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The latest epidemiological analyis showed a 11-day doubling time, and lab studies yielded new details on vaccine protection against Delta.
Some African countries that have vaccine are having challenges deploying it, even some that are experiencing surges.
Though US COVID-19 cases have dropped sharply, progress is uneven, with some regions vulnerable to further surges.
Black COVID-19 patients were more likely to die or be discharged to hospice after 30 days of hospitalization compared with White patients, according to a study today in JAMA Network Open. The researchers add, though, that the largest factor was the overall mortality and hospice rates of the hospitals where patients were treated.
Multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) were isolated in more than a quarter of South Korean patients with confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia and microbial culture results, with corticosteroid use identified as a significant risk factor, researchers reported yesterday in the American Journal of Infection Control.
Also, the WHO adds a variant of interest first detected in Peru last August, which it labeled Lambda.
In other developments, the CDC adds Delta as a variant of concern and issues its first guidance on "long COVID."
The findings are from the UK Recovery trial, which was large enough to gauge a true effect on death in hospitalized patients.
GAO's latest report looks at the VA's three main supply chain, COVID-related adaptations.
US lawmakers today re-introduced a bill to reinvigorate the antibiotic development market.
An analysis of data from 211 Connecticut nursing homes found that facilities that cared for mainly racial and ethnic minority residents had higher levels of COVID-19 illnesses and deaths. A team based at the University of Rochester in New York reported their findings today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.
"While we're highlighting urgency, we're also showing opportunities and glimmers of hope," says report author.
Officials warn that Africa is at risk due to continued virus circulation and low vaccine uptake.
Though downstream disruptions affected naloxone access, upstream supply has been solid.
Blood analysis reveals SARS-CoV-2 antibodies as early as Jan 7, 2020, indicating infection the prior month.
Also, new data show that young pregnant women and Hispanic and Black women are less likely to be vaccinated.
Germany recently reported a human variant H1N1 (H1N1v) case involving a 17-year-old boy who works on a pig farm, according to a recent weekly communicable disease update from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
From January to August 2020, 17% more US assisted living residents died compared with the same months in 2019, and excess deaths hit 24% in the hardest-hit states, according to a JAMA Network Open research letter yesterday.
Eight states in the South and West recorded rising 7-day averages for infection rates over the past 2 weeks.
The vaccine showed 100% protection against severe illness and 93% against variants of concern.
