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, […]
WHO reluctant to label new Omicron strains as variants of concern Read More »
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
Monkeypox cases appear to be in decline Read More »
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
Tuberculosis rates rise post-COVID Read More »
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
Shanghai rolls out inhalable COVID-19 vaccine Read More »
Wuhan, locked down one of its central districts after Covid cases were found, as China persists with a zero-tolerance approach to the virus almost three years since the pathogen first emerged in the city. The roughly 900,000 residents of Hanyang district were told to stay in their homes from Wednesday, a spokeswoman from the area’s
Wuhan locked down once more due to COVID-19 Read More »
The next pandemic may come not from bats or birds but from matter in melting ice, according to new data. www.theguardian.com/science/2022/oct/19/next-pandemic-may-come-from-melting-glaciers-new-data-shows? Genetic analysis of soil and lake sediments from Lake Hazen, the largest high Arctic freshwater lake in the world, suggests the risk of viral spill over – where a virus infects a new host
Melting ice, the source of the next pandemic? Read More »
In a US government lab in Bethesda, Maryland, virologists plan to equip the strain of the monkeypox virus that spread globally this year, causing mostly rash and flulike symptoms, with genes from a second monkeypox strain that causes more serious illness. Then they’ll see whether any of the changes make the virus more lethal to
US virologists splice two monkeypox strains Read More »
Twitter exploded with outrage last week about a study in which scientists engineered the spike protein of Omicron—the fast-spreading but relatively mild variant of SARS-CoV-2 that’s now pervasive—into a deadlier strain of the coronavirus found in Washington state early in the pandemic. www.science.org/content/article/news-glance-climate-justice-ethical-mask-wearers-and-cdc-under-trump The objective was to learn whether the protein alone explains Omicron’s lower
Scientists create a deadlier Omicron variant Read More »
Moderna Inc. will provide as many as 100 million doses of COVID-19 shots that specifically target variants for vaccine alliance GAVI to distribute in lower-income countries in 2023. Under the agreement, Moderna will supply these mRNA variant-targeting shots for GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, at the lowest of its tiered prices. The shots will then be
Moderna will provide 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Gavi Read More »
Independent advisers of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) voted 15-0 last Thursday to add most COVID-19 vaccines offered in the US to the childhood, adolescent and adult immunization schedules. www.politico.com/news/2022/10/20/cdc-advisers-recommend-adding-covid-shots-to-routine-schedules-for-kids-adults-00062739? The immunization schedules, which are updated every autumn before going into effect the following year, consolidate all of the CDC’s vaccine
CDC votes to add COVID-19 vaccines to child immunisation schedules Read More »
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