Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
Rising cases of variants BQ.1 and XBB could make COVID drugs all but useless, study finds
Salon – As colder weather sets in, public health experts are keeping a close eye on COVID-19 variants that could spell doom and gloom this winter, just like omicron did last year. Yet these nascent variants that are rapidly spreading abroad have an evil twist that omicron lacked: an ability to evade the drugs that […]
Oct 5, 2022
EU provides immediate support to Uganda
EU Commission – As the Ugandan authorities have identified over 40 cases of Ebola Virus Disease in the past weeks, the EU has mobilised an initial €200,000 in emergency funding to support the Uganda Red Cross. The funding is part of an urgent request launched by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent […]
Oct 5, 2022
Long COVID: Scientists find 20 blood protein ‘signatures’ that may point to risk
Med News Today – Researchers published their findings comparing blood samples from healthcare workers who had contracted SARS-CoV-2 and healthcare workers who had not. They found that blood protein levels within six weeks of contracting SARS-CoV-2 could predict long COVID incidence. “These changes in the blood that we observe shortly after infection indicate how the […]
Oct 4, 2022
FDA – FDA added important information to the authorized Fact Sheets for Evusheld (tixagevimab co-packaged with cilgavimab) to inform health care providers and individuals receiving Evusheld of the increased risk for developing COVID-19 when exposed to variants of SARS-CoV-2 that are not neutralized by Evusheld. Detailed neutralization data can be found in the revised authorized Fact […]
Oct 4, 2022
At Long Last, Can Malaria Be Eradicated?
New York Times – Two new vaccines may finally turn back an ancient plague. But in unexpected ways, their arrival also complicates the path to ending the disease. A more powerful malaria vaccine, developed by the Oxford team that created the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine, may be just a year or two away. Many experts believe […]
Oct 4, 2022
Characteristics of long COVID among older adults: a cross-sectional study
International Journal of Infectious Diseases – 2333 individuals were evaluated at an average of 5 months [146 days (95% CI 142-150)] following COVID-19 onset. Mean age was 51 and 20.5% were>65 years. Older adults were more likely to be symptomatic, with most common symptoms being fatigue (38%) and dyspnea (30%). They were more likely to […]
Oct 4, 2022
Older patients more likely to report long-COVID symptoms
CIDRAP – Among patients seen at long-COVID clinics in four countries, older people were the most likely to report symptoms and have abnormal chest imaging and lung function tests, finds a study published late last week in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases. Researchers in Israel, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland followed 2,333 COVID-19 survivors for an average of […]
Oct 4, 2022
NYT – The Covid mass vaccination program in the U.S. began on Dec. 14, 2020, when a nurse at a hospital in Queens, N.Y., received a shot on live television. But more than two months later, a major health clinic based in North Birmingham, Ala. — which focused on lower-income, Black and Latino residents — […]
Oct 4, 2022
Long Covid Has Become a Parallel Pandemic
Bloomberg – There are millions of long-haulers in the US alone, and there will be millions more if we don’t develop better vaccines and treatments. The price of “living with Covid” in a free and open society is turning out to be much heftier than public health experts predicted. Even with good vaccines and treatments, […]
Oct 3, 2022
Wild Birds in North America Are Dying Like Never Before
The Atlantic – Scientists are concerned for North American wildlife as the worst avian flu outbreak since 2015 rages on. The July 5 trip was routine: From the deck of an airboat, two wildlife biologists scanned the cattail marsh—one of many seasonal wetlands in the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge—on their weekly lookout for sick or […]
Oct 3, 2022