TIME Health is reporting that the first measles deaths of the year have occurred in the U.S., with two unvaccinated individuals in Pennsylvania succumbing to the disease. It said these are the first measles-associated deaths in Pennsylvania in 35 years. Health experts are concerned by rising measles cases and recent anti-vaccine rhetoric, including comments from President Donald Trump regarding the MMR vaccine, despite its strong safety record.
A new study finds that the registered prevalence of autism in Sweden increased by approximately 800% from 2001 to 2020. The study also noted a decrease in the share of diagnosed individuals with an intellectual disability, suggesting a broadening of autism's diagnostic criteria.
Regarding public restroom hand dryers, TIME Health addressed a reader's question about their sanitation. Catherine Troisi, an infectious disease epidemiologist at UTHealth Houston, said that for most healthy people, hand dryers are not a significant concern. Research on hand dryers has yielded conflicting results, with some studies finding higher bacterial counts after warm-air drying compared to paper towels, while others found no significant difference. Troisi emphasized that most bacteria and viruses do not cause illness and that epidemiologists would expect to see evidence of widespread illness if hand dryers were a major problem. She advised thorough washing with soap and water and complete drying, noting that damp hands can foster bacterial growth. Paper towels may be preferable in clinical settings, but for the average healthy person, hand dryer use is not a cause for alarm.
TIME is reporting that country music superstar Dolly Parton has died at age 80. Good Morning America reports on the breakthrough use of genetic genealogy to identify a victim of the 9/11 attacks 25 years later. Additionally, a large new study suggests that alpha-gal syndrome, a red-meat allergy triggered by tick bites, may complicate certain blood transfusions.