Sweden must stop recommending vaccines to teenagers
Three out of four Americans now live in areas designated by the CDC as having “low” community levels of covid-19. California Covid deaths has dropped by 20% across the country, but the number of people still dying from coronavirus infections did not budge. Researchers at Scripps Research have developed a drug that turns the coronavirus against itself. And a group of doctors issued guidance for diagnosing and treatment of prolonged covid in children.
Sweden must stop recommending vaccines to teenagers
Sweden’s Public Health Authority said on Friday that it will no longer recommend that children aged 12 to 17 be vaccinated against covid-19, saying there is a “very low risk of serious illness and death” for children and young people. The general recommendation enters into force on 31 October. “Overall, we see that the need for care as a result of covid-19 has been low among children and young people during the pandemic and has also decreased since the omicron virus variant began to spread, says Sören Andersson, head of The Public Health Authoritys vaccination department, the statement said. “At this stage of the pandemic, we see no continued need for vaccination in this group.”
In February, Sweden stopped large-scale testing for covid-19 even among people showing symptoms of an infection. During most of the pandemic, Sweden stood out among European nations for its comparatively practical response. It never went into lockdown or closed businesses, instead relying on individual responsibility to control infections. An independent commission that reviewed Sweden’s handling of the pandemic in 2020 decided the government failed to adequately protect the elderly in nursing homes from covid-19 and is ultimately responsible for the effects of the pandemic on the country.
Jane’s Addiction guitarist backs out of tour due to lingering covid
Dave Navarro, a television personality and guitarist for Jane’s Addiction, said Friday that he is pulling out of the band’s upcoming tour due to ongoing symptoms of prolonged covid. “I had hoped for a full recovery in October but I am still very tired and will not be able to join this leg,” Navarro said in a Instagram posts. “I’m personally gutted because our original bassist has returned, Eric Avery. We wanted to bring you the original lineup but that will have to wait until I’m back. While the band is touring, I’ll be working on some new Jane’s material in the studio here in LA” Navarro was initially diagnosed with COVID-19 in Dec. He will be replaced on the tour by Troy Van Leeuwen, who has played with bands such as Queens of the Stone Age and A Perfect Circle.
Experts warn of ‘wake-up call’ as cases rise by 14% in UK
The UK has recorded its highest rise in new cases of covid-19 since the summer, with a 14% rise in the past week. The Office for National Statistics has also detected an increase in virus-related hospital infections. “The fact that there are people getting so seriously ill that they need to be admitted to hospital is a wake-up call to all of us that covid is still here,” said Dr Thomas Waite, deputy chief medical officer for England. BBC News. He said the number of new subvariants of omicron was circulating at low levels and could be behind hospital numbers. The UK recorded 1.1 million new infections last week. UCSF’s Bob Wachter warned earlier this week that what’s happening overseas could be a “harbinger” of things to come for the US, which has traditionally followed virus waves in Britain
COVID can infect fat cells. It may explain why some people get much sicker
The virus that causes COVID-19 can infect and replicate in fat cells and cause inflammation in fat tissue, Stanford researchers found in a new study which may help explain why obese people are at higher risk of severe covid. Since the early days of the pandemic, doctors and researchers have observed that people who are obese, in many ethnic groups, experience disproportionately poor covid outcomes, including hospitalization, intensive care admission, mechanical ventilation, and death. But it was not clear how or why. Read more about the study here.
Less than 4% of eligible Americans have received updated boosters
About 3.2 million Americans received bivalent covid-19 vaccine shots last week, according to data was released on Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A total of 7.6 million people have received the new booster doses since they became available on September 1, representing less than 4% of the eligible population. The The CDC recommends that everyone 12 years and older receives an updated Pfizer or Moderna booster at least two months after their last shot.
Omicron spreads faster at home than delta, the study shows
The Omicron COVID variant is significantly more transmissible among household members than the earlier delta, with an estimated secondary attack rate of 46% in people who received three doses of an mRNA vaccine, compared with 11% for delta, according to a study published Thursday in Nature Communications. Researchers at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health used contact tracing data to track infection rates among 1,122 index patients infected with omicron or delta and 2,169 household contacts from December 2021 to January 2022 for this study but noted that it had some limitations. “Household exposure is often long-term and repeated compared to social contacts in the community, and ideally a full evaluation should consider all close contacts,” they wrote.
Three out of four Americans have “low” social levels
For the first time since April, more than three-quarters of Americans live in areas with “low” Covid-19 community levels, based on hospitalization and case rates, according to updated data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That includes almost all Californians. Most regions across the country show improving trends with 77% of Americans living in a region classified as in the “low” tier, 21% in the “medium” and 2% in the “high.” Based on a separate measure that tracks the number of new cases and positive tests, about 70% of all counties remain in the “high” virus transmission categorywhich, according to the CDC’s revised rules for health care settings, means that universal masking is still required in nursing homes and hospitals.
Cases are down 20% nationwide, but deaths are plateauing
COVID infections continue to slide in California. As of Thursday, the state was reporting an average of about 3,500 cases a day, down 20% from the previous week, according to the health department’s duties. That means California is tracking about 9 daily cases per 100,000 residents, the first time the number has dropped below 10 per 100,000 since early April. The statewide positive rate for testing is now down to 4.8%, even though a near-record low number of coronavirus tests were administered in locations that report results to the state. There are about 2,000 hospital patients with covid, down from a summer peak of 4,654 in early August. The only figure that does not show significant improvement is the number of deaths, which remains at around 30 per day – the same figure as last week.
New drug takes “revenge on the virus”
Researchers in California have designed a new drug that causes COVID-19 to turn on itself. The drug, NMT5, coats SARS-CoV-2 with chemicals that can temporarily alter the human ACE2 receptor – the molecule that the virus normally attaches to to infect cells. This means that when the virus is close, its way into human cells is blocked via the ACE2 receptor, according to study by Scripps Research in La Jolla was published Thursday in described in Nature Chemical Biology. “What’s so neat about this drug is that we’re actually turning the virus against itself,” says senior author Stuart Lipton, a research professor. “We arm it with tiny molecular warheads that ultimately prevent it from infecting our cells; it’s our revenge on the virus.”
Qatar says World Cup fans must test before arrival
International fans attending the FIFA World Cup matches in Qatar this autumn will be required to provide a negative covid-19 test upon arrival in the country, regardless of vaccination status, the organizers announced Thursday. “All visitors six years of age and older must present an official negative COVID-19 PCR test result obtained no later than 48 hours prior to departure time or an official negative Rapid Antigen Test result no more than 24 hours prior to departure time. The test result will need to be provided at the airport check-in desk,” the guidelines state. Self-administered rapid tests are not valid. Organizers added that anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 while in Qatar will be required to self-isolate in accordance with Ministry of Public Health guidelines.