Saturday, April 30, 2022
Chinese Omicron-specific mRNA COVID vaccine candidate to be trialed in UAE - Reuters
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The words "OMICRON SARS-COV-2" are seen reflected in a drop from a syringe needle in this illustration taken December 11, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
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BEIJING, April 30 (Reuters) - China's Suzhou Abogen Biosciences Co said its COVID-19 vaccine candidate using the messenger RNA (mRNA) technology and targeting the Omicron variant has obtained clinical trial approval in the United Arab Emirates.
With Friday's announcement, Abogen joins Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna in trialing candidates modified specifically against Omicron, a highly transmissible variant with increased resistance to antibodies elicited by existing shots. read more
Mainland China has vaccinated over 88% of its 1.4 billion people against COVID with non-mRNA shots. It has not approved any foreign vaccines, although real-world data indicated the two most used Chinese products, manufactured by Sinopharm and Sinovac, have lower effectiveness against COVID infection than mRNA shots from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.
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Besides the UAE, Abogen was communicating with regulators in China and other countries on potential clinical trials for the Omicron-specific candidate, it said in a statement.
An mRNA candidate based on an older coronavirus strain without major mutations, which Abogen co-developed with Walvax Biotechnology (300142.SZ) and a Chinese military-backed research institution, is being tested in a Phase III trial in China, Mexico and Indonesia.
Walvax is also partnering with Shanghai-based startup RNACure to develop a variants-targeting mRNA vaccine candidate, with design different from Abogen's.
Two Omicron-specific vaccine candidates from Sinopharm and one from Sinovac, containing inactivated or "killed" coronavirus, have been cleared for clinical trials in Hong Kong and mainland China. read more
The UAE regulator has approved clinical trials for a third Omicron-specific candidate from Sinopharm, based on protein, as well as for the firm's two inactivated Omicron-specific candidates, Sinopharm subsidiary China National Biotec Group said on Friday.
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Reporting by Roxanne Liu and Ryan Woo; Editing by William Mallard
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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April 30, 2022 at 02:34PM
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Chinese Omicron-specific mRNA COVID vaccine candidate to be trialed in UAE - Reuters
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More Colorado COVID hospital patients are vaccinated than unvaccinated - FOX 31 Denver
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April 30, 2022 at 10:01AM
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More Colorado COVID hospital patients are vaccinated than unvaccinated - FOX 31 Denver
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Friday, April 29, 2022
Colorado inmate is 1st human case of bird flu in US - ABC News
The man was in direct contact with infected poultry on a farm.
A Colorado inmate is the first person in the United States to test positive for bird flu as an ongoing outbreak in the country continues to affect birds and poultry.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said the man, who is under age 40, was involved in culling poultry that were presumed to be infected with the virus.
According to a press release from the CDPHE, the man, an inmate at a state correctional facility in Delta County -- about 100 miles southwest of Aspen -- was exposed while working with infected poultry at a commercial farm in Montrose County, about 50 miles away.
The farm work is part of a pre-release employment program in which inmates can work for private companies and be paid a wage.
Colorado health officials detected the virus in a single nasal specimen from the man and the result was confirmed by the CDC on April 27.
The man was asymptomatic and only reported fatigue for a few days, according to the CDC. He has since recovered but is currently isolating and receiving the antiviral drug tamiflu.
Dr. Rachel Herlihy, state epidemiologist for the CDPHE, told ABC News the man had 10 close contacts who were either coworkers of his on the farm, lived with him or used the same transportation services as he did. They all tested negative.
Repeat testing of the man for influenza was negative.
"We aren’t certain if this individual was truly infected or not and we might actually never know with certainty," Herlihy said. "We don't know if this person was infected, meaning the virus was present and replicating in his body, or if some level of surface contamination of this person's nose may have occurred. You can virus present in your nose, it can be detected on a test, but it doesn't mean it's necessarily causing infection."
The CDC also noted it possible for the detection of bird flu to be the result of surface contamination.
Health officials insisted there is little risk to the general public and there is no evidence the virus spreads from person to person.
"We know that this is really primarily an animal health issue," Herlihy said. "There are lots of viruses that are transmitted within a species but not between species ... Everything we know about the virus right now suggests that it's really just being transmitted between avian species."
According to the U.S Department of Agriculture's latest report, since late 2021, bird flu has been detected in commercial and backyard birds in 29 states and in wild birds in 34 states. More than 2,500 people with direct exposure to infected animals have been tested for bird flu and are negative, the CDC said.
Bird flu infections among people are rare but direct exposure to infected poultry or wild birds increases this risk. The first human case of this specific virus was detected by health officials in the United Kingdom in an asymptomatic patient who had been raising birds that became infected.
Officials say it is safe to eat eggs and poultry, with the USDA always advising proper handling and cooking of poultry products.
Health officials said poultry owners or handlers should monitor fowl for signs of the bird flu and monitor feed and water supplies to avoid contamination.
Herlihy recommended people avoid contact with poultry or birds that appear to be ill or dead as well as contact with surfaces that appear to be contaminated with feces from wild or domestic birds.
Those who are required to handle sick or dead birds are advised to wear gloves and wash their hands with soap and water after.
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April 30, 2022 at 01:38AM
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Colorado inmate is 1st human case of bird flu in US - ABC News
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Covid deaths no longer overwhelmingly among the unvaccinated - The Washington Post
Unvaccinated people accounted for the overwhelming majority of deaths in the United States throughout much of the coronavirus pandemic. But that has changed in recent months, according to a Washington Post analysis of state and federal data.
The pandemic’s toll is no longer falling almost exclusively on those who chose not to get shots, with vaccine protection waning over time and the elderly and immunocompromised — who are at greatest risk of succumbing to covid-19, even if vaccinated — having a harder time dodging increasingly contagious strains.
The vaccinated made up 42 percent of fatalities in January and February during the highly contagious omicron variant’s surge, compared with 23 percent of the dead in September, the peak of the delta wave, according to nationwide data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed by The Post. The data is based on the date of infection and limited to a sampling of cases in which vaccination status was known.
As a group, the unvaccinated remain far more vulnerable to the worst consequences of infection — and are far more likely to die — than people who are vaccinated, and they are especially more at risk than people who have received a booster shot.
“It’s still absolutely more dangerous to be unvaccinated than vaccinated,” said Andrew Noymer, a public health professor at the University of California at Irvine who studies covid-19 mortality. “A pandemic of — and by — the unvaccinated is not correct. People still need to take care in terms of prevention and action if they became symptomatic.”
A key explanation for the rise in deaths among the vaccinated is that covid-19 fatalities are again concentrated among the elderly.
Nearly two-thirds of the people who died during the omicron surge were 75 and older, according to a Post analysis, compared with a third during the delta wave. Seniors are overwhelmingly immunized, but vaccines are less effective and their potency wanes over time in older age groups.
Experts say they are not surprised that vaccinated seniors are making up a greater share of the dead, even as vaccine holdouts died far more often than the vaccinated during the omicron surge, according to the CDC. As more people are infected with the virus, the more people it will kill, including a greater number who are vaccinated but among the most vulnerable.
The bulk of vaccinated deaths are among people who did not get a booster shot, according to state data provided to The Post. In two of the states, California and Mississippi, three-quarters of the vaccinated senior citizens who died in January and February did not have booster doses. Regulators in recent weeks have authorized second booster doses for people over the age of 50, but administration of first booster doses has stagnated.
Even though the death rates for the vaccinated elderly and immunocompromised are low, their losses numbered in the thousands when cases exploded, leaving behind blindsided families. But experts say the rising number of vaccinated people dying should not cause panic in those who got shots, the vast majority of whom will survive infections. Instead, they say, these deaths serve as a reminder that vaccines are not foolproof and that those in high-risk groups should consider getting boosted and taking extra precautions during surges.
“Vaccines are one of the most important and longest-lasting tools we have to protect ourselves,” said California State Epidemiologist Erica Pan, citing state estimates showing vaccines have shown to be 85 percent effective in preventing death.
“Unfortunately, that does leave another 15,” she said.
‘He did not expect to be sick’
Arianne Bennett recalled her husband, Scott Bennett, saying, “But I’m vaxxed. But I’m vaxxed,” from the D.C. hospital bed where he struggled to fight off covid-19 this winter.
Friends had a hard time believing Bennett, co-founder of the D.C.-based chain Amsterdam Falafelshop, was 70. The adventurous longtime entrepreneur hoped to buy a bar and planned to resume scuba-diving trips and 40-mile bike rides to George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate.
Bennett went to get his booster in early December after returning to D.C. from a lodge he owned in the Poconos, where he and his wife hunkered down for fall. Just a few days after his shot, Bennett began experiencing covid-19 symptoms, meaning he was probably exposed before the extra dose of immunity could kick in. His wife suspects he was infected at a dinner where he and his server were unmasked at times.
A fever-stricken Bennett limped into the hospital alongside his wife, who was also infected, a week before Christmas. He died Jan. 13, among the 125,000 Americans who succumbed to covid-19 in January and February.
“He was absolutely shocked. He did not expect to be sick. He really thought he was safe,’” Arianne Bennett recalled. “And I’m like, ‘But baby, you’ve got to wear the mask all the time. All the time. Up over your nose.’”
Jason Salemi, an epidemiologist at the University of South Florida College of Public Health, said the deaths of vaccinated people are among the consequences of a pandemic response that emphasizes individuals protecting themselves.
“When we are not taking this collective effort to curb community spread of the virus, the virus has proven time and time again it’s really good at finding that subset of vulnerable people,” Salemi said.
While experts say even the medically vulnerable should feel assured that a vaccine will probably save their lives, they should remain vigilant for signs of infection. As more therapeutics become available, early detection and treatment is key.
When Wayne Perkey, 84, first started sneezing and feeling other cold symptoms in early February, he resisted his physician daughter’s plea to get tested for the coronavirus.
The legendary former morning radio host in Louisville had been boosted in October. He diligently wore a mask and kept his social engagements to a minimum. It must have been the common cold or allergies, he believed. Even the physician who ordered a chest X-ray and had no coronavirus tests on hand thought so.
Perkey relented, and the test came back positive. He didn’t think he needed to go to the hospital, even as his oxygen levels declined.
“In his last voice conversation with me, he said, ‘I thought I was doing everything right,’” recalled Lady Booth Olson, another daughter, who lives in Virginia. “I believe society is getting complacent, and clearly somebody he was around was carrying the virus. ... We’ll never know.”
From his hospital bed, Perkey resumed a familiar role as a high-profile proponent for vaccines and coronavirus precautions. He was familiar to many Kentuckians who grew up hearing his voice on the radio and watched him host the televised annual Crusade for Children fundraiser. He spent much of the pandemic as a caregiver to his ex-wife who struggled with chronic fatigue and other long-haul covid symptoms.
“It’s the 7th day of my Covid battle, the worst day so far, and my anger boils when I hear deniers talk about banning masks or social distancing,” Perkey wrote on Facebook on Feb. 16, almost exactly one year after he posted about getting his first shot. “I remember times we cared about our neighbors.”
In messages to a family group chat, he struck an optimistic note. “Thanks for all the love and positive energy,” he texted on Feb. 23. “Wear your mask.”
As is often the case for covid-19 patients, his condition rapidly turned for the worse. His daughter Rebecca Booth, the physician, suspects a previous bout with leukemia made it harder for his immune system to fight off the virus. He died March 6.
“Really and truly his final days were about, ‘This virus is bad news.’ He basically was saying: ‘Get vaccinated. Be careful. But there is no guarantee,’” Rebecca Booth said. “And, ‘If you think this isn’t a really bad virus, look at me.’ And it is.”
Hospitals, particularly in highly vaccinated areas, have also seen a shift from covid wards filled predominantly with the unvaccinated. Many who end up in the hospital have other conditions that weakens the shield afforded by the vaccine.
Vaccinated people made up slightly less than half the patients in the intensive care units of Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California hospital system in December and January, according to a spokesman.
Gregory Marelich, chair of critical care for the 21 hospitals in that system, said most of the vaccinated and boosted people he saw in ICUs were immunosuppressed, usually after organ transplants or because of medications for diseases such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis.
“I’ve cared for patients who are vaccinated and immunosuppressed and are in disbelief when they come down with covid,” Marelich said.
‘There’s life potential in those people’
Jessica Estep, 41, rang a bell celebrating her last treatment for follicular lymphoma in September. The single mother of two teenagers had settled into a new home in Michigan, near the Indiana border. After her first marriage ended, she found love again and got married in a zoo in November.
As an asthmatic cancer survivor, Estep knew she faced a heightened risk from covid-19, relatives said. She saw only a tight circle of friends and worked in her own office in her electronics repair job. She lived in an area where around 1 in 4 residents are fully vaccinated. She planned to get a booster shot in the winter.
“She was the most nonjudgmental person I know,” said her mother, Vickie Estep. “It was okay with her if people didn’t mask up or get vaccinated. It was okay with her that they exercised their right of choice, but she just wanted them to do that away from her so that she could be safe.”
With Michigan battling back-to-back surges of the delta and omicron variants, Jessica Estep wasn’t able to dodge the virus any longer — she fell ill in mid-December. After surviving a cancer doctors described as incurable, Estep died Jan. 27. Physicians said the coronavirus essentially turned her lungs into concrete, her mother said.
Estep’s 14-year-old daughter now lives with her grandparents. Her widower returned to Indianapolis just months after he moved to Michigan to be with his new wife.
Her family shared her story with a local television station in hopes of inspiring others to get vaccinated, to protect people such as Estep who could not rely on their own vaccination as a foolproof shield. In response to the station’s Facebook post about the story, several commenters shrugged off their pleas and insinuated it was the vaccines rather than covid causing deaths.
Immunocompromised people and those with other underlying conditions are worth protecting, Vickie Estep said. “There’s life potential in those people.”
A delayed shot
As Arianne Bennett navigates life without her husband, she hopes the lesson people heed from his death is to take advantage of all tools available to mitigate a virus that still finds and kills the vulnerable, including by getting boosters.
Bennett wore a music festival shirt her husband gave her as she walked into a grocery store to get her third shot in March. Her husband urged her to get one when they returned to D.C., but she became sick at the same time he did. She scheduled the appointment for the earliest she could get the shot: 90 days after receiving monoclonal antibodies to treat the disease.
“My booster! Yay!” Bennett exclaimed in her chair as the pharmacist presented an updated vaccine card.
“It’s been challenging, but we got through it,” the pharmacist said, unaware of Scott Bennett’s death.
Tears welled in Bennett’s eyes as the needle went in her left arm, just over a year after she and her husband received their first shots.
“Last time we got it, we took selfies: ‘Look, we had vaccines,’” Bennett said, beginning to sob. “This one leaves me crying, missing him so much.”
The pharmacist leaned over and gave Bennett a hug in her chair.
“He would want you to do this,” the pharmacist said. “You have to know.”
Lenny Bernstein contributed to this report.
Methodology
Death rates compare the number of deaths in various groups with an adjustment for the number of people in each group. The death rates listed for the fully vaccinated, the unvaccinated and those vaccinated with boosters were calculated by the CDC using a sample of deaths from 23 health departments in the country that record vaccine status, including boosters, for deaths related to covid-19. The CDC study assigns deaths to the month when a patient contracted covid-19, not the month of death. The latest data published in April reflected deaths of people who contracted covid as of February. The CDC study of deaths among the vaccinated is online, and the data can be downloaded.
The death rates for fully vaccinated people, unvaccinated people and fully vaccinated people who received an additional booster are expressed as deaths per 100,000 people. The death rates are also called incidence rates. The CDC estimated the population sizes from census data and vaccination records. The study does not include partially vaccinated people in the deaths or population. CDC adjusted the population sizes for inaccuracies in the vaccination data. The death data is provisional and subject to change. The study sample includes the population eligible for boosters, which was originally 18 and older, and now is 12 and older.
To compare death rates between groups with different vaccination status, the CDC uses incidence rate ratios. For example, if one group has a rate of 10 deaths per 100,000 people, the death incidence rate would be 10. Another group may have a death incidence rate of 2.5. The ratio between the first group and the second group is the rate of 10 divided by the rate of 2.5, so the incidence rate ratio would be 4 (10÷2.5=4). That means the first group dies at a rate four times that of the second group.
The CDC calculates the death incidence rates and incidence rate ratios by age groups. It also calculates a value for the entire population adjusted for the size of the population in each age group. The Post used those age-adjusted total death incidence rates and incidence rate ratios.
The Post calculated the share of deaths by vaccine status from the sample of death records the CDC used to calculate death incidence rates by vaccine status. As of April, that data included 44,000 deaths of people who contracted covid in January and February.
The share of deaths for each vaccine status does not include deaths for partially vaccinated people because they are not included in the CDC data.
The Post calculated the share of deaths in each age group from provisional covid-19 death records that have age details from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. That data assigns deaths by the date of death, not the date on which the person contracted covid-19. That data does not include any information on vaccine status of the people who died.
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April 29, 2022 at 08:00PM
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Covid deaths no longer overwhelmingly among the unvaccinated - The Washington Post
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How Long Does Immunity to COVID-19 Last? - TIME
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. “Protection from vaccination and protection from previous infections does wane over time.”
Even two years and millions of infections into the pandemic, researchers are still learning about immunity to the virus, and how long you can expect to remain disease-free after a shot or illness. Here’s what the latest science says about immunity to COVID-19.
If I already had COVID-19, will I get it again?
Your immune system mounts a few different defenses against SARS-CoV-2. White blood cells called B cells produce antibody proteins, which help fight off the invader. Meanwhile, T cells, another type of white blood cell, can kill off cells that have been taken over by the virus.
A study from U.K. researchers published in the New England Journal of Medicine in March found that infection-related immunity stays strong for up to a year, then began to wane—whereas the protection offered by two doses of a Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine begins to wane at around six months. Meanwhile, a research review published in the Annals of Internal Medicine in April concluded that people who’d recovered from COVID-19 had significant protection against reinfection for at least seven months.
But all of that research was done before the emergence of the Omicron variant, which is more contagious than previous strains. “We can’t really predict how the protection will work for the next variant or over a period of time,” says co-author Dr. Mark Helfand, a professor of medicine at the Oregon Health & Science University.
Children may hold onto their antibodies even longer than adults, according to a new study from researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Six months post-infection, more kids than adults still had antibodies capable of neutralizing the virus, they found.
While those findings should bring some comfort to people who have had COVID-19, there are no guarantees when it comes to immunity. (A woman in Spain recently made headlines for testing positive for COVID-19 twice, only 20 days apart.) Some people develop more antibodies after an infection than others. It’s also not clear exactly how antibody levels correlate with protection against infection, so a positive antibody test doesn’t necessarily mean you’re immune to the virus, Clarke said during the CDC briefing.
Dr. Bruce Farber, chief of infectious diseases at Northwell Health in New York, says there’s no way to say for sure how long someone who has recently recovered from COVID-19 can stop worrying about being reinfected. But, he allows, it would be “very unusual” to get COVID-19 within 90 days of a previous case.
If I’m fully vaccinated, am I immune to COVID-19?
COVID-19 vaccines also prompt the body to produce antibodies and trigger a T-cell response, though they’re different from those the body produces naturally.
Vaccines provide strong and durable protection against severe disease and death, but their effectiveness against infection wanes over time, so your risk of getting sick is lowest shortly after your most recent dose. A research review published in the Lancet in March analyzed data from prior studies that assessed the effectiveness of different COVID-19 vaccines, including those made by Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson. Across brands, vaccines’ ability to prevent symptomatic disease dropped by 20% to 30% after six months, even though they remained good at preventing severe disease and death, the researchers found. This review was also published before the Omicron variant—against which vaccines are less effective—began spreading widely.
Even with Omicron circulating, however, someone who’d been vaccinated was 2.4 times less likely to test positive for the virus in March than an unvaccinated person, according to the CDC.
Anyone who is unvaccinated, whether they’ve had COVID-19 or not, should still get their shots, says Dr. Jessica Ridgway, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Chicago who co-authored a recent study on COVID-19 reinfection. “They’re incredibly safe and having that additional level of immunity would definitely be helpful for preventing COVID,” she says. Further, research shows that getting a booster dose can help bring protection to even higher levels.
What if I’m vaccinated and had COVID-19?
If you’ve recovered from COVID-19 and gotten a COVID-19 vaccine, you have what’s known as “hybrid immunity.” Studies suggest this type of protection is better than either vaccination or exposure alone, because you benefit from both natural and vaccine-derived defenses.
“The best immunity, no question in my mind, is hybrid immunity,” Farber says.
Of course, you should never try to catch COVID-19 for the sake of gaining hybrid immunity. While it’s very unusual for someone who is vaccinated and generally healthy to have a severe case of COVID-19, complications can happen. People have gotten Long COVID even when they’re fully vaccinated and experience few symptoms, for example.
Will I need to keep getting COVID-19 boosters forever?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently authorized a second round of boosters for people ages 50 and older, as well as some immunocompromised people across age groups. Additional boosters haven’t yet been authorized for the entire population—but there’s been lots of speculation about whether they will be, since vaccine-related immunity wanes with time.
The FDA’s vaccine advisory committee met in April to discuss ways to streamline and improve booster strategy moving forward. An annual dose, as with flu shots, is a possibility—but the SARS-CoV-2 virus mutates in less predictable ways than the influenza virus, so it’s challenging to make in advance a booster that would target whatever strain is circulating later on.
A better model could be developing boosters that provide immunity to multiple variants. That science is underway now, but it’s too soon to say exactly what future boosting strategies will look like.
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CDC says adenovirus may have caused Alabama outbreak of severe hepatitis in children - CNBC
U.S. health officials said adenovirus may have caused an outbreak of severe hepatitis that afflicted nine children in Alabama in February.
All nine kids with severe acute hepatitis, three of whom suffered liver failure, tested positive for adenovirus and none of them had a history Covid-19 infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"At this time, we believe adenovirus may be the cause for these reported cases, but other potential environmental and situational factors are still being investigated," the CDC said in a statement. "Adenovirus type 41 is not usually known as a cause of hepatitis in otherwise healthy children, and no known epidemiological link or common exposures among these children has been found."
The CDC on Friday published its most detailed findings so far about the children, after issuing a nationwide health alert last week. It said adenovirus infection may be an underrecognized contributor to liver injury in otherwise healthy children but further investigation is needed.
While hepatitis is not uncommon in children, the cluster of cases in Alabama surprised physicians because the previously healthy kids had severe symptoms and did not test positive for hepatitis viruses.
Public health authorities in the U.S. and Europe are closely tracking cases of severe hepatitis in kids after the U.K alerted the World Health Organization earlier this month about a cluster of cases there. The WHO has identified 169 cases worldwide so far, with the overwhelming majority of them in the U.K.
All nine children in the U.S. were patients at the hospital Children's of Alabama, who ranged in age from about 2 to 6 years old, according to the CDC. Three of the patients suffered liver failure and two needed liver transplants. All of them have either recovered or are recovering.
The children's symptoms before hospital admission included vomiting, diarrhea and upper respiratory symptoms. Eight of the patients had scleral icterus, a yellowing of the white of the eye. Seven had enlarged livers, six had jaundice and one had encephalopathy, a broad term for disease of the brain.
All of the children tested positive for adenovirus, a common infection that can cause respiratory illnesses, an upset stomach, pink eye and bladder inflammation or neurological disease in rarer cases. Adenovirus is a known cause of hepatitis in children with weak immune systems, but the patients in Alabama all had normal immune systems and no significant health conditions, according to the CDC.
Although six of the kids also tested positive for Epstein-Barr virus, the CDC does not believe these were acute infections because they tested negative for antibodies. The children all tested negative for hepatitis viruses A, B and C, according to the CDC. None of them had a history of Covid-19 infection.
Doctors in Alabama identified the first five cases last fall. The CDC and the Alabama Department of Public Health began an investigation in November. They identified four more cases in Alabama through February of this year. No additional cases have been identified in Alabama since February.
The CDC said it's monitoring the situation closely to better understand the cause of severe hepatitis in the kids and to find ways to prevent the illness. The public health agency told physicians to be aware that whole blood tests, rather than plasma, might be better at detecting the presence of adenovirus.
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April 30, 2022 at 01:12AM
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CDC says adenovirus may have caused Alabama outbreak of severe hepatitis in children - CNBC
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Thursday, April 28, 2022
CDC confirms case of bird flu in Colorado man but says the public health risk assessment remains low - CNN
(CNN)A case of influenza A(H5), also known as H5 bird flu, has been confirmed in a man in Colorado who had direct exposure to poultry and the culling of birds with presumptive H5N1 bird flu, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement Thursday.
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April 29, 2022 at 09:51AM
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CDC confirms case of bird flu in Colorado man but says the public health risk assessment remains low - CNN
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Wisconsin reports first death in U.S. possibly linked to puzzling hepatitis outbreak in children - Fox News
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Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) issued a health alert this Wednesday regarding the first pediatric death in the United States possibly linked to the mysterious pediatric hepatitis outbreak and adenovirus, according to a recent statement.
"Since being notified of this adenovirus-associated hepatitis cluster, DHS is now investigating at least four similar cases among children in Wisconsin. This includes two children who had severe outcomes, one liver transplant, and one fatality."
HEPATITIS SPIKE AMONG KIDS LINKED TO COVID LOCKDOWNS: UK DOCS
The statement urges clinicians in the United States to consider testing for adenovirus in pediatric patients who have hepatitis of unknown etiology and report these cases to their state public health labs and the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters stands in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S, on Saturday, March 14, 2020. (Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The agency first issued an official health alert last week regarding a cluster of 9 previously healthy pediatric cases with liver disease, including three with liver failure and two requiring a liver transplant, who were admitted at a large children’s hospital in Alabama between October 2021 and February 2022. Five out of the nine specimens tested positive for adenovirus type 41 infection.
NEARLY 200 CASES OF MYSTERY LIVER DISEASE IN CHILDREN: OFFICIALS
Two "school-aged" children in North Carolina who developed severe hepatitis have recovered, said Bailey Pennington, a spokesperson for the state Department of Health and Human Services.
The Illinois Department of Public Health are investigating three suspected cases of hepatitis under the age of 10 possibly linked to adenovirus, including two in Chicago suburbs, where one required a liver transplant.
This photo illustration shows a disposable syringe with hypodermic needle, HEPATITIS B written on a white board behind. (Frank Bienewald/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported 169 cases of acute hepatitis of unknown etiology, ranging from 1 month to 16 years old, with approximately 10% requiring liver transplantation at least one death, according to an April 23 report.
The organization noted that the majority of these cases so far are in the United Kingdom, where the country " … has recently observed a significant increase in adenovirus infections in the community (particularly detected in fecal samples in children) following low levels of circulation earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic."
A child in a hospital bed holds their parents hand. (iStock)
The WHO said 74 cases have tested positive for adenovirus in the outbreak that has now reached 12 countries worldwide. Since their report, Japan and Canada now are investigating similar cases, according to USA Today.
The organization also noted the "vast majority" of the reported cases did not receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
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"While adenovirus is currently one hypothesis as the underlying cause, it does not fully explain the severity of the clinical picture. Infection with adenovirus type 41, the implicated adenovirus type, has not previously been linked to such a clinical presentation," the WHO said.
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Wisconsin reports first death in U.S. possibly linked to puzzling hepatitis outbreak in children - Fox News
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Severe hepatitis outbreak in healthy kids possibly linked to adenovirus infection, WHO officials say - CNBC
An outbreak of severe hepatitis in healthy children that has caused liver failure in some kids might be linked to adenovirus infection, though further investigation is needed, World Health Organization officials said on Thursday.
Eleven countries, including the U.S., have reported at least 169 cases of severe acute hepatitis in children aged 1 month to 16 years old with the largest outbreak in the U.K, according to the latest WHO report. At least 17 children have required liver transplants and one patient has died.
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver most commonly caused by viruses, but medications and toxins can also trigger the condition.
"What is particularly unusual is that the majority of these children were previously healthy," Dr. Philippa Easterbrook, a WHO official who monitors hepatitis, said during a question and answer session livestreamed on the global health agency's social media Thursday.
At least 74 of the children have tested positive for adenovirus, according to the WHO. Adenoviruses are common and usually cause respiratory illness but can also result in stomach pain, pink eye and bladder infections. The severe hepatitis outbreak in kids has coincided with increased transmission of adenovirus in countries such as the U.K., according to the WHO.
"This doesn't at this stage prove that there's a causal link to these cases, but it is a promising interesting early signal that is being looked at in more detail," Easterbrook said.
Adenovirus has, in rare instances, been associated with hepatitis in children with weak immune systems, according to Dr. Richard Peabody, who leads WHO Europe's high-threat pathogens team. However, adenovirus is not a known cause of hepatitis in healthy children, according to the WHO.
"This is sort of an unusual phenomena that we're seeing and that's why we're sort of alerting parents and public health authorities about this," Peabody said.
At least 20 of the children had Covid, with 19 of them testing positive for that virus as well as adenovirus, according WHO data. Peabody said it's possible Covid also is playing a role in the hepatitis outbreak, though it's not clear and more investigation is needed to determine if that's the case.
U.K. officials first notified the WHO about an outbreak of severe acute hepatitis in children earlier this month. The most common symptoms have been liver inflammation, stomach pain, diarrhea, vomiting and jaundice, according to the WHO.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week issued a nationwide health alert after finding nine cases of hepatitis in children aged 1 to 6 years old in Alabama. They all had liver damage with some suffering liver failure, according to the CDC. The CDC also believes adenovirus may be the cause, though the public health agency said investigations are continuing.
Easterbrook said health officials have largely ruled out the hepatitis A, B, C, D and E viruses as a possible cause. Hepatitis viruses have not been detected in any of the reported cases, according to the WHO. Other viruses such as CMV and Epstein Barr also don't appear to account for the outbreak, Easterbrook said. Parents of the children so far have not reported a common exposure to a drug, toxin, food or travel destination, she said.
The WHO has also largely ruled out Covid-19 vaccination as a possible cause because a majority of the children had not receive the shots, Easterbrook said.
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Wednesday, April 27, 2022
China reports first human case of H3N8 bird flu - Reuters
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Workers vaccinate chicks with the H9 bird flu vaccine at a farm in Changfeng county, Anhui province, China, April 14, 2013. REUTERS/Stringer
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BEIJING, April 27 (Reuters) - China has recorded its first human infection with the H3N8 strain of bird flu, but the risk of its spread among people is low, the health authority said.
The variant was found in a four-year-old boy from the central province of Henan province who showed fever and other symptoms on April 5, the National Health Commission said in a statement on Tuesday.
The child had been in contact with chickens and crows raised at his home, it added in a statement.
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The H3N8 variant is common in horses and dogs and has even been found in seals. No human cases of H3N8 have been reported, said the NHC.
Whole genome sequence analyses indicate that the H3N8 virus in this human case is a reassortant, with genes from viruses that have been detected previously in poultry and wild birds, said Nicola Lewis, an influenza expert at the Royal Veterinary College in Britain.
The virus warrants expanded surveillance, said Erik Karlsson, deputy head of the virology unit at the Institut Pasteur in Cambodia.
Its implication in the 1889 influenza pandemic, known as the Russian flu, was "a major concern for the risk of the virus", he added.
China's huge populations of both farmed and wild birds of many species provide an ideal environment for avian viruses to mix and mutate. Some sporadically infect people, usually those who work with poultry.
Last year, China reported the first human case of H10N3. read more
The health commission said an initial study showed the variant did not yet have the ability to effectively infect humans, and the risk of a large-scale epidemic was low.
Though rare, infections in humans can lead to adaptive mutations that potentially allow these viruses to more easily spread in mammals, said Karlsson.
"We need to be concerned about all spillover events," he said.
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Reporting by Ella Cao and Dominique Patton Editing by David Goodman and Tomasz Janowski
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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Global child hepatitis outbreak sparks concern: Warning signs and what to look for - New York Post
Global health experts are puzzled over a recent onslaught of liver disease in children, warning a mysterious outbreak of pediatric hepatitis has been detected in the US, Europe and Asia.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a nationwide health alert last week that previously healthy children were suddenly developing hepatitis, or liver inflammation caused by a number of viruses.
The first US case was discovered in Alabama in October while cases in the UK popped up in January. Children as young as 1 month old to 16 have been affected.
While most cases are in Europe, experts said nearly 200 children globally have experienced sudden liver disease, while at least one has died and several others have required liver transplants.
Here are the warning signs and what to look for.
What is hepatitis?
Hepatitis, in short, is severe liver inflammation. A vital organ for digestion and purifying the body of toxins, an inflamed liver could inhibit functions and wreak widespread havoc on the body.
While sometimes it can be mild and require no treatment, severe cases require hospitalization and can lead to liver failure and the need for transplantation.
What causes hepatitis?
Medical experts are uncertain what is causing the outbreak, BBC reported.
Hepatitis is usually caused by one of several contagious viruses, dubbed hepatitis viruses A, B and C, the ones most often detected in the US, as well as D and E — but these have not been found in the cases.
However, a possible link to a common cold virus — called adenovirus — is being investigated. Nine children in the Alabama cluster tested positive for adenovirus as well as some European cases.
UK officials declared “no link” between the cases and the COVID-19 vaccine because no children with hepatitis cases had received the vaccine, according to the Guardian.
Some experts, though, believe there could be one possible link to the pandemic: Since many children were in lockdowns for so long, social isolation may have weakened immune systems to a virus that may otherwise cause only mild symptoms, Bloomberg reported.
Where have cases been found?
The outbreak is widespread, with cases reported in as many as 14 countries throughout North America, Europe and Asia.
A CDC investigation found the first cases in the US were reported in Alabama, with the Alabama Department of Public Health identifying nine cases of hepatitis of unknown origin. The cluster was reported in October 2021 at a children’s hospital in Alabama with previously healthy youth ranging in age from 1 to 6 years old.
UK health authorities said Thursday 111 cases of pediatric hepatitis have been identified there. Another 40 cases have been reported in Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization said Saturday that 12 countries have reported cases of acute hepatitis among children, 114 of them in the UK. Their tally last weekend did not include breaking reports of cases coming out of Canada, and at least one case in Japan, according to local media.
What are the symptoms?
Jaundice, diarrhea and abdominal pain are among the most commonly reported symptoms along with fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, dark urine, light-colored stools and joint pain. Jaundice, or yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes, is a telltale sign of a sick liver as it fails to properly dispose of bilirubin, a yellowish byproduct of blood filtration.
As well as typical hepatitis viruses, doctors should test for adenovirus in patients with these symptoms and report possible cases to public health officials.
Dr. Alexander Weymann, director of the Liver Center at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, told the New York Times specifically that parents should seek medical attention if children experience pain in the right upper abdomen, where the liver is located, when the area is touched.
What are the steps of action?
The CDC said all physicians and families should be on the lookout for symptoms and report any suspected cases to their state and local health departments.
To minimize risk, CDC encourages many of the same methods of prevention as COVID-19 which include washing hands often, avoid touching the face and mouth and keeping distance when possible.
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