Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
FDA May Authorize Additional Covid-19 Booster Shots
WSJ Agency officials could make the decision on clearing another round for people at high risk within a few weeks. Federal health regulators are nearing a decision on whether to authorize a second round of the Omicron-targeted booster shots for the elderly and other people at high-risk of severe Covid-19, people familiar with the agency’s deliberations said. […]
Mar 21, 2023
Tanzania reports a Marburg outbreak, Africa’s second this year
STAT News Africa is grappling with not one, but two outbreaks of Marburg fever, a disease that causes symptoms and a death rate comparable to Ebola, its viral cousin. Health officials in Tanzania announced Tuesday that they had confirmed the country’s first-ever Marburg outbreak, involving at least eight people so far, five of whom have […]
Mar 21, 2023
Finally, a Potential Therapy to Prevent Long COVID
MedPageToday Diabetes drug found to reduce chance of long COVID in clinical trial preprint. Hi, it’s Jeremy Faust with MedPage Today. Thanks for joining me. Today, we’re going to discuss an interesting new paper called “Outpatient Treatment of COVID-19 and the Development of Long COVID Over 10 Months.” Link to related paper in The Lancet (Preprint) […]
Mar 21, 2023
The potentially deadly Candida auris fungus is spreading quickly in the U.S.
NPR The fungus Candida auris is becoming a more dangerous public health care threat, as the number of drug-resistant cases jumped in 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. The fungus is resistant to several antifungal medications, but the CDC said it is not seen as a threat to healthy people. Still, the […]
Mar 21, 2023
Long-covid symptoms are less common now than earlier in the pandemic
Washington Post Americans infected with the coronavirus’s omicron variant are less likely to develop symptoms typical of long covid than those who had covid-19 earlier in the pandemic, according to the largest-ever study of who is most vulnerable to being sickened — or debilitated — by the virus’s lingering effects. The analysis of nearly 5 million […]
Mar 21, 2023
The Next Stage of COVID Is Starting Now
The Atlantic What happens when everyone first gets immunity to the coronavirus as a very young kid? To be a newborn in the year 2023—and, almost certainly, every year that follows—means emerging into a world where the coronavirus is ubiquitous. Babies might not meet the virus in the first week or month of life, but […]
Mar 21, 2023
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus in a Harbor Porpoise, Sweden
CDC We found highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) virus clade 2.3.4.4b associated with meningoencephalitis in a stranded harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena). The virus was closely related to strains responsible for a concurrent avian influenza outbreak in wild birds. This case highlights the potential risk for virus spillover to mammalian hosts. Europe and, more recently, North […]
Mar 21, 2023
Nirmatrelvir-Ritonavir Effective Against Omicron BA.4, BA.5 SARS-CoV-2 Variant
Pulmonology Advisor Real-world evidence from the Omicron period of the COVID-19 pandemic shows the benefit of nirmatrelvir-ritonavir for vaccinated outpatients and those younger than 65 years of age with non-severe COVID-19 at high risk of hospitalization or death, according to study findings published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. Investigators sought to examine the real-world effect of […]
Mar 21, 2023
First Texas Case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Detected in Mammals
Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife The National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) confirmed this week the presence of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in a striped skunk recovered from Carson County. This is the first confirmed case of HPAI in mammals for Texas. Detected in all states across the U.S. except Hawaii, HPAI is a […]
Mar 21, 2023
Bird flu may be making foxes and other animals behave in unusual ways
(New Scientist) Analysis of wild mammals infected with H5N1 bird flu in the US found that many had brain infections and neurological symptoms, including lack of fear of people. Bird flu is infecting the brains of wild mammals such as foxes and raccoons and may be making them behave in unusual ways, according to a […]
Mar 21, 2023
