Medicine

Reuters reports: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted expanded approval to Emergent BioSolutions’ smallpox vaccine for use in people at high risk of mpox infection, sending the drugmaker’s shares 5% higher on Friday. The FDA clearance, announced late on Thursday by the company, makes the vaccine – called ACAM2000 – the second approved shot against mpox in the U.S. …

The Associated Press reports: A New Hampshire resident infected with the mosquito-borne eastern equine encephalitis virus has died, state health authorities said. The Hampstead resident’s infection was the first in the state in a decade, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday. The resident, whom the department only identified as an adult, had been hospitalized due …

The World Health Organization writes: The World Health Organization (WHO) today launched a global Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan to stop outbreaks of human-to-human transmission of mpox through coordinated global, regional, and national efforts. This follows the declaration of a public health emergency of international concern by the WHO Director-General on 14 August. The plan covers the six-month period of …

CNN reports: Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is recovering at home after being hospitalized with West Nile virus, a spokesperson said. Fauci, a longtime public health official who became a household name as part of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, is expected to recover fully, the spokesperson said. About 1,000 …

Axios reports: The federal government plans to relaunch its free COVID-19 home testing program at the end of September after suspending the program in March. The Biden administration’s announcement Friday comes as the number of COVID infections grows in a summertime surge. The Food & Drug Administration approved new formulations of both Moderna and the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines on Thursday. …

NBC News reports: The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved the new Covid vaccine from Pfizer and Moderna. It’s the third time the vaccines have been updated to match circulating strains since the original series. The shots should be available within days. The agency hasn’t yet approved a third vaccine, from drugmaker Novavax. The timing of the new vaccines …

NBC News reports: The Food and Drug Administration on Friday granted marketing authorization to the first at-home, over-the-counter test to detect syphilis antibodies in human blood in a move that could help boost screening rates for the sexually transmitted disease. Developed by privately held NOWDiagnostics, the antibody test helps identify current or past infection and provides a result in about …

Politico Europe reports: A drug used in the last global mpox outbreak in 2022-23 is not effective against the more severe virus spreading rapidly in Africa, researchers have found. The antiviral, tecovirimat, did not reduce the duration of lesions among children and adults with clade I mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to the initial results …

Axios reports: The Centers for Disease Control on Wednesday alerted doctors to be on the lookout for a deadly new strain of mpox spreading through parts of Africa while U.S. officials committed $424 million to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is the epicenter of the outbreak. The so-called clade I virus is more virulent and deadly than the …

The New York Times reports: Michael R. Bloomberg, the billionaire and former New York City mayor, is giving $600 million to the country’s four historically Black medical schools, which account for a significant percentage of all medical degrees awarded to Black doctors. Through his charitable organization, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Mr. Bloomberg is giving $175 million each to Meharry Medical College in …

Axios reports: The summer’s COVID-19 wave is continuing, with the latest wastewater surveillance data detecting “high” virus activity levels across the majority of the U.S. and “very high” levels in 19 states, per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. The virus is especially prevalent across the western U.S. and the South, in particular a region that includes New Mexico, …

NBC News reports: The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved Guardant Health’s blood test, called Shield, to screen for colon cancer. The test isn’t meant to replace colonoscopies, but is generating enthusiasm among doctors who say it has the potential to boost the dismal rate of screenings for the second-highest cause of cancer death in the United States. Shield …

CNN reports: Two shots a year of a drug currently used to treat HIV infections were dramatically effective at preventing infections in a study among young women and adolescent girls in Africa. The twice-yearly injection of the drug lenacapavir can provide total protection against HIV infections, demonstrating 100% efficacy in Phase 3 trial data released by drugmaker Gilead and published …

Ars Technica reports: As a summer wave of COVID-19 infections swells once again, a study published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine offers some positive news about the pandemic disease. Rates of long COVID have declined since the beginning of the health crisis, with rates falling from a high of 10.4 percent before vaccines were available to …

Via press release: Bloomberg Philanthropies today announced a new $1 billion gift to make medical school free at Johns Hopkins University for a majority of students, while also increasing financial aid for students at its schools of nursing, public health, and other graduate schools. The high cost of medical and nursing school has kept many talented lower-income students from enrolling, …

CBS News reports: Rates of COVID-19 have surged in Florida emergency rooms over recent weeks, according to new figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and are now near peaks not seen since the worst days of this past winter’s wave of the virus. The weekly average of emergency room patients with COVID-19 has reached 2.64% in Florida, …

CNBC reports: The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved Eli Lilly’s Alzheimer’s drug donanemab, expanding the limited treatment options for the mind-wasting disease in the U.S. The agency approved the treatment, which will be sold under the brand name Kisunla. Eli Lilly’s drug slowed Alzheimer’s progression by 35% over 18 months compared with a placebo, according to a late-stage …

Ars Technica reports: The US government will pay Moderna $176 million to develop an mRNA vaccine against a pandemic influenza—an award given as the highly pathogenic bird flu virus H5N1 continues to spread widely among US dairy cattle. The funding flows through BARDA, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, as part of a new Rapid Response Partnership Vehicle (RRPV) …

ABC News reports: A study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) published Wednesday found that multivitamins won’t help extend your life, with researchers reporting, “multivitamin use to improve longevity is not supported.” The study analyzed data from nearly 400,000 adults over 20 years. Participants had a median age of 61.5 years old and were generally healthy, with no history …

CNBC reports: The Biden administration on Wednesday said it will impose inflation penalties on 64 prescription drugs for the third quarter of this year, lowering costs for certain older Americans enrolled in Medicare. President Joe Biden has made lowering U.S. drug prices a key pillar of his health-care agenda and reelection platform for 2024. A provision of Biden’s Inflation Reduction …