Author: Claudinne Miller
New COVID variant BA.2.86 spotted in 10 states, though highly mutated strain remains rare
CBS News People across at least 10 states have now been infected by BA.2.86, a highly mutated variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 that authorities have been closely tracking. According to data tallied from the global virus database GISAID, labs have reported finding BA.2.86 in samples from Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and […]
Sep 19, 2023
How evasive and transmissible is the newest omicron offshoot, BA.2.86, that causes COVID-19?
The Conversation 1. What is BA.2.86 and how is it related to earlier variants? BA.2.86, nicknamed Pirola, is a highly mutated new omicron sublineage of SARS-CoV-2 that was first detected in Denmark in July 2023. The World Health Organization announced that, as of Sept. 6, 2023, BA.2.86 has been detected in 11 countries. A variant is […]
Sep 12, 2023
‘Heart-breaking’ news as avian flu ravages seabird colonies at sites across Wales
WhalesOnline Avian flu has devastated seabird colonies at sites across Wales this summer, according to the National Trust. It said more than 7,000 seabirds had died of the disease at five of its sites across the UK in 2023. Only one of its sites was affected in 2022. In Wales, the worst-affected was in Anglesey where more […]
Sep 12, 2023
Cascades of red wine flood a city’s streets in Portugal after huge tanks rupture
NPR There is so much surplus red wine in Portugal, it’s flooding the streets. That’s one way of deciphering the incredible scene that unfolded in São Lourenço do Bairro, a small town where millions of liters of wine recently overwhelmed the roads. The roughly 2.2 million liters of wine (some 581,000 gallons) poured out of […]
Sep 12, 2023
What We Lost: Public Trust in the Medical Information Discourse Over the Pandemic
Contagion One of the most damaging aspects of the pandemic is that misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines and therapies created unnecessary hospitalizations and deaths. “We always cite the statistic that about 200,000 people died in 2021 alone after the COVID-19 vaccines were available,” said Katrine Wallace, PhD, research epidemiologist and an assistant professor of epidemiology and […]
Sep 12, 2023
COVID boosters are back: what scientists say about whether to get one
Nature Many countries heading into autumn are targeting high-risk people for vaccinations, leaving lower-risk people uncertain about the right choice. Across the Northern Hemisphere, public-health officials are rushing to roll out autumn COVID-19 vaccination campaigns to guard against a fresh batch of SARS-CoV-2 variants. In England, officials moved the start date for administering an updated booster […]
Sep 12, 2023
India: Nipah confirmed in 3 people in Kerala state
Outbreak News Today Health Minister Veena George says Pune Virology Institute informed that 3 people have been confirmed with Nipah virus in the state. Nipah virus has been confirmed in a 9-year-old who is under treatment in a private hospital in Kozhikode, 25-year-old mother’s brother and 40-year-old who died yesterday. In addition to this, the […]
Sep 12, 2023
Effect of SARS-CoV-2 prior infection and mRNA vaccination on contagiousness and susceptibility to infection
Nature The immunity conferred by SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and infections reduces the transmission of the virus. To answer how the effect of immunity is shared between a reduction of infectiousness and an increased protection against infection, we examined >50,000 positive cases and >110,000 contacts from Geneva, Switzerland (June 2020 to March 2022). We assessed the association […]
Sep 12, 2023
1 in 4 COVID survivors had impaired lung function 1 year on, study shows
CIDRAP A quarter of COVID-19 survivors had impaired lung function 1 year after infection, and older patients, those with more than three chronic conditions, and those with severe cases improved slower than other patients over time, a Dutch study published yesterday in PLOS One reveals. A team led by University of Amsterdam researchers evaluated diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO), […]
Sep 12, 2023
Do they mask? Are they eating out? How covid experts are living now.
Washington Post In the past year, many Americans have stopped thinking about covid-19, ditched their masks, skipped the latest coronavirus boosters and returned to living more normal lives. While cases of covid-related severe illness and hospitalization remain low, infection counts are spiking again, new variants are emerging, and flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) loom as winter approaches. There’s […]
Sep 12, 2023