• Read more about Increase in HIV Diagnoses among People Who Inject Drugs in Penobscot County

From October 2023 through February 23, 2024, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) has identified three new HIV diagnoses among people who inject drugs (PWID) in Penobscot County. Two of the individuals were unhoused and reported sharing or reusing injection drug equipment. All three individuals were coinfected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). Over the past five years, there have been an average of two new HIV diagnoses per year in Penobscot County residents and one new case per year among PWID in Penobscot County.

• Read more about Updates on Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Prevention

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is a major cause of hospitalization in older adults and infants/young children. Several vaccines are newly available this fall/winter respiratory virus season for older adults, pregnant persons, and young children. This Health Advisory provides updates for the use of nirsevimab for young children, information on vaccine administration errors in young children and pregnant people, recommendations for this year's end of maternal RSV vaccine season, and vaccine availability in Maine.

• Read more about Masking and Vaccination in Health Care Facilities During Increased Respiratory Virus Activity

Respiratory virus transmission in the United States has increased in recent weeks and is expected to peak in coming weeks, leading to more infections, serious illness, hospitalizations, and deaths as well as more health care workers out of work due to illness. When there is higher respiratory virus transmission, health care facilities should implement policies requiring staff to wear appropriate masks or respirators for source control and infection control either during patient interactions or at all times inside facilities.

• Read more about COVID-19 Outpatient Treatment Commercialization and Access

COVID-19 continues to circulate in our communities and continues to cause hospitalizations and deaths. Access to timely testing and outpatient treatment is crucial to reducing severe disease. Two oral antiviral drugs, Paxlovid and Lagevrio, previously freely available, are now commercially available. Most people will still be able to access treatment in a timely manner at pharmacies or health care facilities. Uninsured or underinsured people may face new barriers to treatment access, and new patient assistance programs are now available to support these populations.

• Read more about Increased Influenza, COVID-19, and RSV Disease Activity, Immunizations, and Therapeutics

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S. CDC) is issuing this Health Alert Network (HAN) Health Advisory to alert healthcare providers to low vaccination rates against influenza, COVID-19, and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus). Low vaccination rates, coupled with ongoing increases in national and international respiratory disease activity caused by multiple pathogens, including influenza viruses, SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19), and RSV, could lead to more severe disease and increased healthcare capacity strain in the coming weeks.

• Read more about Carbon Monoxide Alert for Health Care Facilities

Hospital emergency departments, emergency medical services, and outpatient providers should be on alert for carbon monoxide (CO) poisonings. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) is investigating 18 reports of CO poisoning from eight separate incidents linked to improper generator use after the recent storm. CO poisoning is a reportable condition in Maine and these events have been reported to the Maine CDC. The Maine CDC investigates cases of suspected CO poisoning to identify exposure risk factors and improve outreach efforts to prevent further poisonings.

• Read more about U.S. CDC: Severe and Fatal Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever Following Travel to Tecate, Mexico

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S. CDC) is issuing this Health Alert Network (HAN) Health Advisory to notify healthcare providers and the public about an outbreak of Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) among people in the United States with recent travel to or residence in the city of Tecate, state of Baja California, Mexico. RMSF is a severe, rapidly progressive, and often deadly disease transmitted by the bite of infected ticks, although many patients do not recall being bitten by a tick. Doxycycline is the treatment of choice for patients of all ages.

• Read more about U.S. CDC: Human-to-Human Transmission of Mpox Virus Clade 1 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S. CDC) is issuing this Health Alert Network (HAN) Health Advisory to notify clinicians and health departments about the occurrence, geographic spread, and sexually associated human-to-human transmission of Clade I Monkeypox virus (MPXV) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). MPXV has two distinct genetic clades (subtypes), and cases of Clade I MPXV have not been reported in the United States at this time (a clade is a broad grouping of viruses that has evolved over decades and is a genetic and clinically distinct group).

• Read more about Maine CDC Reports Record Number of Lyme Disease Cases

Maine continues to see a record-breaking burden of human tickborne disease. As of December 7, 2023, Maine reported 2,706 cases of Lyme disease, 738 cases of anaplasmosis, 173 cases of babesiosis, 12 cases of hard tick relapsing fever, and five cases of Powassan. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) reported record numbers of Lyme disease and Powassan surpassing the 2,652 Lyme disease cases and four Powassan cases reported in 2022.

• Read more about Increase in TB Cases and Close Contacts Needing Assessment for Latent TB Infection in Maine

In Maine, cases of tuberculosis (TB) disease have increased in 2023 throughout the state, and the number of contact investigations at schools, health care settings and other facilities has also increased. Many individuals exposed to TB are now seeking screening for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). Health care providers in all parts of Maine should know how to screen close contacts of individuals with TB disease, manage LTBI treatment, and recognize the differences between LTBI and TB disease.