Following is a summary of current health news briefs.
Brazil health officials await test results to confirm first monkeypox case
Health officials in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo said Wednesday that it is still awaiting test results to confirm the country’s first case of monkeypox. The patient, a 41-year-old man, recently traveled to Spain and Portugal, the city’s health secretariat said in a statement. He started presenting symptoms on May 28 and is in isolation in a hospital in the city.
Sanofi’s Dupixent gets U.S. approval to treat eczema in young children
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the use of Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc’s anti-inflammation drug Dupixent to treat eczema in young children, the two companies said on Tuesday. Dupixent is now the first approved treatment for moderate-to-severe eczema in young children, Sanofi and Regeneron said.
More than 1,000 monkeypox cases reported to WHO – briefing
There have been more than 1,000 monkeypox cases reported to the World Health Organization in the current outbreak outside the countries in Africa where it more commonly spreads. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the risk of monkeypox becoming established in these non-endemic countries was real but preventable at this point.
CDC awards $215 million as part of Cancer Moonshot initiative revival
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it was awarding $215 million in first-year funding as part of reviving the erstwhile Obama administration’s Cancer Moonshot initiative aimed at prevention and control of the disease. The funding will be given to 86 recipients https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/dcpc/about/foa-dp22-2202, including various U.S. states as well as indigenous tribes such as Cherokee Nation, Kaw Nation of Oklahoma and Navajo Nation, among others.
Greece detects first case of monkeypox infection
Greece has detected its first case of the rare monkeypox virus infection in a traveler, according to initial tests, the country’s national health agency EODY said in a statement on Wednesday. The patient, who had recently traveled to Portugal, is in hospital and is in a steady condition, EODY said. Samples have been sent for further confirmation tests.
Factbox-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus
Hopes of an improvement in key economic growth metrics in China have increased as more pandemic-related restrictions ease in the country, including the scheduled reopening of the Universal Beijing Resort next week. DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
Moderna says Omicron-targeted COVID shot shows better response
Moderna Inc said on Wednesday a new version of its coronavirus vaccine produced a better immune response against Omicron than the original shot, as the drugmaker pursues a booster against a surge in infections in the fall season. The vaccine, which was given as a fourth dose in a trial that enrolled more than 800 people, raised virus-neutralizing antibodies by eight-fold against Omicron.
Novavax COVID shot, aimed at vaccine skeptics, overwhelmingly backed by FDA panel
Advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to recommend that the agency authorize Novavax Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine for use in adults, which the drugmaker hopes can become the shot of choice among some American vaccine skeptics. The panel of outside vaccine experts voted 21-0 with one abstention in favor of the vaccine for those 18 and older after discussing whether the shot’s benefits outweigh risks, including rare occurrences of heart inflammation that may be associated with the vaccine.
Factbox-Monkeypox cases around the world
Nearly 30 countries where monkeypox is not endemic have reported outbreaks of the viral disease as confirmed cases crossed 1,100, most of them in Europe. Monkeypox, which spreads through close contact and was first found in monkeys, mostly occurs in west and central Africa and only very occasionally spreads elsewhere.
Traditional Kyrgyz dances ease lung disease in battle with smog, specialists say
Bishkek may be flanked by picturesque, snow-topped mountains, but the air in some places in Kyrgyzstan is anything but sweet. As the result of heavy industry, smouldering landfill sites and indoor fires, hundreds of thousands of people in the country suffer from chronic lung conditions, such as COPD.
(With inputs from agencies.)
