Coronavirus Breaking News

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today announced it had expanded its Alert - Level 2, Practice Enhanced Precautions global polio travel notice.

As of March 22, 2023, the CDC increased the number of countries listed.

Furthermore, the CDC stated that before traveling to any destination listed, adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose.

Previously, the World Health Organization confirmed the spread of poliovirus remained a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

Recently, the New York State Department of Health announced that New Yorkers intending to visit Israel and other countries with circulating poliovirus should ensure they are fully immunized against polio.

In the U.S., CDC updated the pediatric and adult polio vaccination schedules in February 2023.

The inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) is recommended within four weeks of travel. Various IPV-containing vaccines are available at most health clinics and community pharmacies.

The National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) today announced the presence of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in a striped skunk recovered from Carson County, located east of Amarillo in the Texas panhandle.

As of March 21, 2023, this is the first confirmed case of HPAI in mammals in Texas.

HPAI is a highly contagious virus that transmits efficiently among wild and domestic birds. The virus can spread directly between animals and indirectly through environmental contamination.

Since the H5 clade 2.3.4.4b. appeared in North America in January 2022, over 6,000 H5N1 detections in wild birds, by 47 states (14 states within 30 days), leading to the loss of over 58 million birds as of March 17, 2023.

For mammals, current data shows transmission occurs primarily through the consumption of infected animal carcasses, though mammal-to-mammal transmission does not appear sustainable.

Other mammal species confirmed with HPAI in the U.S., Canada, Central Ameria, and South America include foxes, raccoons, bobcats, opossums, mountain lions, and black bears. 

Because of the ease of transmission, the TPWD recommends that wildlife rehabilitators also remain cautious when intaking wild animals with clinical signs consistent with HPAI and consider quarantining animals to limit the potential for HPAI exposures to other animals within the facility.

Currently, the transmission risk of avian influenza from infected birds to people remains low.

But the public should take basic protective measures, such as wearing gloves, face masks, and handwashing if contact with wild animals cannot be avoided.

Furthermore, the U.S. government has approved avian influenza vaccines should human-to-human transmission occur since the annual flu shot is not effective against this type of influenza.

A recent article published by eBioMedicine discussed how the Zika virus leads to olfactory disorders in mice by targeting olfactory ensheathing cells.

On February 3, 2023, this article confirmed Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging arbovirus of the genus flavivirus associated with congenital Zika syndrome (CZS) in newborns.

Clinical symptoms, including intellectual disability, speech delay, coordination or movement problems, and hearing and vision loss, have been well-documented in children with CZS.

However, whether ZIKV can invade the olfactory system (ability to detect odors) and lead to post-viral olfactory dysfunction (PVOD) remains unknown.

These researchers demonstrated that neonatal mice infected with ZIKV suffer transient olfactory dysfunction when they reach puberty.

Moreover, ZIKV mainly targets olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) and exhibits broad cellular tropism colocalizing with small populations of mature/immature olfactory sensory neurons (mOSNs/iOSNs), sustentacular cells and horizontal basal cells in the olfactory mucosa (OM) of immunodeficient AG6 mice.

ZIKV infection induces strong antiviral immune responses in the olfactory mucosa and olfactory bulb tissues, resulting in the upregulation of proinflammatory cytokines/chemokines and genes related to the antiviral response. 

'Our results demonstrate that the olfactory system represents a significant target for ZIKV infection and that PVOD may be neglected in CZS patients,' concluded these researchers.

The authors declared that they have no conflict of interest.

Alzamend Neuro, Inc. today announced the completion of the clinical portion of its Phase IIA multiple ascending dose ("MAD") study for dementia related to Alzheimer's.

The topline data is expected to be disclosed in June 2023.

AL001 is a novel lithium-delivery system; it is a lithium-salicylate-L-proline engineered ionic cocrystal under development as an oral treatment for patients with dementia-related to mild, moderate, and severe cognitive impairment associated with Alzheimer's.

AL001 can potentially deliver the benefits of marketed lithium carbonate while mitigating or avoiding current toxicities associated with lithium.

"We strongly believe that AL001's patented ionic cocrystal technology could potentially provide clinicians with a major improvement over current lithium-based treatments and may constitute a means of treating over 40 million American suffering from Alzheimer's, bipolar disorder, MDD, and PTSD," said Stephan Jackman, Chief Executive Officer of Alzamend, in a press release on March 22, 2023.

"We look forward to reporting topline data in June 2023 and further advancing clinical development of this promising potential therapeutic."

Having completed the clinical portion of the MAD study, the resulting pharmacokinetic and statistical data are undergoing evaluation of the safety and tolerability of AL001 under multiple-dose, steady‑state conditions.

This characterizes the maximum tolerated dose in healthy young and elderly subjects and subjects diagnosed with mild to moderate Alzheimer's.

Potentially safe and effective doses will be determined for deployment in planned subsequent Phase IIA clinical trials involving Alzheimer's, bipolar disorder, MDD, and PTSD subjects.

Lithium has been well-characterized for safety and is approved/marketed in multiple formulations for bipolar affective disorders.

AL001 lithium ascending dosing for the MAD cohorts tested incremental fractions of the usual lithium exposure for the treatment of bipolar affective disorder, with the target lithium dose for Alzheimer's treatment expected at a level that will not require therapeutic drug monitoring.

In each of the multiple healthy young/elderly and Alzheimer's cohorts, consisting of 6 active and 2 placebo patients each (as per randomization), multiple ascending doses were administered three times daily for 14 days under fasted conditions up to tolerability/safety limits that included the highest dose permitted per protocol.

As of March 22, 2023, there are no approved vaccines targeting Alzheimer's disease.

Vaxxinity, Inc. today announced that the first subjects had been dosed in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 1 clinical trial of VXX-401, an investigational vaccine designed to lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, a known factor contributing to heart disease.

Heart disease remains the leading cause of death globally, claiming over 18 million deaths yearly.

VXX-401 is designed to induce robust, long-acting antibodies against PCSK9 to lower LDL cholesterol.

The multicenter Phase, 1 dose-escalation trial, aims to enroll 48 subjects aged 18 to 75 years with LDL cholesterol between 2.59 and 4.89 mmol/L.

The trial evaluates safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity (as measured by serum anti-PCSK9 antibody titers).

LDL cholesterol levels will measure the pharmacodynamics of the immune response, an established model of PCSK9 inhibition in hypercholesterolemia. This study was last updated on March 16, 2023.

VXX-401 was designed using Vaxxinity's proprietary synthetic peptide vaccine platform and is being developed to treat hypercholesterolemia.

The platform is designed to harness the immune system to convert the body into its own natural "drug factory," stimulating the production of antibodies.

"This is an exciting milestone for VXX-401 and Vaxxinity in our pursuit to vaccinate the world against heart disease with a preventative option that is convenient and accessible, addressing an unmet need to combat the leading global cause of death," said Mei Mei Hu, Chief Executive Officer of Vaxxinity, in a press release on March 20, 2023.

"PCSK9 antibody therapies are well-tolerated and effective, but huge, unmet patient need remains."

"In order to solve the problem of heart disease, the world needs a scalable, accessible technology that can reach the hundreds of millions, if not billions, of people at risk."

"With an LDL-lowering vaccine, we can offer an option that's cost-effective, safe, convenient, long-acting, and deployable."

The National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases recently reported data indicating cases of norovirus are spiking in the United States.

Norovirus is a very contagious virus that causes vomiting and diarrhea.

As of March 15, 2023, the 3-week moving average is reaching a new peak since the norovirus outbreak began in August 2022.

Each of the four regions has displayed similar trends, with the Northeast registering the steepest uptick.

In the U.S., cases of norovirus occur most frequently during late fall, winter, and early spring. 

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), people can get norovirus illness many times in their life because there are many different types of noroviruses.

Infection with one type of norovirus may not protect you against other types.

The CDC says it is possible to develop immunity to specific types. But, it is not known exactly how long immunity lasts.

This may explain why so many people of all ages get infected during norovirus outbreaks. About 80% of children will experience a norovirus infection within one year of birth.

As of March 21, 2023, there are no approved norovirus vaccines in the U.S., Europe, or the U.K.