Health
Has a ‘quademic’ hit the US? 4 viral infections and what to know about them
Four viruses are circulating in the U.S., sparking concerns of a possible “quademic.”
Influenza, COVID-19, RSV and norovirus are all at “very high levels” around the country, according to Samuel Scarpino, director of AI and life sciences and professor of health sciences at Northeastern University in Boston.
“We are in the middle of a very serious situation with respect to circulating pathogens,” he told Fox News Digital.
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“Based on data from our national wastewater surveillance system, some parts of the country, such as Boston, seem to be entering the peak for all four diseases, but in other areas, cases are still rising,” Scarpino added.
There are vaccines currently available for COVID, flu and RSV, but not for norovirus — although there is an mRNA vaccine in development, one expert pointed out. (iStock)
Dr. Marc Siegel, clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Health and Fox News senior medical analyst, noted that it is currently peak respiratory virus season.
“It is not a ‘quad-demic,’ per se, just a lot of respiratory viruses and bacteria at once,” he said to Fox News Digital.
On top of the four viruses, Siegel warned of some bacterial outbreaks that can cause respiratory illness, such as mycoplasma, pertussis and strep.
Viruses by the numbers
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported an 18.8% positivity rate for flu tests for the week ending Jan. 11, stating that “seasonal influenza activity remains elevated across most of the country.”
There were also 11 pediatric deaths related to influenza, bringing the total to 27 deaths this season, the agency stated.
“We are in the middle of a very serious situation with respect to circulating pathogens.”
COVID-19 was at a 6.6% test positivity as of Jan. 11, with 1.3% of emergency room visits resulting in a diagnosis and 1.8% of all deaths linked to the virus, per CDC data.
RSV (respiratory syncytial virus, which is a highly contagious virus that infects the lungs, nose and throat) has a test positivity of 8.9%.
With the onset of these common seasonal viruses, one doctor said it’s important for patients to have a “great relationship” with a primary care physician. (iStock)
Cases of norovirus, more commonly known as the stomach bug, are also surging.
Between August 1 and Dec. 11, 2024, there were 495 norovirus outbreaks reported in the U.S., compared to 363 in the same time period last year, according to the CDC.
Differentiating between viruses
Kenneth Perry, MD, an emergency physician in South Carolina, said his hospital has recently seen an uptick in emergency department visits tied to these infections.
“From cough to nasal congestion and even fever, it is difficult to differentiate between the discrete viruses,” he told Fox News Digital. “For most people, knowing which virus they have is purely an academic discussion. For some patients, however, the specific virus is very important.”
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The possibility of someone having all four viruses at once is very low, Perry said — “but it’s not completely out of the realm of possibility for people to have two or even three at the same time.”
Siegel agreed that with multiple viruses circulating, it can be a challenge for practicing internists and infectious disease specialists to tell the difference.
“It is not a ‘quad-demic,’ per se, just a lot of respiratory viruses and bacteria at once,” Dr. Marc Siegel said to Fox News Digital. (iStock)
“Respiratory panels at hospitals, urgent care centers and labs can be helpful to distinguish between them,” he said.
There are combined rapid tests available that simultaneously screen for two types of influenza and COVID, Scarpino pointed out.
Potential risk factors
“Of the four viruses in widespread circulation, all post a unique risk of severe illness in the elderly,” Dr. Jacob Glanville, CEO of Centivax, a San Francisco biotechnology company, told Fox News Digital.
RSV poses unique risks for infants, experts agree.
“Of the four viruses in widespread circulation, all post a unique risk of severe illness in the elderly.”
“For young infants, breathing through their nose is imperative in order to eat, and RSV can cause severe amounts of nasal congestion,” Perry warned. This congestion can disrupt babies’ ability to consume enough calories, he added.
For norovirus, dehydration can become a “major problem,” according to Perry.
“Again, young infants who cannot have water or sports drinks to help maintain hydration can be most susceptible.”
There are combined rapid tests available that simultaneously screen for two types of influenza and COVID. (iStock)
Long COVID is a “significant concern” for most adults, according to Glanville, “as the chronic disorder is yet to be fully understood and effective treatments have yet to be developed.”
Scarpino noted that influenza has historically been a leading cause of death in the U.S.
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“Despite us being more used to worrying about COVID these days, it’s important to take the flu very seriously,” he added.
People with underlying risk factors are at a higher risk of severe illness for all four viruses, Scarpino added.
Prevention and treatment
To prevent these four circulating viruses, Glanville recommends getting vaccinated when available, avoiding contact with those who are infected, and following proper sanitation practices.
“The best thing you can do to keep from getting any of these viruses is to keep your hands clean,” Perry advised. “Washing hands especially after touching public surfaces is going to be the best way to keep from getting any of these viruses.”
“The best thing you can do to keep from getting any of these viruses is to keep your hands clean,” an emergency room physician advised. (iStock)
There are vaccines currently available for COVID, flu and RSV, but not for norovirus — although there is an mRNA vaccine in development, Scarpino pointed out.
“Even in places where cases have started falling, we’re far from being out of the woods, so there’s still time to get vaccinated,” he said.
For those who contract any of the viruses, Siegel recommends focusing on hydration, getting plenty of rest and carefully monitoring symptoms.
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People who are sick should stay home, avoid interacting directly with others and wear masks in close quarters, the doctor advised.
Perry pointed out that flu and COVID are “cyclical” in their level of severity.
“The best thing you can do to keep from getting any of these viruses is to keep your hands clean.”
“There are years when the flu virus is very mild, and others when it is more virulent,” he told Fox News Digital. “The same goes for COVID, as we saw with the different variants that were present throughout the pandemic.”
With the onset of these common seasonal viruses, Perry said it’s important for patients to have a “great relationship” with a primary care physician.
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“This way, their risk category is well-known to their doctor and they can easily get the correct care for their health, even if they get one of these viruses.”
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A new injectable therapy is showing positive results in reducing melanoma throughout a five-year period.
The personalized mRNA cancer therapy, called intismeran autogene, combined with the cancer immunotherapy drug KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab), is a collaboration between Merck and Moderna.
The results from the phase 2b KEYNOTE-942 study were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago on May 27.
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After about a five-year follow-up, the combo drug was found to reduce the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 49% compared to pembrolizumab alone.
The researchers analyzed data from 157 patients with high-risk stage 3 and 4 melanoma whose cancer had been removed via surgery. The participants were split into two groups — one received the combo therapy and the other only received pembrolizumab, according to a press release.
The therapy was found to reduce the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 49% compared to pembrolizumab alone after a five-year follow-up. (iStock)
The findings revealed that the combination group saw benefits that were “sustained and durable over time.”
Intismeran autogene is designed using mutations identified in a patient’s own tumor, with the intention of teaching the immune system what the cancer looks like so that it can recognize and attack it.
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According to the researchers, intismeran is “well-tolerated” with a “manageable” safety profile.
The most commonly cited side effects of the personalized mRNA vaccine plus KEYTRUDA were fatigue, injection-site pain, chills, fever and headache. The researchers reported no new long-term safety concerns and no severe vaccine-related adverse events.
The combination therapy is currently being evaluated in a phase 3 study — the final confirmation stage.
Patients with late-stage melanoma have a “significant risk” of cancer recurrence, according to an expert. (iStock)
In a Merck press release from January, Kyle Holen, MD, Moderna’s senior vice president and head of development, oncology and therapeutics, noted that this data highlights the “potential of a prolonged benefit … in patients with resected high-risk melanoma.”
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“We continue to invest in our platform in oncology because of encouraging outcomes like these, which illustrate mRNA’s potential in cancer care,” he said.
Dr. Marjorie Green, senior vice president and head of oncology, global clinical development at Merck Research Laboratories, also commented that for many patients with stage 3 or 4 melanoma, there is a “significant risk of recurrence following surgery.”
Researchers confirmed that the combination therapy is currently being evaluated in a phase 3 study. (iStock)
“As such, demonstrating the longer-term potential of intismeran autogene and KEYTRUDA to reduce the risk of recurrence for certain patients with melanoma is a meaningful milestone,” she said.
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The company cited encouraging five-year follow-up data and pointed to upcoming late-stage INTerpath trial results with Moderna in several hard-to-treat cancers.
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An accidental lab discovery has opened the door to entirely new ways of preventing the flu.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells, SWNS reported.
By targeting the specific molecules the viruses rely on, scientists found that they could block them from entering new cells and halt their replication altogether.
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Researchers say these “fundamental insights” into seasonal influenza highlight a clear path toward developing better preventive medications.
“The hope is that fundamental, curiosity-based research like this helps to pave the way for novel strategies to treat and prevent influenza infections,” principal investigator Dr. Emily Bruce, from the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, said in the SWNS report.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells. (iStock)
While several flu strains cause illness, H1N1 and H3N2 influenza A viruses are the most common. However, current flu tests cannot differentiate between them, and clinical treatments are identical for both.
Although vaccines and antivirals are available, Bruce noted a “dire” need for better medications to stop the virus from spreading cell to xxcell.
“You don’t get sick when a virus is in one cell,” he noted. “You get sick because a virus replicates itself and goes into many more cells.”
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The study, which was published in The Journal of Virology, originally aimed to map how viral RNA segments are transported within cells to create new viral particles.
The team used H1N1 and H3N2 viruses isolated from the nasal passages of positive patients in 2022.
Clinical treatments remain identical for both primary strains of the flu virus. (iStock)
During the investigation, the team unexpectedly stumbled upon a cellular pathway that blocked the virus from entering lung cells, SWNS reported.
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The data revealed that when a specific human protein called Rab11B was depleted, H3N2 viruses failed to enter human lung cells. H1N1 viruses were completely unaffected.
Using reverse genetics, the team mapped this defect and uncovered a brand-new, H3N2-specific role for Rab11B during viral entry.
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This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way.
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“Viruses are like pirates from different countries hijacking someone’s ship,” Bruce said. “Different viruses, like different types of pirates, use different methods to get onboard.”
This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way. (iStock)
“We had previously thought that all flu viruses used the same way to get into a cell, but we discovered that this is not true,” she went on. “H1N1 and H3N2 need different proteins to get in, and if you get rid of the right protein, a specific virus can’t get in.”
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While these findings identify a critical cellular pathway for viral entry, the study was conducted using isolated cells, the researchers acknowledged.
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Further research is needed to determine whether blocking the protein is safe and effective within a live, complex human respiratory system.
Bruce and the team hope to conduct further research to determine whether this Rab11B-dependency is a fundamental property of H3N2, or if it’s a trait unique to currently circulating flu strains.
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Eating processed meat like ham, sausage and bacon may be linked to a higher risk of certain types of cancer, according to new research.
While health organizations have already confirmed that processed meat can contribute to colon cancer, this study looked closer at cancers in the upper digestive tract, where the link has historically been less clear.
To understand these connections, researchers from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), one of the world’s largest long-term nutrition and cancer cohorts, tracked the health and diets of 450,112 people across Europe for an average of 14 years.
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The study group included 131,426 men and 318,686 women, according to the study’s press release.
During the follow-up period, 876 people developed stomach cancer and 215 people developed esophageal adenocarcinoma, which is cancer of the tube connecting the mouth to the stomach.
For female participants, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk of developing the disease. (iStock)
Researchers tracked where the stomach cancers grew, separating them into the upper part of the stomach near the throat and the lower part of the stomach.
The researchers also sorted the tumors into two categories based on how the cancer cells appeared under a microscope: intestinal, which forms more organized structures, and diffuse, in which the cells are more scattered throughout the tissue.
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After adjusting for other lifestyle factors, the researchers found that for every extra 30 grams of processed meat a person ate per day, their overall risk of stomach cancer went up by 9%. Eating that same extra 30 grams a day was also linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma.
A standard single slice of regular deli-sliced ham or lunch meat averages around 28 grams, according to USDA data and nutritional tracking databases.
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken and turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach. (iStock)
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken or turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach, the researchers noted.
The study also revealed differences between men and women. For male participants, only processed meat showed a clear, statistically significant link to a higher risk of stomach cancer. For female participants, however, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk.
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These findings align with global health benchmarks, particularly those established by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The agency has long classified processed meat as a known human carcinogen, primarily due to its strong, well-documented links to colorectal cancer.
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However, health organizations have also consistently pointed to a potential, yet less definitive, relationship between these meats and cancers of the stomach.
Eating 30 grams of processed meat a day, or the equivalent to one slice of ham, was linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. (iStock)
Further scientific investigation is needed to confirm the findings and to account for other underlying risk factors, such as certain stomach infections, which could interact with dietary habits.
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A key limitation of the study is its reliance on self-reported diets, which can sometimes lead to inaccuracies in how participants recall their meat consumption over time, the researchers noted.
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The findings were published in the International Journal of Cancer.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers requesting comment.
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