Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
Competition between respiratory viruses may hold off a ‘tripledemic’ this winter
(Science) Researchers say there is a growing body of evidence these viruses interfere with each other’s spread. Triple threat. Tripledemic. A viral perfect storm. These frightening phrases have dominated recent headlines as some health officials, clinicians, and scientists forecast that SARS-CoV-2, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) could surge at the same time in Northern […]
Nov 22, 2022
Gang Warfare Cripples Haiti’s Fight Against Cholera
(New York Times) The disease is spreading in the Caribbean nation in part because armed groups control poor neighborhoods with ruthless violence and prevent doctors from providing basic care. To reach the hospital, the mothers traveled the front lines of a gang war, bringing sick babies during lulls in gun battles and passing corpses along […]
Nov 21, 2022
Vaccine Breakthrough Could Finally Bring COVID to Its Knees
(DailyBeast) With new COVID variants and subvariants evolving faster and faster, each chipping away at the effectiveness of the leading vaccines, the hunt is on for a new kind of vaccine—one that works equally well on current and future forms of the novel coronavirus. Now researchers at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland think they’ve found a […]
Nov 21, 2022
Rare, convergent antibodies targeting the stem helix broadly neutralize diverse betacoronaviruses
(Cell Host and Microbe) Humanity has faced three recent outbreaks of novel betacoronaviruses, emphasizing the need to develop approaches that broadly target coronaviruses. Here, we identify 55 monoclonal antibodies from COVID-19 convalescent donors that bind diverse betacoronavirus spike proteins. Most antibodies targeted an S2 epitope that included the K814 residue and were non-neutralizing. However, 11 […]
Nov 21, 2022
Flu variant that hits kids and seniors harder than other strains is dominant in U.S. right now
(CNBC) The H3N2 variant has been associated with more severe flu seasons for children and the elderly in the past, according to the CDC. Public health labs have detected H3N2 in 76% of the more than 3,500 respiratory samples that have tested positive for the flu and were analyzed for the virus subtype The flu […]
Nov 21, 2022
Why It Was Easier to Curb Monkeypox Than Covid
(NYT) The city has pulled back its monkeypox vaccination vans as the number of cases dropped sharply. A dangerous virus, monkeypox, arrived in New York City in May, shortly before the World Health Organization declared it a “public health emergency of international concern.” That designation that had been in effect for only two other diseases, […]
Nov 21, 2022
RSV, covid and flu push hospitals to the brink — and it may get worse
(Washington Post) Hospitals across the United States are overwhelmed. The combination of a swarm of respiratory illnesses (RSV, coronavirus, flu), staffing shortages and nursing home closures has sparked the state of distress visited upon the already overburdened health-care system. And experts believe the problem will deteriorate further in coming months.
Nov 21, 2022
Vaccines and drugs in the pipeline for RSV
(Reuters) There are no approved vaccines and only one drug in the United States for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms but can also lead to serious illness and hospitalization. Sanofi and AstraZeneca drug nirsevimab recently became the second to get Europe’s approval to prevent RSV infections […]
Nov 21, 2022
Researchers identify a novel RSV variant associated with prolonged infection
(Med News) Human orthopneumovirus, more commonly known as the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), can lead to significant mortality and morbidity worldwide. All children between the age of two to three years are infected by RSV at least once. RSV mainly infects the lower and upper respiratory tract epithelium; however, it has also been found in […]
Nov 21, 2022
Viral genetic determinants of prolonged respiratory syncytial virus infection among infants in a healthy term birth cohort
(Journal of Infectious Diseases) Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is associated with acute respiratory infection. We sought to identify RSV variants associated with prolonged infection.
Nov 21, 2022