What is Dinga-Dinga, The Dancing Plague That Is Spreading In Uganda?

Updated Dec 23, 2024 | 11:00 AM IST

SummaryAs per the reports, it is affecting women are girls, and is causing severe bodily tremors, which is making it impossible for them to walk, or to do any daily activities. This severe tremors is what locals are calling "Dinga Dinga", or "shaking like dancing".
Dinga Dinga in Uganda

Middle: Engraving by Hendrik Hondius portraying three people affected by the dancing plague, credits: Wikimedia Commons, and representational images, credits: Canva

Uganda's Bundibugyo district is undergoing wave of a strange disease known as Dinga Dinga, which means "shaking like dancing". This new disease has left locals and experts unclear of what exactly is happening and how to deal with it. As per the reports, it is affecting women are girls, and is causing severe bodily tremors, which is making it impossible for them to walk, or to do any daily activities. This severe tremors is what locals are calling "Dinga Dinga", or "shaking like dancing".

Are there any symptoms?

Not much is known about it, however, there are certain symptoms which have been seen:

  • Uncontrolled shaking: This is the top symptoms, after which the name also comes. This is a violent, involuntary movement of body
  • Fever and extreme weakness
  • Paralysis-like mobility: those infected are finding it difficult to even walk, let alone do any household chores.

What do healthcare professional say?

Since it is still a relatively new disease, not much is known about it. Though, the healthcare professionals are actively investigating the disease, especially by collecting samples from affected individuals. These samples are sent to Uganda's Ministry of Health for analysis. For now, antibiotics are used to treat patients.

As per a District Health Officer Dr Kiyita Christopher: "Most patients recover within a week of receiving medical care." The doctor has also urged locals to seek treatment from district health facilities instead of relying on "unverified herbal remedies".

Furthermore, there are public health campaigns too, which are trying to raise awareness about the illness so people could be educated about the early symptoms and to take proper care of the condition.

Do we know what could be causing the Dinga Dinga?

While the exact cause is still unknown, there are speculation that this could be a viral infection or something related to environmental elements. However, as of now, no definite solution has been found.

The Dancing Plague of the Holy Roman Empire

The condition however is being linked to the Dancing Plague of 1518 or dance epidemic of 1518 that occurred in Strasbourg, Alsace, modern-day France, in the then Holy Roman Empire. It was known as Épidémie dansante de 1518 in French. It is said that some 50 to 400 people took to dancing for weeks. John Waller suggested that it was a stress-induced mass hysteria, this is one of the most popular theories among all suggested for this phenomenon.

In history too, it is recorded, a poem from the contemporary chronicles describe: "women and men who dance and hope...In the public market, in alleys and streets, Day and night" until the "sickness" finally stops. Another writer has described dancers being sent to St Vitus' shrine outside the city, where they were given "small crosses and red shoes".

The outbreak is said to begin in July 1518, when a woman named Frau Troffea began to dance. In fact, this plague reached present-day Germany and other parts of the Holy Roman Empire. Despite the historical documents, which also includes physician notes, the source of the outbreak is still unknown.

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Scott Swift, Taylor Swift's Dad Underwent A Quintuple Bypass Heart Surgery, Here's What We Know About It So Far

Updated Aug 14, 2025 | 09:16 AM IST

SummaryTaylor Swift revealed that her father, Scott Swift, 73, recently had a quintuple bypass after five blockages were found during a resting stress test. Calling the surgery “intense,” she moved in to care for him. He’s recovering well, while her mother, Andrea, also recently underwent knee replacement surgery. Read on to know more.
Scott Swift, Pop Singer Taylor Swift's Dad Underwent A Quintuple Bypass Heart Surgery After A Stress Test, Here's What We Know About It So Far

Credits: Treemily

Scott Swift, 73, pop singer Taylor Swift's dad just underwent a quintuple bypass surgery, revealed Taylor during one of the episodes of Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce's New Heights podcast.

She also shared that she had moved in with her dad earlier this year to take care of him for a speedy recovery. She noted that her father has been full of gratitude after the surgery. "He was the loveliest patient ever. He just kept saying thank you over and over again."

Why Did Scott Swift Need A Surgery?

Taylor called the surgery "really intense" and said that her dad's heart always had a healthy ECG or electrocardiogram. He also ensures to get it every year to remain a step ahead of any physical ailments. However, five hard blockages were found in his heart during a resting stress test.

"He's been telling all his friends, 'You need to get the stress test,' because that's what's actually preventative. If you can find that earlier, you don't have to have a bypass surgery," she said.

Taylor confirmed that her father is doing "incredibly well" and that his humor has helped him go through during the hard times. It still is very much intact in him.

She shares that he did not know how many blockages he's had, on being told that he underwent a quintuple bypass, which means five blockages, he also joked about it. "Well, you see, I come from a very competitive family," he told Taylor.

What Is A Stress Test?

Scott Swift, Taylor Swift's dad recommends everyone to take stress test

As per the National Institute of Health (NIH), US, it is a form of physical test that typically utilizes electrocardiography along with blood pressure monitoring and exercise, which involves a treadmill or bicycle.

However, in a resting stress test, the assessment happens when the heart muscle is at rest after stress. This stress helps in identifying areas of reduced blood flow like ischemia or damage to the heart muscle, which can indicate conditions like coronary artery disease.

The test involves injecting a radioactive tracer into the bloodstream, then using a special camera to take images of the heart at rest and after stress.

What Is A Bypass Surgery?

Scott Swift, Taylor Swift's dad undergoes quintuple bypass surgery

As per Johns Hopkins Medicine, bypass surgery or coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) is a procedure used to treat coronary artery disease. Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the narrowing of the coronary arteries. These are the blood vessels that supply oxygen and nutrients to the heart muscle. CAD is caused by a build-up of fatty material within the walls of the arteries. This buildup narrows the inside of the arteries, limiting the supply of oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle.

How Does It Work?

One way to treat the blocked or narrowed arteries is to bypass the blocked portion of the coronary artery with a piece of a healthy blood vessel from elsewhere in your body. Blood vessels, or grafts, used for the bypass procedure may be pieces of a vein from your leg or an artery in your chest. An artery from your wrist may also be used.

ALSO READ: 4 Rare Heart Diseases That Are Becoming Common By Each Passing Day

This surgery is done to treat a blockage or narrowing of one or more of the coronary arteries. It can restore the blood supply to your heart muscle when nonsurgical procedures are not a choice.

More Updates From The Swift Family

In addition to Scott, Taylor shared that her mom Andrea Swift, too, under a procedure. “My mom just got a new knee,” Taylor shared. “She’s doing great. She’s scampering around. We’re not quite at scampering yet, but she’s doing great.”

She noted that her parents are her best friends.

"It was actually one of the most special things that's ever happened to me, spending all that time with them this summer. You have those long talks that you don't have when it's a small, concentrated period of time.”

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FDA Confirms Resolution of Nationwide IV Saline Shortage

Updated Aug 14, 2025 | 06:41 AM IST

SummaryThe FDA has declared the nationwide shortage of sodium chloride 0.9% IV saline over, crediting joint efforts with federal and industry partners. Supply is restored, but the agency will continue monitoring and addressing other IV fluid shortages.
FDA Confirms Resolution of Nationwide IV Saline Shortage

Credits: Canva

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that the nationwide shortage of sodium chloride 0.9 percent intravenous (IV) saline solution, which is a critical medical supply used in hospitals and emergency care, has officially come to an end. The resolution marks a significant milestone in stabilizing the supply of one of the most essential tools in patient care.

Collaborative Effort to Restore Supply

FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, M.D., M.P.H., credited the resolution of the shortage to a coordinated effort between the FDA, the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), and industry partners. According to Makary, this multi-agency and cross-sector collaboration allowed for rapid action to address the supply gap that had strained healthcare facilities across the country.

To overcome the shortage, the FDA and its partners implemented several urgent measures. These included enabling the temporary import of IV saline solutions from approved international sources, expediting the review process for domestic manufacturing expansions, and extending expiry dates for existing products after rigorous safety assessments. This combination of strategies helped boost production capacity and prevent supply chain bottlenecks.

Impact on Hospitals and Patient Care

Sodium chloride 0.9 percent IV saline is used for hydration, administering medications, and treating dehydration and other critical conditions. The shortage, which had persisted for months, forced hospitals to ration supplies and find alternative solutions. Medical professionals often had to adjust treatment protocols or use smaller IV bags to stretch resources, a situation that placed additional strain on already burdened healthcare systems.

Now, with supplies back to normal levels, the FDA has confirmed that the product will be removed from its official Drug Shortage Database. Facilities are being advised to return to using FDA-approved products whenever available.

ALSO READ: The Truth About IV Drips: Are They Better Than Food Or Supplements?

Ongoing Efforts to Prevent Future Shortages

While celebrating the resolution, the FDA emphasized that its work to secure medical product availability is far from over. Makary stressed that the agency remains committed to addressing other ongoing shortages, including those affecting certain IV fluids.

“The FDA remains focused on doing all we can to help mitigate shortages and prevent them from occurring,” Makary said in a statement. “We will continue working diligently to monitor supply levels, anticipate potential disruptions, and support a robust, secure, and transparent supply chain for medical products.”

The agency’s strategy involves close monitoring of manufacturer reports, collaboration with other federal agencies, and engagement with the private sector to anticipate challenges before they escalate into full-scale shortages.

A Model for Crisis Response

Experts say the resolution of the saline shortage could serve as a model for responding to future disruptions in medical supply chains. By acting quickly, coordinating with multiple stakeholders, and making temporary regulatory adjustments, the FDA and its partners were able to restore availability without compromising patient safety.

Public health advocates note that the success also underscores the importance of maintaining diverse manufacturing sources, both domestically and internationally, to safeguard against sudden disruptions caused by disasters, supply chain issues, or unexpected surges in demand.

The FDA’s announcement brings relief to healthcare providers nationwide, who have been navigating supply constraints for essential items over the past few years. With IV saline now in stable supply, hospitals can focus more on patient care without the added stress of product scarcity.

However, the agency cautions that vigilance is essential. The FDA will continue to work with manufacturers, monitor production levels, and apply lessons learned from this shortage to strengthen the overall resilience of the nation’s medical supply system.

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The ‘Make America Healthy Again’ Report Is Releasing Soon: 5 Big Things It Might Reveal

Updated Aug 14, 2025 | 03:00 AM IST

SummaryWhite House set to unveil ‘Make America Healthy Again’ strategy which will potentially reshape US health policy, especially amid the growing health crisis in the country.
The ‘Make America Healthy Again’ Report Is Releasing Soon: 5 Big Things It Might Reveal

Credits: Health and me

Washington is gearing up to drop part two of its “Make America Healthy Again” agenda, and expectations are high. The first MAHA assessment, delivered to the White House this spring, framed a blunt thesis — American children are getting sicker, faster, and the drivers are mostly man-made. The follow-up “Strategy” report, due to be unveiled after it’s transmitted to the White House, is supposed to move from diagnosis to action. If you care about what kids eat, breathe, watch, and are prescribed, this matters.

Below is what the first report already established, what the new one is likely to do with it, and why the battles ahead won’t be tidy.

The White House’s MAHA Assessment was explicit: the United States faces a childhood chronic disease crisis and four forces are doing the heavy lifting — ultra-processed foods, cumulative chemical exposures, inactivity and chronic stress in a digital era, and over-medicalization of kids. It also laid out the machinery: an executive order created a Commission chaired by the Health and Human Services Secretary, tasked to deliver an assessment within 100 days and a strategy within 180 days, with the President’s senior health, science, and budget leaders named as members.

A few data points stood out. The Assessment claims more than 40 percent of U.S. children have at least one chronic condition; it attributes nearly 70 percent of kids’ calories to ultra-processed foods; and it argues that regulatory gaps allow cumulative chemical exposures to stack up in ways our policies haven’t kept pace with. It also points to soaring screen time, sleep loss, and stress, and warns that a culture of “treat first, ask later” has normalized aggressive medication in pediatrics.

The White House

That framing signals where the Strategy is headed. Let’s break it down into five likely reveals.

1) A push to de-normalize ultra-processed foods in federal programs

Expect the Strategy to take aim at ultra-processed foods (UPFs) across the programs Washington controls or influences — school meals, WIC, SNAP, and federal procurement. The Assessment spends an entire section on UPFs, arguing they displace nutrient-dense foods and expose kids to additives and sweeteners that track with obesity and metabolic disease. It cites the “nearly 70 percent” figure for children’s calories from UPFs and positions whole foods as the default standard. That sets up obvious levers: revising food specifications in school nutrition, tightening allowable additives in federally funded meals, and incentivizing regional supply chains for minimally processed foods.

Here’s what that could look like in practice: higher reimbursement tiers for scratch-cooked menus; procurement standards that limit defined UPF categories; clearer front-of-package transparency tied to federal vending or contracting; and pilot funds for districts to install basic cooking capacity. Because the Assessment explicitly links diet quality with chronic disease trajectories, the Strategy will likely argue these are health spend-avoidance, not just nutrition line items.

2) Chemicals: from single-substance safety to cumulative risk

Another likely pillar is an attempt to modernize how agencies evaluate environmental exposures. The Assessment flags that children are uniquely vulnerable to a growing “aggregation” of synthetic chemicals, and suggests current frameworks don’t adequately capture cumulative or mixture effects. Translation: don’t be surprised if the Strategy proposes a cross-agency effort to incorporate cumulative risk methodology, faster review cycles for chemicals common in food contact materials or school environments, and a more aggressive stance on data transparency around exposure sources.

Politically, this is the hottest burner. Farm groups already bristled at the Assessment’s references to studies linking common pesticides with cancer and liver problems. Expect the Strategy to thread the needle: phase-ins, exemptions for certain crops, and “safer substitution” funds for growers, while still signaling a turn away from chemicals with weak pediatric safety margins. The Assessment’s section on “corporate capture” and regulatory conflicts of interest previews tougher conflict-of-interest guardrails, which could extend to advisory panels and grantmaking.

3) Digital-age health: screen time, sleep, and movement standards with teeth

The Assessment ties a “decline of physical activity,” chronic stress, rising screen use, and sleep deprivation to worsening pediatric health. If the Strategy builds on that, look for concrete targets: daily movement minutes in schools, device-free windows for homework platforms, and funding for safe routes and after-school sport access in low-income districts. It may also propose standardizing sleep education and mental health screening in pediatric primary care tied to reimbursement, treating movement and sleep as vital signs rather than nice-to-haves.

To avoid culture-war potholes, the Strategy will likely focus on harms that enjoy broad consensus — sleep debt, musculoskeletal issues, sedentary behavior — rather than content moderation. Still, you can expect language urging “age-appropriate design” and data-minimizing defaults for platforms used in schools.

4) Reining in over-medicalization: audit the incentives, elevate prevention

One of the Assessment’s most provocative claims is that American children are “on too much medicine,” driven in part by research, regulatory, and clinical incentives that reward treatment over prevention. That sets the stage for a Strategy that asks payers to reimburse prevention like care: nutrition counseling, family-based lifestyle interventions, metabolic screening for high-risk kids, and deprescribing reviews. Expect pilots that tie Medicaid and CHIP dollars to prevention outcomes, encourage collaborative care models, and require pediatric-specific evidence for high-volume prescribing categories.

Don’t be surprised if the Strategy also calls for stronger disclosure and firewall rules around financial conflicts in guideline writing and clinical education, consistent with the Assessment’s “revolving door” critique. The goal is not to stigmatize necessary medicine, but to flip default settings so the first move is to address root causes when appropriate.

5) A whole-of-government playbook — with deadlines and dashboards

The Assessment is clear about timelines: the Commission delivers an Assessment, then a Strategy. The Strategy’s credibility hinges on measurable targets, agency owners, and public reporting. Expect a “whole-of-government” matrix that assigns tasks to HHS, USDA, EPA, Education, VA, OMB, OSTP, and FDA leadership — the very roles listed in the Assessment — with 6-, 12-, and 24-month deliverables. Think: a public dashboard tracking UPF prevalence in school meals, children’s exposure biomarkers in national surveys, physical activity minutes, and antibiotic or stimulant prescribing trends in pediatrics.

Given the White House’s emphasis on “radical transparency” in the Assessment — and its explicit statement that the Strategy must be “grounded in a common scientific basis” — the rollout may include commitment to open datasets, independent replication grants, and rapid-cycle pilots with third-party evaluation. That’s how you translate rhetoric into durable policy.

The White House

What Could Spark The Biggest Debates And Controversies?

Two flashpoints are already visible. First, agriculture and chemical policy: any move perceived as undermining pesticide tools or vilifying mainstream farming will face hard pushback. Second, the food industry: voluntary pledges to tweak recipes won’t cut it for nutrition advocates, but mandatory standards risk court challenges and supply-chain friction. The Strategy’s reception will hinge on whether it pairs higher standards with real transition help — procurement guarantees for farmers, grants for school kitchens, and a phase-in timeline that’s realistic.

On screens and stress, expect fewer fireworks — parents, clinicians, and schools largely agree kids need more sleep and movement — but the implementation details matter. Unfunded mandates will stall; funded pilots with clear metrics can move.

How To Read The Report When It Releases?

When the Strategy drops, skip the slogans and scan for five things: specific agency actions, measurable targets, funding sources, timelines, and independent evaluation. If those are present — and aligned with the Assessment’s four drivers — you’re looking at more than a press conference.

If they’re vague, the headline risk is that the Strategy becomes another well-intended framework that fades by the next budget cycle.

The MAHA Assessment argued that kids’ health is failing not because we lack medical breakthroughs, but because daily exposures — to engineered foods, chemicals, screens, stress, and quick-fix prescribing — have outpaced our policies. The Strategy’s job is to reverse that equation with rules, incentives, and transparency that make the healthy choice the default in schools, clinics, and communities. If it delivers clear standards for food, modernized chemical risk policies, funded movement and sleep initiatives, and a rebalanced payment system that rewards prevention, it could mark a real turn.

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