Search API
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), measles cases increased by about 80% in 2022 compared to the previous year.
In addition, travel experts continue to warn of expanding measles outbreaks in 2023.
For example, the CDC's top ten list of measles outbreaks is led by India, which has reported over 47,979 cases over the past year.
To emphasize this health risk, the CDC issued a Global Measles Watch - Level 1, Practice Usual Precautions notice on April 6, 2023.
While the U.S. has reported very few measles cases this year, recent cases in Kentucky, Utah, and Ohio have been highlighted in national media.
As of March 30, 2023, the CDC reported six measles cases in 2023 and 121 cases in six U.S. jurisdictions during 2022.
To reduce traveler's health risk, measles is a vaccine-preventable disease, with various vaccines approved in the U.S. and available to local clinics and community pharmacies.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reissued a Watch - Level 1, Practice Usual Precautions notice regarding the Republic of Paraguay's chikungunya virus outbreak.
On April 6, 2022, the CDC confirmed that Paraguary's departments had reported chikungunya cases in 2023.
Furthermore, recent chikungunya cases have been reported among US travelers returning from Paraguay.
Since no approved vaccines target chikungunya, the CDC says people can protect themselves by preventing mosquito bites.
Furthermore, the CDC says travelers should seek medical care if they develop fever, joint pain, headache, muscle pain, joint swelling, or rash.
Additional chikungunya outbreak news is posted at Vax-Before-Travel.
The Swiss Public Health Agency recently announced no COVID-19 vaccination is recommended for spring/summer 2023. However, people at especially high risk can receive a vaccination after consultation with their doctor.
As of April 8, 2023, the Federal Office of Public Health stated nearly everyone in Switzerland had been vaccinated and/or contracted and recovered from COVID-19.
Therefore, almost everyone's immune system has been exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.
And in the spring/summer of 2023, the virus will likely circulate less, and the current variants also cause mild illness.
For autumn 2023, the vaccination recommendation will be re-evaluated and adjusted accordingly.
The World Health Organization (WHO) published a Weekly Epidemiological Update Edition #137 regarding the COVID-19 pandemic on April 5, 2023.
The WHO disclosed a decrease of 28% in new COVID-19 cases and 30% in related fatalities, respectively, compared to the previous 28 days (February 6 to March 5, 2023).
Despite this overall downward trend, it is essential to note that 74 (31%) countries have reported increases in new cases of 20% or greater during the last 28 days compared to the previous 28-day period.
As of April 2, 2023, over 762 million confirmed cases and over 6.8 million deaths have been reported globally.
Furthermore, the WHO continues Listing numerous COVID-19 vaccines available in various countries.
BioSpace reported today Vivek Shinde, vice president of clinical development and lead for older adult influenza & RSV vaccines at Novavax Inc., delivered an update on the Company's COVID-influenza combination (CIC) candidate at the World Vaccine Congress 2023.
The Company presented CIC data and poster presentations on its COVID-19 prototype vaccine during this conference in Washington, DC.
Shinde confirmed that CIC formulations were immunogenic and induced strong functional antibody and CD4+ T cell responses against SARS-CoV-2 and multiple influenza strains on April 5, 2023.
"I think a combination vaccine is only going to hopefully boost compliance in those who intend to get both vaccines," he informed Heather McKenzie at BioSpace on April 7, 2023.
Novavax intends to use these data to inform an ongoing Phase II dose confirmation study. Results from this study are expected later in 2023.
Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine (Nuvaxovid™, CovoVax™, NVX-CoV2373) protein-based vaccine has received various authorizations from more than 43 countries.
Researchers at the Oak Crest Institute of Science have been exploring new ways to prevent the spread of HIV-1 among young women in low and middle-income countries.
Some questions have been answered in a new study, and the answers may be surprising.
In a recent study published by the journal Nature on March 21, 2023, using humanized mice (mice that have received implants of human cells and tissues so that they can be infected with HIV-1), researchers tested the vaginal HIV-1 prevention efficacy of single and combination antiviral compounds applied locally.
They used a mathematical model to empirically study the effects of administering different doses of antiviral drugs.
The results were unexpected: when tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) and emtricitabine (FTC) – both drugs that share the same mechanism of inhibiting HIV-1 reverse transcriptase, thereby preventing viral replication in immune cells – were combined with a third drug that used a different mode of action against HIV-1, a strong antagonistic effect was observed.
This means that the drugs were less effective when used together than they were when used separately.
'Our approach provides a translational template for the preclinical, rational, and systematic evaluation of drug combinations for the prevention of HIV-1 and other viral diseases,' wrote these researchers.
As of April 7, 2023, there are no approved HIV vaccines available.
The Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory (WSVL) recently diagnosed the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus in a barn cat near Thermopolis, WY. This is the first report of HPAI in a domestic cat in Wyoming, and it likely became infected from ingesting meat from wild waterfowl.
'We know that wild birds, particularly waterfowl, have been affected in large numbers by HPAI, but in recent months we have detected the virus in wild carnivorous mammals, including mountain lions and a red fox,' wrote WSVL in April 2023.
As the HPAI outbreak continues, please ensure you use gloves and masks when handling sick or dead mammals and birds. And report any sick wildlife through the Wyoming Game and Fish Department's Wildlife Health Laboratory online reporting tool at this link.
Additionally, various mammals infected with bird flu have been reported in Canada, Mexico, and South America in 2023.
And about eleven humans have recently been infected with this version of bird flu.
As of April 7, 2023, there are U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved avian influenza vaccines, with several vaccine candidates conducting studies. Furthermore, annual flu shots are not effective against bird flu viruses.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued Health Alert Network Health Advisory CDCHAN-00489, informing clinicians and public health departments about Marburg virus disease (MVD) outbreaks in Equatorial Guinea and one in Tanzania.
As of April 7, 2023, there is no evidence to suggest that these outbreaks are related, as most experts agree that these represent two independent animal-to-human spillover events.
To date, no confirmed cases of MVD related to these outbreaks have been reported in the U.S. or other countries outside Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania.
This CDC Health Advisory aims to increase awareness of the risk of imported cases in the U.S.
It also summarizes CDC’s recommendations for case identification, testing, and clinical laboratory biosafety considerations in the U.S.
Furthermore, the CDC confirmed no vaccines or treatments are authorized specifically for MVD.
