Experimental Marburg Virus Vaccine May Be Deployed In Equatorial Guinea
News outlets report on a concerning outbreak of Marburg fever in Equatorial Guinea, which has prompted the World Health Organization to consider an experimental vaccine. No current vaccine or antiviral treatment is approved. Chikungunya and malaria are also in global health news.
Stat:
Marburg Outbreak Spurs Race Against Time To Test Vaccines
A Marburg fever outbreak in Equatorial Guinea is galvanizing efforts to test drugs and vaccines for a virus that currently has none. But every day counts, warned experts who gathered virtually on Tuesday to try to chart a course for the work. (Branswell, 2/14)
NBC News:
WHO Hopes To Test Marburg Virus Vaccine Amid Equatorial Guinea Outbreak
No vaccine or antiviral treatment is approved to treat Marburg virus disease, which has an average death rate of around 50%, according to the WHO. On Tuesday, the WHO convened an urgent meeting to evaluate several possible vaccine candidates that could be administered during the outbreak. The meeting brought together a consortium of vaccine developers, researchers and government officials — a group the WHO created in 2021 to advance a Marburg vaccine. (Bendix, 2/14)
On chikungunya and malaria —
CIDRAP:
Chikungunya Outbreaks Intensify In The Americas
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) yesterday issued an epidemiologic alert about elevated chikungunya activity in the Americas, which urged countries to prepare their healthcare systems to handle the medical management of it and other mosquito-borne diseases. (Schnirring, 2/14)
The Washington Post:
Climate Change May Already Be Spreading Malaria Mosquitoes
As temperatures rise, many tropical species once confined to the warmest parts of the globe are expected to climb to higher altitudes and creep farther from the equator. That already may be happening with mosquitoes carrying malaria, one of the world’s most devastating diseases and one that already kills more than 600,000 people a year. Evidence shows the insects are flapping their tiny wings to new locales in Africa, according to a new study. (Grandoni, 2/14)
In news about caring for orphans from Syria, Turkey, and Ukraine —
The Washington Post:
‘I Just Want My Mother’: Syria, Turkey Struggle To Care For Orphans After Quakes
More than a week removed from the disaster, with the death toll above 41,000, extended families and authorities on both sides of the Turkey-Syria border are still trying to figure out how many children have been orphaned, and how to care for them. They are spread across tents and hospital wards, sleeping in cars or in the apartments of the closest relatives they have left. (Loveluck and Georges, 2/14)
The Washington Post:
Russian ‘Reeducation Camps’ Hold Thousands Of Ukrainian Kids: Report
Russia’s system for supervising thousands of Ukrainian children uprooted during the war involves “re-education” camps and forced adoptions, U.S. researchers said Tuesday, calling it a sprawling operation directed by the Kremlin’s highest levels. According to a report from the Conflict Observatory, a State Department-supported initiative, Russia has placed at least 6,000 Ukrainian children at 43 camps and institutions stretching from Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Crimea region to Siberia and Russia’s Pacific coast, or with new families, as part of its “systematic, whole-of-government approach to the relocation, re-education and, in some cases, adoption and forced adoption of Ukrainian children.” (Ryan, 2/14)
In other health news from Poland and China —
AP:
Polish Mother Of 7 Successfully Gives Birth To Quintuplets
A Polish mother of seven has successfully given birth to premature quintuplets, hospital officials in southern Poland said Tuesday. The two boys and three girls were born through cesarean section Sunday, in the pregnancy’s 28th week, at the University Hospital in Krakow. Weighing between 710-1,400 grams (25-49 ounces,) they were all put in incubators and given breathing support, but doctors said they are all doing fine, given their premature birth. (2/14)
Bloomberg:
Chinese Protests Over Health Insurance Underscore Risks For Xi
Chinese pensioners returned to the streets of Wuhan to protest changes to their medical benefits, highlighting the challenge confronting President Xi Jinping’s government following historic anti-lockdown demonstrations in November. (2/15)
