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Vox Sentences: The superbugs are super bad
Antibiotic-resistant diseases are killing more than the CDC thought; Hong Kong protests approach sixth month.
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CDC report: superbugs kill tens of thousands
- A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report indicates that the number of people killed in the US by drug-resistant diseases is double that of original estimates. [NBC News / Erika Edwards]
- The report alleges around 35,000 Americans die from these kinds of infections every year and another 3 million fall ill. [Washington Post / Lena H. Sun]
- While overall deaths are down from the 2013 estimate of 44,000, the 18 percent decrease was significantly less than expected. [AP News / Mike Stobbe]
- Some common varieties of drug-resistant infections are urinary tract infections, gonorrhea, and Clostridioides difficile, a bacterial infection that kills from inside the patient’s digestive system. [New York Times / Matt Richtel and Andrew Jacobs]
- Diseases and infections become resistant to drugs when antibiotics are pumped into living things, such as humans, produce, and livestock, and create “superbugs” that build up a tolerance to the drug. [Vox / Sigal Samuel]
- Some groups advocating for consumer health have gone so far as to blame the fast-food industry for creating superbugs due to their encouragement of the overuse of antibiotics in agriculture. [CBS News / Kate Gibson]
- Hong Kong and Beijing scientists are working on a potential solution to combating these superbugs by way of gene editing. [South China Morning Post / Stephen Chen]
Hong Kong protests rage on
- Students of Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Kowloon faced off against riot police in the latest chapter of the protest movement. [CNN / Helen Regan and Ben Westcott]
- Hundreds of black-clad protesters armed with household items faced down tear gas on their campus as anti-government protests grow increasingly violent. [Reuters / Josh Smith and Kate Lamb]
- While Chief Executive of Hong Kong Carrie Lam called a meeting of top advisers late Wednesday, protesters were gearing up for another day of demonstrations that have brought businesses to a grinding halt and closed schools. [Bloomberg / Shelly Banjo and Iain Marlow]
- As the protests stretch into their sixth month, the Hong Kong economy is suffering and the unrest could mar the region for years to come. “Because no decisive action is taken, Hong Kong is being destroyed,” said Regina Ip, a member of Hong Kong’s cabinet. [New York Times / Alexandra Stevenson, Edward Wong, and Keith Bradsher]
- University of Pennsylvania Professor Jonathan Zimmerman writes that American academia has a responsibility to present the facts of the Hong Kong protests to all students. [USA Today / Jonathan Zimmerman]
Miscellaneous
- Newborns dressed as her husband for World Kindness Day greeted Mrs. Rogers at a Pittsburgh hospital. [BuzzFeed / Daniella Emanuel]
- Lebanon’s protests are burning with new force after Lebanese President Michel Aoun said on live television that anyone with problems with the government should leave the country. [Al Monitor]
- Ahead of its store reopening after a mass shooting police claim targeted immigrants, an El Paso Walmart hires additional security. [AP News / Cedar Attanasio]
- Two pneumonic plague victims are receiving treatment in a Chinese hospital. While public health officials are working to contain the disease, it remains a global problem. [Vox / Sigal Samuel]
- Three cows thought to have been swept away by Hurricane Dorian in September found loafing about on the Outer Banks. [New York Times / Johnny Diaz and Aimee Ortiz]
Verbatim
“Ironically, the chamber was flooded two minutes after the majority League, Brothers of Italy, and Forza Italia parties rejected our amendments to tackle climate change.” [Veneto regional council’s Deputy Chairman of the Environment Committee Andrea Zanoni in a Facebook post]
Watch this: Where the 1960s “psychedelic” look came from
Tracing the history of the hippie aesthetic to an older movement focused on making the mundane beautiful. [YouTube / Marie Cascione]
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By Cameron Peters
By Cameron Peters
By Cameron Peters
