What Bird Flu Reminds Us About Influenza Pandemics
(MedPage Today) -- It is inevitable that there will be a next influenza pandemic in humanity's future. When it will occur and the identity of the culprit influenza strain are not fully answerable questions. There are myriad different avian influenza... (Source: MedPage Today Public Health)
Source: MedPage Today Public Health - February 16, 2023 Category: American Health Source Type: news
Norovirus Is on the Rise. What to Know About Symptoms and Treatment
While SARS-CoV-2 has dominated headlines for the past few years, other viruses have been simmering in the background. And with most of COVID-19’s infection control measures (like mask-wearing, isolation, and physical distancing) now gone in the U.S., those viruses are starting to roar back again.
The U.S. has already seen spikes in RSV and influenza, and now norovirus cases are inching upward, according to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Unlike SARS-CoV-2, RSV, and influenza, norovirus is not a respiratory pathogen but instead causes problems in the gastrointestinal tra...
Source: TIME: Health - February 10, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Alice Park Tags: Uncategorized healthscienceclimate Public Health Source Type: news
Bird Flu Isn ’t a Danger to Humans … Yet
Bird flu appears to be on the move. A particularly nasty strain of the H5N1 virus is currently causing the worst outbreak of the disease among birds since it was first identified in China in 1996. Europe is deep into its second commercial season of widespread contagion, and the U.S. is seeing its deadliest 12-month period for poultry in recorded history, with 58 million animals affected so far. Records are also being broken in Japan, where a plan to cull 10 million poultry was announced in mid-January amid the appearance of a different but similar subtype, H5N2.
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The past few yea...
Source: TIME: Health - February 9, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Haley Weiss Tags: Uncategorized Disease Explainer healthscienceclimate Source Type: news
A One-Shot COVID-19 Treatment Shows Promise
The current medicine chest for treating COVID-19 is fairly sparse. Only one drug—remdesivir—is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and three—Paxlovid, molnupiravir, and convalescent plasma—have emergency use authorization from the FDA. With new variants of the virus continuing to emerge, developing next-generation treatments is a top priority.
One such therapy could be interferon lambda. In a study published Feb. 8 in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers led by Dr. Jeffrey Glenn at Stanford University report that a single injection of that drug within three days of o...
Source: TIME: Health - February 9, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Alice Park Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 healthscienceclimate Source Type: news
Experts Fear Bird Flu Outbreak Could Turn Into New Pandemic
The spread of the avian influenza virus on a mink farm in Spain has some scientists on edge. (Source: Science - The Huffington Post)
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - February 5, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: news
[Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR] Roche reports good results for 2022 despite decline in demand for COVID-19 products
Basel, 2 February 2023Group sales grow by 2%1 at constant exchange rates (CER) and 1% in Swiss francs, despite lower COVID-19-related sales in both divisionsPharmaceuticals Division salesincrease by 2%; continued strong growth of newer medicines more than compensating for the impact of biosimilars and lower sales of Actemra/RoActemra (severe COVID-19)Diagnostics Division salesgrow by 3%; ongoing strong momentum in base business (+7%) more than compensating for the continuing decline in the demand for COVID-19 tests in the second half of the yearHighlightsin the fourth quarter of 2022 (incl. January 2023):US approvals ofLun...
Source: Roche Media News - February 2, 2023 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news
[Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR] Roche reports good results for 2022 despite decline in demand for COVID-19 products
Group sales grow by 2%1 at constant exchange rates (CER) and 1% in Swiss francs, despite lower COVID-19-related sales in both divisionsPharmaceuticals Division salesincrease by 2%; continued strong growth of newer medicines more than compensating for the impact of biosimilars and lower sales of Actemra/RoActemra (severe COVID-19)Diagnostics Division salesgrow by 3%; ongoing strong momentum in base business (+7%) more than compensating for the continuing decline in the demand for COVID-19 tests in the second half of the yearHighlightsin the fourth quarter of 2022 (incl. January 2023):US approvals ofLunsumio (follicular lymp...
Source: Roche Investor Update - February 2, 2023 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news
FDA Experts Vote to Make All COVID-19 Vaccines and Boosters Bivalent
In a unanimous decision, all 21 voting members of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) vaccine committee recommended that the U.S. start using the same COVID-19 virus strain in all of the COVID-19 vaccines, including primary and booster doses.
That means the bivalent booster dose, which targets both the original SARS-CoV-2 strain and the Omicron BA.4/5 strains, would soon become the only type used for all primary shots and boosters.
The decision reflects a turning point in the pandemic. Until now, vaccine makers have tried to keep up with constantly evolving variants, but they’ve always been a few step...
Source: TIME: Health - January 27, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Alice Park Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 healthscienceclimate Source Type: news
It ’ s Not Just You: The Flu Is Bad This Year
This winter has brought a cold reminder that SARS-CoV-2 isn’t the only virus we need to think about. After two winters during which influenza was subdued by pandemic precautions, the last few months have shown that the flu is still a major public health threat that can overwhelm busy hospitals and cost thousands of lives.
This flu season is no 100-year outbreak. But it’s the most severe flu season since the start of the pandemic. “It looks very similar to some of the worst seasons in the past 10 years,” says John Huddleston, a staff scientist in the Bedford Lab at Fred Hutch Medical Center, where he...
Source: TIME: Health - January 19, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tara Law Tags: Uncategorized healthscienceclimate Source Type: news
Moderna ’ s mRNA-Based RSV Vaccine Just Passed a Major Test
Moderna has become a well-known name thanks to its highly effective COVID-19 vaccine, based on mRNA technology. But even before the pandemic hit, the company was developing an mRNA-based vaccine against another scourge, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which primarily affects infants and the elderly. In a release issued on Jan. 17, the Massachusetts-based company said an early look at data from the late-stage trial of its RSV vaccine shows that the shot is effective.
Among 37,000 people over age 60 in 22 countries, the vaccine was 83.7% effective in reducing moderate RSV illness, defined as two or more symptoms of the di...
Source: TIME: Health - January 18, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Alice Park Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 healthscienceclimate Technology Source Type: news
Roche announces the European Commission approval of Xofluza for the treatment and prevention of influenza in children aged one year and above
Xofluza is now approved in the EU for the treatment of uncomplicated influenza and for post-exposure prophylaxis of influenza in children aged one year and above, and in adolescents and adultsXofluza is the first influenza antiviral with a new mechanism of action in almost 20 years, stopping viral replication faster thanoseltamivirSingle-doseXofluza helps reduce the societal burden of influenza by helping patients recover quickly and by preventing infection in individuals following contact with someone with the virusBasel, 12 January 2023 - Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) today announced that the European Commission (EC...
Source: Roche Investor Update - January 12, 2023 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news
Roche announces the European Commission approval of Xofluza for the treatment and prevention of influenza in children aged one year and above
Xofluza is now approved in the EU for the treatment of uncomplicated influenza and for post-exposure prophylaxis of influenza in children aged one year and above, and in adolescents and adultsXofluza is the first influenza antiviral with a new mechanism of action in almost 20 years, stopping viral replication faster thanoseltamivirSingle-doseXofluza helps reduce the societal burden of influenza by helping patients recover quickly and by preventing infection in individuals following contact with someone with the virusBasel, 12 January 2023 - Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) today announced that the European Commission (EC...
Source: Roche Media News - January 12, 2023 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news
Armed with air samplers, rope tricks, and —yes—ants, virus hunters spot threats in new ways
On a Friday morning in September last year, Erik Karlsson visited the sprawling Orussey market here, where vendors hawked pots and pans, phone cords and radios, hats and dresses—and myriad types of Southeast Asian food. Dozens of orange-colored, whole roasted pigs hung on hooks, crabs the size of two fists filled buckets, and stacked fruit and dried fish formed mountains on tables.
Karlsson had come for the live poultry, but not because he was planning a dinner. As an epidemiologist at Cambodia’s Pasteur Institute, he was hunting for potentially dangerous pathogens, both known and unknown. He had nothing with him...
Source: ScienceNOW - January 5, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: news
HHS: Notice of Amendment
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is amending a previous declaration to extend the effective time period for the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act Coverage for Pandemic Influenza Countermeasures. This amendment is effective January 1, 2023 and extends covered countermeasures through December 31, 2027. (Source: Federal Register updates via the Rural Assistance Center)
Source: Federal Register updates via the Rural Assistance Center - December 23, 2022 Category: Rural Health Source Type: news
America Facing Shortage of Infectious Disease Doctors
MONDAY, Dec. 19, 2022 -- The COVID-19 pandemic. Dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The current waves of influenza and RSV ripping through schools and workplaces.
America has had ample examples in recent years of the importance of infectious... (Source: Drugs.com - Daily MedNews)
Source: Drugs.com - Daily MedNews - December 19, 2022 Category: General Medicine Source Type: news
