Patient In UK Has Monkeypox, Likely Caught In Nigeria
Also in the U.K., reports say food poverty jumped up 57% over three months, and people seeking support from food banks are asking for food that doesn't need cooking to avoid soaring energy bills. Meanwhile in South Africa, the covid positivity rate is nearly at record levels again.
CNN:
Rare Case Of Monkeypox Reported In England, UKHSA Says
A rare case of monkeypox has been diagnosed in a patient in England, the UK Health Security Agency said in a statement Saturday. Monkeypox is a rare viral infection which does not spread easily between people, the agency said, qualifying the overall risk to the general public as "very low." "The infection can be spread when someone is in close contact with an infected person; however, there is a very low risk of transmission to the general population," the statement read. (Goillandeau, 5/8)
In other global news —
Press Association:
U.K. Food Poverty Surges 57% in Just Three Months
Around one in seven adults live in homes where people have skipped meals, eaten smaller portions or gone hungry all day because they could not afford or access food, research suggests. The number of people struggling to buy food has risen by 57% in three months, according to research by the Food Foundation. The charity said food bank users are increasingly requesting items that do not need cooking because they are worried about how they will afford rising energy bills. (Crew, 5/9)
Stateline:
Doctors Trained Abroad Want To See You Now
It took 11 years for Vladislav Zimin to complete his training in Russia to become an interventional cardiologist, a specialist who places stents in clogged arteries. After that, he practiced for five years, ultimately becoming head of his Moscow hospital’s cardiology and radiology department. Then he emigrated to the United States in 2015 at age 32, and had to practically start all over again. He spent seven years studying English and preparing for the rigorous U.S. Medical Licensing Examination needed to qualify for an American residency, which he’ll begin in July in Brooklyn. For him to get back to performing invasive heart procedures, he’ll have to repeat three years in residency, three years in a general cardiology fellowship and one year in a fellowship for interventionist cardiology. (Ollove, 5/6)
In global covid news —
Bloomberg:
South Africa Covid-19 Test Positivity Rate Nears Record
South Africa’s daily coronavirus test positivity rate neared a record, rising above 30% on Saturday for the first time in almost five months as two sublineages of the omicron variant spread rapidly ahead of the nation’s winter season. There were 8,524 new Covid-19 cases identified, representing a 31.1% positivity rate of those tested, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases said in a statement on its website. That’s the highest rate since the 32.2% recorded on Dec. 15, when a record 26,976 cases were recorded. The surge means South Africa is close to its highest positivity rate yet. The record so far was 34.9% on Dec. 14. (Vollgraaff, 5/7)
The New York Times:
Seeking Covid Pills, Poor Nations Fear Repeat Of AIDS Crisis
A devastating virus was laying waste to nations that lacked medicines available to Americans. The pills were patented and pricey. Poor countries lacked refrigeration to store them, the thinking went, and patients would not be able to follow the complex dosing regimen. The year was 2002, the virus was H.I.V., and the president, George W. Bush, secretly sent his top health advisers to Africa to investigate what activists were calling “medical apartheid.” In the 20 years since, the United States has led the way in building a global infrastructure for H.I.V. testing and treatment, saving an estimated 21 million lives. (Stolberg, 5/8)
