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A middle schooler in the Dallas-Fort Worth area has tested positive for measles, the first known case in the urban area, a health official from Collin County confirmed. The young person is located in Lucas, about 30 miles north of Dallas. The health official said the student attends Willow Springs Middle School, in the Lovejoy Independent School District. The district reported 96% of seventh graders were vaccinated for measles in the 2023-2024 school year. (Nix, 4/23)

The Illinois Department of Public Health confirmed Wednesday afternoon the first case of measles in the state. The measles diagnosis involving an adult in far southern Illinois was confirmed through laboratory testing, according to a press release sent out by IDPH. This is the only IDPH-confirmed case in the state. (Hundsdorfer, 4/23)

Colorado reported a new case of measles Wednesday, the fourth one confirmed in the state this year. But the state’s top doctor earlier in the week expressed optimism about the overall measles situation in Colorado, noting that all the cases so far appear to have fizzled out, vaccinations are increasing and health care providers are more alert to the possibility of seeing an infection. (Ingold, 4/24)

A second 1-year-old in Ingham County has been infected with measles, health officials confirmed Wednesday. The Ingham County Health Department said the infected boy had been exposed to a 1-year-old girl whose infection was confirmed earlier this month. (Reinhart, 4/23)

Novavax’s closely watched COVID-19 vaccine is on track for full approval after additional discussions with the Food and Drug Administration, the company said Wednesday. The news sent company shares soaring more than 21% in morning trading and appeared to resolve concerns that Trump administration officials might be holding up a decision on the shot. Novavax makes the nation’s only traditional protein-based COVID-19 vaccine. It is still being sold under emergency use authorization — unlike mRNA vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna that have earned full FDA approval for certain age groups. (Perrone and Neergaard, 4/23)

Researchers have estimated approximately 8% of Americas have ever experienced long COVID, or lasting symptoms, following an acute COVID-19 infection. Now two recent international studies suggest that the percentage is much higher among healthcare workers and dental professionals. ... Globally, HCWs have been at an increased risk for COVID-19 infections since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, due to both exposure to the virus and work conducted in a high-stress environment that may exacerbate the risk of long-term post-viral symptoms. (Soucheray, 4/23)

A study on the post-mortem infectivity of influenza A virus (IAV), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in euthanized transgenic mice tissues suggests persistent contagiousness ranging from a few hours for flu to a week or more for COVID. For the study, published this week in the Journal of Infection, Chinese researchers collected tissue samples from virus-infected mouse cadavers at three temperatures ... for a predetermined period to estimate the post-mortem stability and transmission potential of the viruses. (Van Beusekom, 4/23)

A single dose of the antiviral baloxavir marboxil (Xofluza) led to a lower incidence of influenza virus transmission to household contacts compared with placebo, a phase IIIb randomized trial showed. Five days after receiving the intervention, the adjusted incidence of transmission of laboratory-confirmed influenza was 9.5% with baloxavir compared with 13.4% with placebo, resulting in an adjusted relative risk reduction of 29%, reported Arnold Monto, MD, of the University of Michigan School of Public Health in Ann Arbor, and colleagues in the New England Journal of Medicine. (Haelle, 4/23)

Orange County health officials on Wednesday warned the public after a bat that was found at a park last week tested positive for rabies. The bat, which was discovered on the ground near a walking path at Rancho Santa Margarita Lake on Thursday, April 17 at around 2:30 p.m., according to the Orange County Health Care Agency. (Fioresi, 4/23)