Coronavirus Breaking News

The SCMP reported today that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (HKSAR) recorded its fifth Mpox case. This 59-year-old patient had traveled to Guangdong province multiple times and was not linked to other Hong Kong cases as of April 30, 2023.

The initial Mpox patient was confirmed in September 2022 and presented with an infectious mononucleosis-like syndrome.

Since May 2022, over 100 countries have reported Mpox cases.

HKSAR's Health Department identified most of these cases among men. Mpox is caused by a sexually transmissible virus, and members of the public should seek medical attention if they experience symptoms such as fever, severe headache, muscle pain, swollen lymph node, mouth lesion, and rash.

Hong Kong's Mpox Vaccination Programme (JYNNEOS® (MVA-BN)) for high-risk groups began on October 5, 2022.

As of April 30, 2023, Mpox vaccines and treatments (TPOXX® (Tecovirimat)) were available in most countries.

However, recent research indicates breakthrough cases are being reported post-therapy.

Separately, the U.S. CDC recommends various routine and travel vaccination before visiting Hong Kong in 2023.

According to data recently announced from the Health Surveillance Directorate of the Costa Rican Ministry of Health, during epidemiological week #16, the Huetar Caribbean Region registered a marked decrease in malaria cases in the cantons of Limón and Pococí.

As of April 28, 2023, Limón reported 19 cases during week #15, while for week #16, 5 patients were registered, and for week #17, just 3 cases were reported, offering evidence of a significant decrease.

Furthermore, no malaria cases were identified in the canton of Talamanca, which corresponds to the South Caribbean, despite active inter-institutional searches in the border area with Panama and passive pursuits.

During the last weeks, the containment actions established by the Ministry of Health in conjunction with the Costa Rican Social Security Fund have been maintained, such as exhaustive tracking of all people in contact with confirmed cases.

Malaria is a disease caused by a parasite that spreads to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito.

Previously, the U.S. CDC issued an Alert - Level 2, Practice Enhanced Precautions confirming an outbreak of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Limón and Alajuela Province.

Malaria can be prevented by taking a prescription antimalarial drug to kill the parasites, and in some countries, other than the U.S., malaria vaccines are available as of April 30, 2023.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a letter today updating Pfizer Inc.'s COVID-18 vaccine authorization.

Addressed to Pfizer's Leslie Sands on April 28, 203, the new authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent for individuals six months through 4 years of age with certain types of immunocompromised, who have previously received three 0.2 mL doses (Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine or Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent):

• a fourth dose administered at least one month following the most recent dose;
• additional doses may be administered at the healthcare provider's discretion, considering the individual's clinical circumstances.

This issue was discussed during the U.S. CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meeting on April 19, 2023.

In the United States, there remains a considerable burden of disease attributed to serotypes not included in currently approved pneumococcal conjugate vaccines.

To address this need, Pfizer Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved PREVNAR 20® for the prevention of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) caused by the 20 Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes contained in the vaccine in infants and children six weeks through 17 years of age.

And for preventing otitis media in infants six weeks through five years of age caused by the original seven serotypes contained in PREVNAR®.

"Today's FDA approval of our vaccine, PREVNAR 20, now offers parents the ability to help protect their children against 20 pneumococcal serotypes in circulation, which represent the majority of pneumococcal disease in U.S. infants and children," said Annaliesa Anderson, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, Vaccine Research and Development, Pfizer, in a press release on April 27, 2023.

"This important PREVNAR 20 approval builds on more than 20 years of real-world impact with PREVNAR and PREVNAR 13, safety data, and effectiveness, highlighting Pfizer's leadership in developing groundbreaking pneumococcal conjugate vaccines to help protect infants and their families from life-threatening infections."

Pneumococcal vaccine news is posted by Precision Vaccinations.

In the shadow of COVID-19, the stage has been set for a global resurgence of one of the most contagious pathogens, measles.

Viruses are again flourishing, with measles poised for global resurgence, says William Moss, MD, director of the International Vaccine Access Center at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

For example, India has recently reported 61,562 measles cases.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), measles is a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable disease. About 90% of unprotected people will become infected when exposed to the measles virus.

Measles cases worldwide increased by about 80% during 2022 compared with 2021.

Recent measles outbreaks in Ohio and Kentucky have brought this concern back to the U.S.

In this Q&A written by Joshua Sharfstein, adapted from April 26, 2023, the Public Health On Call episode, Moss speaks with Josh Sharfstein, MD, about how significant setbacks in global vaccine coverage over the past few years have seeded the deadly threat of a measles resurgence. 

While wearing a face mask offers some protection from the highly transmittable virus, the CDC prioritizes vaccination.

Measles is a vaccine-preventable disease, with vaccination services offered at most clinics and community pharmacies in the U.S.

Novavax Inc. today announced the full results from the pediatric expansion of the Phase 3 PREVENT-19 clinical trial were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open on April 26, 2027.

The study's expansion evaluated the safety and effectiveness of Novavax's COVID-19 prototype vaccine (NVX-CoV2373) in adolescents aged 12 through 17 across the U.S.

Novavax's U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved vaccine achieved its primary effectiveness and efficacy endpoint in the trial when the Delta variant was the predominant circulating SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus strain. 

There was no increase in reactogenicity in younger (12 to <15 years old) adolescents compared to older (15 to <18 years old) adolescents.

Non-inferior neutralizing antibody responses compared to young adults in the main adult study were demonstrated, which was the critical regulatory endpoint for authorization.

And safety data showed the vaccine to be generally well-tolerated in the placebo-controlled portion of the study.

As of April 27, 2023, Novavax protein-based COVID-19 vaccines have been authorized in more than 30 markets worldwide, known as Nuvaxovid™, CovoVax™, and NVX-CoV2373.

Merck today announced financial results for the first quarter of 2023. In addition, Merck stated it realized lower sales of the oral COVID-19 antiviral Lagevrio™ (Molnupiravir), which decreased 88% to $392 million.

This decrease was primarily attributable to sales in the U.S. and U.K. markets in the first quarter of 2022 that did not recur in the first quarter of 2023.

LAGEVRIO's decline was also attributable to lower sales in Japan and Australia.

LAGEVRIO is approved or authorized for use in more than 25 countries. It helps reduce how sick people become when diagnosed with COVID‑19. 

Additional COVID-19 antiviral news is posted at Coronavirus Today.