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A new vaccine for dengue received prequalification from the World Health Organization (WHO) on 10 May 2024. TAK-003 is the second dengue vaccine to be prequalified by WHO. Developed by Takeda, it is a live-attenuated vaccine containing weakened versions of the four serotypes of the virus that cause dengue. WHO recommends the use of TAK-003 in children aged 6–16 years in settings with high dengue burden and transmission intensity. The vaccine should be administered in a 2-dose schedule with a 3-month interval between doses. “The prequalification of TAK-003 is an important step in the expansion of global access to dengue vaccines, as it is now eligible for procurement by UN agencies including UNICEF and PAHO,” said Dr Rogerio Gaspar, WHO Director for Regulation and Prequalification. “With only two dengue vaccines to date prequalified, we look forward to more vaccine developers coming forward for assessment, so that we can ensure vaccines reach all communities who need it.” The WHO prequalification list also includes CYD-TDV vaccine against dengue developed by Sanofi Pasteur. Dengue is a vector-borne disease transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito. Severe dengue is a potentially lethal complication which can develop from dengue infections. It is estimated that there are over 100-400 million cases of dengue worldwide each year and 3.8 billion people living in dengue endemic countries, most of which are in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The largest number of dengue cases reported was in 2023 with the WHO Region of the Americas reporting 4.5 million cases and 2300 deaths. Dengue cases are likely to increase and expand geographically due to climate change and urbanization.
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Saudi Arabia has reported four more MERS-CoV cases, all in people whose symptoms began in the latter months of 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a February 16 update. The cases, two of which were fatal, were confirmed between October 10 and November 16. The patients are from three different regions: Riyadh, Eastern, and Qassim. Two were men, and two were women. All had underlying health conditions, and none were health workers. Exposure unclear for two patients One patient was a camel owner, while another had a history of indirect contact with camels. Exposure to the virus hasn't been determined for the other two patients, and none of the patients had consumed raw camel milk before their symptoms began. The WHO said there are no epidemiologic links between any of the patients, and no secondary cases were found. The WHO said MERS-CoV cases have declined substantially since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. It said reasons could include public health actions prioritizing COVID-19 case detections or COVID-19 mitigation actions such as masking and physical distancing, which could reduce human-to-human transmission. Cross-protection from COVID infection or vaccination? The group also said it's possible that cross-protection from COVID-19 infection or vaccination may be playing a role. However, the WHO added that the hypothesis requires further investigation. The newly reported cases lift Saudi Arabia's number of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) to 2,200, which includes 858 deaths. The WHO said the cases don't change its risk assessment, which remains at moderate globally and regionally. It said more cases are expected from Saudi Arabia and other countries where the virus circulates in dromedary camels. W.H.O. report (Feb. 16, 2024): https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2024-DON506
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In its latest monthly update, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported 906 new mpox cases from 26 countries in November, reflecting an increase of 26% compared to October. With nearly 300 cases, the United States reported the steepest rise in the Americas, followed by Portugal reporting 128 new cases, which makes Europe the region with the second highest number of cases. Singapore's cases increased, and though China's cases declined, the country continues to contribute to high case counts in the Western Pacific region. Africa reported a small decline, but the WHO said irregular reporting and high numbers of suspected cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) outbreak make it difficult to interpret the trend there. "The constantly changing geographical distribution of the cases does not allow for an accurate prediction of the regional trends, but the continued high number of cases globally highlights the fact that this outbreak is not over, and the virus continues to find pockets of susceptible individuals," the WHO said. The group did not note any major changes in the epidemiology of the disease. Latest W.H.O. report on Mpox (Dec. 23, 2023): https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/multi-country-outbreak-of-mpox--external-situation-report-31---22-december-2023
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The new wave goes against the grain of Chinese health officials’ estimate that COVID-19 had peaked in April. L ast week when a Chinese senior health adviser projected 65 million COVID-19 cases per week in China by June, some health experts sounded the alarm. China has been facing a new COVID-19 wave fueled by the XBB variant since April. Data from Zhong Nanshan—a respiratory disease doctor who was among the first to confirm COVID-19’s easy transmissibility—provided a rare insight into how the disease could possibly be spreading in China almost six months after Beijing abruptly ended its draconian zero-COVID strategy. Since pivoting to “living with the virus” policy from early December, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention stopped updating weekly infections. But the sudden relaxation of anti-epidemic protocols also led to an estimated 37 million new infections a day weeks later. By January, experts said they believed almost 80% of China’s 1.4 billion population had already been infected in this first wave. For the second wave since April, Zhong’s modeling revealed that the XBB variant is expected to cause 40 million infections weekly by May, going up to 65 million in June. This goes against the grain of Chinese health officials’ estimate that the wave had peaked in April. In Beijing, the number of new infections recorded between May 15 and 21 grew four times in four weeks. While Zhong said vaccines targeting this specific variant will be rolled out soon, the projection of new COVID-19 infections nonetheless frazzled markets. China’s collective immunity has always been in question: a refusal to use foreign-sourced mRNA vaccines meant the public got inoculated against COVID-19 with a jab that proved less effective in preventing infection during early clinical trials, say researchers, and the stringent virus containment protocols restricted the possibility of developing natural immunity. Yanzhong Huang, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, tells TIME that although only mass testing can detect the true extent of the COVID-19 surge, the population has obtained some immunity from the preceding wave.
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17 July 2022 Accra/Brazzaville - Ghana has announced the country’s first outbreak of Marburg virus disease, after a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre laboratory confirmed earlier results. The Institut Pasteur in Dakar, Senegal received samples from each of the two patients from the southern Ashanti region of Ghana – both deceased and unrelated – who showed symptoms including diarrhoea, fever, nausea and vomiting. The laboratory corroborated the results from the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, which suggested their illness was due to the Marburg virus. One case was a 26-year-old male who checked into a hospital on 26 June 2022 and died on 27 June. The second case was a 51 -year-old male who reported to the hospital on 28 June and died on the same day. Both cases sought treatment at the same hospital within days of each other. WHO has been supporting a joint national investigative team in the Ashanti Region as well as Ghana’s health authorities by deploying experts, making available personal protective equipment, bolstering disease surveillance, testing, tracing contacts and working with communities to alert and educate them about the risks and dangers of the disease, and to collaborate with the emergency response teams. In addition, a team of WHO experts will be deployed over the next couple of days to provide coordination, risk assessment and infection prevention measures. “Health authorities have responded swiftly, getting a head start preparing for a possible outbreak. This is good because without immediate and decisive action, Marburg can easily get out of hand. WHO is on the ground supporting health authorities and now that the outbreak is declared, we are marshalling more resources for the response,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. More than 90 contacts, including health workers and community members, have been identified and are being monitored. Marburg is a highly infectious viral haemorrhagic fever in the same family as the more well-known Ebola virus disease. It is only the second time the zoonotic disease has been detected in West Africa. Guinea confirmed a single case in an outbreak that was declared over on 16 September 2021, five weeks after the initial case was detected. Previous outbreaks and sporadic cases of Marburg in Africa have been reported in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda. WHO has reached out to neighbouring high-risk countries and they are on alert. Marburg is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces and materials. Illness begins abruptly, with high fever, severe headache and malaise. Many patients develop severe haemorrhagic signs within seven days. Case fatality rates have varied from 24% to 88% in past outbreaks depending on virus strain and the quality of case management. Although there are no vaccines or antiviral treatments approved to treat the virus, supportive care – rehydration with oral or intravenous fluids – and treatment of specific symptoms, improves survival. A range of potential treatments, including blood products, immune therapies and drug therapies, as well as candidate vaccines with phase 1 data are being evaluated.
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The Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution (TAG-VE) is an independent group of experts that periodically monitors and evaluates the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and assesses if specific mutations and combinations of mutations alter the behaviour of the virus. The TAG-VE was convened on 26 November 2021 to assess the SARS-CoV-2 variant: B.1.1.529. The B.1.1.529 variant was first reported to WHO from South Africa on 24 November 2021. The epidemiological situation in South Africa has been characterized by three distinct peaks in reported cases, the latest of which was predominantly the Delta variant. In recent weeks, infections have increased steeply, coinciding with the detection of B.1.1.529 variant. The first known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection was from a specimen collected on 9 November 2021. This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning. Preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant, as compared to other VOCs. The number of cases of this variant appears to be increasing in almost all provinces in South Africa. Current SARS-CoV-2 PCR diagnostics continue to detect this variant. Several labs have indicated that for one widely used PCR test, one of the three target genes is not detected (called S gene dropout or S gene target failure) and this test can therefore be used as marker for this variant, pending sequencing confirmation. Using this approach, this variant has been detected at faster rates than previous surges in infection, suggesting that this variant may have a growth advantage.There are a number of studies underway and the TAG-VE will continue to evaluate this variant. WHO will communicate new findings with Member States and to the public as needed.Based on the evidence presented indicative of a detrimental change in COVID-19 epidemiology, the TAG-VE has advised WHO that this variant should be designated as a VOC, and the WHO has designated B.1.1.529 as a VOC, named Omicron. As such, countries are asked to do the following: enhance surveillance and sequencing efforts to better understand circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants.submit complete genome sequences and associated metadata to a publicly available database, such as GISAID. report initial cases/clusters associated with VOC infection to WHO through the IHR mechanism. where capacity exists and in coordination with the international community, perform field investigations and laboratory assessments to improve understanding of the potential impacts of the VOC on COVID-19 epidemiology, severity, effectiveness of public health and social measures, diagnostic methods, immune responses, antibody neutralization, or other relevant characteristics.Individuals are reminded to take measures to reduce their risk of COVID-19, including proven public health and social measures such as wearing well-fitting masks, hand hygiene, physical distancing, improving ventilation of indoor spaces, avoiding crowded spaces, and getting vaccinated. For reference, WHO has working definitions for SARS-CoV-2 Variant of Interest (VOI) and Variant of Concern (VOC). A SARS-CoV-2 VOI is a SARS-CoV-2 variant: with genetic changes that are predicted or known to affect virus characteristics such as transmissibility, disease severity, immune escape, diagnostic or therapeutic escape; AND that has been identified as causing significant community transmission or multiple COVID-19 clusters, in multiple countries with increasing relative prevalence alongside increasing number of cases over time, or other apparent epidemiological impacts to suggest an emerging risk to global public health. A SARS-CoV-2 VOC is a SARS-CoV-2 variant that meets the definition of a VOI (see above) and, through a comparative assessment, has been demonstrated to be associated with one or more of the following changes at a degree of global public health significance: increase in transmissibility or detrimental change in COVID-19 epidemiology; ORincrease in virulence or change in clinical disease presentation; ORdecrease in effectiveness of public health and social measures or available diagnostics, vaccines, therapeutics
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Malaria kills about 500,000 people each year, about half of them children in Africa. The new vaccine isn’t perfect, but it will help turn the tide, experts said. The world has gained a new weapon in the war on malaria, among the oldest known and deadliest of infectious diseases: the first vaccine shown to help prevent the disease. By one estimate, it will save tens of thousands of children each year. Malaria kills about half a million people each year, nearly all of them in sub-Saharan Africa — including 260,000 children under 5. The new vaccine, made by GlaxoSmithKline, rouses a child’s immune system to thwart Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest of five malaria pathogens and the most prevalent in Africa. The World Health Organization on Wednesday endorsed the vaccine, the first step in a process that should lead to wide distribution in poor countries. To have a malaria vaccine that is safe, moderately effective and ready for distribution is “a historic event,” said Dr. Pedro Alonso, director of the W.H.O.’s global malaria program. Malaria is rare in the developed world. There are just 2,000 cases in the United States each year, mostly among travelers returning from countries in which the disease is endemic. The vaccine, called Mosquirix, is not just a first for malaria — it is the first developed for any parasitic disease. Parasites are much more complex than viruses or bacteria, and the quest for a malaria vaccine has been underway for a hundred years. “It’s a huge jump from the science perspective to have a first-generation vaccine against a human parasite,” Dr. Alonso said. In clinical trials, the vaccine had an efficacy of about 50 percent against severe malaria in the first year, but the figure dropped close to zero by the fourth year. And the trials did not directly measure the vaccine’s impact on deaths, which has led some experts to question whether it is a worthwhileinvestment in countries with countless other intractable problems. But severe malaria accounts for up to half of malaria deaths and is considered “a reliable proximal indicator of mortality,” said Dr. Mary Hamel, who leads the W.H.O.’s malaria vaccine implementation program. “I do expect we will see that impact.” A modeling study last year estimated that if the vaccine were rolled out to countries with the highest incidence of malaria, it could prevent 5.4 million cases and 23,000 deaths in children younger than 5 each year. A recent trial of the vaccine in combination with preventive drugs given to children during high-transmission seasons found that the dual approach was much more effective at preventing severe disease, hospitalization and death than either method alone. The malaria parasite, carried by mosquitoes, is a particularly insidious enemy, because it can strike the same person over and over. In many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, even those where most people sleep under insecticide-treated bed nets, children have on average six malaria episodes a year. Even when the disease is not fatal, the repeated assault on their bodies can permanently alter the immune system, leaving them weak and vulnerable to other pathogens. Malaria research is littered with vaccine candidates that never made it past clinical trials. Bed nets, the most widespread preventive measure, cut malaria deaths in children under 5 only by about 20 percent. Against that backdrop, the new vaccine, even with modest efficacy, is the best new development in the fight against the disease in decades, some experts said. “Progress against malaria has really stalled over the last five or six years, particularly in some of the hardest hit countries in the world,” said Ashley Birkett, who heads malaria programs at PATH, a nonprofit organization focused on global health. With the new vaccine, “there’s potential for very, very significant impact there,” Dr. Birkett said. Mosquirix is given in three doses between ages 5 and 17 months, and a fourth dose roughly 18 months later. Following clinical trials, the vaccine was tried out in three countries — Kenya, Malawi and Ghana — where it was incorporated into routine immunization programs. More than 2.3 million doses have been administered in those countries, reaching more than 800,000 children. That bumped up the percentage of children protected against malaria in some way to more than 90 percent, from less than 70 percent, Dr. Hamel said. “The ability to reduce inequities in access to malaria prevention — that’s important,” Dr. Hamel said. “It was impressive to see that this could reach children who are currently not being protected.” It took years to create an efficient system to distribute insecticide-treated bed nets to families. By contrast, including Mosquirix among routine immunizations made it surprisingly easy to distribute, Dr. Hamel added — even in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, which prompted lockdowns and disrupted supply chains. “We aren’t going to have to spend a decade trying to figure out how to get this to children,” she said. This week, a working group of independent experts in malaria, child health epidemiology and statistics, as well as the W.H.O.’s vaccine advisory group, met to review data from the pilot programs and to make their formal recommendation to Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the W.H.O. “We still have a very long road to travel, but this is a long stride down that road,” Dr. Tedros said at a news conference on Wednesday. The next step is for Gavi, the global vaccine alliance, to determine that the vaccine is a worthwhile investment. If the organization’s board approves the vaccine — not guaranteed, given the vaccine’s moderate efficacy and the many competing priorities — Gavi will purchase the vaccine for countries that request it, a process that is expected to take at least a year. But as with Covid-19, problems with vaccine production and supply could considerably delay progress. And the pandemic has also diverted resources and attention from other diseases, said Deepali Patel, who leads malaria vaccine programs at Gavi. “Covid is a big unknown in the room in terms of where capacity is currently in countries, and rolling out Covid-19 vaccines is a huge effort,” Ms. Patel said. “We’re really going to have to see how the pandemic unfolds next year in terms of when countries will be ready to pick up all of these other priorities.”
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In a review of several trials, the World Health Organization found that Gilead’s drug did not improve survival rates for patients nor did it help them recover. The World Health Organization on Thursday recommended against using the antiviral remdesivir, a drug that had generated intense interest as a treatment for Covid-19. An expert panel “concluded that remdesivir has no meaningful effect on mortality or on other important outcomes for patients, such as the need for mechanical ventilation or time to clinical improvement,” the W.H.O. announced. The panel published its review in the journal The BMJ. The report did not rule out the use of the drug altogether as a Covid treatment, but said evidence was lacking to recommend its use. Gilead Sciences, manufacturer of remdesivir, whose trade name is Veklury, said in a statement that its drug “is recognized as a standard of care for the treatment of hospitalized patients with Covid-19 in guidelines from numerous credible national organizations, including the U.S. National Institutes of Health and Infectious Diseases Society of America, Japan, U.K., and Germany.” It added that there are “multiple randomized, controlled studies published in peer-reviewed journals that demonstrate the clinical benefits of Veklury.” The potential utility of remdesivir had been the subject of debate and skepticism for months, and especially in recent weeks, after the Food and Drug Administration approved it as the first treatment for Covid-19 in late October. One large study, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, found that the drug reduced recovery time in hospitalized patients from 15 to 11 days. Two other trials the agency considered, sponsored by Gilead, did not include placebo controls, which are considered critical to judging effectiveness. President Trump was administered remdesivir along with other treatments last month when he was hospitalized with Covid. Since at least March, when the pandemic began spreading from China to Europe to the United States, drug companies and researchers have been working on the fly, and practicing doctors have experimented with any treatment that looks promising, including steroids. In September, the W.H.O. expert panel strongly recommended the use of steroids for patients in critical condition. For the new analysis, the panel reviewed evidence from four trials, including one conducted by the N.I.H. and another sponsored by the W.H.O. and recently posted to a preprint server, which included some 5,000 patients, the largest to date. The paper has not been peer-reviewed or published in a scientific journal. The results from that trial “brought into question some of the benefit that had been seen earlier, in the N.I.H. study,” said Dr. Bram Rochwerg, an associate professor of medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and a co-chair of the W.H.O. panel. Dr. Rochwerg said that the panel “made explicit in the document that trials of remdesivir should continue, and there may be specific populations that could benefit.” But the drug is expensive and administered intravenously, he noted. Using it could divert resources that could be deployed more effectively, Dr. Rochwerg said. Remdesivir has been authorized for emergency use since the spring in the United States, and in October, Gilead reported that it had generated $873 million in revenue thus far this year. The drug’s widely adopted use for Covid symptoms had baffled some experts well before the F.D.A. approval..... W.H.O. revised guidelines available at: http://press.psprings.co.uk/bmj/november/remdesivir.pdf
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The vaccine, designed to prevent harmful mutations, is seen as key to eradicating polio. A vaccine against a type of polio that is spreading in the Southern Hemisphere is expected to receive emergency approval before the end of the year. If it does, it will be the first time the World Health Organization has steered an unlicensed vaccine or drug through its emergency listing process. Wild polio has been almost eradicated. Only two countries — Afghanistan and Pakistan — still report cases. But a version of the virus that arose naturally from the weakened polio virus used in vaccination is increasing. What is called circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV) is increasing in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as in the Philippines, Malaysia, Yemen and 19 African countries — with Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Côte d’Ivoire the worst affected in Africa. So far in 2020, there have been more than 460 cases of vaccine-derived polio worldwide. This is more than 4 times the number detected by this time in 2019, which is a major problem for the 32-year, US$17-billion global campaign to wipe out the disease. Researchers who model polio infections say that for every known case, there are about 2,000 infections in the population. “Millions of people potentially have no immunity to the vaccine-derived virus, and that’s why we’re very concerned,” says Kathleen O’Reilly, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who models polio infections. Independent scientific advisers to the World Health Organization (WHO) have been assessing a vaccine that is designed specifically to protect against cVDPV. This vaccine, a decade in the making, has been tested for safety and efficacy, but is not yet licensed and still has to undergo further trials. The WHO is in the last stages of considering whether to approve it more quickly, under what is called an emergency-use listing — a procedure that was created during the 2014–16 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, and which the agency is also preparing to use for coronavirus vaccines... Published in Nature (Oct. 29, 2020): https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-03045-2
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Follow World Health Organization advice, end secrecy in decision-making and cooperate globally. “Some of the most important choices about a nation’s physical health are made, or not made, by a handful of men, in secret.” Sixty-odd years ago, the chemist, writer and civil servant Charles Percy Snow revealed in his book Science and Government the shocking extent to which science advice to governments during the Second World War had lacked evidence. As the world stands on the precipice of one of the worst infectious-disease outbreaks in a century, his observations are just as relevant today. Around the globe, countries are responding to the coronavirus pandemic with steps previously taken only in times of war. Borders are closing. Communities are being quarantined; gatherings cancelled; restaurants closed; and factories and hotel rooms requisitioned. And yet in many countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, governments have been making crucial decisions in secret and making announcements before publishing the evidence on which their decisions are based. This is not how governments should work. The secrecy must end. As Europe becomes the outbreak’s new epicentre, and cases continue to rise in almost every affected country, three things must happen urgently. Follow WHO's Advice Neither the United States nor the United Kingdom has said why it has not been following the advice of the World Health Organization (WHO), which is to aggressively test, track and isolate as many cases of COVID-19 as possible. They argue that they are being advised by some of the world’s best virologists and infectious-disease epidemiologists. This is true. But at the same time, no government can match the WHO’s cumulative on-the-ground experience — and lessons learnt — in dealing with outbreaks, from severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) to Ebola. The agency is emphatic that measures known as ‘containment’ are essential, alongside social distancing and rapid clinical care, in places where there is ongoing transmission. Aggressive testing of cases, and quarantining of their contacts, is still not a declared policy priority for the United States, where efforts are being hampered by the shortage of COVID-19 diagnostic tests and the absence of a unified public health system.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) was notified of three human cases, including one death, of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) between 10 and 17 April 2024, by the Ministry of Health of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). All three cases were males from Riyadh aged between 56 and 60 years with underlying health conditions and were not health care workers. The three cases are epidemiologically linked to exposures in a health-care facility in Riyadh, although investigations are ongoing to verify this and understand the route of transmission. Since the beginning of the year, a total of four cases and two deaths have been reported from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The notification of these cases does not change WHO’s overall risk assessment, which remains moderate at both the global and regional levels....
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Urgent measures are needed now to stop further spread, the World Health Organization says. Health chiefs are warning that cases are still rising and "urgent measures" are needed to prevent further spread. Some 42,200 people were infected in 2023, compared to 941 during the whole of 2022. The WHO believes this is a result of fewer children being vaccinated against the disease during the Covid pandemic. In the UK, health officials said last week that an outbreak of highly contagious measles in the West Midlands could spread rapidly to other towns and cities with low vaccination rates. More than 3.4 million children under the age of 16 are unprotected and at risk of becoming ill from the disease, according to NHS England. Millions of parents and carers are being contacted and urged to make an appointment to ensure their children are fully vaccinated against measles. The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is given in two doses - the first around the age of one and the second when a child is about three years and four months old. The vaccine is very effective at protecting against measles, but only 85% of children starting primary school in the UK have had both jabs. Speaking about the situation in Europe, Dr Hans Kluge, regional director at the WHO, said: "We have seen, in the region, not only a 30-fold increase in measles cases, but also nearly 21,000 hospitalisations and five measles-related deaths. This is concerning. "Vaccination is the only way to protect children from this potentially dangerous disease." Measles can be a serious illness at any age. It often starts with a high fever and a rash, which normally clears up within 10 days - but complications can include pneumonia, meningitis, blindness and seizures. Babies who are too young to have been given their first dose of vaccine, pregnant women and those who have weakened immune systems are most at risk. During pregnancy, measles can lead to stillbirth, miscarriage and a baby being born with a low birth weight. All countries in the European region are being asked to detect and respond to measles outbreaks quickly, alongside giving vaccines to more people. The WHO said measles had affected all age groups last year - young and old alike. Overall, two in five cases were in children aged 1-4, and one in five cases were in adults aged 20 and above. Between January and October 2023, 20,918 people across Europe were admitted to hospital with measles. In two countries, five measles-related deaths were also reported. Pandemic effect Vaccination rates for the first dose of the MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, slipped from 96% in 2019 to 93% in 2022 across Europe. Uptake of the second dose fell from 92% to 91% over the same period. That seemingly small drop in vaccination take-up means more than 1.8 million children in Europe missed a measles vaccination during those two years. "The Covid-19 pandemic significantly impacted immunisation system performance in this period, resulting in an accumulation of un-[vaccinated] and under-vaccinated children," the WHO reported. With international travel booming once again, and social-distancing measures removed, the risk of measles spreading across borders and within communities is much greater - especially within under-vaccinated populations, it said. Even countries that have achieved measles elimination status are at risk of large outbreaks, the WHO warned. It says that 95% of children need to be vaccinated with two doses against measles in all communities to prevent the spread of the highly-contagious disease.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday added EG.5 to the list of Omicron variants under monitoring (VUM), as most indicators for tracking COVID-19 activity declined, the group said in its latest weekly update. EG.5 is a descendant of XBB.1.9.2, with one extra spike mutation. Global prevalence has been rising since the end of May. The WHO now has seven VUMs. The number of variants of interest remains at two, including XBB.1.5, which is steadily declining, and XBB.1.16, which is holding steady at 20.7% of sequences. US among countries seeing EG.5 activity The United States is one of the countries seeing rising EG.5 proportions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in its last estimates on Jul 8 that EG.5 made up 13% of samples. The WHO said so far there's no evidence that EG.5 is fueling any rises in cases or deaths or that infections involving the virus are more severe. Other than XBB.1.9.2 descendant lineages, no other VUMs are showing rising proportions, the WHO said. Few red flags with hospitalization, death indicators In its illness tracking, the WHO said COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to decline globally, though it added that reduced testing and reporting mean that case trends don't accurately reflect COVID-19 activity, which it said still poses a burden in some countries. Hospitalizations and deaths are more accurate indicators, the WHO said. Of the limited number of countries that regularly report hospitalization data, only one—Malta—had an increase of 20% or more over the past 28 days. Regarding intensive care unit (ICU) admissions for COVID-19, no countries that routinely report data showed an increase of 20% or more over the last month. Only one region reported a rise in deaths over the last 28 days, the Western Pacific. Most of the rise appears to be from an increase in Australia, which reported a small rise in activity during the early months of the Southern Hemisphere winter. At a WHO briefing yesterday on a host of different health issues, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, said though people are better protected by vaccines and prior infection, countries shouldn't let down their guard. "WHO continues to advise people at high risk to wear a mask in crowded places, to get boosters when recommended, and to ensure adequate ventilation indoors," he said. "And we urge governments to maintain and not dismantle the systems they built for COVID-19."
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WHO has declared an international health emergency over the monkeypox outbreak, which has affected nearly 17,000 people in 74 countries. The chief of the World Health Organization described the surge in monkeypox infection as "extraordinary", while triggering the highest level of alert on Saturday. “We have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly through new modes of transmission about which we understand too little and which meets the criteria in the international health regulations,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference. Declaring a "public health emergency of international concern", he said the risk of monkeypox was relatively high across the world, including in Europe and North America, where it is not normally found. This is the first time the chief of the UN health agency has taken such an action. An international emergency is the WHO's highest level of alert, but this designation does not mean a disease is especially lethal or infectious. WHO's emergencies chief, Dr Michael Ryan, said the organisation put monkeypox in that category to ensure the global community takes the current outbreak seriously. "It's a call to action," said Dr Ryan, hoping the move would lead to collective action against the disease. Dr Ghebreyesus made the declaration without agreement among experts in the WHO's emergency committee, who remain divided over whether it is necessary to trigger the highest level of alert. Detected in early May, the unusual upsurge in cases of monkeypox, outside the countries of central and western Africa where the virus is endemic, has since spread throughout the world, with Europe as its epicentre. The disease has now struck more than 16,836 people in 74 countries, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Declaring a global emergency means the monkeypox outbreak is an “extraordinary event” that could spill over into more countries and requires a coordinated global response. This is only the 7th time that the WHO has used this level of alert. The UN agency previously declared emergencies for public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2014 West African Ebola outbreak, the Zika virus in Latin America in 2016 and the ongoing effort to eradicate polio. It only declares a "public health emergency of international concern" in "serious, sudden, unusual or unexpected" situations. Diseases in this category are defined by the UN body as an "extraordinary event" whose spread constitutes a "risk to public health in other states" and may require "coordinated international action". The emergency declaration mostly serves as a plea to draw more global resources and attention to an outbreak. Past announcements have had a mixed impact, since WHO is largely powerless to get countries to act. To date, monkeypox deaths have only been reported in Africa, where a more dangerous version of the virus is spreading, mainly in Nigeria and Congo. First detected in humans in 1970, monkeypox is less dangerous and contagious than its cousin human smallpox, which was eradicated in 1980
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Different choices that were available and plausible could have been made at several crucial turning points. Zeynep Tufekci's Latest: Dive deep into the internet, technology, politics and society with Zeynep Tufekci's latest column as soon as it’s published. This article is part of Times Opinion’s reflection on the two-year mark of the Covid pandemic. Read more in a note from Alexandra Sifferlin, Opinion’s health and science editor, in our Opinion Today newsletter. We cannot step into the same river twice, the Greek philosopher Heraclitus is said to have observed. We’ve changed, the river has changed. That’s very true, but it doesn’t mean we can’t learn from seeing what other course the river could have flowed. As the pandemic enters its third year, we must consider those moments when the river branched, and nations made choices that affected thousands, millions, of lives. What if China had been open and honest in December 2019? What if the world had reacted as quickly and aggressively in January 2020 as Taiwan did? What if the United States had put appropriate protective measures in place in February 2020, as South Korea did? To examine these questions is to uncover a brutal truth: Much suffering was avoidable, again and again, if different choices that were available and plausible had been made at crucial turning points. By looking at them, and understanding what went wrong, we can hope to avoid similar mistakes in the future. What happened in the first weeks: China covered up the outbreak. Our information about what happened when the coronavirus apparently was first detected in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, remains limited. Reporters working for Western media have been kicked out, and even local citizen journalists who shared information during the early days were jailed. But evidence strongly suggests that China knew the danger long before it told the world the truth. The South China Morning Post, a newspaper owned by a major Chinese company, reported that Chinese officials found cases that date to Nov. 17, 2019. Several Western scientists said colleagues in China had told them of the outbreak by mid-December. Whistleblower doctors reported being silenced from mid-December on. Toward the end of December, hospitals in Wuhan were known to be quarantining sick patients, and medical staff members were falling sick — clear evidence of human-to-human transmission, the first step toward a pandemic. Finally, on Dec. 31, 2019, as rumors were growing, the Wuhan health officials acknowledged 27 cases of an “unexplained pneumonia” caused by a virus, but claimed there was no evidence of “obvious human to human transmission.” The next day, a Chinese state media outlet announced that authorities had disciplined eight people for spreading rumors about the virus, including Dr. Li Wenliang, who had noted that the mystery pneumonia cases resembled SARS and warned colleagues to wear protective gear, and who would later die of Covid. Not until Jan. 20, 2020, did Chinese authorities publicly admit that the virus was clearly passing from person to person. Three days later, they shut down the city of Wuhan. At that point, the virus had had weeks to spread far beyond China’s borders and was beginning to establish outbreaks globally. A pandemic was on its way.....
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Vaccines have slowed the death rate, but officials warn of worrying rises in some countries. The milestone comes amid warnings from health officials that cases and deaths in some places are rising for the first time in months. Nearly 250 million cases of the virus have been recorded worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates the pandemic's real global death toll could be two to three times higher than official records. In the US, more than 745,800 people have died, making it the country with the highest number of recorded deaths. It is followed by Brazil, with 607,824 recorded deaths, and India, with 458,437. But health experts believe these numbers are under reported, partly because of deaths at home and those in rural communities. It has taken the world longer to reach the latest one million deaths than the previous two. It took over 110 days to go from four million deaths to five million. That is compared to just under 90 days to rise from three million to four million. While vaccines have helped reduce the fatality rate, the WHO warned last week that the pandemic was "far from over". Its director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pointed to a rise in cases in Europe, where countries with low vaccination rates are seeing soaring infections and deaths. Last week, Russia recorded its highest number of daily cases and deaths since the start of the pandemic. Russia accounts for 10% of the last million deaths recorded globally. Bulgaria and Romania have some of the world's worst Covid mortality rates, and their hospitals are struggling to cope. They have the two lowest vaccine rates in the European Union. More than seven billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide, but there is a gap between rich and poor nations. Only 3.6% of people in low income countries have been vaccinated, according to Oxford University's Our World in Data. Dr Tedros said that if the vaccine doses had been distributed fairly, "we would have reached our 40% target in every country by now". "The pandemic persists in large part because inequitable access to tools persists," he said. Vaccines have allowed many countries to gradually open up, with most of the world now easing restrictions. On Monday, Australia reopened its borders for the first time in 19 months. But China, where the pandemic first emerged, is still perusing a zero-Covid strategy, where even one infection can result in a strict lockdown and mass testing. A country's death toll is based on daily reports from the nation's health authorities, but the numbers may not fully reflect the true toll in many countries. Not all countries record coronavirus deaths in the same way, meaning it is difficult to compare their death rates. Comparing how different countries have suffered during the Covid pandemic is difficult. Total number of deaths is one way, but this number masks some crucial context. How much testing individual countries carry out will have a bearing on their death figures. Very few deaths have occurred in Africa, for example, compared to other continents and this is likely to be one factor. Deaths from Covid can also be measured in different ways - as a proportion of the population (Bulgaria fares worst) or as a proportion of people showing symptoms (Mexico fares worst). And the healthcare systems in different countries as well as the average age of the population will also have an impact - the older the people the more vulnerable they are to the virus. Vaccinations against Covid have made a huge difference to the number of people dying in the past six months - but not all countries have had equal access to shots which protect against the virus. That means there will be more deaths to come - but Covid is not the only health problem the world has to worry about. It's worth remembering that each year more than nine million people die from cancer and nearly the same number from heart disease.
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January 26, 2021 - The WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization has issued Interim recommendations for use of the Moderna mRNA-1273 vaccine against COVID-19 in people aged 18 years and older. Here is what you need to know.Here is what you need to know. Who should be vaccinated first? As with all COVID-19 vaccines, health workers at high risk of exposure and older people should be prioritized for vaccination. As more vaccine becomes available, additional priority groups should be vaccinated, with attention to people disproportionately affected by COVID-19 or who face health inequities. Who else can take the vaccine? The vaccine is safe and effective in people with known medical conditions associated with increased risk of severe disease, such as hypertension, diabetes, asthma, pulmonary, liver or kidney disease, as well as chronic infections that are stable and controlled. Although further studies are required for immunocompromised persons, people in this category who are part of a group recommended for vaccination may be vaccinated after receiving information and counselling.
Persons living with HIV are at higher risk of severe COVID-19 disease. Known HIV-positive vaccine recipients should be provided with information and counselling. Vaccination can be offered to people who have had COVID-19 in the past. But individuals may wish to defer their own COVID-19 vaccination for up to six months from the time of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The vaccine can be offered to a breastfeeding woman who is part of a group recommended for vaccination (e.g. health workers); discontinuing breastfeeding after vaccination is currently not recommended. Who should not take the vaccine? While pregnancy puts women at a higher risk of severe COVID-19, the use of this vaccine in pregnant women is currently not recommended, unless they are at risk of high exposure (e.g. health workers). Individuals with a history of severe allergic reaction to any component of the vaccine should not take this or any other mRNA vaccine. While vaccination is recommended for older persons due to the high risk of severe COVID-19 and death, very frail older persons with an anticipated life expectancy of less than 3 months should be individually assessed. The vaccine should not be administered to persons younger than 18 years of age pending the results of further studies. What’s the recommended dosage? SAGE recommends the use of the Moderna mRNA-1273 vaccine at a schedule of two doses (100 µg, 0.5 ml each) 28 days apart. If necessary, the interval between the doses may be extended to 42 days. Compliance with the full schedule is recommended and the same product should be used for both doses. Is it safe? While this vaccine has yet to be approved by WHO for an Emergency Use Listing, it has undergone review by the European Medical Agency (EMA) and consequently meets WHO’s criteria for SAGE consideration. The EMA has thoroughly assessed the data on the quality, safety and efficacy of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and authorized its use across the European Union.
SAGE recommends that all vaccinees be observed for at least 15 minutes after vaccination. Those who experience an immediate severe allergic reaction to the first dose should not receive additional doses. Longer-term safety assessment involves continued follow up of clinical trial participants, as well as specific studies and continued surveillance of secondary effects or adverse events of those being vaccinated in the roll out. The Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety, a group of experts that provides independent and authoritative guidance to the WHO on the topic of safe vaccine use, receives and assesses reports of suspected safety events of potentially international impact. How efficacious is the vaccine? The Moderna vaccine has been shown to have an efficacy of approximately 92 per cent in protecting against COVID-19, starting 14 days after the first dose. Does it work against new variants? Based on the evidence so far, the new variants of SARS-CoV-2, including the B.1.1.7 and the 501Y.V2, do not alter the effectiveness of the Moderna mRNA vaccine. The monitoring, collection and analysis of data on new variants and their impact on the effectiveness of COVID-19 diagnostics, treatments and vaccines continues. Does it prevent infection and transmission? We do not know whether the vaccine will prevent infection and protect against onward transmission. Immunity persists for several months, but the full duration is not yet known. These important questions are being studied. In the meantime, we must maintain public health measures that work: masking, physical distancing, handwashing, respiratory and cough hygiene, avoiding crowds, and ensuring good ventilation.
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Belgium becomes another European country to announce a national lockdown. With surges accelerating in the United States and Europe, the global COVID-19 case total today passed 45 million with a record single-day high as the World Health Organization (WHO) reports 505,756 new cases so far. Also, Belgium—one of the European countries reporting a surge of infections—today became that region's latest to announce another national lockdown. Panel experts tweak WHO guidance At a WHO media briefing today, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, said the agency's COVID-19 emergency committee wrapped up its fifth review of COVID-19 developments and unanimously agreed that the situation still warrants a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) under the International Health Regulations (IHR). As part of its review, the committee also tweaked its temporary recommendations. Didier Houssin, MD, who chairs the panel, said the main recommendations were for the WHO to update its travel recommendations as more countries make use of testing to assist with safe travel and for member countries to avoid politicizing the virus. In another development, WHO officials said an international expert group met virtually with Chinese counterparts today in advance of a joint effort to investigate the origin of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The WHO also emphasized the importance of addressing the long-term effects of the virus in "long haulers" who have ongoing symptoms and featured testimony from three patients who have faced difficult recoveries. Tedros said their experiences reinforce how dangerous COVID-19 infection can be and how pursuing a herd immunity strategy could lead to a significant number of people facing long roads to recovery. Belgium announces lockdown With Europe well into its second COVID-19 surge, Belgium today announced a new national lockdown, which comes just 2 days after France and Germany announced similar measures. On Oct 19, Ireland announced a 6-week lockdown, the first European Union country to do so. Belgium, with the highest infection rate in Europe, ordered nonessential shops and businesses to close starting on Nov 2 through the middle of December, the BBC reported. It also limited gatherings in public spaces to four people and extended the fall school holidays until Nov 15. The country already has a night curfew and has closed restaurants and bars. More than half of Belgium's intensive care unit beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients. Prime Minister Alexander de Cross said the country is in a public health emergency and that the new measures are the last chance to drive down its infection numbers. Elsewhere, COVID-19 activity continued at a brisk pace in other European hot spots, with several reporting more single-day highs, including Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, and Poland. The global total today reached 45,426,712 cases, and 1,185,200 people have died from their infections, according to the Johns Hopkins tracker.
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As many as 190,000 people across Africa could die in the first year of the coronavirus pandemic if crucial containment measures fail, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns. The new research also predicts a prolonged outbreak over a few years. "It likely will smoulder in transmission hot spots," says WHO Africa head Matshidiso Moeti. This patchier and slower pattern of transmission sets Africa apart from other regions, WHO experts say. Other factors taken into account are the region's younger populations who have "benefitted from the control of communicable diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis", as well as lower mortality rates. The WHO's warning comes as Africa's most populous nation, Nigeria, plus others including South Africa and Ivory Coast, have begun relaxing some of their lockdown measures. The study finds that between 29 million and 44 million people in the WHO African region could get infected in the first year of the pandemic. Between 83,000 and 190,000 could die in the same period, it warns. The estimates are based on prediction modelling, and focus on 47 countries in the WHO African region with a combined population of one billion - Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, Eritrea, Sudan, Somalia and Djibouti are not included.
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