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Only 15% of younger children are vaccinated, compared with more than half of adolescents.
Countries took new steps to slow the spread, and new UK data show boosters provide strong protection against severe Omicron infection.
In another study, researchers found a third vaccine dose boosts immune response in cancer patients.
For the week ending Jan 1, most US flu indicators rose, with the season still dominated by H3N2 and now affecting a range of age-groups and hitting the northeastern and central regions hardest, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its latest weekly update.
Our weekly wrap-up of antimicrobial stewardship & antimicrobial resistance scans
Indian researchers yesterday reported on a hospital outbreak of two strains of extensively drug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae. Their findings appeared in Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control.
Despite anecdotal reports of alternations in menstrual cycle following COVID-19 vaccination, a study looking at the connection found little impact. A research team based at Oregon Health & Science University published their findings this week in Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Authors include some members of Biden's COVID-19 transition team, who push for a long-term approach.
Cases are up in all world regions, especially the Americas and Southeast Asia, leading to the pandemic's highest daily totals.
A study by Italian researchers found only 42% of COVID patients had impaired sense of taste 7 months after infection.
Yesterday a new preprint study out of Israel showed the efficacy of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine waned in 12- to 17-year-olds in a similar pattern seen in adult recipients. Within 5 month after completing the initial two-dose vaccinations series, protection against infection with SARS-CoV-2 dropped to 58%. The study was published on the preprint server medRxiv.
The results of a randomized trial in Papua New Guinea suggest three rounds of mass administration of azithromycin led to a greater reduction in the prevalence of yaws than a single round, researchers reported today in the New England Journal of Medicine.
In another study, researchers found that COVID-19 vaccine incentives didn't increase vaccine uptake.
In a breaking development today, the CDC's vaccine advisory group expanded its booster recommendation to kids as young as 12.
Hospitalizations are also rising, but not nearly as steeply as cases.
A large multistate cohort study of more than 40,000 pregnant women and their nonpregnant peers found no link between COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy and preterm or small-for-gestational-age births.
Another study found the breast milk of vaccinated mothers may protect infants for 6 months.
In other global developments, lockdown measures were added for cities in India and China, as Australia's cases and hospitalizations reached new record levels.
The president also promised to ease testing shortages, as kids' illnesses and hospitalizations add to surging case numbers.
Nonhospitalized patients who recovered from asymptomatic to mild COVID-19 can experience small but measurable drops in dynamic lung volume, Danish researchers reported yesterday in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. They note that lower lung function, even within the normal ranges, is a risk factor for higher respiratory morbidity and mortality.
In other COVID developments, federal officials cleared two more rapid tests for emergency use as the weekly case average soared higher.
