Medicare data breach; it’s time to rethink infection controls; vaccine side effects – Morning Medical Update

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Another day, another data breach

Almost a million Medicare beneficiaries may be victims of a data breach of the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Personal information may have been exposed through a security vulnerability in the MOVEit file transfer software used by a contractor, according to this report from Fox News.

Protection from infection

Summer 2024 has brought numerous reports about the spread of infectious diseases including COVID-19, bird flu and mpox. But public and government response has been relatively quiet. Even so, it’s past time to rethink paradigms of infectious disease control in places ranging from patient microbiomes to indoor environments, according to one physician analyst.

Vaccine side effects

The COVID-19 vaccines were a huge step toward ending the pandemic. Yet, side effects made people – maybe your patients, maybe even you – feel uncomfortable or ill. Those were a barrier to some patients getting them. Why did the shots affect some people more than others? Researchers found at least three factors. You can read about them in this study and accompanying news release.