Following is a summary of current health news briefs.
U.S. issues new warnings on ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday released new warnings for synthetic pollutants in drinking water known as “forever chemicals” saying the toxins can still be harmful even at levels so low they are not detectable. The family of toxic chemicals known as per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, have been used for decades in household products such as non-stick cookware, stain- and water-resistant textiles and in firefighting foam and industrial products.
WHO looks into reports of monkeypox virus in semen
The World Health Organisation is looking into reports that the monkeypox virus is present in the semen of patients, exploring the possibility that the disease could be sexually transmitted, a WHO official said on Wednesday. Many cases in the current monkeypox outbreak, largely centred on Europe, are among sexual partners who have had close contact, and the agency reiterated that virus is mainly transmitted via close interpersonal contact.
Valneva reaches settlement with Britain on COVID-19 vaccine deal termination
French drugmaker Valneva said on Wednesday it reached a settlement agreement with the British government linked to the termination of the supply agreement for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate VLA2001. Valneva said in September that it had received a termination notice from the British government of its COVID-19 vaccine supply deal, sending its shares plunging 35% that day.
COVID-19 rising in Americas, biggest spike in South America- PAHO
COVID-19 cases in the Americas jumped 11% last week from the previous one, with 1.2 million new cases and 4,069 new deaths, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said at a news conference on Wednesday. South America saw the biggest rise in cases, with a 20% jump, while Central America saw a 32% decrease in new cases and deaths, PAHO said. Central America had the highest increase in COVID-related deaths in PAHO’s last report on June 1.
Shanghai orders mass COVID testing each weekend until end-July
Shanghai will require all of its 16 districts to organise mass COVID testing for residents every weekend until the end of July, a city official said on Wednesday. Zhao Dandan said that said that all districts will organise “community screenings” each weekend.
Baby formula makers raced for FDA approval. They may be waiting a while
To ease the U.S. shortage of baby formula, Nature’s One and Holle are poised to ship hundreds of thousands of pounds, if not millions of pounds, of additional formula into stores, company executives told Reuters. They may be waiting a while.
Ancient DNA solves mystery over origin of medieval Black Death
Ancient DNA from bubonic plague victims buried in cemeteries on the old Silk Road trade route in Central Asia has helped solve an enduring mystery, pinpointing an area in northern Kyrgyzstan as the launching point for the Black Death that killed tens of millions of people in the mid-14th century.
Researchers said on Wednesday they retrieved ancient DNA traces of the Yersinia pestis plague bacterium from the teeth of three women buried in a medieval Nestorian Christian community in the Chu Valley near Lake Issyk Kul in the foothills of the Tian Shan mountains who perished in 1338-1339. The earliest deaths documented elsewhere in the pandemic were in 1346.
U.S. FDA advisers back COVID vaccines for children as young as 6 months
Advisers to the U.S Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday unanimously recommended the agency authorize COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna Inc and Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE for millions of the youngest American children. The committee’s recommendation is an important step toward immunizing children under the age of 5 and as young as 6 months old who have not yet been eligible for the shots.
U.S. Supreme Court faults Medicare cuts to hospitals for outpatient drugs
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) exceeded its authority when it cut billions of dollars in annual Medicare reimbursements to a group of nonprofit hospitals that cater to poor and uninsured people, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday. The justices, in a 9-0 decision authored by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, sided with the hospitals, which sued after HHS starting in 2018 reduced by $1.6 billion the government’s yearly Medicare payments for outpatient drugs that had helped subsidize the operations of these hospitals.
EU drugs watchdog in rolling review of Pfizer-BioNTech’s variant vaccine
The European Medicines Agency on Wednesday launched a rolling review of a variant-adapted COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, as cases of new sub-variants of the coronavirus’s Omicron lineage are on the rise. When available, clinical trial data will be added to the rolling submission, which is designed to speed up any approval, BioNTech and Pfizer said in a joint statement.
(With inputs from agencies.)
