In the Press

Damp buildings often have a moldy smell or obvious mold growth; some molds are human pathogens. This has caused concern regarding health effects of moldy indoor environments and has resulted in many studies of moisture- and mold-damaged buildings.

Just weeks after the detection of monkeypox in two separate case clusters in the United Kingdom, at least eight European countries, as well as Canada, the United States, and Australia, now have confirmed cases of the virus.

Synoptic weather and ambient air quality synergistically influence human health. We report the relative risk of mortality from all non-accidental, respiratory-, and cardiovascular-related causes, associated with exposure to four air pollutants, by weather type and season, in 10 major Canadian cities for 1981 through 1999.

A large UK study in BMJ suggests that COVID-19 vaccination after infection lowers the odds of persistent symptoms, with a 12.8% initial decline after the first dose and an 8.8% drop after the second—although the long-term effects are unclear.

As global monkeypox cases top 2,500, the World Health Organization (WHO) posted a monkeypox update and removed the distinction between endemic and non-endemic nations to reflect a "unified response."

Human monkeypox is a zoonotic Orthopoxvirus with a presentation similar to smallpox. Clinical differentiation of the disease from smallpox and varicella is difficult.

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic caused substantial changes to healthcare delivery and antibiotic prescribing beginning in March 2020. To assess pandemic impact on Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) rates, we described patients and trends in facility-level incidence, testing rates, and percent positivity during 2019–2020 in a large cohort of US hospitals.

On 11 May 2022, Germany notified WHO of one laboratory-confirmed human case of infection with a swine-origin influenza A(H1N1) virus in North Rhine-Westphalia, in the west of Germany. The case was detected during routine sentinel surveillance for influenza.

Monkeypox is a rare zoonotic disease that is caused by the monkeypox virus, belonging to the Orthopoxvirus genus, which also includes the variola virus (causes smallpox) (1).

US officials have confirmed a case of monkeypox in a Massachusetts resident who had recently traveled to Canada, where health officials are investigating 17 cases in the Montreal area.