Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
COVID infections surge in Beijing causing hospital shortages
(NPR) AUDIO For nearly three years, China focused on keeping the virus outside of its borders. But now COVID is spreading largely unchecked across the country, leaving hospitals filled and medical resources scarce. In Beijing, so many people are ill, there aren’t enough ambulances. NPR’s Emily Feng brings us this report.
Dec 27, 2022
China’s COVID-19 surge raises odds of new coronavirus mutant
(AP) Could the COVID-19 surge in China unleash a new coronavirus mutant on the world? Scientists don’t know but worry that might happen. It could be similar to omicron variants circulating there now. It could be a combination of strains. Or something entirely different, they say. “China has a population that is very large and […]
Dec 27, 2022
Higher-Dose Steroids Upped Risk of Death in Non-Ventilated COVID-19
(MedPageToday) Higher-dose corticosteroids increased the risk of death in patients with COVID-19 and hypoxia, and who were receiving either no oxygen or simple oxygen only, compared with usual care that included low-dose corticosteroids, an analysis of the randomized RECOVERY trial showed.
Dec 27, 2022
Meet the man preparing Britain for the next pandemic (from a cabin)
(UK Telegraph) Despite facing a funding shortfall, Sir Professor Peter Horby is hard at work devising a defence blueprint for the next outbreak. As a pre-eminent scientist, whose drug research saved more than a million lives during the pandemic, and knight of the realm, Sir Professor Horby would be forgiven for demanding the highest of […]
Dec 20, 2022
One of our best Covid-19 treatments doesn’t work anymore. What now?
(Vox) Covid-19 is once again trending upward in the United States, with new cases reaching more than 450,000 and deaths climbing up to 3,000 per week. But hospitals will have to face this year’s winter surge without a valuable tool. In late November, the Food and Drug Administration revoked its emergency use authorization for bebtelovimab, a monoclonal antibody […]
Dec 20, 2022
China’s Abrupt Covid Pivot Leaves Many Without Medicines
(New York Times) Millions are desperate to get their hands on fever-reducing drugs and antivirals such as Pfizer’s Paxlovid as infections across China outpace supplies. As Covid rips through parts of China, millions of Chinese are struggling to find treatment — from the most basic cold remedies to take at home to more powerful antivirals […]
Dec 20, 2022
China COVID wave could kill one million people, models predict
(Nature) Up to one million people in China could die from COVID-19 over the next few months, according to some of the first projections since the government lifted many of its strict ‘zero-COVID-19’ measures. However, two studies find that the number of deaths could be reduced by giving most of the population a fourth vaccine […]
Dec 20, 2022
Ebola in Uganda: 23 days since confirmation of last case, Lockdown lifted in Mubende and Kassanda
(Outbreak News Today) Uganda’s Ministry of Health declared an outbreak of Sudan Ebola Virus (SVD) on September 20 after a case was confirmed in Mubende district. This is the first time in more than a decade that Uganda reported an outbreak of Sudan ebolavirus. According to officials, it’s been 23 days since the last confirmed case was […]
Dec 20, 2022
China’s Covid-19 Outbreak Has US Worried About New Variants
(Bloomberg) The US is concerned China’s runaway Covid-19 outbreak might spawn new mutations of the virus, as the world’s most populous country continues to grapple with the impact of loosening “Covid Zero” protocols that had kept the pandemic at bay. “When it comes to the current outbreak in China, we want to see this addressed,” […]
Dec 20, 2022
Are Subphenotypes for Long COVID Beneficial?
(MedPageToday) A recent study opens in a new tab or window published in Nature Medicine, “Data-driven identification of post-acute SARS-CoV-2 infection subphenotypes” by Hao Zhang, PhD, et al. used a data-driven framework to stratify patients suffering with post-acute SARS-CoV-2 (PASC), also referred to as long COVID, into different subcategories of sequelae. The bulk of the patients in the […]
Dec 20, 2022