When an ambulance brought a man with leg pain to the University of Texas Medical Branch, Dr. Alfred Scott Lea, an infectious-disease specialist, was immediately concerned. Lea diagnosed him with a vibrio infection. The article reports the man’s experience recovering from the virus. This story was also reported in Business Insider.

This year’s new inductees include Mariano Garcia–Blanco, a professor and distinguished chair in biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and an adjunct professor at the Duke–National University of Singapore Medical School. His lab is known for its research on RNA-binding proteins in infection and immunity. They have identified numerous RNA-binding proteins that affect the replication of flaviviruses such as dengue, yellow fever and Zika. They also have studied the role of RNA helicase DDX39B in alternative splicing of the interleukin 7 receptor, which affects some autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis.

James Bond lives with no health consequences, and some scientists have listed all the times Bond took no precautions at all. Drs. Norbert Herzog and David Niesel analyze the data in Medical Discovery News.

Dr. Sally Robinson writes about a new number to contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 24/7. It is 988. This will help anyone experiencing a mental health crisis to connect with trained staff. It is free and confidential. If needed, connection to local support will be given.

Dr. Victor S. Sierpina lists things to consider if this is you, including checking with your doctor. “COVID cases are still occurring regularly locally and nationally though at a much lower rate than at the beginning of the year when Omicron variants emerged,” he writes. “It is still highly contagious but with high vaccination rates and natural immunity from exposures, hospitalizations and deaths are way down. Still, it pays to be cautious.”

Sleep is essential to perform simple to complex tasks and even to carry out our routine activities of daily living, Dr. Prashant Rai writes. His column offers some suggestions.

“Among the known Omicron sub-lineages (i.e. BA.1, BA.2, BA.2.12.1, BA3, BA.4, and BA.5), BA.4 and BA.5 are least susceptible to vaccine-elicited neutralizing antibodies,” said Dr. Pei-Yong Shi, professor, UTMB Chair in Innovations in Molecular Biology. Both variants have their own specific mutations including ones affecting the spike protein of the virus—the part responsible for attaching to human cells and infecting them. “Vaccine boosters will continue to prevent severe diseases and deaths,” Shi said. “Wearing masks in events with a lot of people helps to reduce the risk of Omicron infections.”

“These findings add to the growing knowledge that we are in a youth mental health crisis that is likely to get worse before it gets better,” said Jeff Temple, vice dean for research in the School of Nursing at the medical branch and lead author of the study. “On an individual level, we need to check in with our kids often, have open conversations about mental health, relationships and substance use.”

The British newspaper reported that scientists at the University of Texas Medical Branch experimented with high school kids who played video games and their resident surgeons. They had both groups perform virtual surgery to see who outperformed the other, and to their surprise, the high school students did better than the actual surgeons. While the surgeons would do better on a real body, the experiment was telling regarding the high school kids’ precision and coordination, and this was all because they were regular gamers while the medical residents had no time to play games.

Laura Yuhas will graduate in August with a doctorate in Occupational Therapy from UTMB. She was an international business student until she broke her leg. “I feel like I am able to relate to more people because of my past experiences,” said Yuhas. “The pay was good in my first career, but this career is already bringing other types of rewards. When I go home at night, I feel like I’ve done something that makes a difference in people’s lives.”