ICE detention centers saw sustained outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, says study

More than a dozen U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers experienced large, repeated outbreaks of vaccine-preventable illnesses in the last three years, according to a new study by researchers at UC San Francisco. Between Jan. 1, 2017, and March 22, 2020, the researchers identified 1,280 cases of influenza, 1,052 cases of chickenpox, and…

Stronger treatments could cure Chagas disease

Researchers in the University of Georgia’s Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases have found that a more intensive, less frequent drug regimen with currently available therapeutics could cure the infection that causes Chagas disease, a potentially life-threatening illness affecting up to 300,000 people in the United States. Trypanosoma cruzi is a single-celled parasitic organism…

Shot of alcohol can help an irregular heartbeat

Research out in this week’s issue of JAMA confirms the success of a treatment for persistent atrial fibrillation (AFib) that combines the standard treatment, catheter ablation, with a separate infusion of ethanol, or alcohol, to the vein of Marshall. Miguel Valderrabano, M.D., division chief, cardiac electrophysiology, Houston Methodist, designed the procedure, first using it successfully…