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In The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Anna Funk and colleagues present their systematic review and meta-analysis on the efficacy and safety of peripartum antiviral prophylaxis against the mother-to-child-transmission (MTCT) of hepatitis B virus (HBV). They said on August 14, 2020, the 'eripartum antiviral prophylaxis is costly, impractical, and should preferably be provided to mothers with a high risk of MTCT.'
'Hence, a simple method is required to recognize mothers who are at high risk prenatally. The gold standard to estimate HBV infectivity, and thus the risk of MTCT is the quantitative determination of HBV DNA in the plasma of the mother using PCR or similar techniques.'
Research-based hepatitis news articles are published by PrecisionVaccinations.
Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison told a meeting on August 25, 2020, state border issues had been exasperating at times but praised the national cabinet for getting better results at meetings with state and territory leaders. As an example, AAP reported that a push by the federal government and industry groups to reopen state borders is having an impact, with South Australia (SA) reconsidering some of its restrictions.
SA is looking at lifting border restrictions for people from New South Wales (NSW) within the next fortnight if their coronavirus case numbers remain low. And NSW is also looking at changing its southern border buffer zone with Victorian from 2.5km back to the original 50km.
How often do Medicare beneficiaries who actively access healthcare services visit pharmacies compared with primary care physicians? According to an original investigation published by JAMA on July 15, 2020, the median number of visits to pharmacies (13) was significantly higher than encounters with primary care physicians (7).
And on August 19, 2020, the US Department of Health and Human Services authorized pharmacists to administer all scheduled shots to children as young as 3, including the flu vaccine, a step that makes immunization more convenient for parents.
These announcements indicate pharmacies have a greater opportunity to increase influenza vaccinations for both seniors and children during the 2020-2021 flu season.
A travel warning was issued on August 24, 2020, by Germany's foreign ministry for Paris and the French Cote d'Azur regions, due to an increase of coronavirus infections. RTE reported the foreign ministry said it was 'warning against unnecessary tourist trips to the Ile-de-France region, which includes Paris, and the southern region, which includes Marseille and Nice.'
Texas-based American Airlines announced on August 24, 2020, it is upgrading its Clean Commitment program by adding the electrostatic spraying solution to its airplane cleaning program. The SurfaceWise2 solution is the first-ever U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-approved product that fights the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in airplanes.
“SurfaceWise2’s long-lasting defense provides a layer of protection against viruses not offered by any other solutions on the market,” said Maha El-Sayed, Ph.D., Allied BioScience Chief Science Officer.
The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD) approved the first-ever U.S. release of genetically engineered (GE) mosquitoes on August 19, 2020. Despite the scientific dispute over the unknown human health and environment risks, the FKMCD approval permits the release of 750 million GE mosquitoes over a two-year period in Monroe County, which includes Key Largo, the current Dengue hot-spot in Florida.
Neither the FKMCD nor Oxitec has publicly announced where or when the releases will occur.
Oxitec’s non-biting male mosquito was designed to control the invasive, disease-spreading Aedes aegypti. This technology also removes all requirements for adult mosquito-rearing and releases and eliminates the potential for female releases. Combined with other innovations, this technology is anticipated to reduce up to 90% of costs associated with traditional insect release programs.
The UNC-Chapel Hill reported 218 new COVID-19 cases among students on August 24, 2020. These new cases were reported between Friday and Sunday, bringing the total number of cases among UNC-Chapel Hill students and employees to nearly 650 since classes started on August 10, 2020.
In response to this coronavirus outbreak, UNC-Chapel Hill announced it was moving classes online for the fall semester, just one week after beginning the semester. As did N.C. State University and East Carolina University after seeing spikes in coronavirus cases on campus.
In a population-based study of adults hospitalized with influenza published on August 25, 2020, almost 12% of patients had an acute cardiovascular event. These researchers suggest 'clinicians should ensure high rates of influenza vaccination, especially in those with underlying chronic conditions, to protect against acute cardiovascular events associated with influenza.'