After 25 years as a pediatric infectious diseases specialist, Asunción Mejías is too familiar with the deadly unpredictability of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), an infection that hospitalizes up to 80,000 children under the age of 5 every year in the US. “It’s a disease which can change very quickly,” says Mejías, who works at St. … Read more
Why are most cases of polio vaccine-derived variants? Most cases of paralytic polio are now vaccine-derived due to the success of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. OPV has been instrumental in the near-eradication of wild polioviruses around the world. However, in areas where vaccination rates drop and enough people are susceptible to infection, the weakened … Read more
As mpox continues to spread in Central Africa, a promising antiviral drug to treat the infection has failed to improve patients’ symptoms in a trial in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the epicenter of the outbreak. In the trial, the drug tecovirimat, also known as TPOXX, did not alleviate the characteristic blisterlike rash seen … Read more
Campaigners have welcomed the first National Awareness Day for a potentially deadly condition that has been linked to both Covid-19. Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle. Most people are oblivious to the fact that symptoms such as swelling and palpitations could be a sign of the potentially fatal condition, even in younger individuals. … Read more
Amidst a summer surge of Covid-19 infections, the US Food and Drug Administration just approved updated mRNA vaccines that more closely target the currently circulating variants of the coronavirus. The updated vaccines, from Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech, target a variant of Omicron called KP.2, one of the several so-called “FLiRT variants” that collectively are responsible for … Read more
The good news is that given the substantial accumulation of protection from past infections and vaccinations, the two most serious metrics—emergency department visits and deaths—have not shown similar rises. The weekly percentage of emergency department visits with a Covid-19 diagnosis is low and similar to last year’s summer wave. Deaths are likewise low, though they … Read more
In May 2023, the World Health Organization released a statement declaring the end of mpox—formerly known as monkeypox—as a public health emergency. Just over a year later, the agency has been forced to backtrack, with a far more serious epidemic brewing across much of sub-Saharan Africa. Statistics show that more than 15,000 mpox cases and … Read more
The US government will pay Moderna $176 million to develop an mRNA vaccine against a pandemic influenza—an award given as the highly pathogenic bird flu virus H5N1 continues to spread widely among US dairy cattle. The funding flows through BARDA, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, as part of a new Rapid Response Partnership … Read more
View our Voter Guide to find all the information you need to make an informed choice at the polls. Not sure how to find us on your TV? Use our ChannelFinder and download our app to get fact-based, unbiased news for all America. (NewsNation) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s stances on key issues like vaccines and the Russian-Ukraine war have … Read more
Three mpox cases (formerly known as monkeypox) have been detected in New South Wales, prompting health authorities to encourage vaccination. NSW Health said the three cases were confirmed this week and are linked to outbreaks in South Australia and Victoria. A total of 72 mpox cases have been identified NSW in 2022. Know the news … Read more
