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Wits RHI to lead study on mpox seroprevalence in SA
Mpox has gained global attention since the 2022 outbreaks, with declining immunity from smallpox vaccinations and evolving transmission patterns – particularly through sexual contact...
Uganda launches Ebola vaccine trial
By launching an Ebola vaccine trial within days of an outbreak, Uganda is sending the message that epidemic responses can be proactive, strategic and...
Ugandan nurse dies in first Ebola outbreak in two years
A nurse in Uganda has died of Ebola in the first recorded fatality since the country’s last outbreak of the disease ended in early 2023, a...
Effects of Japan's 'public co-operation' approach to Covid pandemic
During the chaos that was the Covid-19 pandemic, and in contrast to the lockdowns imposed in many countries, Japanese authorities issued health advisories and...
Moderna gets millions for mRNA jab against future pandemics
In the final days of the Biden administration, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded $590m to Moderna to expedite development...
Japan approves mpox drug that failed two efficacy trials
Approval granted earlier this month by Japan’s regulatory agency for the antiviral drug tecovirimat – also known as TPOXX – for the treatment of...
Major boost for Afrigen with $6.2m grant for mRNA jab
A $6.2m grant awarded to Afrigen Biologics from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (Cepi) will allow it to develop its human candidate mRNA...
AMR could overtake cancer as top disease killer by 2050
Concerned experts say that if antimicrobial resistance continues to grow, in 25 years’, some antibiotics will become useless, certain bacterial infections will be much...
Bird flu closer to reaching pandemic levels than we thought – scientists
US scientists believe the H5N1 flu virus currently circulating in birds and dairy cows is already better at infecting people than earlier variants, and...
Having Covid and flu jabs together is safe – US study
Researchers who analysing the side effects of the co-administration of Covid-19 and flu vaccines, have found no difference among people who received the vaccines...
WHO lists top endemic pathogens urgently needing new vaccines
A World Health Organisation (WHO) study published this week in The Lancet’s eBioMedicine names 17 pathogens – that regularly cause diseases in communities –...
Most mpox cases can’t be tracked, says Africa CDC
The Africa Centres for Disease Control & Prevention says that while cases of mpox are steadily increasing across the continent, nearly three-quarters of them have...
Viral infections linked to Alzheimer’s – large US study
In a study of more than 450 000 people, researchers found a significant 22 connections between viral infections and neurodegenerative conditions, suggesting that people...
Marburg virus kills eight in Rwanda
Eight people have died from an outbreak of Marburg virus in Rwanda, most of the victims being healthcare workers, the country’s Health Minister has...
Virus causing paralysing illness spikes in US wastewater
A respiratory virus that sometimes paralyses children is spreading across America, raising concerns about another possible rise in polio-like illnesses, according to US health...
EMA extends mpox jab to youngsters
The European Medicines Authority has recommended extending the indication of the smallpox/mpox vaccine Imvanex (also know as Jynneos) to adolescents aged 12 to 17, the drug...
FDA approves DIY nasal spray flu vaccine
The US Food and Drug Administration has given the green light to the first at-home flu vaccine, a nasal spray that US consumers with...
New research bolsters Covid link to Wuhan market animals
An international team of scientists has published a peer-reviewed paper saying genetic evidence indicates the coronavirus pandemic most likely originated with a natural spillover...
No need to panic, say SA experts as DRC buckles under mpox spread
The outbreak of mpox on the African continent – that spurred the WHO into declaring it an international public health emergency last week –...
Common lab tests unable to diagnose long Covid – US study
Almost four and a half years after the pandemic began, one of the biggest challenges still facing physicians is understanding, diagnosing and treating long...
Global call for more pathogen research to prepare for next pandemic
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have urged scientists and political leaders to bolster global research to...
Covid may trigger brain changes, even dementia – US review
While Covid-19 no longer poses the urgent public-health threat it once did, recent research points to a good reason to keep the virus in...
WHO prequalifies self-test for Hep C virus
The first hepatitis C virus (HCV) self-test has been pre-qualified by the World Health Organisation (WHO), providing critical support in expanding access to testing...
Nasal immune cells tied to Covid evasion – first human SARS study
Scientists have discovered differences in the immune response that could explain why some people seem to escape Covid infection, and which might, they say,...
Donated mpox jabs arriving soon – Phaahla
Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla says doses of the mpox vaccine will be arriving soon for free distribution at clinics – this after South...
Paxlovid no better than placebo for long Covid – US study
In what will be a blow for millions of people with long Covid, which currently has no approved treatment or cure, a recent study...
Two-in-one flu/Covid jab passes trial with flying colours
Moderna says its combined flu and Covid vaccine, which targets the two diseases in a single shot, has passed a vital part of final-stage...
Mexican man dies from new H5N2 bird flu variant
A Mexican man, 59, has died after being infected with a bird flu subtype never before confirmed to have spread to humans, the World...
Covid link to aggressive rare cancers, suggest scientists
Increasingly, scientists are suggesting that the proliferation of aggressive cancers – including previously very rare forms of the disease – since the Covid-19 pandemic...
Why we’re seeing so many viruses emerge
With the widespread outbreak of mpox in 2022, and the evolving bird flu situation – as well as recent cases of Marburg virus in Equatorial...
Covid for a record 613 days, with 50 mutations
A 72-year-old patient in the Netherlands suffered from the novel coronavirus infection for 613 days – marking the longest SARS-CoV-2 infection duration to date...
WHO flags 'extraordinarily high' bird flu mortality rate in humans
The World Health Organisation says it is concerned about the spread of H5N1 bird flu, which has an “extraordinarily high” mortality rate in humans, and...
WHO warning on deadly viral hepatitis
At least 3 500 lives are lost daily due to viral hepatitis infections, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) 2024 Global Hepatitis Report, with...
Bird flu outbreak unlikely among humans, say experts
US experts have issued reassurances that there is minimal risk of a bird flu outbreak among people, after a surge of infections among dairy...
Scientists prepare safeguards against possible Arctic zombie viruses
Scientists, who have warned that ancient viruses frozen in the Arctic permafrost could one day be released by earth’s warming climate and unleash a...
Higher death risk for hepatitis C survivors – global study
In the largest study of its kind, researchers have found that people cured of hepatitis C were between three and 14 times more likely...
Why most bird flu viruses don’t move to people – Scottish study
Scientists have discovered that a gene present in humans – and found in the lungs and upper respiratory tract, where flu viruses replicate – is...
Zoonotic transfer study fuels call for ban of wildlife trade, markets and medicinal use
A major study has found that the exploitation of wildlife and destruction of habitat have substantially increased the risk of transfer of dangerous viruses, including COVID-19, from...
Scepticism greets China study that links snakes to coronavirus outbreak
As human cases rise in a mysterious viral outbreak that originated in China, scientists are rushing to identify the animals, where they suspect the...