💉 Mpox continues to rampage in Africa; City living begins to crumble; Feeling superhot, hot, hot
#540 | Nigeria to begin malaria vaccinations; Moving on from antibiotics; Bird flu? Hmph!
Hello, and welcome back to The Kable for a final round-up of all that's shaking in the life sciences this October.
The week began on a positive note for Rwanda's ongoing outbreak of the Marburg virus disease. No cases were reportedfor 7 consecutive days, and authorities were hopeful of beating back the scourge, with justified applause for Rwanda's critical care facilities. However, cases started being reported again on Wednesday, and as of the latest update, confirmed cases now stand at 64. In encouraging developments, the fatality rate in this outbreak hovers at around 24%, significantly lower than the 50% average and massively below the 88% rate seen in previous outbreaks.
Excellent news from Nigeria, where the country has received its first-ever shipment of malaria vaccines. Vaccine rollout in the country most affected by malaria is expected to begin next month.
Not too far from Nigeria, Egypt has been declared malaria-free by the WHO.
The second polio immunisation campaign that the WHO had launched in Gaza last week, aiming to inoculate 500,000 children, has been called off. Because the violence unleashed by Israel is unrelenting, and aid workers neither have access to execute a campaign nor the safety required for one. Ironically, the campaign was cancelled on World Polio Day amid the launch of a UN reportthat highlighted that 85% of children affected by polio last year lived in conflict zones. Another report by the UNESCWA says Israel's violent campaign over the last year has set development back in Gaza by nearly 70 years.
The Pandemic Fund has allocated $418 million in its second round of funding towards pandemic preparedness. This new allocation has been earmarked for 50 low- and middle-income countries across the world with PAHO, and the FAO partnering in 21 projects.
Germany has become the newest country to report a case of the new mpox variant. And Norway has reported two cases of the Clade 2 variant. The Africa CDC, in a press briefing, said vaccinations are underway in 6 provinces in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Worryingly, the agency also reported a rise in children co-infected with measles.
Now, bird flu. The week began with four human farm-workers being suspected of bird flu in Washington, with later tests revealing two of them actually are infected. Meanwhile, the mystery case of a human infection in Missouri still remains a mystery even though the US CDC says human-to-human transmission is unlikely. However, reports now reveal that at least one of the human contacts of this mystery case also had bird flu. And with farm workers saying no to testing, we may not really know if human transmission is happening till it is too late. Which fits in very well with the authorities' plans. Reuters reveals that farm agencies relaxed bovine testing in response to feedback from government and industry sources, and not necessarily in accordance with health requirements.
And finally, women have historically been called intolerant and hysterical when it comes to pain, with irrefutable evidence of how doctors and the medical community have often minimised women's complaints of pain. New research reveals that even in cases where the complaint wasn't minimised, treatment may not have been effective because men and women process pain differently. Ouch.
Stories Of The Week
Antibiotics meet their match. In a surprising twist, researchers have discovered that Rifaximin, an antibiotic for liver disease, may unintentionally power up vancomycin-resistant bacteria (VRE), enabling them to resist Daptomycin, one of the last lines of defence for serious infections. This breakthrough, published in Nature, is the first time an antibiotic has been shown to trigger resistance in a totally different drug class as if we didn't already have enough concerns about how we prescribe and manage antibiotics.
(Nature)
Bottom line
Moving to a city? Think again. Economics experts have long been saying that the population of the future will be mostly entirely urban. However, a new report presented at the annual Academy of Medical Sciences & The Lancet International Health Lecture might have you considering the advantages of a rural lifestyle. The report says cities need to rethink their layout to dodge a future of crumbling infrastructure and worsening climate impacts. As urban populations surge, sweltering heat, pollution, and urban sprawl threaten human health—37% of heat-related deaths are now climate-linked. Proposed solutions include car-free zones, and prioritising public space, air quality, and health, and also reducing reliance on fossil fuels. But hey, hands off my humvee!
(The Lancet)
2°C? Who cares about 2°C anymore? Excellent news from a new UN report - the Emissions Gap Report 2024 - on climate change. We don't need to be concerned about breaching the 2°C warming mark anymore. Why? Because we're well on track for a 3.1°C rise in warming since pre-industrial levels. Yes, the oceans will boil, the forests will become tinder, the air will be too thick to breathe. Unless... well, no unless. Because political and corporate will is involved in the unless and we all know people over profits is a myth.
(UNEP)
Long reads
Get your freak on. You might have read a bit about bird flu and how authorities don't seem to be taking it seriously enough in our introduction above. Stat has a larger piece on the evolution of bird flu and whether or not you should be freaking out. TL;DR: too early to tell, but preparation trumps pandemics.
(Stat)
Oh, and Gopal Nair doesn't want you to see this.