Latest news with #MichaelBen-Aderet
Miami Herald
03-07-2025
- Health
- Miami Herald
As Florida mosquito season peaks, officials brace for new normal of dengue cases
As summer ushers in peak mosquito season, health and vector control officials are bracing for the possibility of another year of historic rates of dengue. And with climate change, the lack of an effective vaccine, and federal research cuts, they worry the disease will become endemic to a larger swath of North America. About 3,700 new dengue infections were reported last year in the contiguous United States, up from about 2,050 in 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. All of last year's cases were acquired abroad, except for 105 cases contracted in Florida, California or Texas. The CDC issued a health alert in March warning of the ongoing risk of dengue infection. 'I think dengue is here with us to stay,' said infectious disease specialist Michael Ben-Aderet, associate medical director of hospital epidemiology at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, about dengue becoming a new normal in the U.S. 'These mosquitoes aren't going anywhere.' Dengue is endemic — a label health officials assign when diseases appear consistently in a region — in many warmer parts of the world, including Latin America, India and Southeast Asia. Dengue cases increased markedly last year in many of those places, especially in Central and South America. The disease, which can spread when people are bitten by infected Aedes mosquitoes, was not common in the contiguous United States for much of the last century. Today, most locally acquired (meaning unrelated to travel) dengue cases in the U.S. happen in Puerto Rico, which saw a sharp increase in 2024, triggering a local public health emergency. Most people who contract dengue don't get sick. But in some people symptoms are severe: bleeding from the nose or mouth, intense stomach pain, vomiting, and swelling. Occasionally, dengue causes death. MORE: Dengue fever on the rise. What to know about the mosquito-borne illness in Florida California offers a case study in how dengue is spreading in the U.S. The Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes that transmit dengue weren't known to be in the state 25 years ago. They are now found in 25 counties and more than 400 cities and unincorporated communities, mostly in Southern California and the Central Valley. The spread of the mosquitoes is concerning because their presence increases the likelihood of disease transmission, said Steve Abshier, president of the Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California. From 2016 through 2022, there were an average of 136 new dengue cases a year in California, each case most likely brought to the state by someone who had traveled and been infected elsewhere. In 2023, there were about 250 new cases, including two acquired locally. In 2024, California saw 725 new dengue cases, including 18 acquired locally, state data shows. Climate change could contribute to growth in the Aedes mosquitoes' population, Ben-Aderet said. These mosquitoes survive best in warm urban areas, often biting during the daytime. Locally acquired infections often occur when someone catches dengue during travel, then comes home and is bitten by an Aedes mosquito that bites and infects another person. 'They've just been spreading like wildfire throughout California,' Ben-Aderet said. Dengue presents a challenge to the many primary care doctors who have never seen it. Ben-Aderet said doctors who suspect dengue should obtain a detailed travel history from their patients, but confirming the diagnosis is not always quick. 'There's no easy test for it,' he said. 'The only test that we have for dengue is antibody tests.' He added that 'most labs probably aren't doing it commercially, so it's usually like a send-out test from most labs. So you really have to suspect someone has dengue.' Best practices for avoiding dengue include eliminating any standing pools of water on a property — even small pools — and using mosquito repellent, Abshier said. Limiting activity at dusk and dawn, when mosquitoes bite most often, can also help. Efforts to combat dengue in California became even more complicated this year after wildfires ripped through Los Angeles. The fires occurred in a hot spot for mosquito-borne illnesses. San Gabriel Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District officials have worked for months to treat more than 1,400 unmaintained swimming pools left in the wake of fire, removing potential breeding grounds for mosquitoes. San Gabriel vector control officials have used local and state resources to treat the pools, said district spokesperson Anais Medina Diaz. They have applied for reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has not historically paid for vector control efforts following wildfires. In California, vector control agencies are often primarily funded by local taxes and fees on property owners. Some officials are pursuing the novel method of releasing sterilized Aedes mosquitoes to reduce the problem. That may prove effective, but deploying the method in a large number of areas would be costly and would require a massive effort at the state level, Abshier said. Meanwhile, the federal government is pulling back on interventions: Several outlets have reported that the National Institutes of Health will stop funding new climate change-related research, which could include work on dengue. This year, reported rates of dengue in much of the Americas have declined significantly from 2024. But the trend in the United States likely won't be clear until later in the year, after the summer mosquito season ends. Health and vector control researchers aren't sure how bad it will get in California. Some say there may be limited outbreaks, while others predict dengue could get much worse. Sujan Shresta, a professor and infectious disease researcher at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology, said other places, like Nepal, experienced relatively few cases of dengue in the recent past but now regularly see large outbreaks. There is a vaccine for children, but it faces discontinuation from a lack of global demand. Two other dengue vaccines are unavailable in the United States. Shresta's lab is hard at work on an effective, safe vaccine for dengue. She hopes to release results from animal testing in a year or so; if the results are positive, human trials could be possible in about two years. 'If there's no good vaccine, no good antivirals, this will be a dengue-endemic country,' she said. Phillip Reese is a data reporting specialist and an associate professor of journalism at California State University-Sacramento. This article was produced by KFF Health News, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.
Hans India
03-07-2025
- Health
- Hans India
Dengue fever surges in US states prompt health officials to brace for new normal
Sacramento (United States): Health officials across the US states of California, Florida and Texas confront an alarming reality with nearly doubling dengue fever cases nationwide, signalling the mosquito-borne disease may become a permanent fixture in communities, according to health news. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 3,700 new dengue infections were reported last year in the contiguous United States, up from about 2,050 in 2023, KFF Health News reported on Wednesday. It added that the surge included 105 cases contracted in California, Florida or Texas -- infections acquired locally rather than through international travel. California witnessed the most dramatic escalation. In 2024, California saw 725 new dengue cases, including 18 acquired locally, reports Xinhua news agency, citing state data. This represented a nearly threefold increase from about 250 new cases, including two acquired locally, in 2023. The disease spreads through bites from infected Aedes mosquitoes, which have expanded their territory aggressively. The Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes that transmit dengue were not known to be in the Golden State 25 years ago. They are now found in 25 counties and more than 400 cities and unincorporated communities, mostly in Southern California and the Central Valley. Michael Ben-Aderet, associate medical director of hospital epidemiology at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, was quoted as saying that he believed dengue fever had become a "new normal" in the United States, emphasising that the mosquito population would continue to persist. Climate change fueled the mosquito population's growth, as these mosquitoes survive best in warm urban areas, often biting during the daytime, according to Ben-Aderet. The CDC issued a health alert in March warning of the ongoing risk of dengue infection.
The Star
02-07-2025
- Health
- The Star
Dengue fever surges in U.S. states prompt health officials to brace for new normal
SACRAMENTO, United States, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Health officials across the U.S. states of California, Florida and Texas confront an alarming reality with nearly doubling dengue fever cases nationwide, signaling the mosquito-borne disease may become a permanent fixture in communities, KFF Health News reported Wednesday. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 3,700 new dengue infections were reported last year in the contiguous United States, up from about 2,050 in 2023, the report said, adding the surge included 105 cases contracted in California, Florida or Texas -- infections acquired locally rather than through international travel. California witnessed the most dramatic escalation. In 2024, California saw 725 new dengue cases, including 18 acquired locally, state data showed. This represented a nearly threefold increase from about 250 new cases, including two acquired locally, in 2023. The disease spreads through bites from infected Aedes mosquitoes, which have expanded their territory aggressively. The Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes that transmit dengue were not known to be in the Golden State 25 years ago. They are now found in 25 counties and more than 400 cities and unincorporated communities, mostly in Southern California and the Central Valley. Michael Ben-Aderet, associate medical director of hospital epidemiology at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, was quoted as saying that he believed dengue fever had become a "new normal" in the United States, emphasizing that the mosquito population would continue to persist. Climate change fueled the mosquito population's growth, as these mosquitoes survive best in warm urban areas, often biting during the daytime, according to Ben-Aderet. The CDC issued a health alert in March warning of the ongoing risk of dengue infection.
Observer
25-02-2025
- Health
- Observer
Can supplements actually boost your immune system?
While perusing the supplement aisle, you'll likely pass bottles of pills and gummies claiming to boost your immune system. And if you've ever felt tempted to try them, you're far from alone: Recent research suggests that millions of Americans have used dietary supplements for those supposed benefits. The new study was published last week in JAMA Network Open and included more than 15,000 participants. It found that about 1 in 9 U.S. residents used supplements to enhance their immune systems between January 2017 and March 2020. 'It comes up all the time,' said Dr. Michael Ben-Aderet, the associate medical director of hospital epidemiology at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles who wasn't involved with the study. 'There's really this sense of people trying to optimize their health.' Many people also used the supplements without a doctor's recommendation, the researchers found. But infectious disease doctors, researchers and supplement experts say there isn't much evidence that these products actually help. What does the science say? Supplements claiming to support immunity often contain vitamins and minerals necessary for the immune system. So it isn't unreasonable to believe that these products could help you sidestep common viral infections or lessen symptoms once you've become sick. In fact, some nutrients such as vitamins A, C, D and zinc are needed to protect against germs, and deficiencies in them raise your risk of becoming sick, said Dr. Mahtab Jafari, a professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of California, Irvine. However, most people in the United States get the vitamins and minerals they need through a balanced diet, said Ben-Aderet. For those people, there isn't compelling evidence that supplements are useful, he added. There are thousands of supplements claiming to help the immune system. Some contain just one vitamin or mineral, and others are packed with a hodgepodge of ingredients. Vitamin D, vitamin C and zinc are among the most studied and prevalent ingredients, experts said, and the benefits still aren't conclusive. Research suggesting that vitamin D supplements treat viral infections like the common cold or reduce the risk of them is inconsistent. A 2020 review found that the supplements didn't protect against viruses in people with normal or high levels of vitamin D. A 2021 review involving nearly 50,000 participants, however, found that vitamin D supplements slightly reduced the risk of acute respiratory infections. (But the review involved authors who have received funding from supplement companies.) The evidence is similarly unconvincing for vitamin C and zinc. A 2013 review from the Cochrane Library involving more than 11,000 participants found that vitamin C supplements failed to reduce the risk of catching a cold in the general population, though it sometimes shortened how long the illness lasted. And a 2024 Cochrane review involving more than 8,000 participants found that zinc supplements did next to nothing to prevent the common cold, though it may have reduced duration. Plants like elderberry and echinacea are also used in immune system supplements. But unlike vitamins and minerals, botanicals aren't essential for immune health, and there's even less reliable research on whether they help prevent or treat common viruses, said Dr. Jen Wall Forrester, senior medical director of infection prevention at UC Health in Cincinnati. 'I wish there was a magic bullet,' she said, but immunity is complex, and supplements are unlikely to single-handedly change how it works. Why don't we know if they help? It's hard to firmly state the benefits of immune system supplements because there are few high-quality randomized clinical trials, the gold standard of medical research, assessing their effectiveness, said Dr. Pieter Cohen, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School who studies dietary supplement safety. And dietary supplements aren't approved by the Food and Drug Administration before hitting the market. This means companies can sell products containing ingredients that haven't been rigorously tested to offer benefits, Cohen said, and they generally don't have to prove to the FDA that their products contain what they claim. A 2022 study analyzing 30 supplements marketed to support the immune system found that more than half had inaccurate labels, 13 were misbranded and nine contained ingredients not listed on the label. What's the bottom line? 'You need to have a really healthy dose of skepticism when you're pulling something off the shelf,' Ben-Aderet said. But if you want to give supplements a try, check for high-quality third-party seals of approval from organizations such as U.S. Pharmacopeia or NSF, which test the quality of dietary supplements, Jafari said. Also scan the FDA's website to see if the agency has ever issued a warning letter to the supplement company for misleading claims or poor manufacturing, she added. And talk to a health care provider before taking supplements. They can test your blood for deficiencies, inform you of side effects and unsafe dosages, and let you know whether some supplements could dangerously interact with medications you take, Wall Forrester said. If your doctor says the supplement you want to try is generally safe, you 'could just try it out,' Wall Forrester said, 'but you might be wasting your money.' This article originally appeared in
New York Times
24-02-2025
- Health
- New York Times
Can Supplements Actually Boost Your Immune System?
While perusing the supplement aisle, you'll likely pass bottles of pills and gummies claiming to boost your immune system. And if you've ever felt tempted to try them, you're far from alone: Recent research suggests that millions of Americans have used dietary supplements for those supposed benefits. The new study was published last week in JAMA Network Open and included more than 15,000 participants. It found that about one in nine U.S. residents used supplements to enhance their immune systems between January 2017 and March 2020. 'It comes up all the time,' said Dr. Michael Ben-Aderet, the associate medical director of hospital epidemiology at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles who wasn't involved with the study. 'There's really this sense of people trying to optimize their health.' Many people also used the supplements without a doctor's recommendation, the researchers found. But infectious disease doctors, researchers, and supplement experts say there isn't much evidence that these products actually help. What does the science say? Supplements claiming to support immunity often contain vitamins and minerals necessary for the immune system. So it isn't unreasonable to believe that these products could help you sidestep common viral infections or lessen symptoms once you've become sick. In fact, some nutrients such as vitamins A, C, D and zinc are needed to protect against germs, and deficiencies in them raise your risk of becoming sick, said Dr. Mahtab Jafari, a professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of California, Irvine. However, most people in the United States get the vitamins and minerals they need through a balanced diet, said Dr. Ben-Aderet. For those people, there isn't compelling evidence that supplements are useful, he added. There are thousands of supplements claiming to help the immune system. Some contain just one vitamin or mineral, and others are packed with a hodgepodge of ingredients. Vitamin D, vitamin C and zinc are among the most studied and prevalent ingredients, experts said, and the benefits still aren't conclusive. Research suggesting that vitamin D supplements treat viral infections like the common cold or reduce the risk of them is inconsistent. A 2020 review found that the supplements didn't protect against viruses in people with normal or high levels of vitamin D. A 2021 review involving nearly 50,000 participants, however, found that vitamin D supplements slightly reduced the risk of acute respiratory infections. (But the review involved authors who have received funding from supplement companies.) The evidence is similarly unconvincing for vitamin C and zinc. A 2013 review from the Cochrane Library involving more than 11,000 participants found that vitamin C supplements failed to reduce the risk of catching a cold in the general population, though it sometimes shortened how long the illness lasted. And a 2024 Cochrane review involving more than 8,000 participants found that zinc supplements did next to nothing to prevent the common cold, though it may have reduced duration. Plants like elderberry and echinacea are also used in immune system supplements. But unlike vitamins and minerals, botanicals aren't essential for immune health, and there's even less reliable research on whether they help prevent or treat common viruses, said Dr. Jen Wall Forrester, senior medical director of infection prevention at UC Health in Cincinnati. 'I wish there was a magic bullet,' she said, but immunity is complex, and supplements are unlikely to single-handedly change how it works. Why don't we know if they help? It's hard to firmly state the benefits of immune system supplements because there are few high-quality randomized clinical trials, the gold standard of medical research, assessing their effectiveness, said Dr. Pieter Cohen, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School who studies dietary supplement safety. And dietary supplements aren't approved by the Food and Drug Administration before hitting the market. This means companies can sell products containing ingredients that haven't been rigorously tested to offer benefits, Dr. Cohen said, and they generally don't have to prove to the F.D.A. that their products contain what they claim. A 2022 study analyzing 30 supplements marketed to support the immune system found that more than half had inaccurate labels, 13 were misbranded and nine contained ingredients not listed on the label. What's the bottom line? 'You need to have a really healthy dose of skepticism when you're pulling something off the shelf,' Dr. Ben-Aderet said. But if you want to give supplements a try, check for high-quality third-party seals of approval from organizations such as U.S. Pharmacopeia or NSF, which test the quality of dietary supplements, Dr. Jafari said. Also scan the F.D.A.'s website to see if the agency has ever issued a warning letter to the supplement company for misleading claims or poor manufacturing, she added. And talk to a health care provider before taking supplements. They can test your blood for deficiencies, inform you of side effects and unsafe dosages, and let you know whether some supplements could dangerously interact with medications you take, Dr. Wall Forrester said. If your doctor says the supplement you want to try is generally safe, you 'could just try it out,' Dr. Wall Forrester said, 'but you might be wasting your money.'
