Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
WHO Researchers: Did Covid Start Much Earlier In China?
The Wall Street Journal: Possible Early Covid-19 Cases In China Emerge During WHO Mission
About 90 people were hospitalized with Covid-19-like symptoms in central China in the two months before the disease was first identified in Wuhan in late 2019, according to World Health Organization investigators, who said they pressed Beijing to allow further testing to determine whether the new virus was spreading earlier than previously known. Chinese authorities performed antibody tests on about two-thirds of those patients in the past few months, according to the investigators, and said they found no trace of infection by the virus. But members of the WHO team probing the pandemic’s origins said any antibodies could have subsided to undetectable levels during the delay. (Hinshaw, Page and McKay, 2/10)
NPR: Short On Syringes, Japan May Waste Millions Of Pfizer Vaccine Doses
Japan may have several million fewer coronavirus vaccine doses than originally planned because the country does not have the appropriate syringes, in another setback to one of the slower vaccination rollouts among developed economies. The Pfizer vaccine normally contains five doses per vial. But a special syringe, known as a low dead space syringe, which expels more medicine from the space between a syringe's needle and plunger, can eke out six doses per vial. (Kuhn, 2/11)
Bloomberg: Nebulizer That Vaporized Virus Starts New Australia Outbreak
A cluster of the virulent U.K. strain of coronavirus in Australia rose to 11 on Thursday, with authorities saying it started in a Melbourne quarantine hotel by a person who used a nebulizer to treat a health condition. The medical device, which vaporizes medication or liquid, also worked to spread the virus through mist “suspended in the air with very, very fine aerosolized particles,” said Victoria state Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton. This was how the virus was carried out of the hotel room into the corridor, where staff walking the halls were exposed, he said. (Scott, 2/11)
In news about Ebola —
The Washington Post: Ebola In Semen Likely Links New Case In Congo To Previous Outbreak
A woman who died of the Ebola virus in eastern Congo on Feb. 3 was "almost certainly" infected by her husband, who survived an outbreak that ended in June, according to the World Health Organization's emergency response coordinator in Africa. The country’s health ministry is expected to release test results by the weekend confirming the link. If proved, the case would be further evidence that Ebola, which is transmitted via bodily fluids, can live in semen for many months, if not years, while remaining deadly. (Bearak, 2/10)
