Following is a summary of current health news briefs.
China rolls out first inhalable COVID vaccine
In what is believed to be a world first, China’s commercial capital of Shanghai this week introduced a new type of COVID-19 vaccine that is inhaled rather than administered via injection. Chinese regulators approved the vaccine, produced by Chinese pharmaceutical firm CanSino Biologics, for use as a booster in September.
FDA extends review of Amicus muscle disorder therapy for second time
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday extended for the second time its review of Amicus Therapeutics Inc’s experimental combination therapy to treat a muscle disorder called Pompe disease. The agency blamed the delay on pandemic-related travel restrictions that kept it from conducting a required manufacturing site inspection before the decision was due.
Tuberculosis deaths rose during pandemic, reversing years of decline – WHO
Global deaths from tuberculosis are estimated to have increased between 2019 and 2021, reversing years of decline as the COVID-19 pandemic severely derailed efforts to tackle the disease, the World Health Organization said on Thursday. Global efforts to tackle deadly diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria have suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic. The health crisis has particularly hit the response to TB and led countries to fall behind in meeting targets to curb the infectious disease.
Ethiopia’s Tigray runs out of medical supplies amid health crisis: WHO
Ethiopia’s Tigray region has run out of medical supplies such as vaccines, antibiotics and insulin, World Health Organization officials said on Friday, warning that many deaths were probably going unrecorded from preventable and treatable diseases. The conflict that has pitted Ethiopia’s army against forces from the country’s northern region of Tigray has killed thousands, displaced millions and left thousands on the brink of famine. Peace talks are going on in South Africa.
China reports 1,658 new COVID cases for Oct 28 vs 1,506 a day earlier
China reported 1,658 new COVID-19 infections on Oct. 28, of which 377 were symptomatic and 1,281 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Saturday. That compared with 1,506 new cases a day earlier – 262 symptomatic and 1,244 asymptomatic infections, which China counts separately.
EU regulator recommends adding heavy periods to side effects of mRNA COVID shots
A European Medicines Agency (EMA) committee on Friday recommended adding heavy menstrual bleeding to the list of side effect of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines made by Moderna, as well as Pfizer and its partner BioNTech. Reports of heavy periods – bleeding characterised by increased volume and/or duration that interferes with the quality of life – have been observed during clinical trials, from cases in the real world and in medical literature, the EMA said.
Top U.S. official urges caution with RSV, vaccine in development
U.S. officials are working on a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine, but until one is available people should exercise caution, especially seniors and parents of young children, the nation’s top infectious disease official said. A vaccine for the infectious respiratory disease will hopefully come within the next year or two, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci told MSNBC in an interview.
Italy to end ban on health workers not vaccinated against Covid
Italian doctors and nurses suspended from work because they are not vaccinated against Covid-19 will soon be reinstated, new Health Minister Orazio Schillaci said on Friday.
The move is motivated by a worrying shortage of medical personnel together with declining cases of Covid-19. The new government will also cancel fines imposed on all people aged over 50 who had not got vaccinated, he added.
Shanghai Disneyland reduces operations as China tightens COVID curbs
Shanghai Disneyland will operate at reduced capacity from Saturday to comply with COVID-19 measures, the resort said in a statement, in another sign of tightening curbs across China as it seeks to contain the spread of coronavirus infections. The amusement park will operate with a reduced workforce on a temporary basis, which will have an impact on the operation of certain attractions, restaurants and shops, it said on its official Wechat account.
Cholera preys on displaced children in flood-hit Nigerian state
Racing against time, a yellow tuk-tuk collected nine-year-old Salaeh Mohammed from an internally displaced persons camp and rushed him to a cholera treatment centre in the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri. The three-wheeler pulled up to a white tent where two health workers in gumboots and protective aprons delicately lifted him onto a stretcher, under the anxious gaze of his mother – but the dehydrated little boy had already stopped breathing.
(With inputs from agencies.)