Latest news with #DanaHawkinson
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Expert says Super Bowl unlikely to spread tuberculosis after KC outbreak
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — An infectious disease that's been spreading for some time, particularly on Kansas City's west side is now getting nationwide attention. News of a centered in Wyandotte and comes as likely tens of thousands of fans from the region are about to head to the Super Bowl which will be played indoors at New Orleans Caesars Superdome. Countless more fans will attend Super Bowl parties around the area. However, medical professionals say there's little reason to be concerned the Super Bowl will be a super spreader. It really comes down to how contagious tuberculosis is compared to other respiratory illnesses and where we seem to be on the outbreak's timeline. Flu map: These states are now at CDC's highest activity level Five years ago the Kansas City Chiefs won their first Super Bowl in 50 years and by some accounts may have slowed the spread of COVID-19. There's debate whether fans who attended the game a month before nationwide shut downs may have already been infected. But many of the earliest confirmed cases during that timeframe were in California. Instead of celebration in San Francisco, it was in Kansas City where hundreds of thousands crammed in to areas around Union Station for a Super Bowl parade and rally. Now it's the Kansas City metro, . FOX4 sat down with University of Kansas Hospital Infection Control and Prevention Medical Director Dr. Dana Hawkinson to find out if the game and celebrations pose a risk. 'Things like influenza, SARS-CoV-2 and those common cough and cold viruses they are still at fairly high levels in the United States. You are at significantly more at risk of getting one of those infections than you are tuberculosis,' Hawkinson said. Provisional numbers say 630 Kansans had latent tuberculosis in 2024, but those are people who don't have symptoms and can't spread it until the disease becomes active without treatment. KDHE data shows the biggest spike of latent cases was in March of last year, while new active cases spiked in June. Seven cases were listed as active on January 24 in Johnson County. Wednesday Johnson County said all its tuberculosis patients receiving treatment were no longer infectious. At last update, Wyandotte County had 60 active cases. If you are lucky enough to get Super Bowl tickets or have party plans and develop a cough, Hawkinson says it's no reason to immediately cancel. As always do your best to help reduce the spread of viruses by covering your cough, practicing proper hand hygiene and making sure you are fever-free. But if you truly have active tuberculosis your body has probably already been telling you. 'Those symptoms are prolonged things like cough and bloody cough, which is called hemoptysis, fevers and night sweats. These persist for several weeks to months. So I think that's distinctly different from someone who has cold and cough that may persist for 10 days,' Hawkinson said. See the latest headlines in Kansas City and across Kansas, Missouri University of Kansas Hospital has been working with KDHE on contact tracing for months. That's a key way latent cases are discovered. According to medical professionals, tuberculosis differs greatly from COVID-19, cold or flu as it takes prolonged exposure to someone with active disease to get it, likely not someone coughing next to you, even if it is for a few hours. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Clinical trial finds three new ways to treat drug-resistant tuberculosis
Even with life-saving vaccines and antibiotics, tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the world's most deadly infectious diseases. Now, an international clinical trial has found three sew safe and effective drug regimens to treat antibiotic-resistant strains of TB. The results are detailed in a study published January 30 in the New England Journal of Medicine. TB is a bacterial infection that primarily affects the lungs. It spreads through air droplets released when talking or coughing. It is very infectious and can remain in the air for several hours, depending on the environment. However, TB only spreads when a person is symptomatic. It can take on two forms once the bacterium infects a person. Active TB is when a patient has a long-standing cough, in addition to other symptoms including bloody phlegm, fever, and night sweats. In latent TB, the bacterium hibernates a person's lungs or somewhere else in the body. Latent TB is not contagious and doesn't cause symptoms. According to the Cleveland Clinic, roughly 10 million people became ill with TB and about 1.5 million people died from the disease globally in 2020. There were roughly 7,860 tuberculosis cases reported in the United States in 2021. Currently, an outbreak centered in the Kansas City, Kansas area has killed two people since it began last January. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported that 67 people are being treated for active TB and 79 have latent TB. 'We would expect to see a handful of cases every year,' Dr. Dana Hawkinson, an infectious disease doctor at the University of Kansas Health System, told the Associated Press. However, Hawkinson said that the high case counts in this current outbreak were a 'stark warning.' In October, the World Health Organization's (WHO) Global Tuberculosis Report 2024 found that reported cases increased from 7.5 million in 2022 to 8.2 million last year. Disruptions to vaccination schedules due to the COVID-19 pandemic and drug-resistant strains were cited as potential reasons for the increases. Since it is a bacterial illness and not a virus like influenza, antibiotic resistance is a growing concern. Some TB strains are already resistant to rifampin, the most effective of the first-line antibiotics used to treat the disease. Rifampin and some other approved treatment regimens must be administered for years, require daily injections, and use some highly toxic medications that can come with severe side-effects. This new research is part of the endTB trial, a collaboration among Harvard Medical School, Partners In Health, Médecins Sans Frontières, and Interactive Research and Development. The endTB trial is one of four recent randomized controlled trials testing new, shorter, and less toxic treatment regimens for drug-resistant TB. The trials are using two fairly new drugs—bedaquiline and delamanid. The medicines were first brought to the market in 2012 and 2013 and were the first new medications for TB in almost 50 years. The trial launched in 2017 with 754 patients from India, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Lesotho, Pakistan, Peru, and South Africa. The goal was to improve treatment for patients with tuberculosis resistant to rifampin which sickens about 410,000 people each year. Only 40 percent are diagnosed and treated, 65 percent of them successfully, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). [ Related: How infectious diseases killed Victorian children at alarming rates. ] In the trial, endTB tested five new, all-oral regimens using bedaquiline and delamanid in combination with other drugs. The regimens were taken over nine months. A third drug–pretomanid–received emergency authorization from the FDA in 2019. However, it is not included in these trials. Three out of the five new regimens were considered successful for between 85 and 90 percent of patients with this treatment-resistent strain of TB. The control group was treated with longer treatments and was successful in 81 percent of cases. According to the team, the trial regimens were considered effective if they performed at least as well as the control group. The control group still received a well-performing standard of care in accordance with WHO recommendations. Two of the three new endTB regimens and another WHO-recommended regimen cost under $500, to meet a target set over 10 years ago. All of these innovations together could mean that shorter, all-oral regimens are available to more people than ever. 'This Harvard-led partnership among NGOs, ministries of health, and other academic partners identified three new regimens that will make lifesaving care dramatically more accessible,' Carole Mitnick, trial co-principal investigator and Harvard Medical School epidemiologist, said in a statement. 'We also resolved a critical question left open by pharmaceutical industry trials that brought bedaquiline and delamanid to market: How can these new drugs be used to shorten and simplify treatment while retaining efficacy?' According to Mitnick, poor treatment options and low-quality evidence previously have made it difficult to prevent some tuberculosis deaths. These new regimens take advantage of already approved drugs to expand and shorten treatment, minimize side effects, and treat patients using pills instead of daily injections. The endTB trials have since concluded.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Johnson County Health Dept. responds to tuberculosis concerns
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In response to a tuberculosis outbreak, the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment (JCDHE), the Wyandotte County Public Health Department, and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment have been working together since March 2024. JCDHE confirmed Tuesday that all patients in Johnson County, comprising seven active cases and two latent cases, have completed treatment and are not infectious. Kansas officials say risk is low after tuberculosis outbreak More cases may be found among Johnson County residents as testing goes on. JCDHE said the risk to the general public remains low; however, it will monitor the situation closely and is taking all necessary steps to prevent a potential spread. The response from Johnson County comes days after Kansas officials said there is a low risk to the public of contracting tuberculosis. But according to online data, as of Friday, Jan. 24, there were 67 active cases of the disease. The breakdown includes 60 in Wyandotte County and seven in Johnson County. TB is spread through the air from one person to another and is put into the air when a person with active TB disease of the lungs or throat coughs, speaks or sings. Tuberculosis is not spread by touch, and you cannot get TB by walking past an infectious person. Kansas news: Headlines from Wichita, Topeka and around the Sunflower State Dr. Dana Hawkinson, Medical Director of Infection Prevention and Control with the University of Kansas Health System, also says the risk is low and treatment is available. 'Typically, it is four drugs for a few weeks, and then we go down to two drugs. Most of them are pills. People need to be treated for at least six months and sometimes longer,' Hawkinson shared. Symptoms include a prolonged cough, which could include a bloody cough, night sweats and weight loss. These are symptoms that could persist for weeks or months. Hawkinson says it's difficult to tell if you may or may not be sick. You can read more from the CDC about the Skin Test here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Independent
28-01-2025
- Health
- The Independent
The tuberculosis outbreak in Kansas is alarming. It's not the biggest in US history though, CDC says
A yearlong outbreak of tuberculosis in the Kansas City, Kansas area has taken local experts aback, even if it does not appear to be the largest outbreak of the disease in U.S. history as a state health official claimed last week. 'We would expect to see a handful of cases every year,' said Dr. Dana Hawkinson, an infectious disease doctor at the University of Kansas Health System. But the high case counts in this outbreak were a 'stark warning," he said. The outbreak has killed two people since it started in January 2024, Kansas state health department spokeswoman Jill Bronaugh said. Health officials in Kansas say there is no threat to the general public. What is tuberculosis? TB is caused by bacteria that lives in the people's lungs and spreads through the air when they talk, cough or sing. It is very infectious, but only spreads when a person has symptoms. Once it infects a person, TB can take two forms. In 'active' TB, the person has a long-standing cough and sometimes bloody phlegm, night sweats, fever, weight loss and swollen glands. In 'latent' TB, the bacteria hibernates in the person's lungs or elsewhere in the body. It does not cause symptoms and does not spread to others. Roughly a quarter of the global population is estimated to have TB, but only about 5% to 10% of those develop symptoms. How big is the tuberculosis outbreak in Kansas? As of Jan. 24, 67 people are being treated for active TB, most of them in Wyandotte County, Bronaugh said. Another 79 have latent TB. The state's provisional 2024 count shows 79 active TB cases and 213 latent cases in the two counties where the outbreak is happening, Wyandotte and Johnson. Not all of those are linked to the outbreak and Bronaugh did not respond to requests for clarification. The situation is improving, though: 'We are trending in the right direction right now,' Ashley Goss, deputy secretary at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, told the state Senate's Committee on Public Health and Welfare Jan. 21. Is the Kansas tuberculosis outbreak the largest in U.S. history? Kansas health officials called the outbreak 'the largest documented outbreak in U.S. history' since the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began counting cases in the 1950s. But a spokesperson for the CDC on Tuesday refuted that claim, noting at least two larger TB outbreaks in recent history. In one, the disease spread through Georgia homeless shelters. Public health workers identified more than 170 active TB cases and more than 400 latent cases from 2015 to 2017. And in 2021, a nationwide outbreak linked to contaminated tissue used in bone transplants sickened 113 patients. How is tuberculosis treated? TB is treated with antibiotics over the course of several months. A vaccine is available, but generally not recommended in the U.S. because the risk of infection is low and getting the vaccine can interfere with the test doctors use to diagnose the disease. TB is a much bigger problem outside of the U.S. TB is a leading cause of infectious disease death worldwide, and has been on the rise. In 2023, the bacteria killed 1.25 million people globally and infected 8 million, the highest count since the World Health Organization started keeping track. While tuberculosis was a much bigger danger in the U.S. in earlier generations, it has been trending back up in recent years. In 2023 there were more than 9,600 cases nationwide, the highest in a decade, according to the CDC. ___ 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.
Associated Press
28-01-2025
- Health
- Associated Press
The tuberculosis outbreak in Kansas is alarming. It's not the biggest in US history though, CDC says
A yearlong outbreak of tuberculosis in the Kansas City, Kansas area has taken local experts aback, even if it does not appear to be the largest outbreak of the disease in U.S. history as a state health official claimed last week. 'We would expect to see a handful of cases every year,' said Dr. Dana Hawkinson, an infectious disease doctor at the University of Kansas Health System. But the high case counts in this outbreak were a 'stark warning,' he said. The outbreak has killed two people since it started in January 2024, Kansas state health department spokeswoman Jill Bronaugh said. Health officials in Kansas say there is no threat to the general public. What is tuberculosis? TB is caused by bacteria that lives in the people's lungs and spreads through the air when they talk, cough or sing. It is very infectious, but only spreads when a person has symptoms. Once it infects a person, TB can take two forms. In 'active' TB, the person has a long-standing cough and sometimes bloody phlegm, night sweats, fever, weight loss and swollen glands. In 'latent' TB, the bacteria hibernates in the person's lungs or elsewhere in the body. It does not cause symptoms and does not spread to others. Roughly a quarter of the global population is estimated to have TB, but only about 5% to 10% of those develop symptoms. How big is the tuberculosis outbreak in Kansas? As of Jan. 24, 67 people are being treated for active TB, most of them in Wyandotte County, Bronaugh said. Another 79 have latent TB. The state's provisional 2024 count shows 79 active TB cases and 213 latent cases in the two counties where the outbreak is happening, Wyandotte and Johnson. Not all of those are linked to the outbreak and Bronaugh did not respond to requests for clarification. The situation is improving, though: 'We are trending in the right direction right now,' Ashley Goss, deputy secretary at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, told the state Senate's Committee on Public Health and Welfare Jan. 21. Is the Kansas tuberculosis outbreak the largest in U.S. history? Kansas health officials called the outbreak 'the largest documented outbreak in U.S. history' since the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began counting cases in the 1950s. But a spokesperson for the CDC on Tuesday refuted that claim, noting at least two larger TB outbreaks in recent history. In one, the disease spread through Georgia homeless shelters. Public health workers identified more than 170 active TB cases and more than 400 latent cases from 2015 to 2017. And in 2021, a nationwide outbreak linked to contaminated tissue used in bone transplants sickened 113 patients. How is tuberculosis treated? TB is treated with antibiotics over the course of several months. A vaccine is available, but generally not recommended in the U.S. because the risk of infection is low and getting the vaccine can interfere with the test doctors use to diagnose the disease. TB is a much bigger problem outside of the U.S. TB is a leading cause of infectious disease death worldwide, and has been on the rise. In 2023, the bacteria killed 1.25 million people globally and infected 8 million, the highest count since the World Health Organization started keeping track. While tuberculosis was a much bigger danger in the U.S. in earlier generations, it has been trending back up in recent years. In 2023 there were more than 9,600 cases nationwide, the highest in a decade, according to the CDC. ___ 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.
