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sars-cov-2

RSV

FDA approves RSV maternal vaccine; The latest health stories from around the world

Article by Lalita Panicker, Consulting Editor, Views and Editor, Insight, Hindustan Times, New Delhi  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a vaccine given to pregnant women to protect babies from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The virus causes severe lung infections that are the leading cause of U.S. infant hospitalizations. https://www.science.org/content/article/rsv-vaccine-scientific-advisory-panels-and-biodiversity-hot-spot-risk?   Pregnant people …

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New COVID-19 vaccine to be made available next month; The latest health stories from around the world

Article by Lalita Panicker, Consulting Editor, Views and Editor, Insight, Hindustan Times, New Delhi A new COVID vaccine is due out next month, but health experts and analysts say it is likely to be coolly received even as hospitalizations from “Eris”, a variant of the Omicron form of the coronavirus, rise around the country. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/new-covid-vaccines-are-way-eris-variant-rises-2023-08-14/ …

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New “Eris” COVID-19 strain shows 80 percent rise; The latest health stories from around the world

Following the detection of a new strain of the novel coronavirus, data put out by the World Health Organization (WHO) shows an 80 per cent rise in Covid-19 cases around the world. https://indianexpress.com/article/world/who-global-covid-19-cases-rise-updates-8889491/ The variant, known as EG.5 or “Eris”, is related to an Omicron subvariant called XBB.1.9.2, and is growing in prevalence globally, with …

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UK COVID-19 surveillance “flying blind”; The latest health stories from around the world

Article by Lalita Panicker, Consulting Editor, Views and Editor, Insight, Hindustan Times, New Delhi The UK is nearly “flying blind” when it comes to COVID this autumn, experts have said, amid an increase in cases. While the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) continues to track some metrics of COVID, including hospitalization numbers, many of the …

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US Senate approves budget increase for biomedical research; The latest health stories from around the world

Article by Lalita Panicker, Consulting Editor, Views and Editor, Insight, Hindustan Times, New Delhi To the relief of biomedical research advocates, a US Senate spending panel has approved a modest budget increase of 2% for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The bump to $47.8 billion roughly matches President Joe Biden’s request for the 2024 …

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TB, tuberculosis

More affordable tuberculosis medication on the horizon; The latest health stories from around the world

Article by Lalita Panicker, Consulting Editor, Views and Editor, Insight, Hindustan Times, New Delhi The pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson (J&J) in mid-July agreed to help make a therapy critical to fighting drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) more widely available and affordable. J&J said it would allow competitors to market generic versions of the lifesaving drug, bedaquiline, …

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Gambian families take government to court over cough syrup deaths; The latest health stories from around the world

Article by Lalita Panicker, Consulting Editor, Views and Editor, Insight, Hindustan Times, New Delhi Families of 20 Gambian children who died after consuming cough syrups made in India will take their government to court this month for allegedly mishandling drug imports — a rare step in one of Africa’s poorest countries, where few have the …

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Diabetes drug may reduce risk of long COVID; The latest health stories from around the world

Article by Lalita Panicker, Consulting Editor, Views and Editor, Insight, Hindustan Times, New Delhi The inexpensive and widely used diabetes drug metformin decreased the risk of developing Long Covid in overweight and obese outpatients who took it while acutely ill with SARS-CoV-2 infection, researchers reported last week in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. https://www.science.org/content/article/news-glance-long-covid-treatment-global-earthquake-model-and-deep-sea-mining The risk …

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Long COVID symptoms identified by study; The latest health stories from around the world

Article by Lalita Panicker, Consulting Editor, Views and Editor, Insight, Hindustan Times, New Delhi A team of scientists says it has nailed down the major symptoms of Long Covid, which has disabled millions of people since the pandemic began. https://www.science.org/content/article/major-u-s-effort-pins-down-symptoms-long-covid? In a study published yesterday (25 May) in The Journal of the American Medical Association, …

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