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Polio outbreak leads to state of emergency in New York

New York Governor Kathy Hochul  declared a state of emergency on Friday over a growing polio outbreak, in an effort to better equip health care providers with tools to curb the spread of the sometimes disabling virus before it takes further hold in the state. www.nytimes.com/2022/09/09/nyregion/new-york-polio-state-of-emergency.html? The order allows emergency service workers, midwives and pharmacists to …

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Breast implants linked to cancer risk?

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday warned women who have breast implants or are considering getting them that certain cancers may develop in scar tissue forming around the implants. www.nytimes.com/2022/09/08/health/breast-implants-cancer.html? The malignancies seem to be rare, but they have been linked to implants of all types, including those with textured and smooth …

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TB Free India programme launched

India’s President Droupadi Murmu on Friday launched the Prime Minister’s TB Free India programme and urged Indians to work collectively towards elimination of the disease. www.livemint.com/news/india/president-murmu-launches-tb-elimination-program-urges-indians-to-help-patients-11662719403399.html President Murmu also launched the Ni-kshay Mitra initiative to ensure additional diagnostic, nutritional, and vocational support to those undergoing TB treatment, and encouraged people to come forward as donors to …

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Philanthropist steps into the pharmaceutical field

Inspired by the record-fast creation of messenger RNA vaccines that blunted COVID-19’s impact, a philanthropist is providing AU$250 million ($172 million) over 20 years to bring similar alacrity to the development of therapeutics during future pandemic threats. Geoffrey Cumming, who made a fortune in oil and gas, is putting up what is believed to be …

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China enforces more lockdowns as cases of COVID-19 rise

China has restricted domestic travel as COVID outbreaks grow. China is stepping up its COVID defences as a key Communist Party meeting looms, restricting internal travel further as swathes of the country remain under tight lockdowns. The National Health Commission on Thursday announced a raft of measures that will be in place until the end …

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New COVID-19 antibody shows promise

COVID-19 vaccines have been effective at keeping people from getting severely ill and dying from the virus, but they’ve required different boosters to keep on top of all of the coronavirus variants that have popped up. Now, researchers have discovered an antibody that neutralises all known COVID-19 variants. The antibody, called SP1-77, is the result …

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China locks down Chengdu following latest COVID-19 outbreak

China has locked down Chengdu, one of its biggest and most economically important cities, as it turns once again to its COVID strategy of restricting people’s movements to stop outbreaks. www.nytimes.com/2022/09/01/world/asia/china-covid-lockdown-chengdu.html Starting at 6 p.m. last Thursday, residents in the city of more than 21 million were no longer allowed to leave their homes without …

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Updated COVID-19 boosters get FDA emergency use authorisation; The latest health stories from around the world

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted an emergency use authorization for Moderna’s and Pfizer-BioNTech’s updated booster vaccines, which target the BA.4/BA.5 coronavirus subvariants. www.science.org/content/article/omicron-booster-shots-are-coming-lots-questions? For the first time since the start of the pandemic, COVID-19 vaccines look set to receive an update. Boosters reformulated to protect against the Omicron variant, which has …

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The UK becomes the first country to approve a dual-strain COVID-19 booster; The latest health stories from around the world

Last week the United Kingdom became the first country to approve an updated COVID-19 booster directed at two different strains of the coronavirus. The “bivalent” booster, made by Moderna, will have the same dose of messenger RNA as the company’s prior boosters but will target both the original version of the coronavirus and the first …

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Smallpox vaccine used to combat monkeypox; The latest health stories from around the world

When monkeypox suddenly started spreading globally in May, the world was fortunate in one respect: A vaccine was available. MVA, originally developed by Bavarian Nordic as a smallpox vaccine, was already licensed for monkeypox in Canada and the United States (US). European Union (EU) regulators have since followed suit. Vaccine supplies are limited, and no …

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