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Vermont sees spike in pneumonia cases – VTDigger

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Vermont sees spike in pneumonia cases – VTDigger


Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center as seen from the air in December 2017. File photo by Charles Hatcher/Valley News

This story by Clare Shanahan was first published in the Valley News on Dec. 23. 

Two pneumonia-causing bacteria have been at especially high levels in Vermont and New Hampshire in recent weeks, leading to increased levels of illness.

At Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, 97 patients with pneumonia went to the emergency room between September and November, compared to 46 during the same time last year, Dr. Michael Calderwood, chief quality officer at DHMC, said Friday. While final numbers aren’t yet available for December it “looks like the numbers may be improving.”

Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs often accompanied by fever, chills, cough, difficulty in breathing, fatigue and chest pain; it can be caused by multiple different viruses and bacteria, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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The two types of potentially pneumonia-causing bacteria recently circulating in the region are: bordetella pertussis which causes whooping cough, a contagious respiratory infection that usually includes a severe cough and can lead to pneumonia, and mycoplasma pneumoniae, which causes walking pneumonia, a more mild form of illness that often does not require bed rest or hospitalization, Calderwood said.

Beyond DHMC, Vermont has seen a recent rise of respiratory illness outbreaks in schools believed to be specifically caused by mycoplasma pneumoniae, or walking pneumonia, Laura Ann Nicolai, deputy state epidemiologist and senior infectious disease program manager for Vermont, said in a Friday email statement.

Some children were specifically diagnosed with this kind of infection, but not all were tested for a specific pathogen by doctors.

The mycoplasma pneumoniae does not always cause pneumonia and often manifests as a chest cold. It mostly infects school-aged children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has reported high levels of this bacteria nationwide.

Statewide, the Vermont Department of Health has received seven reports from school nurses of these respiratory illness outbreaks, ranging in size from five to 31 cases. One such outbreak occurred in a Windsor County school, Nicolai said.

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The Department of Health issued a health advisory to providers and school nurses Nov. 22 warning them of increased pneumonia cases. Many of the cases are suspected to be caused by mycoplasma pneumoniae and providers should consider that patients may be infected with this bacteria, treat them accordingly and report “any unexpected pattern or cluster of illness” to the state, the advisory said.

The number of cases of pneumonia, flu and “other cold viruses” overall at Gifford Health Care’s primary care clinics and emergency department has been mostly typical over the past few months, though the number of children infected is higher than usual, Gifford spokesperson Ashley Lincoln said.

Doctors attribute the rise to “fewer kids getting vaccinated.”

Nationally, children born since the COVID-19 pandemic, between 2020 and 2021, were less likely to have received standard vaccinations that children get before turning 2, with one of the lowest rates being the pneumococcal vaccine that is recommended for children under 5, according to a September CDC study.

This vaccine covers the most common type of pneumonia, pneumococcal; it does not prevent walking pneumonia, for which there is no vaccine.

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The pneumococcal vaccine is recommended for children under 5, adults over 50 and people at higher risk of respiratory illness. Whooping cough is prevented by the DTaP and Tdap vaccines that are recommended at different frequencies depending on a person’s age.

Pneumonia can also occur as a secondary infection after someone has had another respiratory illness such as a cold, the flu, COVID-19 or RSV, according to the American Lung Association.

Vaccinations against COVID-19, the flu and RSV can help protect against pneumonia, according to the CDC.

Some additional ways people can minimize the spread of disease include: washing hands, staying home when sick and “donning a mask in public if they are concerned about their own and others’ health,” Calderwood said.

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21-year-old killed in wrong-way crash on I-89 in Vermont; other driver cited

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21-year-old killed in wrong-way crash on I-89 in Vermont; other driver cited


A 21-year-old is dead after a pickup truck slammed head-on into her vehicle on Interstate 89 Wednesday evening in Bolton, Vermont, and the other driver involved has been cited.

State police say they responded around 5:22 p.m. to reports of a wrong-way driver in the area of mile marker 71. As troopers were responding, a multi-vehicle crash on the interstate was reported to dispatchers.

A preliminary investigation shows 45-year-old Timothy Wooster was driving a Toyota Tundra in the northbound lane when he crossed the median into the southbound lane, where he continued traveling the wrong way until he collided head-on with a Kia Sportage that was being driven by 21-year-old Hailey Westcot, police said.

A third vehicle, a Cascadia Freightliner, was traveling southbound when the head-on collision happened ahead, causing the vehicle to strike Westcot’s car and then rollover.

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Westcot, of Northfield, Vt., was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Wooster, of Jericho, Vt., was taken to University of Vermont Medical Center to be treated for serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

The third driver who was involved, 50-year-old Douglas Bailey, of Londonderry, New Hampshire, was evaluated on scene and did not report any injuries, police added.

Officials haven’t said what led Wooster to allegedly drive in the wrong direction on the highway. Wooster was cited on a charge of grossly negligent operation with death resulting. Further charges will be determined as the investigation continues, according to police.

Any witnesses are asked to contact Trooper Shawn Morrow at 802-878-7111. Anonymous tips can be submitted online here. The investigation remains ongoing.

It’s unclear if Wooster has obtained legal representation at this time. He’s due in Chittenden County Superior Court on Jan. 29, 2026.

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UVM men’s rugby team wins first-ever national championship – VTDigger

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UVM men’s rugby team wins first-ever national championship – VTDigger


The University of Vermont men’s rugby team celebrates after winning its national championship game against the University of Chicago on Sunday, Dec. 14. Photo courtesy of National Collegiate Rugby

The University of Vermont men’s rugby team romped the University of Chicago last weekend, 71-5, to win its first-ever national championship. It’s the second time, notably, that a UVM sports team has won a national-level title in the past year.

Rugby is not a varsity sport at UVM — such as soccer or basketball — which means the school’s men’s and women’s teams play outside of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA. The men’s team plays in National Collegiate Rugby’s Division II, which has more than 100 teams in different regional conferences across the country.

The team’s win Sunday capped an undefeated season that also saw it dispatch rivals in earlier rounds of the Division II tournament by double-digit margins.

“It really hasn’t even set in yet, still. Every time I see a picture or something, I’m like, holy — I can’t believe it,” said Jack Worobel, a senior mechanical engineering major at UVM who plays in the No. 4, or “lock,” position. “It’s awesome.”

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In UVM’s rugby league, 15 players are on the field for each team at a time. Players advance the ball by running or kicking it but aren’t allowed to pass the ball forward. Points come primarily through “tries,” which are worth five points each and scored by bringing the ball into the opponent’s in-goal area and touching it to the ground.

Worobel credited UVM’s win to strong bonds that he said he and his teammates have built up over the past four years. A number of the players, including himself, have been on the team every year since they were first-year students, he said.

UVM has had a men’s rugby team since 1970, according to a school press release.

The University of Vermont men’s rugby team handily defeated the University of Chicago 71–5 to win its first ever national championship. Photo courtesy of National Collegiate Rugby

“We all do anything for each other. Anyone would do a favor for anyone else on this team — I think that’s where the win comes (from),” Worobel said Wednesday. “It’s not from the skill or the talents. Really, it’s what’s off the field.”

The rugby team’s win comes about a year after UVM’s men’s soccer team — which competes at the highest level of collegiate athletics — won the NCAA Division I championship last December. UVM has also won six NCAA championships in skiing, with the most recent coming in 2012.

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Police investigating after ATV stolen from Vt. driveway

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Police investigating after ATV stolen from Vt. driveway


Police are asking for the public’s help in their ongoing investigation into a stolen all-terrain vehicle in Derby, Vermont.

State police say they were notified around 4 p.m. on Oct. 31 that a Camouflage 2008 Yamaha Rhino 700 ATV had been stolen from a driveway on Main St. The theft occurred some time between 10 p.m. on Oct. 30 and 7 a.m. on Oct. 31.

No other details were immediately available. Police did released two photos as part of the investigation.

Anyone with information about this theft is encouraged to call Vermont State Police at 802-334-8881, or leave an anonymous tip online.

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