Mosquitoes in 2 Illinois counties test positive for West Nile virus
The mosquitoes tested in McHenry County for the virus were found in Lake in the Hills. DuPage County health officials tested mosquitoes from Roselle, Medinah, Clarendon Hills, and Burr Ridge in May.
While the mosquitoes tested positive in both counties, no human cases of West Nile virus have been reported in either county.
What is West Nile Virus?
West Nile virus is spread to people from infected mosquitoes, most commonly in the summer.
Eight out of 10 people infected do not develop symptoms, according to the CDC.
The CDC said about 1 in 150 people who are infected with the virus develop a severe illness. High fever, headache, stiff neck, disorientation, and vision loss are among the symptoms.
You can protect yourself by wearing light-colored, long-sleeved shirts, socks, and pants and using insect repellents.
The health departments recommend getting rid of standing water around houses to eliminate potential mosquito breeding sites.
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The Silent Symptom That Could Be a Sign of Blood Clots
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Millions of people are suffering from brain fog. A new study will find out why
Millions of people who recover from infections like COVID-19, influenza and glandular fever are affected by long-lasting symptoms. These include chronic fatigue, brain fog, exercise intolerance, dizziness, muscle or joint pain and gut problems. And many of these symptoms worsen after exercise, a phenomenon known as post-exertional malaise. Medically the symptoms are known as myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). The World Health Organization classifies this as a post viral fatigue syndrome, and it is recognised by both the WHO and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a brain disorder. Experiencing illness long after contracting an infection is not new, as patients have reported these symptoms for decades. But COVID-19 has amplified the problem worldwide. Nearly half of people with ongoing post-COVID symptoms – a condition known as long-COVID – now meet the criteria for ME/CFS. Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, it is estimated that more than 400 million people have developed long-COVID. To date, no widely accepted and testable mechanism has fully explained the biological processes underlying long-COVID and ME/CFS. Our work offers a new perspective that may help close this gap. Our research group studies blood and the cardiovascular system in inflammatory diseases, as well as post-viral conditions. We focus on coagulation, inflammation and endothelial cells. Endothelial cells make up the inner layer of blood vessels and serve many important functions, like regulating blood clotting, blood vessel dilation and constriction, and inflammation. Our latest review aims to explain how ME/CFS and long-COVID start and progress, and how symptoms show up in the body and its systems. By pinpointing and explaining the underlying disease mechanisms, we can pave the way for better clinical tools to diagnose and treat people living with ME/CFS and long-COVID. What is endothelial senescence? In our review, our international team proposes that certain viruses drive endothelial cells into a half-alive, 'zombie-like' state called cellular senescence. Senescent endothelial cells stop dividing, but continue to release molecules that awaken and confuse the immune system. This prompts the blood to form clots and, at the same time, prevent clot breakdown, which could lead to the constriction of blood vessels and limited blood flow. By placing 'zombie' blood-vessel cells at the centre of these post-viral diseases, our hypothesis weaves together microclots, oxygen debt (the extra oxygen your body needs after strenuous exercise to restore balance), brain-fog, dizziness, gut leakiness (a digestive condition where the intestinal lining allows toxins into the bloodstream) and immune dysfunction into a single, testable narrative. From acute viral infection to 'zombie' vessels Viruses like SARS-CoV-2, Epstein–Barr virus, HHV-6, influenza A, and enteroviruses (a group of viruses that cause a number of infectious illnesses which are usually mild) can all infect endothelial cells. They enable a direct attack on the cells that line the inside of blood vessels. Some of these viruses have been shown to trigger endothelial senescence. Multiple studies show that SARS-CoV-2 (the virus which causes COVID-19 disease) has the ability to induce senescence in a variety of cell types, including endothelial cells. Viral proteins from SARS-CoV-2, for example, sabotage DNA-repair pathways and push the host cell towards a senescent state, while senescent cells in turn become even more susceptible to viral entry. This reciprocity helps explain why different pathogens can result in the same chronic illness. Influenza A, too, has shown the ability to drive endothelial cells into a senescent, zombie-like state. What we think is happening We propose that when blood-vessel cells turn into 'zombies', they pump out substances that make blood thicker and prone to forming tiny clots. These clots slow down circulation, so less oxygen reaches muscles and organs. This is one reason people feel drained. During exercise, the problem worsens. Instead of the vessels relaxing to allow adequate bloodflow, they tighten further. This means that muscles are starved of oxygen and patients experience a crash the day after exercise. In the brain, the same faulty cells let blood flow drop and leak, bringing on brain fog and dizziness. In the gut, they weaken the lining, allowing bits of bacteria to slip into the bloodstream and trigger more inflammation. Because blood vessels reach every corner of the body, even scattered patches of these 'zombie' cells found in the blood vessels can create the mix of symptoms seen in long-COVID and ME/CFS. Immune exhaustion locks in the damage Some parts of the immune system kill senescent cells. They are natural-killer cells, macrophages and complement proteins, which are immune molecules capable of tagging and killing pathogens. But long-COVID and ME/CFS frequently have impaired natural-killer cell function, sluggish macrophages and complement dysfunction. Senescent endothelial cells may also send out a chemical signal to repel immune attack. So the 'zombie cells' actively evade the immune system. This creates a self-sustaining loop of vascular and immune dysfunction, where senescent endothelial cells persist. In a healthy person with an optimally functioning immune system, these senescent endothelial cells will normally be cleared. But there is significant immune dysfunction in ME/CFS and long-COVID, and this may enable the 'zombie cells' to survive and the disease to progress. Where the research goes next There is a registered clinical trial in the US that is investigating senescence in long-COVID. Our consortium is testing new ways to spot signs of ageing in the cells that line our blood vessels. First, we expose healthy endothelial cells in the lab to blood from patients to see whether it pushes the cells into a senescent, or 'zombie,' state. At the same time, we are trialling non‑invasive imaging and fluorescent probes that could one day reveal these ageing cells inside the body. In selected cases, tissue biopsies may later confirm what the scans show. Together, these approaches aim to pinpoint how substances circulating in the blood drive cellular ageing and how that, in turn, fuels disease. Our aim is simple: find these ageing endothelial cells in real patients. Pinpointing them will inform the next round of clinical trials and open the door to therapies that target senescent cells directly, offering a route to healthier blood vessels and, ultimately, lighter disease loads. Burtram C. Fielding is Dean Faculty of Sciences and Professor in the Department of Microbiology, Stellenbosch University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Dentists Are Sharing The Most Horrifying Things They've Witnessed In Someone's Mouth, And It Might Be The Worst Thing I've Ever Read
Earlier this month, I decided to ask dentists and dental hygienists in our very own BuzzFeed Community what turned out to be a pretty graphic question: "What's the most horrifying thing you've seen in someone's mouth or witnessed on the job?" Their answers were gross in an absolutely fascinating way, so, I decided I had to share. You might pull a face at a few of these, but you'll definitely be entertained! So, here are some of people's best answers: Related: 1."Dead bedbugs in a patient's gums." NBC —Anonymous 2."Hairy tongue." —Anonymous, 44, Connecticut, US 3."A teenager whose wisdom teeth were developing so that it was best for her to have them removed by an oral surgeon with IV sedation. She freaked out. She didn't want it done because she was scared of the could easily see over 20 piercings." —Anonymous 4."I'm a dental hygienist and the strangest thing I have found (repeatedly) in people's mouths is pubic hair. You see a little hair sticking out of a person's gums, so you grab a pair of tweezers to pull it out, and it ends up being a long curly pubic hair. 🤢 I have also found a SPROUTED SEED stuffed underneath someone's gums before. 🤣" Warner Bros. —Anonymous, 31, Illinois 5."Periodontist here. I once had a patient who had a massive infection of his wisdom teeth that was starting to come out of his cheek. So what looked like a pimple on his lower right was really the infection starting to drain." HBO / Via "I immediately sent him to a hospital that had an oral surgeon on staff. The tooth was extracted, and he had a drain placed in his face to clear the infection. When your dentist tells you that you have an infection, it doesn't get any better; it only gets worse." —Anonymous, 37, New Jersey Related: 6."I was a dental assistant and took a full-mouth panoramic X-ray of a patient with no teeth. Looked in his mouth and he was right, he had no teeth. Took the X-ray and found he had roots for all his teeth, but they had rotted, and gum tissue had grown up over to cover them. A fascinating extraction surgery followed." —Anonymous 7."Dental hygienist/hygiene educator here with an interesting story and a serious one. The interesting story: A patient lost a front tooth, kept it, cut the root off, attached it to something metal, and then superglued it in — a super creative idea! Unfortunately, superglue is acidic, so it damaged the teeth where he attached his makeshift bridge. But you can't help but admire his outside-the-box thinking." "The serious story: Years ago, I was completing the oral facial (oral cancer) examination on my patient and saw a red patch on the floor of his mouth. I referred him to an ENT, and sure enough, it was cancer, and it needed surgical removal and radiation. It was life-changing for him (though he passed away a few years later) and for me. From then on, I was more confident and took more time completing that exam, and less worried about staying on schedule. Every time thereafter I saw this patient for his cleaning, he hugged me and kissed me on the cheek and thanked me for the extra time he had with his family. Each year, I tell my students this story and tell them how important this exam is to complete, to not worry about the clock, and not to cut it out from their tasks. Worry more about the patient as a whole, and not about if you leave stain behind or a tenacious piece of calculus (tartar). I cried when my patient died, and I tear up every time I teach oral facial exams and think about what he taught me and how grateful he was for me." —Anonymous, 45, New York 8."It wasn't something I saw, exactly, but something I smelled. The patient had cancer, and we could smell it coming from his mouth. No judgment for the bad smell, not his fault, everyone deserves dignity." —Anonymous Related: 9."I'm a dentist. I had a new patient come in with a loose crown. I told him I might be able to just remove the crown after I cleaned it, then recement it back over the tooth. I removed the crown to discover a worm flopping around inside." Dotana / Getty Images "I cleaned out the crown and tooth, recementing it. Then I referred him to his MD for treatment of the worm infestation. I was very careful with my gloves on and face mask, not touching any instruments until they were cleaned and sterilized before they were put away. I nearly lost it." —Anonymous 10."Unfortunately, I am not the only dentist who has had this experience, but fortunately, it has only happened to me once. I had a patient, mid-50s, in whose dentures I found several maggots. Yes, I did leave and go throw up." —Anonymous, 47, Ohio, US 11."Teen patient with a moldy retainer. They never took it out, and there was food and gunk in a layer of slime all over the top of it. And my God, the smell." —Anonymous 12."Many drug users get to a point (and it happens more quickly than you would think) where they unfortunately do not care about oral hygiene. Dental health gets even worse when a person's drug of choice is something like meth. It's always very sad to see and difficult to deal with. Take care of your teeth, kids." —Anonymous, 38 13."Do not smoke after getting your wisdom teeth removed. You do not want a dry socket." —Anonymous Related: 14."I did a lot of free work for underprivileged people and people experiencing homelessness in my city when I was a younger dentist. (Not so much anymore, I miss being able to help, but I'm older now and would get the occasional violent patient.) This wasn't the saddest thing I ever saw, but it was pretty messed up and stuck with me: a child, around 5 or 6, with almost totally decayed teeth. They basically survived off soda, milk, candy, and other junk food." "The only silver lining was that these were baby teeth. I spoke to the mother and did report that the child was being neglected and needed help. This was about 20 years ago; I live in a smallish town, and I know the child ended up living with their grandmother." —Anonymous 15."I don't have any real horror stories, but you'd be surprised how many people don't think about their teeth when it comes to smoking cigarettes! Plenty of smokers worry about their skin prematurely aging, but pay far less mind to oral health. Smokers' breath can get pretty horrific." —Anonymous 16."Maggots." CBS —Anonymous, 48, Seattle, Washington finally: "A guy who had sharpened his incisors and tried to bite the hygienist." —Anonymous, 54 Okay, I know that got pretty gross, but at times, it was touching. Feel free to let me know all your thoughts in the comments! Even better if you have a dental nightmare of your own to share. Or, if you want to write in but prefer to stay anonymous, you can check out this anonymous form! Who knows — your story could be featured in a future BuzzFeed article. Also in Goodful: Also in Goodful: Also in Goodful: Solve the daily Crossword
