Cruel rosacea robbed Janet of her looks. Antibiotics and creams failed her - then doctors tried a game-changing new treatment and she has clear skin for the first time in decades
Inevitably, she was disappointed.
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Reuters
12 minutes ago
- Reuters
Measles outbreak ends in West Texas, health officials say
Aug 18 (Reuters) - The measles outbreak in West Texas has ended, state health officials said on Monday, after meeting the criteria of six weeks since the last reported case. Texas is now shifting focus to vaccination campaigns to strengthen immunity and prevent future outbreaks, the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) said. The outbreak, which began in late January, led to 762 confirmed cases as of August 18, with 99 hospitalizations and two fatalities in school-aged children, according to the state's health department. Texas led a surge in cases nationally, with the United States recording its largest outbreak since the disease was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000. While the Texas DSHS will continue to monitor the cases, it has decided to discontinue its interactive outbreak dashboard. "The end of this outbreak does not mean the threat of measles is over. Since there are ongoing outbreaks of measles in North America and around the world, it is likely that there will be additional cases of measles this year in Texas," the DSHS said. Measles is a highly contagious viral infection that causes symptoms such as fever, cough and a characteristic rash. It can also lead to severe complications like pneumonia and encephalitis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 1,356 confirmed measles cases nationally as of August 5, but the updates have been delayed following the August 8 shooting on its Atlanta headquarters, the CDC said. "We remain in close communication with public health partners and jurisdictions reporting measles and will resume regular data updates as soon as possible," a CDC spokesperson said.
Reuters
12 minutes ago
- Reuters
Vaccine panel fired by Kennedy had lowest rate of financial conflicts since 2000, study shows
Aug 18 (Reuters) - Conflicts of interest on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine advisory committee were at historic lows around the time when Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 members in June, new data published in a medical journal on Monday showed. Kennedy had said, based on findings from a 2007 report, that the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) was rife with conflicts. The new study published in JAMA, opens new tab found that between 2000 and 2024, ACIP's annual reported conflict of interest rate declined from 42.8% to 5%. ACIP advises on which groups of people should take each vaccine approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and when they should be administered. Conflict of interest rates on the FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC), which advises the agency on whether to approve vaccines, have remained below 4% since 2010, including 10 years when it was 0%, the researchers also found. The most frequently reported conflict of interest was funding for research, which is generally considered less concerning than financial ties associated with personal income, the researchers said. The prevalence of conflicts related to personal income – such as from consulting, royalties, or stock ownership – had been below 1% for both committees since 2016. 'In the past, there have been high levels of reported conflicts on influential vaccine committees, but there has been substantial progress since the early 2000s,' study leader Genevieve Kanter of the Schaeffer Center at the University of Southern California said in a statement. 'Secretary Kennedy is right that conflict of interest is an important issue, but he is wrong that it is present at substantial levels on (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) vaccine advisory committees,' co-author Peter Lurie, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest and former FDA associate commissioner, said in a statement. Responding to the study, Department of Health and Human Services press secretary Emily Hilliard said, "Secretary Kennedy is committed to eliminating both real and perceived conflicts to strengthen confidence in public health decisions." Earlier this year, the agency launched its ACIP Conflicts of Interest Disclosures tool, opens new tab, she noted.
Daily Mail
12 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Scientists discover how to restore eyesight without laser surgery
Scientists are on the verge of developing a less invasive and more affordable, incision-free method to treat vision problems. Chemists in California stumbled upon the idea that vision issues could be addressed chemically, without the need for lasers. Their method could negate the need for LASIK, a quick laser eye surgery that reshapes the clear front part of the eye called the cornea to fix blurry vision, helping people give up glasses or contacts for nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. LASIK permanently removes corneal tissue, but the method designed at Occidental College and the University of California, Irvine, chemically molds the cornea. Both fix vision by correcting the cornea's curve so that light focuses precisely on the retina. The team used a tiny electric current to lower the cornea's pH, making it more acidic. This loosened its collagen structure and made it moldable. A platinum lens designed as an ideal shape was placed over the cornea. As the tissue softened, it conformed to the lens's curve. Restoring the pH locked it into place. They tested the power of manipulating pH and fitting the plate in rabbit eyeballs in saline solution. The eyes consistently conformed to the plate, maintaining their shape 12 out of 12 times, and even showed signs of eliminating nearsightedness in two of them. In lab tests, the team used a saline-soaked rabbit eyeball to mimic conditions in real human eyes, and applied their pH-shifting technique. All 12 eyeballs successfully conformed to the desired shape of the template and, in 10 cases, deliberately modeled to mimic nearsightedness, the corneas adjusted to correct vision. Americans often treat vision problems, such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism, without surgery. Roughly 167 million people wear prescription eyeglasses, while 45 million use contact lenses. A healthy eye has a white outer part (sclera), clear front surface (cornea), and properly functioning internal structures that focus light perfectly on the retina. When the cornea is correctly curved, light bends precisely onto the retina for sharp vision. In impaired vision, such as nearsightedness, the cornea is too steep or flat, causing light to focus in front of or behind the retina instead. Reshaping the cornea through LASIK adjusts the cornea's curvature, which allows light to hit the retina properly and restore clear focus. LASIK is generally for those who want to do away with their eyeglasses and contact lenses. While the laser surgery is overall safe, it is not risk-free. Common short-term side effects include dry eyes, glare, especially at night, and rare complications like still needing glasses, healing issues with the corneal flap or corneal weakening over time, leading to lasting vision impairment. Most issues resolve, but some may need enhancement surgery or have lasting effects. Not everyone qualifies. Surgeons screen for thin corneas or other risk factors first. Now, researchers are exploring a way to reshape the cornea without having to make any incisions through a process known as electromechanical reshaping (EMR). 'The whole effect was discovered by accident,' said Brian Wong, a professor and surgeon at the University of California, Irvine. 'I was looking at living tissues as moldable materials and discovered this whole process of chemical modification.' Collagen-rich tissues, including corneas, rely on magnetic-like attractions between charged particles to hold their shape. Introducing a tiny electric current lowers the pH of the gel-like fluid surrounding its collagen fibers, turning rigid tissue temporarily soft. While the rabbit eye tissue was soft, Dr Wong and his partner, Dr Michael Hill, a professor of chemistry at Occidental College, applied the perfectly-shaped platinum plate to mold the cornea into a new shape. It did so in about a minute. When they restored pH, those attractions tightened, freezing the tissue in its new form. The work is still in its early stages. It is expected to begin a long process of detailed and precise studies in living animals, not just eyeballs in saline. The team will next explore how well EMR can treat common vision issues like nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. Dr Hill said: 'There's a long road between what we've done and the clinic. 'But, if we get there, this technique is widely applicable, vastly cheaper and potentially even reversible.' The team's findings were presented at the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society this week.
