provide relief, including hormonal and non-hormonal medicines and over-the-counter products.
Menopausal hormone therapy, also called hormone replacement therapy and hormone therapy, may be an option if your symptoms are severe enough to interrupt your day-to-day life, according to the Office on Women’s Health.
Menopausal hormone therapy can be taken as a pill, as a skin patch, or, in some cases, as a cream.
The Office on Women’s Health recommends using the lowest dose of menopausal hormone therapy for the shortest time needed.
10. Is research underway to offer more support for menopause?
Menopause and other women-only health conditions have traditionally lagged behind in research and understanding. As recently as the 1970s, few women were enrolled in clinical trials, and women’s health needs were believed to be a low priority. One 2022 study found women still only account for 29% to 34% of some early-stage clinical trials due to concerns about fertility.
In March, President Joe Biden signed an executive order on women’s health research, which particularly focuses on increasing research on women’s midlife health and improving management of menopause-related issues.
Under a legislative proposal introduced in the U.S. Congress in May by Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington and Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, $125 million of federal funding would be set aside for clinical trials, public health, and medical research on menopause.
The bill is backed by 17 senators — three Republicans, 13 Democrats and one independent, all of them women.
(NEW YORK) — COVID-19 has significantly fallen as a leading cause of death in the U.S. for the first time since the pandemic began, according to new provisional data published Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In 2023, the virus was the tenth-leading cause of death among Americans, down from the fourth-leading cause in 2022 and the third-leading cause of death between March 2020 and October 2021.
The report also found that overall deaths fell significantly from 2022 to 2023.
The report did not go into reasons for why deaths have fallen, but Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor, said likely reasons include the prevention of COVID fatalities through vaccines, treatments for early onset illness and a better overall understanding of the virus.
“Being on the other side of the pandemic played a big part in seeing this overall mortality rate go down,” he said. ‘This is, in large part, related to the public health effort, especially vaccines that, of course, saved so many lives.”
For the report, researchers looked at preliminary death certificate data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics’ (NCHS) National Vital Statistics System.
In 2023, there were about 3.09 million deaths in the U.S. with an age-adjusted rate of 750.4 deaths per 100,000 people. This is a decrease of 6.1% from the rate of 798.8 deaths per 100,000 in 2022.
Additionally, death rates were highest among males, older adults and Black Americans, according to the report.
The three leading causes of death in the U.S. were heart disease, cancer and unintentional injury, respectively, which is unchanged from 2022.
Last year marked the first time since the pandemic began that COVID-19 was not one of the top five leading causes of death. Provisional data showed COVID-19 was the underlying cause for 1.6% of all deaths in 2023, decreasing from 5.7% in 2022.
The COVID-19 death rate fell from 58.7 per 100,000 deaths in 2022 to 18.2 per 100,000 in 2023, the report found.
The number of COVID-19-associated deaths fell from 2023 across all age groups and racial/ethnic groups.
Death rates from COVID-19 were highest among those aged 75 and older — highlighting the impact the virus has had on the elderly population. However, the gap between death rates among racial/ethnic groups shrunk from 2022 to 2023.
In 2022, the COVID death rate for white Americans was 58.6 per 100,000 compared to 71.0 per 100,000 for Black Americans. In 2023, the rate was 19.6 per 100,000 for white Americans and 17 per 100,000 for Black Americans.
“Because of the wide disparities that exist in COVID-related deaths, and we know that COVID deaths were not equal across the population, especially hit…Black populations and other and African American people, it’s not surprising that when you overall reduce COVID deaths, that will overall contribute to potentially sort of a closing of the gap,” Brownstein said.
He added that there is more work to be done to close the gap even further, including providing access to health care and insurance for traditionally underserved populations.
Brownstein also said he hopes more efforts can be made to reduce deaths from traditional leading causes of death such as heart disease and cancer.
“We’ve made a big dent in COVID as a result of response efforts,” he said. “But now there’s still such an important effort to deal with some of these other leading causes of death. These data are important because they can help from an awareness perspective and an allocation of research resources.”