Is COVID-19 a Seasonal Virus Yet?
The most common respiratory viruses that cause flu, colds, and RSV tend to cluster in the fall and winter months. Though that means months of elevated risk for sickness, “cold and flu season” is a convenient time for public-health officials to remind people to get vaccinated and wash their hands more frequently.
Experts had hoped that COVID-19 would follow that same pattern, but so far, that’s not the case.
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COVID-19 occurs in every season
Both flu and RSV tend to plummet to near negligible levels in spring and summer before surging again in the fall ...
Source: TIME: Health - March 6, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Alice Park Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 healthscienceclimate Source Type: news
Cadila Pharma introduces vaccine for seasonal flu
The new vaccine targets four strains of the influenza virus subtype -A and B, responsible for seasonal epidemics, the drug firm said in a statement. Developed using proprietary technology employing nano-sized particles, the vaccine mimics the external structure of the virus without containing intact genetic material, it added. (Source: The Economic Times Healthcare and Biotech News)
Source: The Economic Times Healthcare and Biotech News - March 4, 2024 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news
2023 to 2024 Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Effective for Reducing Risk
THURSDAY, Feb. 29, 2024 -- The 2023 to 2024 seasonal influenza vaccine is effective for reducing the risk for medically attended influenza virus infection, according to research published in the Feb. 29 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control... (Source: Drugs.com - Pharma News)
Source: Drugs.com - Pharma News - February 29, 2024 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news
Interim Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Against Laboratory-Confirmed Influenza - California, October 2023-January 2024
This report describes estimated vaccine effectiveness for laboratory-confirmed flu in California. (Source: CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report)
Source: CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report - February 29, 2024 Category: American Health Tags: MMWR Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report Source Type: news
Interim Estimates of 2023-24 Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness - United States
This report describes estimates of 2023-24 influenza vaccine effectiveness among different age groups. (Source: CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report)
Source: CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report - February 29, 2024 Category: American Health Tags: MMWR Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report Source Type: news
Europe Greenlights Two Avian Flu Vaccines Europe Greenlights Two Avian Flu Vaccines
The vaccines, Celldemic and Incellipan, protect against the H5N1 subtype of the influenza A virus.Medscape Medical News (Source: Medscape Allergy Headlines)
Source: Medscape Allergy Headlines - February 23, 2024 Category: Allergy & Immunology Tags: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
Birth Month Linked to Timing of Influenza Vaccination in Young Children
THURSDAY, Feb. 22, 2024 -- For young children, birth month is associated with timing of influenza vaccination, according to a study published online Feb. 21 in The BMJ.
Christopher M. Worsham, M.D., M.P.H., from Harvard Medical School in Boston,... (Source: Drugs.com - Pharma News)
Source: Drugs.com - Pharma News - February 22, 2024 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news
A deadly viral illness is exploding in West Africa. Researchers are scrambling to figure out why
Reporting for this story was supported by the Pulitzer Center.
Irrua, Nigeria, and Kenema, Sierra Leone—
Sitting on a bench outside the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (ISTH) in Edo state in southwestern Nigeria in September 2023, Muhammed Luqman Dagana recounted his ordeal earlier in the year with Lassa fever, a deadly hemorrhagic disease of West Africa. At first the 33-year-old wasn’t alarmed—his fever, headache, body aches, and cough were innocuous enough. A doctor at his local clinic gave him antibiotics for typhoid fever and antimalarial drugs. But his symptoms persisted, so he tried anoth...
Source: ScienceNOW - February 22, 2024 Category: Science Source Type: news
Lawmaker raises new flap over U.S.-funded virology research that critics call risky
A U.S. senator has thrown a political spotlight on yet another U.S.-Chinese research collaboration that critics suggest includes dangerous experiments that could create “superviruses” capable of sparking a pandemic. But contrary to assertions raised by Senator Joni Ernst (R–IA), none of the U.S. funding for the project goes to foreign researchers, and scientists who are part of the collaboration challenge other concerns she raised. And the U.S. funding agency she questioned this week issued a blistering response.
Prompted by information given to her by a group that opposes animal research, the White Coat Waste ...
Source: ScienceNOW - February 17, 2024 Category: Science Source Type: news
Why infants and older adults may hold key to more effective vaccines
Benjamin Franklin once said, “Nothing is certain except death and taxes;” however, flu season might make the runner-up list. Every year, it rolls around, and we cross our fingers that the vaccine protects against the dominant strains of the influenza virus. Scheduling that shot is an annual event for millions of people.
Bu t not everyone can receive a flu vaccine, and it’s not equally effective in all age groups. Newborns younger than 6 months cannot receive the vaccine, and after a lifetime… (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Pharmaceuticals headlines)
Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Pharmaceuticals headlines - February 14, 2024 Category: Pharmaceuticals Authors: Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist the Center Source Type: news
The New COVID-19 Shot Is Surprisingly Effective Against the Latest Variant
The latest COVID-19 vaccine offers good protection against the currently dominant strain of the virus, according to a new report in the MMWR, a journal published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It’s the first effectiveness data for the updated vaccine, which was released last fall.
Using federal and pharmacy-reported data sets, the team of CDC scientists compared people’s COVID-19 test results to their self-reported vaccination status collected from September 2023 to mid-January 2024. They found that the new vaccine was about 54% effective at protecting people from symptoms of ...
Source: TIME: Health - February 1, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Alice Park Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 healthscienceclimate Source Type: news
Scared of Sharps? This MAP Shows the Way to Delivering Painless Vaccines
A micro-needle patch (MAP) is an innovative method to deliver drugs and vaccines. Credit: QuadMedicineBy Busani BafanaSEOUL, Jan 22 2024 (IPS) If the fear of sharps makes a visit to the doctor dreadful, you need not dread it anymore.
A South Korean company’s invention of an innovative micro-needle patch could make you look forward to your next doctor’s visit.
The micro-needle patch (MAP) is a painless, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly way to administer vaccines and drugs in place of solid injections, its developers say.
The MAP system has the combined advantages of conventional patches and syringes. It ...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - January 22, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Busani Bafana Tags: Asia-Pacific Development & Aid Headlines Health Population TerraViva United Nations IPS UN Bureau IPS UN Bureau Report South Korea Source Type: news
Covid Has Resurged, but Scientists See a Diminished Threat
Hospitalizations have ticked upward, and there are at least 1,200 Covid-related deaths each week. Americans should mask more often, and vaccination rates remain too low, experts say. (Source: NYT Health)
Source: NYT Health - January 4, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Apoorva Mandavilli Tags: your-feed-science Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Vaccination and Immunization Elderly Hospitals Deaths (Fatalities) Disease Rates Influenza United States Source Type: news
Repeat Influenza Vaccination Linked To Higher Risk Of Infection: CDC Preprint
Authored by Marina Zhang via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), A recent preprint co-authored by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) U.S. Flu Vaccine Effectiveness Network Investigators finds that…#cdcpreprintauthored #marinazhang #epochtimes #cdc #palsandshutterstock #oas #gabrieldvictora #naturecommunications #nonspecificeffects #vaccines (Source: Reuters: Health)
Source: Reuters: Health - December 31, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
