US health officials advise older travelers not to get a chikungunya vaccine
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. government advised American travelers age 60 and older not get a chikungunya vaccine as it investigates possible side effects.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration posted notices late last week on the vaccine, Valneva's Ixchiq.
Chikungunya, spread by the bites of infected mosquitoes, is a debilitating tropical illness marked by fever and joint pain. About 100 to 200 cases are reported annually among U.S. travelers.
Last year, the government began recommending the vaccine, which is made with weakened chikungunya virus, to U.S. adults who travel to countries where chikungunya is a problem.
But last month, a panel of vaccine experts who advise the CDC heard about an investigation into six people 65 and older — most of them with other medical problems — who became ill with heart or brain symptoms less than a week after vaccination. More than 10 other similar cases have been reported in people from other countries.
European regulators are also looking into the issue.
The U.S. advisers voted to issue a precaution for people 65 and older about getting the vaccine.
They also recommended that a second chikungunya vaccine — Bavarian Nordic's Vimkunya — be made available for people age 12 and older who are traveling to countries where outbreaks of the mosquito-borne illness are occurring. CDC officials have not yet announced whether they will accept those recommendations.
Winnipeg Jets Game Days
On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Video shows dolphin calf birth and first breath at Chicago zoo. Mom's friend helped
CHICAGO (AP) — A bottlenose dolphin at a Chicago zoo gave birth to a calf early Saturday morning with the help of a fellow mom, in a successful birth recorded on video by zoo staff. The dolphin calf was born at Brookfield Zoo Chicago early Saturday morning as a team of veterinarians monitored and cheered on the mom, a 38-year-old bottlenose dolphin named Allie. 'Push, push, push,' one observer can be heard shouting in video released by the zoo Saturday, as Allie swims around the tank, the calf's little tail fins poking out below her own. Then the calf wriggles free and instinctively darts to the surface of the pool for its first breath. Also in the tank was an experienced mother dolphin named Tapeko, 43, who stayed close to Allie through her more than one hour of labor. In the video, she can be seen following the calf as it heads to the surface, and staying with it as it takes that first breath. It is natural for dolphins to look out for each other during a birth, zoo staff said. 'That's very common both in free-ranging settings but also in aquaria,' said Brookfield Zoo Chicago Senior Veterinarian Dr. Jennifer Langan in a video statement. 'It provides the mom extra protection and a little bit of extra help to help get the calf to the surface to help it breath in those couple minutes where she's still having really strong contractions.' In a written statement, zoo officials said early signs indicate that the calf is in good health. They estimate it weighs around 35 pounds (16 kilograms) and stretches nearly four feet in length (115-120 centimeters). That is about the weight and length of an adult golden retriever dog. The zoo's Seven Seas exhibit will be closed as the calf bonds with its mother and acclimates with other dolphins in its group. As part of that bonding, the calf has already learned to slipstream, or draft alongside its mother so that it doesn't have to work as hard to move. Veterinarians will monitor progress in nursing, swimming and other milestones particularly closely over the next 30 days. The calf will eventually take a paternity test to see which of the male dolphins at the zoo is its father. Zoo officials say they will name the calf later this summer.
Global News
5 hours ago
- Global News
Canadians facing device searches and detainment is ‘not a pattern,' U.S. ambassador says
The American ambassador to Canada is pushing back on Ottawa's travel advice, saying his country doesn't search phones at the border and arguing some Americans travelling here are having a tough time. 'We welcome Canadians to come in and invest, to spend their hard-earned Canadian dollars at U.S. businesses,' U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra told The Canadian Press in an interview Friday. 'If a Canadian has had a disappointing experience coming into the United States, I'm not denying that it happened, but I'm saying it's an isolated event and it is not a pattern.' In April, Ottawa updated its advice to Canadians travelling to the United States to warn them about the possibility they might be detained if denied entry. 'Expect scrutiny at ports of entry, including of electronic devices,' reads the new guidance. Story continues below advertisement There have been reports of Canadians facing intensified scrutiny at the border, having phones searched and, in some cases, being detained. Hoekstra insisted concerns about device searches are not grounded in reality. 'Coming to the U.S., that's a decision for the Canadians to make. Searching devices and all of that is not a well-founded fear. We don't do that. America is a welcoming place,' he said. He said some Americans have expressed similar concerns about Canada. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'I've heard that from Americans coming into Canada as well, OK? Saying, 'You know, we've not received a warm reception when we've gotten to Canadian customs,'' he said. When asked if these reports from American travellers involve arbitrary phone searches and lengthy detainment, Hoekstra said there are consular cases of Americans complaining to the embassy about the Canada Border Services Agency. 'We've said, 'OK this may have been an isolated event. There may have been a Canadian border person who was having a bad day, and thought they'd take it out on, you know, somebody across the border,'' he said. Story continues below advertisement In a statement, the CBSA said its officers follow a code of conduct and the federal ethics code that both require them to treat everyone equally, and the agency investigates any complaints of mistreatment. 'Employees are expected to conduct themselves in a way that upholds the values of integrity, respect and professionalism at all times,' wrote spokeswoman Karine Martel. 'Treating people with respect, dignity and fairness is fundamental to our border services officers' relationship with the public and a key part of this is serving all travellers in a non-discriminatory way.' Hoekstra said travel to the U.S. is up to individuals. 'If you decide that you're not going to come down or whatever, that's your decision and you're missing an opportunity. There are great things to see in America,' Hoekstra said. He also noted the case of CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour, who recently said she prepared to visit the U.S. last month as if she was 'going to North Korea' — with a 'burner phone' that didn't carry any personal information — only to experience a warm welcome. 'It's like, (let's) get past the rhetoric and let's look at the real experiences that people are having here,' Hoekstra said. Airlines have been cutting flights between Canada and the U.S. due to a slump in demand, and Flight Centre Travel Group Canada reported a nearly 40 per cent drop in flights between the two countries year-over-year in February. Story continues below advertisement A survey in early May conducted by Leger Marketing for the Association for Canadian Studies found 52 per cent of respondents feel that 'it is no longer safe for all Canadians travelling to the United States,' with 29 per cent disagreeing and 19 per cent saying they were unsure. Roughly the same proportion said they personally feel unwelcome in the U.S. LGBTQ2 groups have opted against attending World Pride events in Washington and United Nations events in New York, citing scrutiny at the border as the Trump administration scales back protections for transgender and non-binary people.
Montreal Gazette
11 hours ago
- Montreal Gazette
Freed: Everything is designed by technology nerds so the rest of us can't use it
Nowadays, every modern device is designed so smartly or stylishly that it makes us users feel stupid. So, travelling is the best way to find out what you aren't keeping up with. My re-education started at Dorval airport security where, as always, I pulled my liquids and 'electronic devices' out of my suitcase for the X-ray machines. This is always mandatory or you get lectured by security agents barking, ' Sir: laptops and fluids always OUT of your bag.' But instead, this time I got lectured for taking them out. ' Sir: NO laptops or liquids allowed out of the bag!' the agent barked. 'Put them back in your bag now, then put the bag in the luggage bin.' You never know what the latest technology or rules will be that day: Shoes off, or shoes on? Belt on, shoes off, or vice versa? Or: 'Sir, put that belt back on NOW!' Equally confusing was my hotel room when I arrived in France. For starters, where was the Wi-Fi code? It's usually marked on a card with your room key, but not this time. So I searched the room like a burglar. Not on the desk, the night table or in the eight different clothing drawers. Hmm, maybe in the mini-fridge? Nope. Sometimes it's in the lobby on a QR code, so I trotted downstairs where it wasn't. Eventually I was told: 'Just open your TV, sir, and you'll see it on the smart-TV screen.' That, of course, required much fiddling with the mysterious European TV remotes. But when I finally managed it, there was the Wi-Fi code in plain NOT sight. This was kid's stuff compared to the shower, which according to the European 'Shower Bafflement Convention' must be designed differently in every last hotel. Sometimes the hot water's on the left, other times the right. Often there's a big high-up shower nozzle and a smaller lower-down one, with several knobs, so you must guess which controls what. In this case, the controls were on one long, horizontal steel cylindrical tube that twisted both ways on either side. But each side also had a small steel button you could press, with no way to know why unless you experimented with various combinations. Naturally, all these controls were directly under both shower nozzles so you'd worry about being frozen or scalded. A mere four minutes of twisting, pulling and button-pushing experiments later — bingo! — hot water poured from the big nozzle and scalded me. Well, at least I knew the shower worked. But, naturally, in the next hotel the system was different. That's because they're all designed by engineering nerds who've never taken a shower in a hotel room they haven't designed. Similarly, the electrical outlet for your phone charger is often hidden behind the bed, so you must drag it away to see whether there's an unused socket. Then you have to unplug your night lamp as there's only one socket, because, of course, no one ever charges a phone and uses a lamp at the same time. In the U.S., hotel staff will often helpfully accompany to your room, to guilt you into tipping, while blabbing stuff like: 'This is the cupboard, this is the sink, this is the floor and that's the ceiling while the balcony is outside the room.' But they never explain how to use the two TV remotes with 93 buttons each. I always ask this before they leave the room, but usually they don't know, either. There's a hair dryer somewhere, but they hide them in different places for fun: under the sink, behind the towels, in the kitchen utensil cupboard or maybe on the balcony. By law, all alarm clocks must be different models and designs with 17 buttons, so you must guess which one controls the alarm the last guest set for 3:30 a.m. Why is it all so complex? Because everything has been designed by techies who know how the devices work perfectly, but have never asked an ordinary person to try them out. They figure that person will be you. It's similar for rental cars, which are recently so smart and stylishly designed that drivers can't even find the gas tank release, as it's hidden in the onscreen touch menu in the infotainment system. Volkswagen and other carmakers recently promised to bring back physical buttons in cars to control heating, fans, hazard lights etc., because drivers are 'stressed, annoyed and steamed' by baffling touchscreen ones. 'Honestly, it's a car,' admitted Volkswagen's car design chief. 'It's not a phone, it's a car.' Meanwhile, all we customers can do is keep learning to keep up. Returning home with Air Canada, I now knew to leave my laptop and fluids in the bag for the new security machines, but was instantly rebuked. ' Sir!: Laptops and fluids out of the bag — always OUT!' barked the agent. 'Then, bags into the luggage bin!' 'Phones and laptops out of your bags and held in your hands, please. 'Then all passengers into the bin!'
