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☆ What to Know About the New Covid Booster Shots
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Knvul Sheikh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

How are the new Covid shots different from the last ones? Unlike the bivalent shots from last fall, the latest mRNA vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna are monovalent, meaning they are designed to protect against just one variant: XBB.1.5, a recent descendant of Omicron that emerged earlier this year. Vaccine makers Pfizer and Moderna have also announced that, according to their initial research, the new Covid vaccines provide good protection against both EG.5 and BA.2.86. The new shots do not include protection against the original virus, which may actually help broaden protection against new variants. “Our immune system, when we have seen something, is biased to seeing that again,” Dr. Ho said.

Persons: David Ho, “, ”, ” Dr, Ho Organizations: Pfizer, Moderna, Columbia University, Vaccine, EG, Regulators, XBB

☆ China had almost 2 million excess deaths after the end of ‘zero-Covid,’ U.S. study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-26 | by ( Jennifer Jett | Cheng Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

There were almost 2 million excess deaths in the two months after China lifted its "zero-Covid" restrictions, a U.S. study found, contradicting official figures from Beijing that have been criticized as too low. Researchers estimate there were 1.87 million excess deaths from all causes among people 30 years and older from December 2022 to January, according to the study from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle published Thursday. "Our study of excess deaths related to the lifting of the zero-Covid policy in China sets an empirically derived benchmark estimate," the researchers wrote. The way the study estimates data is not "scientifically rigorous," but it is nonetheless an "objective" and "beneficial" attempt, Jin added. Jin said the actual data could be a few percentage points lower or higher than the study estimates.

Persons: Fred, Jan, Zhanwei Du, Lauren Ancel Meyers, Jin Dong, Jin Organizations: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, University of Hong, University of Texas, Baidu Locations: China, U.S, Beijing, Seattle, Tibet, University of Hong Kong, Austin

REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON/CHICAGO, Aug 24 (Reuters) - A highly mutated COVID variant called BA.2.86 has now been detected in Switzerland and South Africa in addition to Israel, Denmark, the U.S. and the U.K., according to a leading World Health Organization official. It has since been detected in other symptomatic patients, in routine airport screening, and in wastewater samples in a handful of countries. That the known cases are not linked suggests it is already circulating more widely, particularly given reduced surveillance worldwide, she said. There have been nine such cases detected as of Aug. 23 and the variant was also found in wastewater in Switzerland. Jha and others, including the European public health agency and COVAX, the global program for getting vaccines to the world's poorest, said COVID surveillance and defenses could be reactivated in the event of a major infection wave.

Persons: Shannon Stapleton, Maria Van Kerkhove, Kerkhove, ”, Marion Koopmans, Nirav Shah, Van Kerkhove, Tyra Grove Krause, Ashish Jha, Jha, Jennifer Rigby, Julie Steenhuysen, Pratik Jain, Caroline Humer, Bill Berkrot Organizations: REUTERS, Health Organization, Omicron, WHO, U.S . Centers for Disease Control, Pharmacy, Walgreens, Rite, Reuters, Statens Serum, White, Thomson Locations: Harlem, New York City, U.S, CHICAGO, Switzerland, South Africa, Israel, Denmark, COVID, Dutch, Danish, Bengaluru

☆ US CDC tracks new lineage of virus that causes COVID
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( Deena Beasley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The lineage is named BA.2.86, and has been detected in the United States, Denmark and Israel, the CDC said in a post on messaging platform X. "As we learn more about BA.2.86, CDC's advice on protecting yourself from COVID-19 remains the same," the agency said. The WHO said that, so far, only a few sequences of the variant have been reported from a handful of countries. The new lineage, which has 36 mutations from the currently-dominant XXB.1.5 COVID variant "harkens back to an earlier branch" of the virus, explained Dr. S. Wesley Long, medical director of diagnostic microbiology at Houston Methodist. https://slides.com/jbloom/new_2nd_gen_ba2_variant?ftag=YHF4eb9d17#/12The Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 is the strain targeted by vaccines in upcoming COVID booster shots.

Persons: Wesley Long, Jesse Bloom, Fred Hutch, Dr, Long, Shivani Tanna, Himani Sarkar, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: Science, Trinity College, Reuters, U.S . Centers for Disease Control, CDC, World Health Organization, WHO, Houston Methodist, Fred Hutch Cancer Center, Thomson Locations: Dublin, Wuhan, United States, Denmark, Israel, Bengaluru

☆ How Bad Is a Second (or Third or Fourth) Case of Covid?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Dani Blum | More About Dani Blum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Reinfection and long CovidThe chances you will get long Covid from a reinfection are fairly unpredictable — several experts interviewed for this story used the metaphor of Russian roulette. The milder your symptoms, the less likely you are to get long Covid, said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco. But every time you get infected, no matter the severity, there is always a chance that you can develop longer-term symptoms. Dr. Sala said he frequently sees patients who were more or less fine after their first couple of infections wind up with long Covid in the wake of a third or fourth infection. Still, it’s not a foregone conclusion that reinfection definitively raises the risk of long Covid, said Fikadu Tafesse, a virologist at Oregon Health & Science University.

Persons: Peter Chin, Ziyad Al, Aly, Sala, that’s, ”, it’s, reinfection, Fikadu Tafesse, “ Organizations: University of California, Nature Medicine, U.S . Department of Veterans Affairs, Louis Healthcare, Oregon Health & Science University Locations: San Francisco, St

☆ New Covid variant: EG.5 is on the rise as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations go up
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —There’s a new coronavirus variant topping the leaderboard in the United States: EG.5. And it represents another incremental tweak to the virus rather than a major evolutionary leap like the original Omicron strain. This mutation has appeared in other coronavirus variants before. EG.5 also now has its own offshoot, EG.5.1, that adds a second mutation to the spike. Topol says the US can’t afford to delay its Covid-19 vaccine rollout.

Persons: CNN —, it’s, David Ho, ” Ho, ”, Eric Topol, Anne Hahn, Dan Barouch, virologist, ” Topol, Mandy Cohen, Topol, Dr, Sanjay Gupta Organizations: CNN, EG, US Centers for Disease Control, Columbia University, Scripps, Research, World Health Organization, Yale School of Public Health, Harvard University, US Food and Drug Administration, CDC, CNN Health, FDA Locations: United States, Northeast, FL, Ireland, France, Japan, China, Boston

The vaccine, the company said, may not have gone through advanced enough testing to qualify for the new pot of U.S. funding. Federal officials, some of whom have become concerned about the leadership of the next-generation vaccine program, acknowledged that key questions remain about how the program will operate and how quickly it can deliver. Although some Biden administration officials hope to roll out new vaccine technology by fall 2024, many scientists believe doses are at least several years away. “There’s not the money, there’s not the infrastructure, there’s not the support,” John Moore, a virologist at Weill Cornell Medicine, said of the push for improved vaccines. “So I’m not expecting any next-generation major things in the near future.”

Persons: “ There’s, there’s, ” John Moore, I’m, ” Organizations: Biden, Weill Cornell Medicine Locations: Pennsylvania, India

☆ Françoise Gilot, artist whose career transcended relationship with Picasso, has died at 101
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Benjamin Sutton | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Françoise Gilot, a tireless artist who defied simple categorization — and efforts to define her merely as a footnote in the story of her former lover Pablo Picasso — died Tuesday in New York. The early years of her career coincided with World War II and the Nazi occupation of Paris. In 1970, Gilot married her second husband, Jonas Salk, a virologist who developed one of the first polio vaccines. "Paloma à la Guitare" by Francoise Gilot (1965) was part of Sotheby's (Women) Artists Sale in 2021 in London, England. In 2012, Gagosian staged the first exhibition of Gilot’s work alongside Picasso’s, “Picasso and Françoise Gilot: Paris–Vallauris 1943–1953,” which focused on works made during their relationship.

Persons: Françoise, Pablo Picasso —, Aurelia Engel, Gilot, Engel, Madeleine Decre’s, Picasso, Carlton Lake, ”, Picasso’s, Pablo Picasso, Francoise Gillot, Roger Viollet, ” Gilot, —, Claude, Paloma Picasso —, Luc Simon, Paris ’ Galerie Louise Leiris, York’s David Findley, Simon, Engel’s, Jonas Salk, Salk, Paloma, Francoise Gilot, John Phillips, Gerald Joyce, Jonas Salk —, Jonas, Gagosian, “ Picasso, John Richardson, Richardson, John Bright, “, Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy, WHYY’s Terry Gross Organizations: The Art, CNN, The New York Times, Paris ’ Galerie, United, Galleria Santo, Galerie Coard, Salk, Salk Institute, Acatos Publishing, New York, Penske Media, Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, ville de, New Orleans Museum of Art, National Museum of Women, Arts, of Arts, National Merit, Legion Locations: New York, Paris, Neuilly, Seine, Nazi, Europe, United States, Venice, Dantesca, Turin, Pierre, ”, San Diego , California, Sotheby's, London, England, California, Antibes, ville de Paris, Washington , DC, France

☆ China, birthplace of COVID, lays tracks for a new global health crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

Bat viruses have been the source of multiple health crises besides those related to coronaviruses, including recent outbreaks of Ebola, Nipah, and Marburg. Partners in risk The total area at high risk for bat viruses to infect humans more than doubled in size in Laos between 2002 and 2020. The animals, known to be susceptible to bat viruses, included raccoon dogs, bamboo rats and porcupines. As China boomed in recent decades, global demand for rubber also skyrocketed, leading to further development and deforestation here. Already, scientists have found local bats bearing viruses closely related to those responsible for the 2003 SARS and COVID-19 pandemics.

☆ How a deadly bat virus found new ways to infect people
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +16 min

Scientists found bats with Nipah virus roosting near Sabith’s home. A search of the neighborhood led to a colony, near their house, of flying foxes, a common fruit bat. NETTING NIPAH: Researchers in Bangladesh use nets to catch bats and collect samples to find the Nipah virus in the wild. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir HossainWhether Sabith ate contaminated fruit or somehow came into direct contact with a bat, the virus entered his cells. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir HossainA year later, Chua’s team found the same strain of Nipah virus in flying foxes.

However, a number of countries have recently begun lifting their domestic states of emergency, such as the United States. WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said he hopes to end the international emergency this year. One source close to negotiations said lifting the "public health emergency of international concern", or PHEIC, label could impact global funding or collaboration efforts. "I expect WHO to end the public health emergency of international concern. If WHO does not end it... [this time], then certainly the next time the emergency committee meets."

☆ Data released by China suggests COVID-19 virus may have come from raccoon dogs and 'strengthens' Wuhan wet-market theory
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Newly released genetic data from Wuhan has found raccoon dog DNA blended with the COVID-19 virus. Since the first COVID-19 death in Wuhan on January 11, 2020, the virus has killed 6,873,477 people worldwide. This suggests that the virus may have infected the animals, according to the scientists. "We continue to call on China to be transparent in sharing data and to conduct the necessary investigations and share the results. Since the first COVID-19 death — which was recorded in Wuhan, China, on January 11, 2020 — the virus has killed 6,873,477 people around the world, according to WHO data.

October 2022 Wang Linfang,92, molecular biologist Four members of China’s two most prestigious academic institutions died in October – in line with the average in recent years. October 2022 Wang Linfang,92, molecular biologist Four members of China’s two most prestigious academic institutions died in October – in line with the average in recent years. Zhang Guocheng, 91 Zhao Zisen, 90, developed China’s first practical optical fiber Tang Hongxiao, 91 The obituaries began accumulating. October 2022 Wang Linfang,92, molecular biologist Four members of China’s two most prestigious academic institutions died in October – in line with the average in recent years. October 2022 Wang Linfang,92, molecular biologist Four members of China’s two most prestigious academic institutions died in October – in line with the average in recent years.

When the virologist Kirsten St. George learned last summer that a paralyzed patient in New York’s Rockland County had tested positive for polio, she turned her attention to the state’s sewers. Polio is particularly stealthy because most infected people never develop symptoms but can still spread the virus. A wastewater-surveillance network established during the Covid-19 pandemic helped officials at the New York State Department of Health’s Wadsworth Center track polio’s spread in several counties.

☆ Mpox has faded in the U.S. Who deserves the credit?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Today, reports of new cases are down to a trickle in the U.S. Health officials are shutting down emergency mobilizations. “It’s really impressive how that peak has come down to very, very low levels.”So who deserves the credit? Mpox cases began emerging in Europe and the U.S. in May, mostly among men who have sex with men. In early August, U.S. health officials decided to stretch the limited supply by giving people just one-fifth the usual dose. “The monkeypox virus essentially loses steam after a couple of rounds in humans,” Morse said.

☆ Leading WHO advisers call for 'realistic' COVID data from China at key meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Jennifer Rigby | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] The World Health Organization logo is pictured at the entrance of the WHO building, in Geneva, Switzerland, December 20, 2021. REUTERS/Denis BalibouseLONDON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Leading scientists advising the World Health Organization said they wanted a "more realistic picture" about the COVID-19 situation from China's top experts at a key meeting on Tuesday as worries grow about the rapid spread of the virus. The WHO has invited Chinese scientists to a virtual closed meeting with its technical advisory group on viral evolution on Tuesday, to present data on which variants are circulating in the country. Speaking to Reuters ahead of the meeting, she said some of the data from China, such as hospitalisation numbers, is "not very credible". A WHO spokesperson said that a "detailed discussion" was expected about circulating variants in China, and globally, with Chinese scientists expected to make a presentation.

Wuhan resident Xie Zhicong said he and everyone in his family, aside from his grandmother, had been infected. Xie, a 25-year-old salesman, said it was difficult to see a doctor when he went to a hospital for an examination last week. The hospital that Xie visited did not respond to requests for comment on his claims. People who have recovered, Xie said, are looking ahead to life after three years of “zero-Covid” restrictions. Though China is experiencing a massive outbreak much as it did at the start of the pandemic, once it’s over the virus won’t have many places left to go, Sridhar said.

☆ Highly immune evasive omicron XBB.1.5 variant is quickly becoming dominant in U.S. as it doubles weekly
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Covid omicron XBB.1.5 variant is rapidly becoming dominant in the U.S. because it is highly immune evasive and appears more effective at binding to cells than related subvariants, scientists say. It has since evolved into a family of subvariants including XBB.1 and XBB.1.5. The XBB subvariants are also resistant to Evusheld, an antibody cocktail that many people with weak immune systems rely on for protection against Covid infection because they don't mount a strong response to the vaccines. The scientists described the resistance of the XBB subvariants to antibodies from vaccination and infection as "alarming." The XBB subvariants were even more effective at dodging protection from the omicron boosters than the BQ subvariants, which are also highly immune evasive, the scientists found.

The officials said the Biden administration was considering steps similar to those already taken by Japan, which said Tuesday that all travelers from mainland China would be tested on arrival, and Malaysia, which has stepped up tracking and surveillance of travelers from China. Taiwan also said Wednesday that travelers from mainland China would have to take a PCR test on arrival, with those who test positive allowed to isolate at home. Last week, India said it would make virus testing mandatory for travelers arriving from China as well as Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand. Any restrictions would be applied to all travelers coming from China, regardless of nationality, the U.S. officials said. Earlier this month, China abruptly eased its “zero-Covid” approach following mass protests, scrapping domestic rules and lifting quarantine requirements for those traveling to China.

☆ Potential China wave is 'wild card' for ending COVID emergency - WHO advisors
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Jennifer Rigby | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"It's clear that we are in a very different phase [of the pandemic], but in my mind, that pending wave in China is a wild card." Last week, he told reporters in Geneva that he was "hopeful" of an end to the emergency some time next year. Tedros's earlier comments spurred hopes that the United Nations agency could soon remove the Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) designation for COVID, which has been in place since January 2020. Some global health experts had expected China to wait for the WHO to lift the emergency status before easing its own pandemic response measures. WHO member states are currently working on re-designing the rules that govern global health emergencies to potentially address issues like this.

☆ Just How Bad Is the ‘Tripledemic’?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Amy Schoenfeld Walker | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

R.S.V., or respiratory syncytial virus, has made so many young children ill this fall that weekly pediatric hospitalizations for R.S.V. Public health officials have been warning for weeks that a “tripledemic” of Covid-19, flu and R.S.V. Weekly hospitalizations for Covid-19, R.S.V. With flu surging and Covid-19 circulating, respiratory illness has overwhelmed pediatric units across the country, shifting the strain to emergency rooms and children’s hospitals. The predominant type of flu circulating right now, a subtype of influenza A known as H3, also tends to result in higher flu hospitalizations among the elderly, according to the C.D.C.

☆ New subvariants, family gatherings may bring more Covid-19 after holiday, but experts don’t expect severe surge
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Experts expect that Thanksgiving gatherings will stir up social networks and give new coronavirus subvariants fresh pockets of vulnerable people to infect. And we are concerned that after holiday gathering, lots of people coming together, that we may see increases in Covid-19 cases as well,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Tuesday on CNN. For the week ending Nov. 19, the CDC estimates that BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 were causing about half of all new Covid-19 cases in the US. Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths have remained flat for the past four weeks. “It’s probably got a bit more of a fitness advantage, so what we’re seeing is gradual replacement without a massive change in the total number of Covid-19 cases,” he said.

Easing Covid measures means accepting a rise in cases that is likely to get worse as winter approaches. Residents buy medications at a pharmacy in Shijiazhuang, China, last week. “There will always be complaints.”Though many people in China still support “zero-Covid,” the strict measures have also stoked growing resentment. China is thus now facing a dual challenge, said Donald Low, a professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. “You’re going to see the Hong Kong story played out on a much larger scale” in mainland China, Low said.

Two new omicron subvariants have overtaken BA.5 as the prevailing versions of the coronavirus in the U.S.BA.5 became dominant in July, then consistently accounted for the majority of new Covid infections until last week. The two together make up around 44% of new Covid infections, whereas BA.5 makes up just 30%. BQ.1.1 and BQ.1 cases are also rising in the U.K. and elsewhere in Europe. Both of the subvariants are considered part of the BA.5 family — they're sublineages that evolved from BA.5. "There’s nothing in the signature of the clinical cases that are being reported that suggests that anything is changing in terms of symptoms with these omicron subvariants," Pekosz said.

☆ China is caught in a zero-Covid trap of its own making
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

“The new political ecology also provided more incentive for local governments to impose more draconian Covid control measures,” Huang said. Chinese health officials maintain that changing tack now would risk a huge surge in infections and deaths that could overwhelm the country’s fragile health care system. Zhengzhou, a city of 12 million, imposed sweeping lockdown measures last month after identifying dozens of Covid-19 cases. On Wednesday, the Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone, where the Foxconn plant is located, announced new lockdown measures. As the winter approaches, experts warn that China could be hit by a new wave of infections – and a new cycle of draconian lockdowns.

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