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COVID-19 hits largest research outpost in Antarctica

McMurdo Station, the largest research outpost in Antarctica, is suffering from an unprecedented outbreak of COVID-19, with at least 64 active cases among its more than 900 residents, the US National Science Foundation (NSF) said on 7 November. The agency this week paused most flights to the continent for 2 weeks and recommended that all …

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Novel antibiotic for UTIs passes first clinical trial

A new antibiotic that represents an entirely novel chemical class has passed it first clinical test. The drug, gepotidacin, cured urinary tract infections (UTIs) so well in two large trials that researchers stopped them early. www.science.org/content/article/news-glance-new-antibiotic-covid-19-antarctica-and-venus-mission-deferred? Its manufacturer, GSK, says it plans to seek approval of the drug from the US Food and Drug Administration …

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Dr Soumya Swaminathan to resign as chief scientist at the WHO

Dr Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist at the WHO, will resign from her post on November 30 after a five-year stint and return to India. The 63-year-old, who is two years short of the WHO’s mandatory retirement age, told The Indian Express that she felt an urge to do “more hands-on practical work” and that she …

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Cruise liner becomes COVID-19 hotspot

The Majestic Princess cruise liner docked in Sydney recently with hundreds infected after departing from the same port two weeks earlier, Nine News reports. The ship had just finished a 12-day tour of New Zealand – having dropped anchor in ports around Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin, Bay of Islands, and Fiordland National Park. In a joint …

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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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