UTHealth Houston expert warns of five infectious diseases to keep an eye on during summer travel

With summer travel season officially underway, UTHealth Houston infectious diseases expert Luis Ostrosky, MD, professor of medicine and epidemiology and chief of infectious diseases at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston,  warns of FIVE diseases currently on the radar.

• Malaria – The first U.S. malaria cases have been diagnosed in Florida (4 cases) and Texas (1 case). It’s the first time the potentially fatal mosquito-borne disease has been locally acquired in the U.S. in 20 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
• Measles – Summer travel alert: the CDC is warning Americans to make sure they're fully protected against the measles before traveling internationally this summer.
• Mpox – The CDC has issued a Level 2 Travel Health Notice for mpox in multiple countries.
• Fungal meningitis – There have been nearly 200 cases of fungal meningitis among patients who underwent procedures under epidural anesthesia in the city of Matamoros, Mexico. Texas has seen the majority of cases.
• COVID-19 – The latest on COVID-19 variants and what experts think we can expect this fall. 

Ostrosky’s research and clinical background includes fungal infections, transplant infectious diseases, hospital epidemiology, antimicrobial stewardship, and healthcare quality. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and the Society of Healthcare Epidemiology of America.