Summer Flu, RSV in July, 'Super Colds?'
The pandemic has triggered changes in influenza, RSV, and the common cold, and experts said they can’t yet fully explain why. (Source: WebMD Health)
Source: WebMD Health - August 1, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news

GSK signs agreement to support pandemic preparedness in Europe
GSK plc (LSE/NYSE: GSK) announced it had signed a framework contract with the European Commission's (EC) Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) for the reservation of future production and supply of 85 million doses of its pandemic influenza vaccine Adjupanrix [pandemic influenza vaccine (split virion, inactivated, adjuvanted)]. (Source: World Pharma News)
Source: World Pharma News - August 1, 2022 Category: Pharmaceuticals Tags: Featured GlaxoSmithKline Business and Industry Source Type: news

The effectiveness of hand hygiene interventions for preventing community transmission or acquisition of novel coronavirus or influenza infections: a systematic review.
Background: Novel coronaviruses and influenza can cause infection, epidemics, and pandemics. Improving hand hygiene (HH) of the general public is recommended for preventing these infections. This systematic review examined the effectiveness of HH interventions for preventing transmission or acquisition of such infections in the community. Methods: PubMed, MEDLINE, CINAHL and Web of Science databases were searched (January 2002-February 2022) for empirical studies related to HH in the general public and to the acquisition or transmission of novel coronavirus infections or influenza. Studies on healthcare staff, and with out...
Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH) - July 22, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news

The effectiveness of hand hygiene interventions for preventing community transmission or acquisition of novel coronavirus or influenza infections: a systematic review
Background: Novel coronaviruses and influenza can cause infection, epidemics, and pandemics. Improving hand hygiene (HH) of the general public is recommended for preventing these infections. This systematic review examined the effectiveness of HH interventions for preventing transmission or acquisition of such infections in the community. Methods: PubMed, MEDLINE, CINAHL and Web of Science databases were searched (January 2002-February 2022) for empirical studies related to HH in the general public and to the acquisition or transmission of novel coronavirus infections or influenza. Studies on healthcare staff, and with ou...
Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH) - July 20, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news

Preliminary public health considerations for COVID-19 vaccination strategies in the second half of 2022, ECDC
Key messages:In the current post-acute phase of the pandemic, the introduction and emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants with increased transmissibility and/or immune escape capacity, together with waning protection against infection and severe disease from natural or vaccine-induced immunity, can result in new waves of virus transmission and surges of COVID-19 cases with a subsequent rise in hospitalisations, ICU admissions and deaths. As of 10 July 2022, the overall notification rates of COVID-19 cases in the EU/EEA remain high and have been increasing for the past five weeks. Case rates among people aged ...
Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH) - July 19, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news

Why You ’ ll Need to Get COVID-19 Boosters Again and Again
Several highly effective vaccines were developed at an unprecedented speed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. During the phase 3 clinical trials, mRNA vaccines had vaccine efficacy of 94–95% in preventing symptomatic infections. After the rollout, real-world evidence showed that the mRNA vaccines provided ~90% effectiveness against infection. Then came the variants. The wave after wave of new variants, with ever-increasing transmissibility and capacity to escape existing immunity, challenge the ability of vaccines to prevent infection and transmission. The effectiveness of a primary series of mRNA vaccines (two doses) ...
Source: TIME: Health - July 19, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Akiko Iwasaki and Albert Ko Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 freelance Source Type: news

Local Doctors are Now the Frontline for COVID-19 Response. It ’ s Not Clear They ’ re All Ready.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve as the virus mutates to more contagious forms. Despite the new wave and continuing federal effort to address COVID-19, the pandemic response is shifting to local levels. We also need to recognize that health care providers are and will be playing an increasingly important role in COVID-19 control and treatment, similar to how they manage illnesses like influenza. Tools to fight COVID-19 are freely available to health-care providers, including tests, vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, and antiviral medications. The CDC, White House, FDA, state and local departments of health, media, a...
Source: TIME: Health - July 14, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Scott A. Rivkees Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 freelance Source Type: news

News Fatigue, Anti-Vax and Wars
Nothing is so firmly believed as what is least known.                                                     Michel de MontaigneBy Jan LundiusSTOCKHOLM, Jul 13 2022 (IPS) During the beginning of the pandemic, people wanted to learn more about COVID-19. Enclosed in their homes they watched with fear and fascination how the pandemic swept over the world, while comparing ...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - July 13, 2022 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Jan Lundius Tags: Armed Conflicts COVID-19 Global Headlines Health Humanitarian Emergencies TerraViva United Nations IPS UN Bureau Source Type: news

COVID Trumped Flu for Kid Hospitalizations
(MedPage Today) -- Hospitalizations associated with COVID-19 in kids were higher than influenza-related hospitalizations in the years leading up to the pandemic, researchers found. Overall, the rate of COVID-associated hospitalization (48.2 per... (Source: MedPage Today Public Health)
Source: MedPage Today Public Health - May 24, 2022 Category: American Health Source Type: news

COVID Fallout:'Alarming' Dip in Routine Vax for Pregnant Women COVID Fallout:'Alarming' Dip in Routine Vax for Pregnant Women
The percentage of low-income pregnant mothers who received influenza and Tdap vaccinations fell sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in Black and Hispanic patients, a new study found.Medscape Medical News (Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines)
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines - May 11, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Ob/Gyn & Women ' s Health News Source Type: news

The U.S. Is in a ‘Controlled Pandemic’ Phase of COVID-19. But What Does That Mean?
They were the words everyone has been waiting to hear—that the COVID-19 pandemic is dialing down from the five-alarm fire that flared up in 2020 to a somewhat lesser conflagration. On April 27, the U.S.’s chief medical advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, described the country as in a “transitional phase, from a deceleration of the numbers into hopefully a more controlled phase and endemicity” in an interview with the Washington Post. His comments come almost two years to the day after pharmaceutical manufacturers shipped the first batches of their COVID-19 vaccines for early testing. Fauci noted that those ...
Source: TIME: Health - April 29, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Alice Park Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 healthscienceclimate Source Type: news

Most Americans Have Had COVID-19. That Doesn ’t Mean They Won’t Get It Again
Odds are, you’ve had COVID-19—whether you know it or not. Almost 60% of people in the U.S. have antibodies in their blood that suggest they’ve been infected by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, according to new estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But that doesn’t mean 60% of people in the U.S. are immune to COVID-19. “We know that is not what this means. Reinfection happens,” said Dr. Kristie Clarke, co-lead for the CDC’s COVID-19 Epidemiology and Surveillance Taskforce Seroprevalence Team, during a press briefing on April 26. “Protec...
Source: TIME: Health - April 29, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Jamie Ducharme Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 healthscienceclimate Source Type: news

COVID-19 Risks for Kids Under 5 Right Now: What Parents Should Know
It’s a challenging time for parents anxiously awaiting the arrival of COVID-19 vaccinations for children under the age of 5. In a report published by Politico April 21, sources with insider knowledge warned that a vaccine may not be available for the youngest age group until late June. And after a federal judge struck down a mask mandate for public transportation on April 18—leading some plane passengers to remove their masks mid-flight—some parents expressed frustration that many people seem to forget that the littlest children still can’t be protected through vaccination. At the same time, many pe...
Source: TIME: Health - April 25, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tara Law Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 healthscienceclimate Source Type: news

COVID-19 Could Be Surging in the U.S. Right Now and We Might Not Even Know It
The rise of Covid cases in some regions of the U.S., just as testing efforts wane, has raised the specter that the next major wave of the virus may be difficult to detect. In fact, the country could be in the midst of a surge right now and we might not even know it. Testing and viral sequencing are critical to responding quickly to new outbreaks of Covid. And yet, as the country tries to move on from the pandemic, demand for lab-based testing has declined and federal funding priorities have shifted. The change has forced some testing centers to shutter while others have hiked up prices in response to the end of government-...
Source: TIME: Health - April 11, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: MADISON MULLER / BLOOMBERG Tags: Uncategorized bloomberg wire COVID-19 healthscienceclimate Source Type: news

H5N1 Vaccine Readied for a Possible Influenza Pandemic H5N1 Vaccine Readied for a Possible Influenza Pandemic
Adjuvanted H5N1 influenza vaccine has been shown to be highly immunogenic in younger and older adults. It is being developed in light of a possible H5N1 influenza pandemic that could cause global harm.Medscape Medical News (Source: Medscape Allergy Headlines)
Source: Medscape Allergy Headlines - April 8, 2022 Category: Allergy & Immunology Tags: Infectious Diseases News Source Type: news