On March 1, 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) announcedthat it is updating its COVID-19 guidance and is no longer recommending that individuals who test positive for COVID-19 isolate for five days. While this is a welcome change for all, it does not eliminate the isolation requirements for California employers.
Under the new CDC guidance, individuals are no longer required to isolate if they contract COVID-19. Rather, they should monitor themselves for symptoms including fever, chills, cough, fatigue, and so on. If they develop symptoms, they should stay home and away from others until their symptoms have been improving and they have not had a fever for at least 24 hours. There is no longer any set amount of time for a person to remain away from others under the CDCs guidance.
California employers, however, are still subject to the Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Non-Emergency Standards, which remain in effect until February 2025. Those standards require individuals with COVID-19 to be excluded from the workplace during the infectious period, even if they dont develop symptoms. The infectious period is two days before the positive test date through 10 days thereafter. The infectious period may end sooner if an employee tests negative after day five. The Cal/OSHA standards are also stricter for employees who develop symptoms. Those employees must be excluded from work for 10 days after symptoms appeared (unless they test negative after day five), and 24 hours have passed with no fever.
While we are moving towards COVID-19 being in the rearview mirror, Employers still have obligations under the current Cal/OSHA Standards.
A new study into mpox has suggested that beyond gay and bi men getting the vaccine, people cutting back on their sexual partners played a major role in curbing the spread of the virus.
In 2022, cases of mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) exploded across Europe and the US. The disease is usually confined to parts of West and Central Africa. It soon became apparent that the virus was spreading predominantly between men who had sex with men.
Health authorities urged gay men to take advantage of an existing smallpox vaccine, which also limits the symptoms of mpox. Many queued up to obtain the vaccine. Its administered as two shots given a few weeks apart.
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However, this new study found that viral spread began to decline before the vaccine roll-out had a big impact. Even before 10% of gay guys were vaccinated, mpox showed signs of peaking in the US.
They conclude that gay men temporarily reducing their number of sexual partners played a big role. It could be the main reason the mpox epidemic subsided as quickly as it did.
Once the mpox epidemic was recognized, behavioral modification in the men-who-have-sex-with-men community resulted in a sharp decline in [the rate of transmission] in North America ahead of vaccination rollout in the U.S., concluded a team led by Miguel Paredes, an epidemiologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle.
The results appeared last week in the journal, Cell.
According to the CDC, in the US in 2022, there were 31,698 known cases of mpox and 56 deaths. The majority of deaths were in people who were immunocompromised, including those with HIV.
The outbreak was first reported in the UK in May 2022. Cases began to appear in the US later that month. It peaked in August 2022. Speaking to the New York Times, Paredes said this demonstrates that public health messaging can, be really powerful to control epidemics, even as were waiting for things like vaccines to come.
Those infected with mpox also develop a level of immunity from re-infection. Therefore, some high-risk individuals develop resistance without getting the vaccination.
The study used models, including flight data and genetic sequencing, to estimate when the outbreak occurred. They believe it likely started in the UK between December 2021 and March 2022, even if the first case wasnt diagnosed until May 2022.
They go on to say that the outbreak began spreading in five distinct global regions before health authorities became aware. Because of this, rushing to introduce travel bans would have had little impact.
Trevor Bedford, an evolutionary biologist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, said the research highlights the importance of closely monitoring viruses and bacteria within the community.
If we can catch emerging pathogens earlier on, like even weeks, it will make a big difference in terms of changing the course of these epidemics, Dr. Bedford told the New York Times.
Mpox has not disappeared and there are still cases popping up in the US. The CDC reports 312 cases so far in 2024. The states with the highest number of cases continue to be California and New York (34 and 77 cases so far in 2024 respectively). Both states were hotspots in 2022.
Doctors encourage all gay men to take advantage of the vaccine and to get both shots for maximum protection.
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This resource center was funded in part by a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (grant number 6 NU50CK000477-04-01). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this resource center do not necessarily represent the policy of CDC or HHS, and should not be considered an endorsement by the Federal Government.
A German man intentionally received more than 200 COVID-19 vaccinations, but researchers found that he was fine, and showed no side effects.
The Lancet, a scientific journal, published a report earlier this week that looked into the 62-year-old man from Magdeburg — a town roughly 2 hours from Berlin — who deliberately received 217 of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine over a period of 29 months.
Researchers noted that he received the vaccines outside of a clinical study and against national vaccine recommendations.
They also concluded that although the man’s “hypervaccination” did not result in any side effects, it also did not significantly improve his immune response.
A public prosecutor in Magdeburg opened an investigation into the case alleging fraud, but no criminal charges were filed. Researchers filed a request with the man, who was not named in the study, to analyze the immunological response to abnormal vaccine dosage.
He provided medical information and donated blood and saliva. The man did not report any vaccine-related side effects and has not tested positive for COVID since the experts began examining his case in May 2022.
The study found that the man had more T cells than others who had received three COVID vaccine doses, but they were just as effective as those who received the normal dose. Thus, the researchers were unable to determine whether the initial recommended doses prevented him from testing positive, or if the additional vaccines were a direct cause.
The man reported receiving 217 shots between June 2021 and Nov. 2023. Of the reported vaccinations, 134 were confirmed by the prosecutor through vaccination center documentation, and 83 were self-reported by the man.
The vaccines, according to the report, were a mixture of mRNA vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. He also received shots from Johnson & Johnson and self-reported a booster from Sanofi.
The researchers noted that while the man did not experience any vaccine-related side effects, they “do not endorse hypervaccination as a strategy to enhance adaptive immunity.”
According to CNN, who first reported the case, the man was arrested by police in early March 2022 after authorities became suspicious that he was receiving vaccination cards and selling them to third parties.
He was arrested during a time when proof of vaccination was required to access public venues and travel throughout Europe, the outlet noted.
Newswise Four years ago, a brand new virus turned the world upside down.
Today, thanks to researchers, medical and public health experts, pharmaceutical companies, engineers and others, we know more and can do more about the coronavirus called SARS-CoV2, and the disease called COVID-19, than ever before.
Were in a much better place than we were just a year or two ago, saidAdam Lauring, M.D.,Ph.D., an infectious disease doctor and virus expert at MIchigan Medicine, the University of Michigans academic medical center. While the virus continues to challenge us with its evolution, we have vaccines that work and a surveillance system that provides data to inform what might be annual updates moving forward. We still have some work to do to improve vaccine coverage, especially in the most vulnerable populations.
The virus can still cause serious problems in the short and long term, saidPreeti Malani, M.D., a U-M infectious disease doctor with special training in the care of older adults. So its still important to take steps to avoid infection and avoid passing the virus to others if you catch it.
Heres a summary of the latest things to know and do:
Because early symptoms of COVID-19, flu and RSV are similar,checking this mapcan tell you about current levels of all respiratory illness in your state.
In addition to seeking a prescription from your usual health care provider or aTest to Treat site, you can use theHome Test to Treat serviceto see a provider and get a prescription or referral virtually.
[Originally published: Oct. 2, 2023. Updated: Feb. 29, 2024.]
Note: Information in this article was accurate at the time of original publication. Because information about COVID-19 changes rapidly, we encourage you to visit the websites of the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), and your state and local government for the latest information.
There has been better protection against severe disease, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19 since newly updated (20232024 formula) mRNA COVID vaccines became available last fall. Shots are available to protect everyone 6 months and older from serious illness, hospitalization, and death from the disease.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) approved the updated vaccines by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna for everyone 6 months and older, and authorized an updated Novavax vaccine for those 12 and older in the fall of 2023. In February of this year, the CDC recommended an additional dose for adults ages 65 and older.
The vaccines target XBB.1.5, a subvariant of Omicron that dominated the United Statesand the worldfrom November 2021 until last year. The CDC says the updated vaccines should also work against currently circulating variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virusmany of which descended from, or are related to, the XBB strain. The vaccine is also expected to protect against JN.1, the current dominant strain in the U.S.
While COVID-19 has been causing mostly mild illness recently, Yale Medicine infectious diseases specialist Onyema Ogbuagu, MBBCh, reminds people that the disease can still lead to hospitalization and death. Infections can have long-term consequences, Dr. Ogbuagu says, adding that even healthy people can develop Long COVIDa condition in which new, continuing, or recurring (and sometimes debilitating) symptoms are present four or more weeks after an initial coronavirus infection.
Below, Yale experts tell you what you need to know about the updated COVID vaccine.
A 62-year-old German man made himself a human guinea pig during the coronavirus pandemic and got 217 shots of the vaccine in less than three years.
The hypervaccinated man did not suffer any adverse events to his health despite going on the vaccination spree from June 2021 to November 2023, a correspondence published by The Lancet notes.
Saying that he deliberately and for private reasons embarked on the mission to get an average of one shot every four days, the paper adds that the excess vaccinations also did not result in either a strong positive or negative effect on the intrinsic quality of adaptive immune responses.
There was no evidence the man had ever been infected with COVID-19, though experts said there is also nothing to suggest that was a result of his extreme number of shots.
His frequent visits to vaccination centers ultimately led a public prosecutor to investigate him for fraud, but he was never charged.
Among people who had COVID-19, those who had received the latest vaccine had a lower risk of having a severe outcome than those who had not, according to new Cleveland Clinic research published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
Coupled with antiviral treatments such as nirmatrelvir and molnupiravir, updated versions of Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech and Novavax COVID-19 vaccines significantly lowered the likelihood of hospitalization and death from currently circulating COVID-19 variants.
The study included more than 27,000 patients age 12 and older who tested positive for COVID-19 between September and December 2023. The researchers found that the updated vaccines and antiviral drugs reduced the risk of severe COVID-19 by 31% and 42% respectively, particularly in older individuals and those who are immunocompromised. Furthermore, the study observed consistent efficacy across various subvariants of SARS-CoV-2.
Although the research had some limitations, the results underscore the potential significance of XBB.1.5 vaccines and antivirals treatments as vital tools in combating the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
CARB-X today announced funding for its 100th project addressing antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
The $1.06 million award will help the Hemholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS), of Saarbrucken, Germany, develop a new class of small-molecule inhibitors of bacterial sliding clamp, a pivotal component of DNA replication machinery that has not previously been targeted. The novel compounds have shown promising antibacterial activity against several pathogens that cause community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP).
Lower respiratory tract infections, including CABP, are estimated to have killed 2.6 million people globally in 2019, more than 400,000 of whom died from infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
"With this 100thproject, we are doubling-down on our support of novel approaches to deliver antibiotics that clinicians and patients need," CARB-X (Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator) R&D chief Erin Duffy, PhD, said in a press release. "If successful, the HIPS project will offer a workhorse antibiotic for community-acquired infections that will also take the pressure off antibiotics in the [World Health Organization] model list of essential medicines."
Since its founding in 2016, CARB-X has played a critical role in efforts to boost the pipeline for new antibacterials and other products targeting drug-resistant bacteria, awarding $452.6 million for early-stage development of vaccines, diagnostic, antibiotics, and other therapies. Eighteen of its 100 projects have made it into first-in-human trials, 12 remain in clinical development, and 2 diagnostics have reached the market.
"When CARB-X started in 2016, the antibacterial pre-clinical pipeline looked promising but vulnerable," said CARB-X Executive Director Kevin Outterson, JD. "Even the teams with the most impactful ideas lacked the capital and support needed to advance their R&D products towards patients. CARB-X stood in the gap, and, eight years later, we have clear proof that our model is working."
