Building On Covid Tracking Successes, UK Turns Viral Surveillance To Flu, RSV
Reuters and Stat report on a five-year gene sequencing initiative aimed at seasonal viruses that British scientists will begin this year. Among the goals are tracking variants and transmission routes, and designing techniques and tools ahead of the next pandemic. Other research news is on antibiotics, air pollution, and covid vaccines.
Reuters:
British Scientists Plan To Expand Genomic Sequencing From COVID To Flu
Genomic sequencing allowed the world to track new coronavirus variants throughout the pandemic. Now British researchers plan to use it to better understand a host of other respiratory pathogens, from influenza to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The work is aimed at shedding more light on known threats and, potentially, emerging ones, the team at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, working with the UK Health Security Agency, said. (Rigby, 1/10)
Stat:
Covid Showed The Power Of Viral Sequencing. The U.K. Plans More
Building on the global boom in viral surveillance during the pandemic, U.K. scientists on Tuesday unveiled an initiative to expand sequencing of the common seasonal respiratory bugs that have received comparatively little attention. (Joseph, 1/10)
On other health developments, innovations —
CIDRAP:
Antibiotics May Increase Risk Of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Study Finds
The study, which included data on more than 6 million Danish citizens ages 10 and older, found that antibiotic exposure was associated with an increased risk of IBD compared with no antibiotic exposure for all age-groups. The risk was highest among those aged 40 and older, increased with cumulative antibiotic exposure, and was highest following the use of antibiotics commonly used for gastrointestinal pathogens, the researchers found. (Dall, 1/10)
Stat:
Air Pollution And Neurodegenerative Diseases: Researchers Study Possible Link
The air in Mexico City was once so toxic that people watched as dead birds fell out of the sky. In 1992, the United Nations declared the city the most polluted in the world, with its unregulated diesel engines, factory production, fossil-fuel powered energy plants, and widespread use of internal-combustion engines, all trapped in a high-altitude, mountain-lined valley. (Gravitz, 1/11)
In news on research into covid —
CIDRAP:
COVID Vaccine Moderately Protective Against Omicron Infection In Kids
A South Korean study involving children aged 5 to 11 years estimates the vaccine effectiveness (VE) of two doses of the monovalent (single-strain) Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine against Omicron variant infection to be 58%, 50%, and 41% at 15, 31, and 61 days, respectively, with 100% protection against critical illness for up to 90 days. (Van Beusekom, 1/10)
CIDRAP:
Global COVID Vaccine Acceptance Rose 5% From 2021 To 2022
COVID-19 vaccine acceptance climbed from 75% in 2021 to 79% in 2022 in 23 countries representing nearly 60% of the global population, finds a survey published yesterday in Nature Medicine. (Van Beusekom, 1/10)
