Legionnaires Disease Outbreaks

Caused by an infection of the bacteria Legionella, Legionnaires Disease is a respiratory illness which manifests as a severe form of pneumonia. Source: Adobe

At this time of the year, respiratory diseases are a concern and occupy a prominent place in the news. While COVID-19 and flu are recurring topics of media discussion, other illnesses are also emerging as noteworthy. Recently, there have been outbreaks of Legionnaires Disease in various corners of the world. Due to how Legionnaires Disease… Continue reading Legionnaires Disease Outbreaks

COVID-19 Infection Rate Sparks Return to Some Restrictions

In the last week, the CDC reported COVID hospitalizations have risen by another 21.6%

Roughly a year after President Biden assured the nation that the COVID-19 pandemic was effectively over, rising transmission and hospitalization rates have motivated some businesses and institutions to return to masking and distancing. While COVID-19 numbers are nowhere near their peak levels, sharp increases are a cause for concern, and both individuals and businesses should… Continue reading COVID-19 Infection Rate Sparks Return to Some Restrictions

COVID-19 Update: January 2023

Jan 6 2023 in Shanghai. With hospitals overwhelmed, patients are being treated in every available space. Image courtesy of Washington Post.

As we move into 2023, the situation globally continues to evolve. The COVID-19 pandemic is likewise changing rapidly, and in some ways, that wasn’t fully anticipated as the previous year came to a close. As new trends, data, and circumstances emerge, projections and guidelines around COVID-19 will need to change, update, and adapt. Similarly, the… Continue reading COVID-19 Update: January 2023

New COVID-19 Booster Shots

On August 31, 2022, the US Food and Drug Administration amended the emergency use authorizations of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines. This amendment authorized bivalent formulations of the vaccines for use as a single booster dose. This blog aims to detail how the new COVID-19 booster shots differ from previous formulas, the effectiveness and… Continue reading New COVID-19 Booster Shots

What You Need to Know About the Omicron “Stealth Variant”

Since the pandemic’s start, the SARS-CoV-2 virus has infected 392 million people and caused 5.7 million deaths worldwide. The highly transmissible omicron variant, first discovered in November 2021, accounts for nearly all active coronavirus infections globally. Recently, headlines have appeared around a new and more powerful subvariant to omicron. The subvariant, also known as the… Continue reading What You Need to Know About the Omicron “Stealth Variant”

Spectators barred from the Olympics due to COVID-19 risk

  Nestled amid a global pandemic, athletes from 206 countries are making their way to Japan to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.  Not the first Games to be affected by widespread health concerns: although the novel Zika virus was a concern during the 2016 Rio Olympics, the  World Health Organization (WHO) announced at… Continue reading Spectators barred from the Olympics due to COVID-19 risk

COVID-19 ONE YEAR LATER, Part I: The Best and Worst Handlings of the COVID-19 Crisis

This chart shows countries/territories ranked by ability to respond to an epidemic/pandemic in 2019. Source: Statista

On January 10, 2020, VIGILINT first reported a new strain of a coronavirus connected to a cluster of pneumonia cases linked to Wuhan, China. No one could have predicted the year that would follow. As of publishing, worldwide cases have reached 104 million with 2.27 million deaths. VIGILINT looks back at the critical events that… Continue reading COVID-19 ONE YEAR LATER, Part I: The Best and Worst Handlings of the COVID-19 Crisis

COVID-19 Update: Vaccine Distribution

A woman receives her first vaccine shot at Duke Health.

The Trump administration is reversing its COVID-19 vaccination strategy by authorizing the release of Pfizer-BioNtech and Moderna’s federally stockpiled vaccines. The previous policy withheld half the purchased doses to ensure the supply necessary for second doses, and states could only receive vaccines based on their adult population size. The new distribution strategy unveiled yesterday is intended… Continue reading COVID-19 Update: Vaccine Distribution

COVID-19 Update: On the Single Deadliest Day of the Pandemic – LA County is Hardest Hit

The Situation in Los Angeles Yesterday was the single deadliest day of the pandemic with 4,000 deaths, and nowhere is harder hit than Los Angeles County. Cases have spiked drastically since December, with 809,052 cases and 10,739 deaths. Deaths were occurring every 8 minutes yesterday.  The California Department of Health rates LA county as Tier 1:… Continue reading COVID-19 Update: On the Single Deadliest Day of the Pandemic – LA County is Hardest Hit

COVID-19 Update: Mutated Strain Found in Minks

New SARS-CoV-2 Strain Found in Northern Europe’s Mink Population On November 5, 2020, Denmark reported 12 human cases of COVID-19 caused by a mutated SARS-CoV-2 strain carried by minks. Minks are a semi-aquatic mammal closely related to the weasel, otter, and ferret. Six other countries have reported outbreaks at mink farms including the Netherlands, Spain,… Continue reading COVID-19 Update: Mutated Strain Found in Minks

Flu Season & the Pandemic: Twindemic or a Manageable Crisis?

Image: Verywell / Lara Antal

As of September 17, 2020, there are over 29.9 million COVID-19 cases and 941,000 deaths worldwide. The United States leads the count with over 6.65 million cases and 197,000 deaths. The influential model from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation projects there could be approximately 415,000 COVID-19 deaths by January 1, 2021 in the… Continue reading Flu Season & the Pandemic: Twindemic or a Manageable Crisis?

COVID-19 Update: Convalescent Plasma

Guillermo Legaria/Getty Images

On Sunday, August 23, the US Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for convalescent plasma as a treatment for hospitalized COVID-19 patients citing “known and potential benefits of the product outweigh the known and potential risks of the product.” The EUA would effectively enable physicians to treat COVID-19 patients… Continue reading COVID-19 Update: Convalescent Plasma