For much of the 20th century, medical progress seemed limitless.
Antibiotics revolutionized the care of infections. Vaccines turned deadly childhood diseases into distant memories. Americans lived longer, healthier lives than their parents.
As the scientific community scrambles to find a drug that can effectively treat tens of thousands of patients sickened by a new respiratory virus, they are trying some surprising remedies: medicines targeting known killers like HIV, Ebola and malaria.
Disclosure this week of an eighth case in the United States of a new viral infection emerging from China — in addition to the first confirmed case of the virus passing from person to person in this country — is fueling public concerns about how easily the deadly virus can spread.
When the first U.S. case of a new coronavirus spreading throughout China was confirmed last week in Washington state, public health workers were well prepared to respond, building on lessons learned during the outbreak of measles that sickened 87 people in the state in 2019.
The Oregon Health Authority has confirmed another case of measles in Portland, just over a week after warning about a previous infection.
