Health

(NEW YORK) — As mosquito season continues, public health officials in the U.S. have been tracking several different illnesses caused by the pesky flying insect.

Health officials are reporting at least eighteen deaths from West Nile virus in the U.S. this year, with three recent deaths recorded in Wisconsin and Illinois. There have been six cases of eastern equine encephalitis (EEE), including one person who died after testing positive for the virus, as well as dengue cases recorded in several states. The viruses that cause all three illnesses are transmitted to humans via mosquito bite.

“What we’ve seen is a rapid uptake in certain viruses that haven’t been in the limelight in recent years. Both West Nile virus and ‘triple E,’ which is eastern equine encephalitis, have had an uptick, particularly post-COVID,” Dr. Larry Han, an assistant professor of public health and health sciences at Northeastern University in Boston, told ABC News.

“There’s also been a rise in dengue relative to what we’ve seen in recent years. And so, these ‘triple threats,’ you might say, have led to more attention and more worry among the general populace.”

Experts who spoke with ABC News said some of the uptick is due to the “randomness” regarding which seasons have a greater number of cases than others, coupled with the general rise in mosquito-borne viruses during the summer and early fall months.

Here are some ways to tell the difference between West Nile, EEE, and dengue. However, if you’re concerned you might have contracted any of these viruses, you should contact your doctor immediately.

How common are West Nile, EEE and dengue?

West Nile virus is the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the contiguous United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It was first identified in the Western Hemisphere in August 1999 after people were diagnosed in New York City.

Dengue viruses are spread through bites from infected Aedes species mosquitoes, mostly found in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, according to the CDC. These mosquitoes are also responsible for spreading Zika and chikungunya viruses.

“It would be very rare to see dengue cases unless you lived in more tropical climates, so you might see this in Florida, some Southern states along the East Coast, but, for example, you would nearly never see this in Massachusetts or in the Midwest or West,” Han said.

Comparatively, EEE is quite rare, with only a few cases reported in the U.S. every year. However, similar to dengue, most cases occur in the Eastern or Gulf Coast states, according to the CDC.

What are the symptoms?

The majority of people with West Nile virus do not present with symptoms, but about one in five will experience fever along with headaches, body aches, joint pain, diarrhea, vomiting, or a rash. Symptoms typically disappear in a week or less for most people but weakness and fatigue may last for weeks or months. For some people, however, the disease can progress to something far more concerning.

“About one out of 150 of those people that develop signs and symptoms can actually develop a more severe disease, like West Nile encephalitis, where we have the swelling of the brain that could potentially be fatal,” Dr. Thomas Duszynski, director of epidemiology education at the Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, told ABC News.

Similarly, about one in four people who contract dengue develop symptoms lasting two to seven days, but symptoms are usually mild and may include fever, rash, nausea, vomiting, muscle pain, joint pain and bone pain.

Duszynski explained that most U.S. dengue cases are typically seen among people who contract it while traveling abroad, where dengue is endemic or where cases are more common, and who then bring the virus back to the U.S. Because dengue’s symptoms are not specific to the virus, they’re often confused with other illnesses, according to the CDC.

Most people who are infected with EEE show either mild symptoms or no symptoms at all, according to the CDC. However, severe cases typically present with fever, headache, chills and vomiting.

Like West Nile virus, EEE also can progress to a more severe condition, like encephalitis or meningitis, the latter of which is swelling of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord. Many survivors can experience ongoing neurologic problems, including convulsions, paralysis and intellectual disability. About 30% of encephalitis cases caused by EEE result in death.

“I think the mortality risk if one were to contract dengue or West Nile virus would be very low. For EEE, it’s the opposite; it’s very high,” Han said.

Treatments and vaccines

There are no disease-specific treatments for any of the viruses. The CDC recommends rest, fluids, and over-the-counter medications to relieve symptoms. Patients with severe illness often need to be hospitalized and receive additional supportive treatments, such as intravenous fluids.

There also are no vaccines available for West Nile or EEE. However, a dengue vaccine is available in the U.S. and is FDA approved for children between ages 9 and 16 who have a laboratory-confirmed previous dengue virus infection and who live in areas where dengue is endemic.

The vaccine also is available in Puerto Rico and is part of the territory’s routine childhood immunization schedule, the CDC said.

Dengue can be caused by dengue virus strains 1, 2, 3 or 4, with a person being infected multiple times over the course of their life, Duszynski told ABC News, so a vaccine may be able to help prevent infection from a different strain.

“If I got infected with one strain, if I get bit by this mosquito with the same strain, I’m probably going to be okay,’ he said. “But it’s those three other strains that are out there that … I could get infected with even though I had strain 1.”

How to best protect yourself from infection

There are no differences when it comes to protecting yourself from dengue, EEE or West Nile virus, the experts told ABC News. Prevention methods include using effective mosquito repellents, wearing long-sleeve shirts and long pants when outside, and staying in places with air conditioning, when possible. The CDC also recommends emptying containers of still or stagnant water, to eliminate places where mosquitos can breed.

“The single deadliest [animal] to the human species has been the mosquito,” Han said. “So, while we might think of sharks or we might think of lions or tigers, it’s really the mosquito that has led to the devastation of the human population multiple times throughout history.”

“I’m not saying that we should kill off all mosquitoes, because they play an important role in ecology, but there are various new techniques and strategies people are thinking about to combat mosquito-borne viruses and illnesses,” Han continued. “I’m hopeful that we can make mosquito borne viruses less of a threat to humanity.”

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(LONDON) — A mass polio vaccination campaign is underway in Gaza to inoculate children after the first case in 25 years was recently detected in the strip.

Several organizations — including the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health and other partners — began the campaign on Sunday in central Gaza, where the case was confirmed.

The WHO has sent more than 1 million vaccine doses with the goal of vaccinating more than 640,000 children under age 10. The campaign will be rolled out in three-day phases each in central, southern and northern Gaza, according to Dr. Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the Palestinian territory,

The UN estimates that in 2022, polio vaccination coverage, conducted through routine immunization, was at 99%.

However, since the outbreak of the war, this percentage has fallen. According to the latest WHO-UNICEF routine immunization (WUENIC) report, the number is estimated to be at 89% in 2023 due to the number of newborns not vaccinated.

Israel has agreed to limited pauses in the fighting, for about six hours a day, to facilitate the campaign, according to the WHO.

Children will receive two drops of novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2), which has been used for outbreak response under the WHO’s Emergency Use Listing approval since March 2021.

“We are targeting 157,000 children under 10 [in central Gaza]. We will do it for three consecutive days and, if needed, we’ll add a day,” Peeperkorn said on Sunday.

The vaccination will target 138 different sites including hospitals, medical points, schools and community points — including water and food distribution points — according to the WHO.

Among those participating in the vaccination campaign is the medical nonprofit MedGlobal. Five of the organization’s medical treatment points in Gaza are ready to administer vaccines.

Dr. John Kahler, a pediatrician and co-founder of MedGlobal, who has been on multiple medical missions to Gaza, said temporary pauses are not enough to fix long-term systemic issues, but this proves they can happen for critical medical situations.

“First of all, it shows how collapsed the public health system is,” he told ABC News. “But it also shows that it is possible for both sides to come to some type of a temporary — but important — agreement to permit [vaccinations] to happen.”

UNICEF said during the first full day of the vaccination campaign, 72,600 children received a dose of polio vaccine.

Poliovirus was first detected in sewage samples from Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis — in central and southern Gaza, respectively — in mid-July, in tests conducted by the Ministry of Health in coordination with the United Nations.

“The presence of the virus that causes polio … represents a new health disaster,” the ministry said in a statement at the time. “There is severe overcrowding, a scarcity of available water and its contamination with sewage water, the accumulation of tons of garbage and the occupation’s prevention of the entry of hygiene materials, which creates a suitable environment for the spread of various epidemics.”

In mid-August, the Ministry of Health reported the first case of polio in 25 years in a 10-month-old child who had not been vaccinated. Doctors suspected polio after symptoms resembled the virus, which was confirmed in test conducted in Amman, the capital of Jordan.

Kahler said the true number of polio cases is likely much higher with many that have got undetected.

“If you really do have one case of paralytic polio, you have, by definition, hundreds or more,” he said. “Remember, 90% of polio is asymptomatic. So, this is why it spreads. It’s highly contagious…Given the breakdown in the infrastructure, there will be no way of knowing how many.”

Polio largely affects children under age 5 and can lead to paralysis or death. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, there are about 341,000 children under the age of five in Gaza.

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(MADISON, Wis.) — Health officials are warning of the dangers of mosquitoes infected with West Nile virus after three recent deaths were recorded across Wisconsin and Illinois.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) confirmed on Thursday that two people have died and another was hospitalized due to the effects of the virus.

The cases were reported in Outagamie, Fond du Lac and Brown counties, according to the state’s DHS. Wisconsin officials did not release the identity of the individuals.

An average of 18 cases of illness from West Nile virus are reported in Wisconsin every year, according to DHS officials.

Earlier this week, health officials in Illinois announced the first death in the state from West Nile virus after a Lake County resident in their 80s had an onset of symptoms in mid-August and died soon after.

There were six West Nile virus deaths recorded in Illinois in 2023.

“Sadly, Illinois is reporting our first death of the year attributed to West Nile virus,” Illinois Department of Public Health director Dr. Sameer Vohra said in a statement Tuesday.

“This death — and the six that occurred last year in Illinois — are a stark reminder that West Nile virus poses a serious risk, especially to older people and those with weakened immune systems,” Vohra added.

What is West Nile virus?

West Nile virus is the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the continental United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There have been 289 human West Nile virus disease cases in 2024, according to the CDC.

Cases of the virus occur during mosquito season, which starts in the summer and continues through fall, according to the CDC. It was first introduced in the Western Hemisphere during the summer of 1999 after people were diagnosed in New York City.

Mosquitoes typically become infected with the virus after feeding on infected birds and then spread it to humans and other animals, the federal health agency said.

The majority of people with the virus do not have symptoms, but about one in five will experience fever along with headaches, body aches, joint pain, diarrhea, vomiting or a rash. Most symptoms disappear, but weakness and fatigue may last for weeks or months.

About one in 150 will develop severe disease leading to encephalitis, which is inflammation of the brain, or meningitis, which is inflammation of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord — both of which can lead to death.

To best protect yourself, the CDC suggests using insect repellant, wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants, treating clothing and gear and taking steps to control mosquitoes. This last step includes putting screens on windows and doors, using air conditioning and emptying out containers with still water.

Warnings of safety and awareness surrounding mosquito-spread illnesses are being heeded by health officials across the country.

On Tuesday, health officials in New Hampshire said a resident died from a rare but serious case of Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus, also called Triple E.

The patient was hospitalized due to severe central nervous system disease and died of their illness, according to the state’s Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS).

There have been cases reported in at least five states: Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Vermont and Wisconsin.

The U.S. averages 11 human cases of eastern equine encephalitis each year, according to the CDC.

Between 2003 and 2023, there have been at least 196 cases, including 176 hospitalizations and 79 deaths from EEE.

In Massachusetts, 10 communities were designated as being under high or critical risk of Triple E, according to the state’s Department of Public Health. Many of the areas began implementing targeted mosquito spraying to protect residents.

Similar to West Nile virus, Triple E can pose a significant health risk.

Symptoms can range from a febrile illness to more severe neurological problems, according to the CDC.

The disease is particularly dangerous if it leads to encephalitis, or inflammation in the brain, with approximately 30% of people with encephalitis dying.

Many survivors experience long-term neurological issues, according to the CDC, which notes there are no human vaccines or specific treatments available, making prevention crucial.

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(NEW YORK) — Sara Anne Willette has spent more than 1,620 days in isolation since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The New Jersey resident took health precautions in public before the pandemic because of her common variable immunodeficiency, which means she doesn’t make enough antibodies to fight infections.

Simple tasks like going for a walk down the street or taking a trip to the grocery store are laden with safety hurdles and anxiety for Willette.

Stressful tasks, like moving from Iowa to New Jersey during the pandemic for her husband’s new job, are now even more taxing. The two drove overnight to avoid crowds at gas stations and rest stops, and she’s prepared to do it again. The substantial health precautions in her day-to-day life are forcing her and her family to pack up their life once more and look for a new home in the countryside.

“I’m angry that society is largely inaccessible and I have to risk my life for the bare minimum, like medical care,” Willette told ABC News in a phone call. “Why live in civilization if all of it is completely inaccessible?”

More than four years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Willette is among the immunocompromised and disabled Americans who’ve complete changed their way of living to survive.

Her anger was tinged with disappointment as she talked about how the rest of the world has gone back to normal despite the hundreds of people across the country dying from COVID-19 each week amid a summer surge of the virus.

COVID-19 has also been a debilitating event for tens of millions of people who have or are currently experiencing long COVID, which in some cases has been defined as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

With some lawmakers beginning to propose mask bans in hopes of reducing crime, it’s no longer an option for some to live life normally among the rest of society.

Willette was among the people ABC News checked back in with after previously talking to them about isolating two years after the pandemic began.

Finding a new normal

There are simple joys that Willette misses: having a garden, running, walking, letting her dogs run without a leash and drinking coffee on a porch.

She’s planning on moving to the mountains — somewhere between New Hampshire and Virginia — and gaining enough acreage to allow her and her family to embrace the activities they lost during the pandemic. However, being alone out in the countryside isn’t the goal for Willette.

Rather, she intends to build a pathogen-aware community. That means buying enough land so other disabled, immunocompromised or health-conscious able-bodied people who don’t want to get COVID-19 can join them and create a home of their own.

“We want something that feels like normal but is set up in a way that we decrease harm for everyone in the community,” Willette said. “We can’t do that in an urban area or even in a suburban area. There are too many risks.”

Her mother and mother-in-law intend to move and join Willette, her husband and her son on the property as well.

For Charis Hill, a California resident who has a systemic inflammatory disease and takes immunosuppressive medications, it’s been hard to access an in-person doctor’s appointment since many safety precautions for COVID-19 are no longer being taken in medical care facilities.

As someone with “high-level medical needs,” the lack of COVID precautions has even made seeking routine care a challenge.

“Just the fact that a medical environment that is supposed to know what a virus can do, most medical environments no longer require masking, and that’s what makes it unsafe for people like me to go, for anybody to go,” Hill told ABC over the phone.

“The impact of the delayed care, where people can’t go get routine care, that’s going to affect the whole health care system. Emergencies happen because of delayed care.”

Despite the stress and forced isolation, they find moments of joy growing their own food in their garden, and stay busy by working to reduce the local feral cat population through Trap-Neuter-Return practices.

They break their isolation monthly to meet at a park with a close-knit circle of friends who take similar safety precautions — they’re all masked, socially distanced and have tested beforehand.

“That’s really the only way for me to meet strangers and also to make new friends,” Hill said.

Mask bans would further bar immunocompromised people from public life, according to Hill.

Such bans “make it unsafe for us to exist,” Hill noted, because people may feel pressure not to wear masks when they’re sick or if immunocompromised people are worried about backlash for doing so.

With more people testing positive for COVID this summer, and with the fall and winter virus season ahead, Hill says society’s “new normal” should involve free testing, vaccines, access to at-home antiviral therapy paxlovid and flexible hybrid working options to mitigate the spread of illnesses.

“We need a new normal, and a new normal that is equitable for everyone, and that not only prioritizes high risk people, but that also reduces infection overall,” Hill said.

COVID concerns for the immunocompromised population

Immunocompromised people — about 3% of the adult population in the U.S., according to the National Institutes of Health — continue to face potentially serious medical complications or death when it comes to COVID-19. Even for those who were not previously at risk now have seen life-changing heath impacts.

“Long COVID can happen to anyone, and I have certainly seen young, healthy, vigorous athletes have prolonged, debilitating symptoms from long COVID,” Dr. Jeannina Smith, the medical director of University of Wisconsin’s Transplant Infectious Disease Program, told ABC over the phone.

However, society has largely appeared to have moved on. The CDC stopped recording some COVID-19 related data and some politicians have proposed mask bans as a potential solution to crime.

“It takes us a step back for public health,” Hill said. “We have other pandemics that are coming, and it’s going to make it harder to reenact mask mandates if we need them in the future.”

For the immunocompromised, regular society could seem like a minefield, according to Dr. Cassandra M. Pierre, the medical director of Public Health Programs and the associate hospital epidemiologist at Boston Medical Center.

She noted that people at higher risk for complications “are still, unfortunately, in our hospitals today. We see that they have this forced risk of going on to develop critical COVID or potentially even die. This is still occurring. COVID is still happening.”

This is all happening despite a better understanding of disease transmission and the information needed to be better equipped to empower communities to protect their health, Pierre added.

Patients have been harassed or mocked for wearing masks in public, Dr. Jeannina Smith noted, despite international and national medical organizations emphasizing the importance of mask wearing as a mitigation tactic for illnesses. Hill has experienced this first hand.

“You can’t look at someone and know that they’re receiving immunosuppression for an organ transplant or an autoimmune condition, and they remain at risk,” Smith said.

“Even if you don’t have individual risk, any person can still spread COVID to someone who has higher risk,” she said. “In fact, much of the spread continues to be from asymptomatic person. The very idea that we would criminalize wanting to protect our fellow citizens is pretty horrific.”

The federal government has recently changed its tune amid the summer COVID spike and is preparing for the upcoming fall and winter season by approving and granting emergency use authorization for updated COVID-19 vaccines and restarting its free at-home COVID tests program.

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(NEW YORK) — Health officials are warning Americans about a rare insect-borne virus that has infected several travelers.

As of Aug. 16, there have been 21 cases of Oropouche virus disease, sometimes called “sloth fever,” detected among U.S. travelers returning from Cuba, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC said it wants clinicians and public health offices to be aware of the virus and to test for suspected cases, and for travelers to protect themselves from insect bites.

Here’s what you need to know about the virus:

What is ‘sloth fever’?

Oropouche virus is an arthropod-borne virus, meaning a type of virus spread to people by the bite of infected arthropods, a group of insects.

The virus is mainly spread to humans by infected culicoides prariensis, a species of biting midges, although it can be transmitted by certain mosquito species, according to the CDC.

It is sometimes called “sloth fever” because scientists investigating the virus first found it in a three-toed sloth and the virus naturally live in sloths, non-human primates and birds.

“I think that really stems from the role of sloths as hosts in that natural transmission cycle,” Dr. Chantal Vogels, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Yale School of Public Health, told ABC News. “But there’s other animals involved as well.”

Oropouche virus is endemic to the Amazon basin — including Bolivia, Colombia and Peru — and was first discovered in a human in 1955 in a febrile forest worker in a village in Trinidad and Tobago.

“The concern is that now it is spreading to Cuba and possibly elsewhere in the Caribbean, with imported cases in the U.S.,” Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told ABC News. “There is a possibility that it could gain a foothold in the southern U.S. especially in Gulf Coast states.”

What are the symptoms?

The incubation period of Oropouche virus disease is three to 10 days and matches symptoms of similar diseases including dengue, Zika and chikungunya.

Common symptoms include fever, headache, chills, muscle aches and joint pain, typically lasting about two to seven days and then disappearing.

Patients may experience other symptoms including nausea, vomiting, rash, sensitivity to light, dizziness and pain behind the eyes.

“This virus is an interesting one in that about a week later, 50% or more of people will have a recurrence of the symptoms,” Dr. Michael Angarone, an infectious diseases specialist at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, told ABC News. “So, the symptoms will recur and, again, be present for around five days to seven days and then go away. So, I think that’s a very interesting aspect of this virus.”

How is it treated?

To be diagnosed with Oropouche virus disease, a health care provider will have to order laboratory tests.

There are no vaccines to prevent or medicines to treat Oropouche virus disease. Treatment mainly involves treating the symptoms including getting rest, preventing dehydration, and taking over-the-counter pain medicine, such as acetaminophen, according to the CDC.

The CDC advises against taking aspirin or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs until dengue can be ruled out to lower the risk of bleeding.

How do I prevent the virus?

The best prevention method is to prevent bites from midges or mosquitoes. The CDC recommends using insect repellent, having tight-fitting screens on windows and doors, wearing long-sleeve shirts and pants and using a fan when outdoors.

Currently there is no evidence of local transmission in the U.S; the only cases have been travel-related.

“Here in the U.S., I think travelers should be alert,” Vogels said. “If they travel to areas where there is ongoing transmission, they should be aware of potential symptoms upon return.”

There have also been recent reports of possible vertical transmission, which is when a pregnant person passes the infection to their baby in utero. The infection may result in adverse pregnancy outcomes, including fetal deaths and congenital malformations.

“This has been demonstrated in South America, but also in, I think, a few of the cases that are being looked at now from Cuba,” Angarone said. “There have been descriptions of fetal demise, so [miscarriage] or premature labor and congenital abnormalities, they have not been confirmed to be caused by the virus or the infection, and that’s what’s being looked into.”

The experts recommend that travelers — especially those who are older or immunocompromised — exercise further precautions when traveling to prevent infection.

Those who are pregnant and are considering travel to countries with an Oropouche virus Level 2 Travel Health Notice, reconsider nonessential travel, the CDC says.

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(NEW YORK) — The U.S. surgeon general is calling for a “fundamental shift” in how the mental health and well-being of parents is supported and prioritized.

In a health advisory released Wednesday, Dr. Vivek Murthy, himself a father of two, said parents and caregivers are struggling amid a youth mental health crisis, financial difficulties, social media issues and more.

“Parents typically don’t talk about this all the time,” Murthy said in an interview that aired Wednesday on ABC News’ Good Morning America. “They tend to focus on their kids’ health and well-being, but there’s also this sense of shame and guilt, sometimes around struggling as a parent.”

Citing statistics that show parents are consistently more likely to report high levels of stress than other adults, Murthy wrote in the advisory there needs to be a culture shift and an all-hands-on-deck approach to supporting parents from employers, government agencies, health care providers and local communities.

According to the advisory, 48% of parents say most days, their stress is completely overwhelming, compared to 26% of other adults without kids.

“Supporting parents and caregivers will require a series of thoughtful policy changes and expanded community programs that will help ensure parents and caregivers can get time off to be with a sick child, secure affordable child care, access reliable mental health care, and benefit from places and initiatives that support social connection and community,” Murthy wrote. “It will also require us to rethink cultural norms around parenting.”

He continued, “Part of that will involve shifting how we value parenting. The work of raising a child is work, no less valuable than the work performed in a paid job and of extraordinary value when it comes to the impact on the future of society.”

According to the advisory, more than 60 million parents in the U.S. live with children under the age of 18.

The U.S. is currently one of seven countries globally that does not have any guaranteed form of universal paid leave, according to a petition to pass paid leave on a federal level in the U.S. that was delivered to all members of Congress in July.

Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau earlier this year found that, on average, families pay between 8% to 19% of their income per child on child care.

Kaitlyn Niles, a 34-year-old working mom of two, told GMA that she feels the pressure to balance her career and family and to meet the often unattainable standard of parenting set by society.

“There’s so much pressure on parents to spend all of this quality time with your kids, like sit on the ground and play pretend with your 4-year-old, you know,” Niles said. “And when you think about it logically, it’s like, there’s no way my mom was able to do that with six kids.”

Meanwhile, Eric Martinez, a father of two from Colorado, said he has had to learn new strategies in limiting his kids’ access to technology and social media.

“Navigating those conversations can be challenging because it’s new. It’s new for all of us,” he told GMA. “You know, we didn’t share this experience growing up. We didn’t have access to this technology when we were 7, 8, 9, 10 years old, so we’re kind of figuring this out as we go along.”

Murthy stated in this week’s advisory that the stressors parents are experiencing have made them vulnerable to the nationwide epidemic of loneliness and isolation.

“It also turns out that parents are struggling with loneliness at a much higher level than other adults, particularly single parents,” Murthy said, speaking with GMA.

In his advisory, Murthy noted that parents and caregivers should remember that it’s OK to set healthy boundaries and take time for themselves, which in turn will make them better supports for their family.

In addition, parents and caregivers are encouraged to “nurture connections” with other parents and caregivers and to seek professional mental health support when needed.

If you or someone you know are experiencing suicidal, substance use or other mental health crises, please call or text 988. You will reach a trained crisis counselor for free, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can also go to 988lifeline.org.

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(NEW YORK) — Updated COVID-19 vaccines will soon be rolled out ahead of the fall and winter season, but some Americans may not easily be able to access them.

In previous years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had a Bridge Access Program, a public-private partnership that provided free COVID-19 vaccines to adults without health insurance and adults whose insurance does not cover all COVID-19 vaccine costs.

As a result of federal funding cuts, however, the program is ending this month.

Americans who are covered by Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance will still receive the updated vaccine at no cost. The 25 to 30 million adults who do not have insurance will have to pay out of pocket to get a shot.

“The timing is really unfortunate, because we don’t yet have the 2024-25 versions of the COVID shots generally available yet, so the Bridge program will end before those are available to uninsured individuals,” Dr. Nathaniel Hupert, an associate professor of population health sciences and of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, told ABC News.

The CDC has allocated $62 million in unused vaccine contract funding for state and local programs to buy COVID vaccines for uninsured and underinsured adults to help broaden access, but details remain scant.

“Yes, there were $62 million unspent funds, but state and local health departments have been depleted since the pandemic,” Dr. Rebecca Weintraub, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and director of Better Evidence at Ariadne Labs, told ABC News. “They don’t have cash reserves to start paying in advance for this type of expensive vaccine.”

Dr. Raynard Washington, public health director of Mecklenburg County in North Carolina, said purchasing enough updated COVID vaccines will be a challenge.

There about 100,000 residents between ages 19 and 64 in Mecklenburg County who are uninsured. There are not enough local resources to purchase an adequate supply of vaccines for all those adults, Washington said.

“Even if 10% of those adults wanted to receive a vaccine or needed to receive a vaccine, that still would be several hundred thousand dollars of cost that we would not be able to be able to carry,” he told ABC News.

Washington said there are still some COVID funds available that will help cover the administration costs. However, the county cannot shoulder all of the costs, he explained.

“We are planning to purchase a limited supply but, again, it won’t be sufficient,” Washington said.

Last year, Pfizer and Moderna indicated the commercial price per dose for its vaccine would be between $110 and $130. This year, prices could be just as much or even higher.

Experts say the current prices are a huge financial burden for many Americans and simply out of reach for many uninsured adults.

“People have to make a choice about whether or not they cover the cost of health care or other basic needs,” Washington said.

For children whose parents or guardians cannot afford vaccine coverage for them, there is the federally funded Vaccines for Children Program, which provides free access to vaccines.

The experts told ABC News there is a need to establish a Vaccine for Adults Program, similar to the federal program available for children. They also recommended a pharmacy discount program to help save on the cost of vaccines for low-income or uninsured residents.

Although the lack of no-cost vaccines will be a barrier, vaccines are among the most effective tools when it comes to protecting against severe illness or hospitalization from COVID, they added.

“It still is the No. 1 best tool we have to keep people safe, healthy and alive,” Washington said. “I would certainly encourage folks — particularly those adults, children and residents who are more medically vulnerable or have underlying health conditions — to make sure that they consider vaccination when the vaccines are available, hopefully in the next several days.”

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(NEW YORK) — A New Hampshire resident died after being infected with a rare mosquito-borne disease, health officials said Tuesday.

The resident, an adult from Hempstead — near the southeastern border with Massachusetts — had tested positive for Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus (EEEV). The patient was hospitalized due to severe central nervous system disease and died of their illness, according to an update from the state’s Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS).

This is the first reported human case of EEEV in New Hampshire in a decade after three people contracted the disease in 2014, two of whom died, DHHS said.

It’s unclear when the resident, who recently passed away, first became infected with EEEV. No other details were available including name, age or sex.

In addition to the person infected with EEEV, the virus has also been found in one horse and seven mosquito batches in New Hampshire so far this summer, according to the health department.

Neighboring states have been experiencing similar threats. In Massachusetts, 10 communities were designated as being under high or critical risk of the virus, according to the state’s Department of Public Health. Many of the areas began implementing targeted mosquito spraying to protect residents.

“In New Hampshire, mosquitos transmit infections including Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus, West Nile Virus, and Jamestown Canyon Virus,” Dr. Benjamin Chan, New Hampshire’s state epidemiologist, said in a statement.

“We believe there is an elevated risk for EEEV infections this year in New England given the positive mosquito samples identified. The risk will continue into the fall until there is a hard frost that kills the mosquitos. Everybody should take steps to prevent mosquito bites when they are outdoors,” the statement continued.

EEEV is a rare but serious disease that spreads by bites from infected mosquitoes. It does not spread via touching or droplets from coughing or sneezing, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Most people who are infected either show mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. However, severe cases usually begin with fever, headache, chills and vomiting before progressing to encephalitis, which is swelling of the brain, or meningitis, which is swelling of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord.

Many survivors have ongoing neurologic problems including convulsions, paralysis and intellectual disability, and about 30% of encephalitis cases from this virus result in death.

There are no human vaccines and no treatments specifically for EEEV. The CDC says rest, fluids and over-the-counter pain medications may help relieve some symptoms.

As of Tuesday, four cases have been reported aside from the New Hampshire case — with one case each in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont and Wisconsin, according to the CDC.

The New Hampshire DHHS said residents can protect themselves by using effective mosquito repellents, wearing long-sleeve shirts and long pants when outside and avoiding outdoor activities when mosquitoes are the most active, including early in the morning and during evening hours.

Additionally, residents are advised to remove standing water from around their homes, which attracts mosquitoes, and to make sure doors and windows have tight-fitting screens.

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(NEW YORK) — A New Hampshire resident died after being infected with a rare mosquito-borne disease, health officials said Tuesday.

The resident, an adult from Hempstead — near the southeastern border with Massachusetts — had tested positive for Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus (EEEV). The patient was hospitalized due to severe central nervous system disease and died of their illness, according to an update from the state’s Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS).

This is the first reported human case of EEEV in New Hampshire in a decade after three people contracted the disease in 2014, two of whom died, DHHS said.

It’s unclear when the resident, who recently passed away, first became infected with EEEV. No other details were available including name, age or sex.

In addition to the person infected with EEEV, the virus has also been found in one horse and seven mosquito batches in New Hampshire so far this summer, according to the health department.

Neighboring states have been experiencing similar threats. In Massachusetts, 10 communities were designated as being under high or critical risk of the virus, according to the state’s Department of Public Health. Many of the areas began implementing targeted mosquito spraying to protect residents.

“In New Hampshire, mosquitos transmit infections including Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus, West Nile Virus, and Jamestown Canyon Virus,” Dr. Benjamin Chan, New Hampshire’s state epidemiologist, said in a statement.

“We believe there is an elevated risk for EEEV infections this year in New England given the positive mosquito samples identified. The risk will continue into the fall until there is a hard frost that kills the mosquitos. Everybody should take steps to prevent mosquito bites when they are outdoors,” the statement continued.

EEEV is a rare but serious disease that spreads by bites from infected mosquitoes. It does not spread via touching or droplets from coughing or sneezing, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Most people who are infected either show mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. However, severe cases usually begin with fever, headache, chills and vomiting before progressing to encephalitis, which is swelling of the brain, or meningitis, which is swelling of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord.

Many survivors have ongoing neurologic problems including convulsions, paralysis and intellectual disability, and about 30% of encephalitis cases from this virus result in death.

There are no human vaccines and no treatments specifically for EEEV. The CDC says rest, fluids and over-the-counter pain medications may help relieve some symptoms.

As of Tuesday, four cases have been reported aside from the New Hampshire case — with one case each in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont and Wisconsin, according to the CDC.

The New Hampshire DHHS said residents can protect themselves by using effective mosquito repellents, wearing long-sleeve shirts and long pants when outside and avoiding outdoor activities when mosquitoes are the most active, including early in the morning and during evening hours.

Additionally, residents are advised to remove standing water from around their homes, which attracts mosquitoes, and to make sure doors and windows have tight-fitting screens.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — People who are in need of weight loss medications but do not have insurance coverage will soon have a new way to access one of the popular medications, Zepbound.

Eli Lilly, the maker of Zepbound, announced Tuesday it will begin selling the weight loss drug directly to consumers through the company’s direct pharmacy, LillyDirect.

With a doctors’ prescription, consumers will be able to purchase Zepbound in vial forms that are about half the price of the auto-injector pre-filled pens sold in pharmacies, according to Eli Lilly CEO Dave Ricks.

A one-month supply of Zepbound at a 2.5-milligram dose will cost $349, while a one-month supply at a 5-milligram dose will cost $549, according to Ricks.

Medical professionals can start filling prescriptions for the Zepbound vials on Tuesday via LillyDirect and the vials will start shipping in the days ahead.

Ricks noted that the new option will be self-pay only and will not participate in insurance.

With insurance coverage, Zepbound can cost as low as $25 per month, but without coverage, the medication can cost more than $1,000 per month.

Consumers who purchase Zepbound through LillyDirect will have access to educational resources on how to administer the medication, according to Ricks.

Zepbound is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a weight loss management treatment for people with obesity or those who are overweight with at least one related underlying condition such as high blood pressure.

However, many private insurers and Medicare do not cover weight loss drugs used for obesity.

Zepbound contains the same active ingredient, tirzepatide, as another medication, Mounjaro, which is also made by Lilly and is FDA-approved to treat Type 2 diabetes.

Tirzepatide works by helping the pancreas increase the production of insulin to move sugar from the blood into body tissues.

It also slows down the movement of food through the stomach and curbs appetite, thereby causing weight loss.

Past clinical studies have shown users of medications used for weight loss like Zepbound and Mounjaro can lose between 5% and 20% of their body weight on the medications over time.

Medical specialists point out that using medication to lose weight also requires cardio and strength training and changing your diet to one that includes proteins and less processed foods with added sugars.

The most commonly reported side effects of medications used for weight loss are nausea and constipation, but gallbladder and pancreatic disease are also reported.

Makers of these drugs recommend having a conversation about the side effect profile and personalized risks with a health care professional before starting.

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