Pandemic Latest News

infectious diseases

WHO notes cautious optimism regarding COVID-19

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said Wednesday that there has been a 90% drop in global COVID-19 deaths since February, which he called a “cause for optimism” but still urged “caution” amid the ongoing pandemic. “Just over 9,400 COVID-19 deaths were reported to WHO last week — almost 90% less than in …

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Invasive mosquito species linked to unusual malaria outbreak

Scientists have linked an invasive mosquito to an unusual outbreak of malaria in Ethiopia. Anopheles stephensi, native to southern Asia, was first identified in Africa a decade ago in the Republic of Djibouti, which borders Ethiopia. It has since spread to at least four other countries in sub-Saharan Africa. www.science.org/content/article/unusual-malaria-outbreak-tied-invasive-mosquito? Now, amid lingering questions about whether …

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Pfizer announces promising results for RSV vaccine

Barney Graham, a former scientist at the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), was thrilled when Pfizer announced encouraging results from an experimental vaccine that could protect against a major childhood killer. In a press release, the company said immunizing pregnant women with its vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) protected their babies from severe …

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Vaccine trial against malaria shows promising results

A new vaccine against malaria has shown promising preliminary results in a large trial in four African countries, boosting hopes that an additional tool may soon be available to help control the deadly disease. www.science.org/content/article/new-data-buoys-hopes-promising-malaria-vaccine-questions-remain The vaccine, named R21/Matrix-M and developed by researchers at the University of Oxford, produced similarly impressive results in a small trial last …

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Pfizer set to test new COVID-19 pill on long-covid patients

Plans for the first test of whether Pfizer’s COVID-19 pill known as Paxlovid can alleviate Long Covid were unveiled last week, as organizers said they expect to begin recruiting 1700 volunteers in January 2023. Patient groups and researchers have long sought such a trial to study whether suppressing the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus can reduce Long COVID’s debilitating …

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More than 300 Omicron variants in circulation globally

BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 are among the more than 300 sub-lineages of the Omicron variant circulating globally, 95 percent of which are direct descendants of BA.5, according to the WHO. In early July, BA.5 became the dominant subvariant of the coronavirus circulating in the United States, but in October it started giving way to BQ.1 and …

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WHO reluctant to label new Omicron strains as variants of concern

Despite the fact that they’re driving a spurt in COVID cases, the World Health Organization (WHO) says XBB and BQ.1 are not different enough from each other, or from other Omicron lineages, to warrant labelling them new variants of concern. Variants of concern are those that show increased transmissibility, virulence or change in clinical disease, …

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Monkeypox cases appear to be in decline

When monkeypox cases in Europe began to decline this summer, researchers’ first question was: Is it real? Some worried that people might not be getting tested because of receding fears of the virus, coupled with strict isolation requirements for patients. “They might be reluctant to be confirmed and be told not to go out at …

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Tuberculosis rates rise post-COVID

COVID, the new pandemic has made an old one worse. After many years of slow but steady decline, the number of deaths from tuberculosis (TB) is rising again. www.economist.com/international/2022/10/27/how-one-pandemic-made-another-one-worse? According to figures published on October 27 by the WHO’s  Global TB Programme, the death toll from tuberculosis was 1.6m in 2021, a rise of 14 …

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Shanghai rolls out inhalable COVID-19 vaccine

The Chinese city of Shanghai started administering an inhalable COVID-19 vaccine last Wednesday in what appears to be a world first. www.pbs.org/newshour/world/china-begins-administering-inhalable-covid-19-vaccine-boosters? The vaccine, a mist that is sucked in through the mouth, is being offered for free as a booster dose for previously vaccinated people, according to an announcement on an official city social …

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