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☆ HPV vaccine: Some studies say one and done might be better
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Jen Christensen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

The HPV vaccine protects against the strains that cause most HPV-related cancers. But not every country has the same vaccination options, which is part of the reason WHO has been pushing to change the way doctors give the HPV vaccine. A one-and-done approach to the HPV vaccine could be a huge help around the world, experts say. But she’d also like more people to get the HPV vaccine. So I think that’s really, really important,” Abraham said.

☆ How Reuters pinpointed bat-virus risk zones worldwide
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +12 min

Areas where conditions are similar are more prone to spillover, scientists say. The Reuters analysis, which assessed spillover risk through 2020, has proven to have some predictive power. Similar statistical models are used widely to analyze data in ecology, and researchers use them to understand spillover risk. More than one of every five people on the planet is living in areas where the risk is highest for spillover. Using epidemic modeling software called GLEAMviz, the news agency simulated a worldwide pandemic originating from the spillover of a theoretical novel virus.

☆ Opinion: Why I’m not reassured by our victory over Covid-19
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Opinion Kent Sepkowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Editor’s note: Kent Sepkowitz is a physician and infectious disease expert at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. CNN —At long last, the Covid-19 pandemic has entered its whimper phase. Last week, the World Health Organization decided to end the Covid-19 global health emergency. The US public health emergency is scheduled to end on Thursday, and beginning the following day, vaccination against Covid-19 will no longer be required for non-US travelers entering the States. Infectious diseases don’t ever really go away; they just change a little, then change some more till one day, they return bigger and fiercer than ever.

☆ C.D.C. to Scale Back Covid Tracking Efforts
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

still plans to collect will not provide enough actionable information at the state and local level, said Sam Scarpino, a public health expert at Northeastern University. As with other pathogens like influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, state and local health officials will need to make decisions based on limited data, he said. to require health data from state agencies. Collecting and reporting Covid data to the C.D.C. doesn’t have a choice” but to narrow its surveillance efforts, said Dr. Megan Ranney, an emergency room physician and deputy dean of Brown’s School of Public Health.

☆ Covid-sniffing dogs can help detect infections in K-12 schools, new study suggests
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Jacqueline Howard | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Months prior, Glaser and her team were implementing the school’s Covid-19 testing program, using antigen nasal swab tests. It’s not as simple as just handing those things out at school and having the kids do them,” said Glaser, who oversaw antigen testing programs at some California public schools. For now, Glaser and her colleagues described in a new study the lessons they learned from the Covid-19 dog screening pilot program that they launched in some California K-12 public schools. In comparison, Covid-19 BinaxNOW antigen tests have been shown in one real-world study to demonstrate 93.3% sensitivity and 99.9% specificity. The pilot program within California public schools also has left Edwards with hope for future opportunities in which canines can help detect disease in humans.

☆ Most Americans are not confident in how China's Xi will handle world affairs, Pew survey finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Meanwhile, Xi has consolidated his power in China and is seeking to to bolster China's global influence. It is unclear how aware Pew survey respondents were of such world events and developments. Economic cooperationU.S.-China cooperation on economic matters was one of two areas in which Pew survey respondents remained more optimistic. General pessimismPew survey respondents mostly did not see areas of potential cooperation between the U.S. and China. Certainly not the climate," the Pew report said, citing a 25-year-old unnamed woman who participated in a focus group.

☆ Candida auris is just one infection fueled by rising temperatures. See how extreme climate helps spread disease, in 3 simple charts.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Climate change may be driving the rapid spread of Candida auris, a deadly fungus, across the US. Three charts show how extreme weather and environmental changes help spread disease. Nicolas Armer/picture alliance via Getty ImagesA leading theory on this fungus's sudden emergence and wide spread is that it's fueled by climate change. Whatever survives, however, is adapted to extreme heat — including the fever our bodies produce to kill off pathogens. David Ryder/Getty ImagesHumans and their infrastructure are more vulnerable to the devastating impacts of disease when they're compromised by extreme weather.

☆ Vaccine makers prep bird flu shot for humans 'just in case'; rich nations lock in supplies
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Jennifer Rigby | Thomson Reuters | Jen Reports On Health Issues Affecting People Around The World | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

There has also been a push among companies to develop a bird flu vaccine for poultry, a market potentially far larger than that for humans. Many countries' pandemic plans say flu shots should go first to the most vulnerable while supply is limited. The agreements include six of the largest seasonal flu manufacturers, such as GSK, Sanofi and CSL Seqirus, the WHO said. NEW APPROACHESIn a pandemic, vaccine manufacturers would shift production of seasonal flu vaccines and instead make shots tailored to the new outbreak when needed. The results will be closely watched, as the data on Moderna’s seasonal flu candidate was mixed.

☆ Bill Gates says 'we need a fire department for pandemics' as he worries we're unprepared for the next one
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bill Gates wrote a New York Times op-ed Sunday warning about future pandemics. He supported the WHO's global health emergency corps, calling it a "fire department for pandemics." "We can't afford to get caught flat-footed again," Gates wrote. But he added he was "optimistic" about the global health emergency corps – a network of health leaders around the world designed to promote collaboration between different countries. "The Global Health Emergency Corps will represent massive progress toward a pandemic-free future," Gates wrote in the Times.

☆ FDA advisors recommend full approval of Pfizer Covid treatment Paxlovid for adults 50 and over and other high-risk people
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The Food and Drug Administration's independent panel of advisors recommended full approval of Pfizer's Covid-19 antiviral pill Paxlovid for high-risk adults 16-1 on Thursday, but flagged potentially harmful drug interactions. The FDA first made Paxlovid available in December 2021 for emergency use in high-risk individuals ages 12 and up. More than half of Paxlovid-eligible Medicare and Veterans Affairs patients are on medications that have drug interactions with Paxlovid, according to an FDA review of safety surveillance data. Roughly 74% of Paxlovid prescriptions were from adult primary care practitioners who may not be experienced with managing the possible adverse drug interactions, the FDA review added. To complete a full course of the drug, patients must take three Paxlovid pills twice a day for five days.

☆ An elite Bronze Age man who underwent brain surgery 3,500 years ago may have suffered from leprosy, archaeologists believe
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Archaeologists discovered the remains of a man from the Bronze Age who had a rare brain surgery. The two brothers discovered were likely elite or even royal members of their society. "It's hard to overstate Megiddo's cultural and economic importance in the late Bronze Age," he said in a statement. Rachel Kalisher, a Ph.D. student, analyzed the bones of two upper-class brothers who were buried beneath the ancient city of Megiddo. Evidence of brain surgery — angular notched trephination — was discovered in the older brother.

ANTAKYA, Turkey—Two weeks after earthquakes devastated swaths of Turkey, the government and aid groups are rushing to bolster the area’s heavily damaged health system, which is struggling to treat tens of thousands of injured and those who require routine care. The death toll from the Feb. 6 quakes has risen to more than 48,200—about 42,300 in Turkey and at least 5,900 in Syria. In Turkey, some 108,000 were injured and at least two million lost their homes, authorities and experts estimate. Health professionals are also warning of a heightened risk of infectious disease outbreaks in the disaster zone.

More than 105,000 people were injured in the quake, he said, with more than 13,000 still being treated in hospital. Afterwards, Gungor's relatives hugged the rescue team, made up of military personnel and members of the disaster management authority AFAD. Families in both Turkey and Syria said they and their children were dealing with the psychological aftermath of the quake. A first convoy of U.N. aid entered rebel-held northwest Syria from Turkey via the newly-opened Bab al-Salam crossing. Russia also said it was wrapping up its search and rescue work in Turkey and Syria and preparing to withdraw.

☆ Increasing number of Turkey-Syria earthquake survivors show signs of PTSD
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Umit Bektas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ISKENDERUN, Turkey, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Doctors in a Turkish field hospital in the southern city of Iskenderun said they are treating increasing numbers of patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and panic attacks after last week's earthquake. The extent of the trauma survivors have experienced is enormous. "People only now are starting to realise what happened to them after this shock period," said a Turkish medical official. Sometimes when he is asleep he wakes up and says 'earthquake'," said his father Hassan Moath. Some 26 million people across both countries need humanitarian assistance," said the WHO's Europe Director Hans Kluge in a statement.

☆ Scientists are modifying catfish with alligator DNA to create hybrids for human consumption
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Scientists at Auburn University injected alligator DNA into farm-raised catfish. They hope the new and less disease-prone catfish will one day be sold for human consumption. A group of scientists at Auburn University published a paper in January detailing their efforts to genetically modify catfish with the cathelicidin gene of an alligator. The gene, which was added using CRISPR, heightened disease resistance among the catfish in comparison to wild catfish. However, researchers hope that the alligator and catfish gene-editing can be used in tandem with other catfish breeding techniques to help farmers with their catfish yields.

The hands of the Doomsday Clock are closer to midnight than ever before, with humanity facing a time of “unprecedented danger” that has increased the likelihood of a human-caused apocalypse, a group of scientists announced Tuesday. “We are living in a time of unprecedented danger, and the Doomsday Clock time reflects that reality,” Rachel Bronson, president and CEO of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, said in a statement, adding that “it’s a decision our experts do not take lightly.”The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists set the Doomsday Clock at 90 seconds to midnight on Tuesday. When it was unveiled in 1947, the clock was set at 7 minutes to midnight, with “midnight” signifying human-caused apocalypse. In 2020, the Bulletin set the Doomsday Clock at 100 seconds to midnight, the first time it had moved within the two-minute mark. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists was founded in 1945 to examine global security issues related to science and technology.

☆ Putin's nuclear threats move Doomsday Clock closest ever to Armageddon, atomic scientists say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Christina Wilkie | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The 2023 Doomsday Clock is displayed before a live-streamed event with members of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on January 24, 2023 in Washington, DC. The group has been measuring real and existential threats to humankind, from climate change to the prospects of nuclear war, for more than 70 years. The renewed global threat of nuclear war was compounded by the ongoing Covid pandemic, experts noted. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was founded in 1945 by the late physicist and Nobel laureate Albert Einstein, as well as scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project to build the first atomic bomb. The clock's threats "focus on manmade threats: nuclear risk, climate change and new disruptive technologies, including bio technologies," said Bronson.

More than 40 million egg-laying hens have been culled in the U.S. alone, causing the price of eggs nationwide to skyrocket, Lorenzoni said. Months earlier, the “bird flu” outbreak drove the cost of turkey meat to record highs. Poultry can become infected through direct exposure to wild birds but more likely from fecal matter that contaminates the ground around farms or yards. Many migrating birds are not sickened by bird flu, which means it’s not well understood just how widespread it is in the wild, Lorenzoni added. The sun can, for instance, naturally disinfect surfaces while gloomier days help viral particles survive on surfaces contaminated by infected bird poop, Lorenzoni said.

☆ Climate leaders say 3 conversations need to happen at the World Economic Forum this week to lock in a sustainable future
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Freya Graham | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The climate crisis is set to dominate the agenda at this year's World Economic Forum meeting in Davos. Climate experts say they'll be looking out for 3 conversations, including how to pay for the climate crisis. More climate finance dealsSome solutions to the climate crisis already exist, according to Sweta Chakraborty, behavioral scientist and CEO of climate solutions organization We Don't Have Time. A sovereign debt conversion deal enables governments to convert a portion of this debt into sustainability financing. "Developing countries want to join the fight against the climate crisis and need financial support to be successful," she said.

☆ How Long Do Flu Symptoms Last? What to Know
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Andrea Petersen | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Many people are experiencing the particular misery of the flu for the first time in several years. After two years of milder flu seasons, here is a reminder of what the flu is—and what to do if you get it. This flu season hit earlier and harder than those of the past couple of years, doctors say. The reason is likely because of the cyclical nature of the flu and the lifting of Covid precautions such as working from home, wearing masks and having smaller social gatherings, says Robert Frenck , a pediatrician in the division of infectious diseases at Cincinnati Children’s hospital in Ohio.

☆ The Flu Can Last Longer Than You Think
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Andrea Petersen | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ UK and France say no plans to follow Italy with Covid tests for China arrivals as EU plans response
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Carlos Barria | ReutersLONDON — The U.K. and France said Thursday morning they currently had no plans to reintroduce mandatory Covid-19 tests or additional requirements for travelers arriving into the country. It comes as several nations announced new measures in response to China's relaxation of Covid restrictions amid a suspected surge of infections but reduced domestic testing. On one Dec. 26 flight from China into Milan's Malpensa Airport, 52% of passengers tested positive for Covid, la Repubblica reported. But Italy's National Institute of Infectious Diseases reportedly called for an increase in testing for those arriving from China. The U.S. said from Jan. 5. all arrivals from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau must supply a negative Covid test taken within two days of departure.

The country spent big on quarantine and testing facilities over the past three years rather than bolstering hospitals and clinics and training medical staff, these people said. "There is no transition time for the medical system to prepare for this," said Zuofeng Zhang, professor of epidemiology at the University of California, Los Angeles. The failure to boost vaccination rates among the vulnerable could imperil China's health system, more than a dozen experts said. The death of a 23-year-old medical student in Chengdu on Dec. 14 fueled public ire at the strain on China's health system. Chen Jiming, a researcher at China's Foshan University, said there was every chance that China's medical system could cope now that the country has ended quarantine for asymptomatic and mild cases.

☆ China limits how it defines Covid deaths in official count
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Deaths that occur in patients with pre-existing illnesses are not counted as Covid-19 deaths, said Wang Guiqiang, the head of infectious disease at Peking University's No. The clarification of how China officially records Covid-19 deaths comes as cases have soared across the country amid the loosening of restrictions. "So limiting a diagnosis of death from Covid to someone with a Covid positive test and respiratory failure will very much underestimate the true death toll associated with Covid." That narrower criteria means that China's Covid-19 death toll will always be significantly lower than those of many other nations. The World Health Organization states in guidelines that "probable" Covid-19 cases and deaths where Covid-19 was a contributing factor should also be counted as Covid-19 deaths.

☆ Covid, flu and RSV: What science shows about being contagious
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Benjamin Ryan | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

People know when they have Covid symptoms, but do minor sniffles at the end of a coronavirus infection, for example, mean they’re still contagious? It’s a good time to brush up on what scientists know, and still don’t know, about how long people remain infectious with viral diseases — Covid, influenza, RSV — that are spreading across the U.S.How long am I contagious with Covid? If you’ve been exposed to someone who has tested positive for Covid, symptoms from any of the omicron subvariants generally appear two to four days later. How contagious you are is connected to how much of the virus, known as the viral load, is in your body. As far as relying on Covid tests to determine whether someone is still contagious, PCR tests are good at diagnosing Covid.

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