Travel Vaccine Breaking News

Th World Health Organization (WHO) today announced that while the COVID-19 pandemic is diminishing in some countries, in other parts of the world, new cases and related fatalities increased last month.

Published on April 20, 2023, the WHO's Weekly Epidemiological Update Edition #139 on COVID-19 reported new cases, and deaths decreased by 27% and 32%, respectively, compared to the previous 28 days.

Unfortunately, the United States of America (USA) is a leader in both categories.

This is partly due to the reductions in testing and delays in reporting in many countries, wrote the WHO.

At the country level, the highest numbers of new 28-day cases were reported from the USA (432,798 new cases; -45%), the Republic of Korea (+6%), France (+65%), and Brazil (+35%).

The highest numbers of new 28-day deaths were reported from the USA (5,559 new deaths; -32%), Brazil (-26%), Germany (-58%), and the Islamic Republic of Iran (+193%).

From a vaccination perspective, fewer COVID-19 vaccines were administered last month.

However, India began reordering various non-mRNA vaccines in April 2023.

And in the USA, the government expanded access to bivalent mRNA COVID-19 vaccines on April 18, 2023,

As of April 16, 2023, a total of 13,322,849,443 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered globally during the pandemic.

The peer-review JAMA Network Open published today results from a study that found more Canadians were hospitalized during later COVID-19 waves compared to the initial year of the pandemic.

However, the health outcomes were less severe in these hospitalized people.

In a cohort study of 55,714 adult and pediatric patients hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 in 155 acute care hospitals in Canada, surveillance data show that during waves 5 and 6 of the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals experienced a surge in patients hospitalized with COVID-19, an increase in nosocomial transmission of COVID-19, and a decrease in severe outcomes.

These data suggest the importance of COVID-19 vaccination in reducing the burden on the Canadian healthcare system and severe outcomes associated with COVID-19, wrote these researchers.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently published Influenza Update N° 443, confirming after January 2023, worldwide activity increased with a higher proportion of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 and B virus detections until a peak around week #10, after which detections decreased.

Currently, there are sporadic reports of the Southern Hemisphere flu season causing infections in Brazil and Peru.

And as of April 17, 2023, the WHO reported Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) activity was generally low or decreasing except in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and a few countries in the Region of the Americas.

In South Africa, the RSV detection rate among children under five years of age in pneumonia surveillance reached a very high level.

And RSV remained elevated in Guatemala and Mexico and increased in the Plurinational State of Bolivia.

As of April 20, 2023, the U.S. FDA has not authorized any RSV vaccine candidate.

However, various countries have approved RSV monoclonal antibody therapies.

The U.S. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has deployed various customer service resources and digital technologies to assist travelers in expediting the airport screening process.

These TSA services enable about 2.2 million air travelers to pass through airport security more effectively in April 2023.

According to the TSA's activity report on April 19, 2023, the number of air travelers recently exceeded 2019, before the pandemic curtailed travel.

And if you need a helping hand during screening, all you have to do is ask TSA.

Air travelers requiring special accommodations or concerned about the airport security screening process can ask TSA staff for a passenger support specialist, who provides on–the–spot assistance during the security screening process.

Furthermore, those with questions or concerns about traveling with a disability, medical condition, or other exceptional circumstances can contact the TSA Cares helpline 72 hours before traveling.

Travelers may provide the officer with the TSA notification card or other medical documentation to describe their condition.

TSA Cares answers questions about screening policies, procedures, and what to expect at the security checkpoint.

TSA Cares can also assist passengers with medical conditions and injured service members, veterans, and wounded warriors.

The TSA's layered approach to security gets air passengers quickly and safely to their destination.

For example, in Houston, Texas, Hobby Airport (HOU) TSA Security Wait Times are digitally displayed.

Before heading to the airport, be sure to check HOU Arrival and Departure Delays, or if you know your specific flight, use iFly's Flight Tracker.

TSA's screening procedures are intended to prevent prohibited items and other threats to transportation security from entering the sterile area of the airport

New data collected by The Vaccine Confidence Project at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and published today by UNICEF indicates a decrease in vaccine confidence in most countries.

As of April 20, 2023, people under 35 and women were more likely to report less confidence about vaccines for children after the start of the pandemic.

However, China, India, and Mexico were the only countries studied where the data suggests the perception of the importance of vaccines held firm or even improved.

In a related press release, Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director, commented, "This data is a worrying warning signal. We cannot allow confidence in routine immunizations to become another victim of the pandemic."

"Otherwise, the next wave of deaths could be of more children with measles, diphtheria, or other preventable diseases."

Launched in 2015, the Vaccine Confidence Index™ (VCI) is a digital tool for gaining data-led insights into vaccine confidence at global, regional, and national levels.

In addition to measuring overall trust in vaccines, the VCI guides where to prioritize confidence building.

Data presented in this report comes from a large-scale retrospective study of changes in vaccine confidence between 2015 and November 2019 and since 2021. 

The journal ScienceDirect recently published a study on vaccine-derived poliovirus serotype 2 outbreaks and response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) 2017–2021.

Published on April 6, 2023, this study revealed previous VDPV serotype 2 outbreaks (cVDPV2) documented outbreaks in the DRC since 2005.

The nine cVDPV2 outbreaks detected during 2005–2012 resulted in 73 paralysis cases.

And from January 2017–December 31, 2021, 19 cVDPV2 outbreaks were detected in DRC, resulting in 235 paralysis cases in 18 of DRC's 26 provinces.

Moreover, the DRC-KAS-3 cVDPV2 outbreak that circulated during 2019–2021 resulted in 101 paralysis cases in 10 provinces and was the largest recorded in DRC.

To notify visitors to the DRC, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reissued a Global Polio Alert - Level 2, Practice Enhanced Precautions on March 22, 2023.

This CDC Travel Alert included the DRC.

Before traveling to any destination listed, the CDC suggests that adults who previously completed the entire polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of the polio vaccine.

In the U.S., various polio vaccines are available at health clinics and pharmacies, such as United and Market Street in Lubbock, Texas.

The journal Nature recently published a news article focused on an innovative tactic to reduce the number of dengue cases in Brazil.

This program aims to protect up to 70 million Brazilians from diseases such as dengue.

The non-profit World Mosquito Program announced it would release about five billion bacteria-infected mosquitoes annually in many of Brazil’s urban areas over the next ten years.

Researchers have tested the release of this type of mosquito, which carries a Wolbachia bacterium that stops mosquitoes from transmitting viruses. Wolbachia naturally infects about half of all insect species.

In Brazil, previous test results have been modest. For example, in Niterói, the intervention was associated with a 69% decrease in dengue cases, while in Rio de Janeiro, the reduction was 38%.

But this will be the first time that the technology is dispersed nationwide.

Nature posts the unedited article as of April 14, 2023.

In the U.S., the state of Florida launched a similar program in May 2021.

Florida continues to report the most travel-related and locally acquired dengue cases in the U.S. during 2023.

Globally, two dengue vaccines have been authorized.