There are times when things are happening around us but we do not actually have a sense of how significant they are. Our vantage point is limited by the sources of our information.

For example, the Cylcospora outbreak offers daily updates. Previous epidemics usually peaked at about 3,500 to 4,500 cases, and most had a single source of the outbreak. So far there have been an estimated 22,000 cases this year and the outbreak is still continuing. It also appears to have multiple sources rather than just one as in previous years. The first two deaths were reported as I was writing this article.

Another example is the current Ebola epidemic in the Congo. Most people are aware of this. What they may not realize is that it is now the second largest Ebola outbreak ever recorded. The current epidemic has more than 3,800 confirmed cases and over 1,700 confirmed deaths.

Measles outbreaks are also occurring. In 1990 there were 9,643 measles cases. That number fell to 2,295 in 1991. After that case numbers each year remained under 667, except for 1,274 in 2019. Last year there were 2,289 cases. That pretty much matched the 1991 level. This year there have already been 2,371 cases. Fortunately, there have only been three deaths. Unfortunately, they were all preventable by vaccine.

In July we heard about hantavirus on a cruise ship. There were 13 cases and three deaths. A lot was made of the subsequent quarantine. However, in the 30 years between 1993 and 2022, there have been only 864 confirmed cases (less than 30 per year) of hantavirus in the Untied States.

These four events have all made the news. However, there are other medical things happening around us that are less likely to be newsworthy. That does not make them any less important to know about.

For example, we are aware that health care is costly. We may not recognize the impact that cost has. About 61 percent of Americans indicate that they worry about healthcare affordability. In addition, 36 percent of adults report skipping or delaying necessary medical care related to out-of-pocket costs.

Most of us have some knowledge of the decrease in drug related deaths over the last few years. During the summer of 2023 approximately 110,000 to 111,000 individuals died per month. That was higher than the 50,000 or so deaths reported in 2015. The numbers have dropped to just under 70,000 in February 2026. However, we still remain above the 2015 level.

For many years infectious diseases were the leading killer of children. Due to antibiotics and immunizations, many of those deaths disappeared. They were replaced as the leading cause in 1960 by automobile accidents. In 2020, automobile accidents moved to second place. It was replaced by gun related deaths. About 60 percent of those are homicide. Another 35 percent of those are suicides. The remainder are accidental deaths.

There are many medical issues that occur around us on a daily basis. What we hear about is filtered by the way we get our news. All of the above items are newsworthy. However, we clearly know more about some of them than others. That is more by design of news outlets than it is by our need to know what is happening in the world around us.