Communicable Diseases

 GHealth News - The U.S. health regulator on Tuesday issued an emergency use authorization to Roche's (ROG.S) test for the detection of DNA from monkeypox virus in swab specimens collected from people suspected of the virus infection. The tests will be conducted on the Swiss company's cobas systems, which can also detect HIV, hepatitis B and C viruses. The Food and Drug Administration said testing will be limited to laboratories that meet the requirements to perform moderate or high complexity tests. While around 80,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in nearly 100 countries since the outbreak started earlier this year, the number of cases have declined from the peak in August. Over 28,000 cases have been reported in the United States in the outbreak this...

By: Jessica Rendall Parents of younger children may be feeling uneasy, as reports of young RSV patients filling hospitals have marked October and November this year. Respiratory syncytial virus is a common virus, but it can be serious in younger children and babies, as well as some adults. Respiratory viruses like COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus often spread and peak during winter, when people travel for the holidays and spend more time indoors and breathing the same air. We've already been warned that we are likely in for a rough flu season this year, as public health measures like mask-wearing are phased out after a few years of COVID-19 precautions. But RSV has become an additional concern, as infection waves started earlier than normal and f...

GHealth News - The CDC issued its highest-level warning to public health officials regarding the surge of respiratory viruses, particularly among children, that are overwhelming some health systems across the nation.  “We suspect that many children are being exposed to some respiratory viruses now for the first time, having avoided these viruses during the height of the pandemic,” said Jose Romero, MD, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, on a media call Friday. “Currently, the United States is experiencing a resurgence in the circulation of non-COVID 19 respiratory viruses.” In addition to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and the flu, the warning mentioned rhinovirus and enterovirus. These viruses can worsen asthma symptoms and ...

By Anne Soy An outbreak of Ebola in Uganda is proving more difficult to deal with than more recent epidemics, but the president has rejected calls for a lockdown. So far 31 cases have been confirmed, though it is feared that there could be many more. What is Ebola? It is a deadly virus with initial symptoms which can include a sudden fever, intense weakness, muscle pain and a sore throat. Subsequent stages can include vomiting, diarrhoea and - in some cases - both internal and external bleeding, known as haemorrhaging. The incubation period can last from two days to three weeks. Ebola can be associated with other illnesses such as malaria and typhoid. Why is this outbreak so serious? The fact that it was three weeks before the first case was detected on 20 Septe...

A multipronged international effort has begun to pull out all the stops to launch trials of experimental Ebola vaccines in Uganda, which declared an outbreak of the deadly disease on 20 September. According to the most recent World Health Organization (WHO) update, Uganda has had 18 confirmed and 18 suspected cases of Ebola, including 23 deaths—an unusually high case fatality rate of 64%. A trial of a vaccine candidate that’s farthest along in development could launch before the end of next month. Proven vaccines exist for Zaire ebolavirus, which has led to a dozen outbreaks in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and was responsible for the massive Ebola epidemic in West Africa in 2014. But those vaccines cannot control this outbreak because it’s being driven by a dis...

GHealth News - A malaria vaccine with "world-changing" potential has been developed by scientists at the University of Oxford. The team expect it to be rolled out next year after trials showed up to 80% protection against the deadly disease. Crucially, say the scientists, their vaccine is cheap and they already have a deal to manufacture more than 100 million doses a year. The charity Malaria No More said recent progress meant children dying from malaria could end "in our lifetimes". It has taken more than a century to develop effective vaccines as the malaria parasite, which is spread by mosquitoes, is spectacularly complex and elusive. It is a constantly moving target, shifting forms inside the body, which make it hard to immunise against. Last year, the World Health Organ...

By Jack Ramage As monkeypox cases rise across the globe, experts warn even more infections could be flying under the radar as symptoms differ from what doctors have seen in the past. As of July 6, more than 6,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported from 58 countries – according to data released by the World Health Organization (WHO). Most cases are currently recorded in Europe, with the virus spreading in non-endemic countries, most of which had never seen monkeypox cases before. The current outbreak has led the UN agency to reconvene and advise on declaring the outbreak a global health emergency – the highest level of alert by the WHO – in the week starting July 18, or sooner. The WHO has warned that many cases are presenting the previously typical clinical picture for m...

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) GHealth News - The World Health Organization convened its emergency committee Thursday to consider if the spiralling outbreak of monkeypox warrants being declared a global emergency. But some experts say the WHO's decision to act only after the disease spilled into the West could entrench the grotesque inequities that arose between rich and poor countries during the coronavirus pandemic. Declaring monkeypox to be a global emergency would mean the UN health agency considers the outbreak to be an "extraordinary event" and that the disease is at risk of spreading across even more borders, possibly requiring a global response. It would also give monkeypox the same distinction as the COVID-19 pande...

GHealth News - British health officials will start offering vaccines to some men who have sex with men and are at the highest risk of catching monkeypox, in an effort to curb the biggest outbreak of the disease beyond Africa. Doctors can consider vaccination for some men at the highest risk of exposure, Britain’s Health Security agency said in a statement Tuesday. The agency identified those at highest risk as men who have sex with men and who have multiple partners, participate in group sex or attend venues where sex occurs on the premises. “By expanding the vaccine offer to those at higher risk, we hope to break chains of transmission and help contain the outbreak,” said the Health Security Agency’s head of immunization, Dr. Mary Ramsay. Last month, a leading adviser to the Worl...

There are now more than 1,000 confirmed monkeypox cases in 29 countries.CDC GHealth News - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) raised its monkeypox alert to a Level 2, or “practice enhanced precautions.” The guidance includes wearing face masks while traveling as well as avoiding close contact with sick animals and people, especially those with skin lesions. The highest level alert — Level 3 — would caution against non-essential travel. While emphasizing that the risk was not on the same level as for Covid-19, the agency is tracking cases that have been reported in several countries that don’t normally report monkeypox, including the United States. Many of these people have not recently been in central or west African countries where monkeypox usually occurs. T...