First cases of treatment-resistant ringworm found in patients in US
Two cases of highly contagious, drug-resistant ringworm infection have been detected in the US.
The cases were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in February and shared in a report published on Thursday.
The patients, from New York City, had their first symptoms in 2021 and 2022.
One of the patients carrying the infection was identified as a 47-year-old woman who developed a bad case of ringworm – known as tinea – while travelling in Bangladesh.
A rash had developed across her thighs and buttocks and health officials reported that the severe tinea did not improve after antifungal creams were used.
The woman’s infection was caused by a relatively new species of ringworm-causing fungus called Trichophyton indotineae.
Dr Avrom Caplan, an assistant professor of dermatology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, who treated the patient and was one of the report’s authors, told NBC News: “My radar went up immediately.”
After the woman returned to the US, she visited the hospital’s emergency ward three times for help. Doctors gave several treatments, typically used for ringworm, but there was no improvement by December.
After many attempts, doctors gave the woman a four-week course of griseofulvin therapy, typically used to treat skin infections such as athlete’s foot and ringworm. But, doctors are still looking into other treatment options.
The woman’s son and husband, who live with her and have had similar rashes, are now undergoing evaluation.
Over the past decade, infections from this drug-resistant fungus have spread rapidly in South Asia, likely driven by overuse of medications to treat them, including topical antifungals and corticosteroids, the CDC report said.
Another case of the skin infection
Another patient, 28, developed the skin infection in 2021 during her third trimester of pregnancy.
She had no underlying medical conditions, no exposure to a person with a similar rash and no international travel history.
The rash was found across the woman’s body, including her neck, abdomen, pubic region and buttocks.
She was later diagnosed with tinea and began oral terbinafine therapy in January 2022 after giving birth to her baby.
However, as the rash did not clear up, the patient was then given itraconazole treatment – an antifungal cream.
The rash resolved after four weeks but continues to be monitored for potential recurrence of the infection.
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What is ringworm, and how is it treated?
According to the NHS, ringworm is a common fungal infection.
The main symptom of the infection is a rash that may look red, silver, or darker than the surrounding skin, depending on your skin tone.
A case of ringworm or tinea infection. File pic
The NHS website also states that the rash can be scaly, dry, swollen or itchy.
Ringworm can be passed on through close contact with:
• A person or animal that is already infected
• Objects that are harbouring the infection, such as bedsheets, combs or towels
• Soil containing the infection, although the NHS has said this is less common
The CDC has said that treatments for ringworm depend entirely on its location on the body and how serious the infection is.
Some forms of ringworm can be treated with over-the-counter drugs, while others may need treatment with prescription anti-fungal medication.
Former US vice president Dick Cheney has died from complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, his family has said.
In a statement, his family said the 84-year-old was surrounded by his wife Lynne, daughters Liz and Mary, and other family members.
The Republican was one of the most polarising vice presidents in US history under George W Bush from 2001 to 2009, and was a leading advocate of the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Dick Cheney with George W Bush. Pic: Reuters
In later life, he became a target of Donald Trump, especially after his daughter, Liz Cheney, became the leading Republican critic and examiner of Mr Trump’s actions surrounding the January 6 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol.
“In our nation’s 246-year history, there has never been an individual who was a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” Mr Cheney said in a TV advert for his daughter.
“He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He is a coward.”
Dick Cheney looks on as his daughter Liz Cheney takes the oath of office in 2017. Pic: AP
Last year he said he was voting for Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, to be president against Mr Trump.
Mr Cheney survived five heart attacks and declared in 2013 he woke up each morning “with a smile on my face, thankful for the gift of another day”.
Pic: Reuters
His family’s statement said: “For decades, Dick Cheney served our nation, including as White House Chief of Staff, Wyoming’s Congressman, Secretary of Defense, and Vice President of the United States.
“Dick Cheney was a great and good man who taught his children and grandchildren to love our country, and to live lives of courage, honor, love, kindness, and fly fishing.
“We are grateful beyond measure for all Dick Cheney did for our country.
“And we are blessed beyond measure to have loved and been loved by this noble giant of a man.”
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US
Zohran Mamdani: ‘Trump’s worst nightmare’ could be about to show how to take the fight to the president
Zohran Mamdani calls himself “Donald Trump’s worst nightmare”. They are the words of a man living the dream.
It’s because the 34-year-old is the headline act in Tuesday’s referendum on Trump 2.0. A statement night in US politics, as Americans – some, at least – deliver a verdict on what they’ve seen so far.
Of four electoral contests across the US – including in California, New Jersey and Virginia – the race to be New York mayor is the most compulsive and consequential.
The polls have Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, as the frontrunner. If he wins, it would signify big change in the Big Apple.
Read more: Who is Zohran Mamdani?
Pics: AP
Born in Uganda to Indian parents (he moved to the US aged seven), Mamdani would become New York’s first Muslim mayor.
He is a democratic socialist whose supporters will see victory as laying down a template for taking on Trump, even if the party’s old guard is sceptical.
An effective campaign has focused on the costs and quality of life in New York, promising universal childcare, a rent freeze, free bus travel and grocery shops run by the city.
Progressives Bernie Sanders and Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez have endorsed Mamdani. Pic: Andrea Renault/STAR MAX/IPx/AP
So why is he controversial?
The message has resonated with New Yorkers squeezed on affordability, but his payment plan is open to question.
Mamdani plans to raise $9bn by raising taxes on the wealthy and on corporations, but he would face a struggle to gain the necessary consent of the New York State legislature and governor.
Mamdani’s politics are pegged to the “progressive” left wing of his party, and his campaign success plays into the Democrats’ quandary around a longer-term comeback strategy.
The politics that succeed in New York don’t necessarily resonate nationwide, and a party establishment has been reluctant to embrace Mamdani.
Democrat Chuck Schumer, Senate minority leader, has declined to endorse him at all.
Party management aside, he won’t have been impressed when Mamdani was arrested outside Schumer’s Brooklyn home as part of a 2023 protest calling for a ceasefire following Hamas’ October 7th attack on Israel.
Mamdani has been a staunch critic of Israel and, in the past, has advocated defunding the police, decriminalising prostitution and closing New York City jails.
Mamdani was at the White House to announce a hunger strike demanding a permanent ceasefire between Israel and Gaza in November 2023. Pic: AP
His background and Islamic faith are threaded through opposition attacks. He has been criticised for refusing to denounce the phrase “globalise the intifada”, used by pro-Palestinian activists.
Subsequently, he said he would “discourage” the term and would combat antisemitism through actions as well as words.
It hasn’t stopped his Republican rival, Curtis Sliwa, claiming Mamdani supported “global jihad”.
Andrew Cuomo, running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani, has labelled him “the most divisive candidate I have ever experienced in New York”.
Andrew Cuomo. Pic: AP
Trump gives Cuomo an endorsement – of sorts
Cuomo, the former New York governor who resigned over sexual harassment allegations, is Mamdani’s closest contender who has received support – of sorts – from Trump.
The president, who falsely labels Mamdani a communist, said on Truth Social on the eve of the election: “Whether you personally like Andrew Cuomo or not, you really have no choice.
“You must vote for him, and hope he does a fantastic job. He is capable of it, Mamdani is not!”
At a rally the same night, Mamdani fired back to say: “The MAGA movement’s embrace of Andrew Cuomo is reflective of Donald Trump’s understanding that this would be the best mayor for him.
“Not the best mayor for New York City, not the best mayor for New Yorkers, but the best mayor for Donald Trump and his administration.”
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
The Republican spin on the prospect of a Mamdani victory is that it would reflect a move towards radical extremism by the Democratic Party.
Trump has even suggested he may withhold federal funds from New York if Mamdani wins.
In time, Democrats would need to interpret and apply the lessons of a Mamdani victory. But more than anything else, they need a win to feel a pulse in a party undergoing an identity crisis.
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During the primaries, Mamdani held a news conference outside Cuomo’s apartment in March. Pic: zz/Andrea Renault/STAR MAX/IPx
One battle after another
The same applies to Tuesday contests for governor in New Jersey and Virginia, fascinating in terms of the vote winners and vote breakdown.
What will be the verdict, nine months in, of people who turned to Trump at the last election? Will he hold onto the Latino vote, given his immigration policy, ICE raids, and other orders?
In California, Tuesday sees a redistricting vote to counter Republican gerrymandering elsewhere. If backed by the public, the plan will increase the number of winnable Democratic seats in the House of Representatives.
Read more: The controversial tactic both parties are using ahead of midterms
It is the initiative of California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom.
If he wins the day, his party will be enhanced and so will he, as the potential party nominee for president come the election in 2028.
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