Timely and relevant global health security news curated by GCHS
Featured Headlines
- Get Your Updated COVID Vaccine!by James Lawler, MD, MPH, FIDSA According to CDC survey data, over 80% of US adults have not received an updated (XBB) COVID-19 vaccine this year. While I believe the proportion of abstainers is likely much smaller in our highly intelligent and educated population of Transmission consumers, I would be willing to bet that many… Read more: Get Your Updated COVID Vaccine!
- Why You Are More Likely to Get Sick This Winter, in ChartsWSJ With Covid-19 here to stay alongside flu and RSV, wintertime illnesses have become harder to dodge. Covid-19 is settling in as a wintertime fixture, and infections are expected to rise again as the weather cools and holiday gatherings pile up. The virus is on a collision course with the seasonal scourges of flu and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV,… Read more: Why You Are More Likely to Get Sick This Winter, in Charts
- China says a surge in respiratory illnesses is caused by flu and other known pathogens
AP A surge in respiratory illnesses across China that has drawn the attention of the World Health Organization is caused by the flu and other known pathogens and not by a novel virus, the country’s health ministry said Sunday. Recent clusters of respiratory infections are caused by an overlap of common viruses such as the… Read more: China says a surge in respiratory illnesses is caused by flu and other known pathogens - Two more in Cambodia infected with H5N1 avian flu
Khmer Times Health officials in Cambodia are investigating two new severe human H5N1 avian flu infections, pushing the country’s total for the year to six cases. The four earlier cases involved an older H5N1 clade that has been circulating in the country’s poultry for at least 10 years. Scientists quickly posted sequences to the GISAID… Read more: Two more in Cambodia infected with H5N1 avian flu - Multiple pathogens causing China illnesses: CDC
Taipei Times The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said that a surge in respiratory illnesses in China has been caused by at least seven types of pathogens, and small children, elderly people and immunocompromised people should temporarily avoid unnecessary visits to China. The recent outbreak of respiratory illnesses in China is mainly in the… Read more: Multiple pathogens causing China illnesses: CDC - U.K. Reports First Case Of New Swine Flu Strain In Humans: Here’s What To Know
Forbes The U.K. detected its first human case of the flu strain A(H1N2)v, which is similar to flu viruses circulating in pigs, though the case was “mild” and the patient recovered, according to an alert released by the U.K. on Monday, as experts remain alert to another possible swine flu pandemic. Influenza A(H1) viruses are found in… Read more: U.K. Reports First Case Of New Swine Flu Strain In Humans: Here’s What To Know - UKHSA detects human case of influenza A(H1N2)vgov.uk The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has detected a single confirmed human case of influenza A(H1N2)v. Influenza A(H1N2)v is similar to flu viruses currently circulating in pigs in the UK. This is the first detection of this strain of flu in a human in the UK. As is usual early in emerging infection events, UKHSA is… Read more: UKHSA detects human case of influenza A(H1N2)v
- New Evidence of Wider Infections in North America With ‘Rare’ Mosquito-Borne VirusIDSE Human infections with a dangerous mosquito-borne disease called Cache Valley virus (CVV) may be more common in the United States and Mexico than previously thought. The disease, discovered decades ago, mainly has been seen as a threat to livestock, with only seven cases ever documented in humans—all in the United States, two fatal and… Read more: New Evidence of Wider Infections in North America With ‘Rare’ Mosquito-Borne Virus
Updates on ongoing disease outbreaks
- What To Know About Rapidly Spreading ‘Pirola’ Covid Variant BA.2.86—And If Vaccines Offer Protection
Forbes Pirola, or BA.2.86, is the third most prevalent Covid strain in the U.S., and although there may be concerns the new monovalent vaccines—which protect against the XBB lineage that Pirola isn’t a part of—don’t offer protection against Pirola and its subvariants, drugmakers and the CDC are sure the vaccines offer defense. Pirola made up 8.8% of… Read more: What To Know About Rapidly Spreading ‘Pirola’ Covid Variant BA.2.86—And If Vaccines Offer Protection - COVID variant BA.2.86 triples in new CDC estimatesCBS News Nearly 1 in 10 new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. are from the BA.2.86 variant, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated Monday, nearly triple what the agency estimated the highly mutated variant’s prevalence was two weeks ago. Among the handful of regions with enough specimens reported from testing laboratories, BA.2.86’s prevalence is largest… Read more: COVID variant BA.2.86 triples in new CDC estimates
- Nearly 3 million birds euthanized in Iowa due to Avian InfluenzaHIgh Plains Journal Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza continues to spread across the High Plains and the Midwest and Iowa has become a hotspot for this contagious poultry disease. There are now 15 reported outbreaks in commercial poultry operations and backyard flocks across the state. These avian flu cases have led to the euthanasia of nearly… Read more: Nearly 3 million birds euthanized in Iowa due to Avian Influenza
- France reports bird flu on turkey farm as disease spreads in Europe
Reuters France has detected an outbreak of highly pathogenic bird flu virus on a turkey farm in the northwest of the country, the agriculture ministry said on Tuesday, as a seasonal wave of infections spreads across Europe. The outbreak in the Brittany region, France’s first farm case this autumn, occurred near where an infected wild… Read more: France reports bird flu on turkey farm as disease spreads in Europe - Is the New Mpox ‘Outbreak’ Deadlier?
Medpage Today Three factors could explain the higher case fatality rate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. An outbreak* of mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) has been detected in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that the case fatality rate — the percent of detected cases that are fatal… Read more: Is the New Mpox ‘Outbreak’ Deadlier? - Bird flu kills hundreds of flamingos in Argentina
BBC An outbreak of bird flu has killed 220 flamingos in north-western Argentina, officials have confirmed. The dead birds are of the James’s flamingo species (Phoenicoparrus jamesi), which lives at high altitudes in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru. The H5N1 strain of the avian flu virus currently spreading through South America can infect an entire… Read more: Bird flu kills hundreds of flamingos in Argentina
Science and Tech
- This Blood Type Could Help You Dodge Covid
Bloomberg Several studies have now shown that people with blood type O are less susceptible to contracting Covid, and those with blood type A are more likely to get it. In the early days of the pandemic, those findings were hotly debated. But one study this summer described the mechanism by which Covid interacts with blood cells. It… Read more: This Blood Type Could Help You Dodge Covid
Vaccine Headlines
- Get Your Updated COVID Vaccine!by James Lawler, MD, MPH, FIDSA According to CDC survey data, over 80% of US adults have not received an updated (XBB) COVID-19 vaccine this year. While I believe the proportion of abstainers is likely much smaller in our highly intelligent and educated population of Transmission consumers, I would be willing to bet that many… Read more: Get Your Updated COVID Vaccine!
- A Golden Age of Vaccines Is Here. What It Means for You.
Barrons Pharmaceutical companies are currently developing vaccines for a range of purposes, from preventing disease to treating cancers. Roll up your sleeves. Effective new vaccines have hit the market for everything from pneumonia to shingles to RSV to, of course, Covid-19. And that’s just the beginning. There were 258 vaccines in development as of 2020, according… Read more: A Golden Age of Vaccines Is Here. What It Means for You.
Misinformation, Disinformation, Propaganda, and Conspiracy Theories
- Combatting Disinformation: Like it or not, Kids hear the news. Here’s how teachers help them understand it
NPR Each morning, Stephanie Nichols gathers her second graders around a table to eat breakfast and start their day. As the kids unpack their knapsacks and settle into the classroom, Nichols likes to listen more than she speaks. Breakfast table conversation can be about anything – from video games to the New England Patriots. But… Read more: Combatting Disinformation: Like it or not, Kids hear the news. Here’s how teachers help them understand it
Clinical Considerations
- ‘Long Covid triggered our MCAS, but doctors didn’t believe us’BBC People with long Covid feel “forgotten, unheard, disbelieved, isolated”, barrister Anthony Metzer KC told the Covid-19 Inquiry last month on behalf of advocacy groups for people with the condition. A growing number of people who have secondary illnesses thought to be triggered by long Covid – including an immune disorder called mast cell activation syndrome… Read more: ‘Long Covid triggered our MCAS, but doctors didn’t believe us’
- COVID Tied to Changes in Brain MicrostructureMedPage Today lterations seen in both long COVID patients and those who recovered from infection. People who had SARS-CoV-2 infection showed brain changes on diffusion microstructure imaging (DMI), cross-sectional data suggested. Widespread microstructural alterations were seen in people with long COVID neurologic symptoms and in people who had COVID but recovered, reported Alexander Rau, MD,… Read more: COVID Tied to Changes in Brain Microstructure
Psychological and Sociological Impact of the Pandemic
- New CDC life expectancy data shows painfully slow rebound from covidWashington Post Newly published data on life expectancy in the United States shows a partial rebound from the worst phase of the coronavirus pandemic, but drug overdoses, homicides and chronic illnesses such as heart disease continue to drive a long-term mortality crisis that has made this country an outlier in longevity among wealthy nations. Life… Read more: New CDC life expectancy data shows painfully slow rebound from covid
Interesting and Sometimes Funny
- New Jersey’s funny traffic signs are back this holiday season
Fox 29 If you ever drive in New Jersey, you might’ve seen a few signs that have been popping up along major roadways featuring a play on words to remind drivers to obey the rules of the road. Similar signs were taken down by the Federal Highway Administration this time last year after it said… Read more: New Jersey’s funny traffic signs are back this holiday season
Hi James, Infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus can present with a wide spectrum of illness, from mild symptoms similar to…
Isn't it true that Doctors are finding it increasingly difficult to distinguish Covid from allergies or the common cold... congestion,…
Hi Megan, I confess that I am not intelligent enough to grasp the logic behind recommendations that reduce the effectiveness…
Hi Carrie, The idea that we have no treatments for viruses is a myth. There are excellent antiviral treatments for…
I'm curious about what Dr. Lawler thinks about the HICPAC committee's plans to weaken respiratory infection control measures in healthcare?…
Thank you for the update
Dr. Lawler, you mentioned early treatment. I thought there is no treatment for Covid because it is a virus? Is…
Hi Judy, some people can have long courses of acute COVID infection, even with Paxlovid treatment. Although the evidence is…
Hi Cheryl, Sadly, most public health authorities have no way of capturing + COVID antigen tests. This is one reason…