Some further headlines on infectious diseases (Sources: Airfinity, WHO)
WHO announced the end of the Marburg emergencies in both Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania.
https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2023-DON472
https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2023-DON471
Except for a few hot spots, COVID-19 activity over the past month declined in all six world regions, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its recent weekly update. The pattern follows several weeks of a mixed picture, which saw rising cases in some parts of the globe.
A significant increase in dengue cases has been observed in Sri Lanka compared to previous years, with over 40,000 cases so far in 2023, over 60% increase over the same period in 2022, and more than 2.5x greater than 2021.
The massive dengue outbreak in Peru now appears to be declining.
Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever in Pakistan – 35 cases and 6 deaths have been reported this year (more than half of those cases and deaths within the last month of May).
The number of meningococcal meningitis cases in New South Wales Australia reached 19, with one death.
Cases of anthrax (one fatal) amongst people eating the meat of infected livestock, have occurred in Vietnam.
And also the 4th case of wild poliovirus this year was reported in Afghanistan.
Greatly increased rates of syphilis and record rates of gonorrhoea are being reported in UK, and Japan also reports record rates of syphilis.
Also this note from the Financial Times:
“Pest control companies are developing ways to fight the growing number of mosquitoes carrying life-threatening diseases such as malaria and dengue fever into new areas of the world as a result of climate change.”
And on the same day a case of malaria was identified in a non-traveller in Florida. (Airfinity)
And some studies of interest:
Note this UK study on long COVID after re-infection, Bosworth et al: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.04.13.23288522v1.full.pdf
“The risk of new-onset Long Covid after a second SARS-CoV-2 infection is lower than that after a first infection for those ≥16 years, though there is no evidence of a difference in risk for those <16. (However, there remains some risk of new-onset Long Covid after a second infection, with around 1 in 40 of those ≥16 years and 1 in 165 of those <16)
An interesting study in “Cell” on global spread patterns of SARSCoV2 and their relationship to air travel – Tegally et al: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867423006414
Some primary conclusions: 1. Global phylogenetic analysis reveals dispersal of VOCs along worldwide flight network; 2. Omicron spread to five times more countries within 100 days of emergence than other VOCs; 3. Delta and Omicron dispersed from secondary hubs during times of accelerating air travel; 4. Highly connected countries were major global and regional exporters of VOCs
An interesting and worrying assessment of outbreak preparation: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/world-woefully-unprepared-for-a-biological-incident/
This report on Lessons learned by Airports from COVID was just published by the US Academies of Science.
https://nap.nationalacademies.org/download/27075
One interesting statistic:
“Do you plan to make any changes to your ventilation systems in 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic?” This question was asked in 117 of the interviews. Participants responded either “Yes” (19 percent),
And last but very interesting, an evaluation of a COVID-19 breath test with 80% sensitivity and 90% specificity, Myers et al https://www.thelancet.com/journals/ebiom/article/PIIS2352-3964(23)00149-4/fulltext
David Powell
IATA Medical Advisor