TheWilliamson County Health Departmentwill participate in the statewideFight Flu 23effortWednesdayand provide free flu shots to all eligible Tennesseans 6 months and older.
We want to protect as many people as we can in our communities from the flu, Cathy Montgomery, Williamson County Health director said. Getting an annual flu shot is the best way to protect yourself and everyone around you.
Williamson County Health Department will provide free flu shots at the following locations, and no appointment is needed:
Williamson County Administrative Complex, 1320 W. Main St., Franklin, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Fairview Clinic, 2629 Fairview Blvd., Fairview, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The flu vaccine will remain free to anyone eligible to receive it at all local health departments across the state throughout flu season.
The flu vaccine is safe and effective and can protect individuals against the most common types of flu, and the virus worst symptoms and outcomes.
The flu virus is very contagious. Pregnant women, infants, the elderly, and people with certain medical conditions are at the highest risk of severe complications from the flu. Annually, more than 7.5 million illnesses, 400,000 hospitalizations, and 22,000 deaths could be prevented in the U.S. if more people chose to get the flu vaccine.
To prevent spreading the flu virus to others, follow precautions such as proper hygiene and handwashing, cover your coughs or sneezes with a tissue or your elbow, and stay home if you are sick.
For more information about the flu virus andFight Flu 23, visittn.gov/health/fightflu. For information about gettinga free flu shot, contact theWilliamson County Health Departmentat615-794-1542.
The RECOVERY trial, which discovered four effective treatments for COVID-19, has expanded to investigate treatments for influenza (flu).
Globally, seasonal flu epidemics are estimated to kill between 290,000 and 650,000 people every year.Despite having known about influenza for almost a century and knowing that pandemic influenza remains one of the greatest threats to human health, we still do not have effective drugs for treating people with severe influenza.
Until now, few large-scale clinical trials have evaluated treatments for patients hospitalised with influenza. However, the features of the RECOVERY trial that made it such a success against COVID-19 including its streamlined design, large scale, and practical integration into routine healthcare make it well-placed to also improve the care of severe influenza patients.
Sir Peter Horby, Moh Family Foundation Professor of Emerging Infectious and Global Health in the Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, and Joint Chief Investigator for the RECOVERY trial, said As well as being the greatest pandemic risk, influenza remains a serious annual scourge. In a bad year, as many as 25,000 people in the UK die as a result of influenza. Yet we have no treatments that have been proven to improve outcomes in hospitalised patients. By including influenza in the RECOVERY trial, we have the opportunity to change this and find new treatments for this persistent menace.
As well as in the UK, the study will be open to patients hospitalised with confirmed influenza in selected hospital sites in France, Italy and the Netherlands through a new partnership between the University of Oxford and Ecraid (the European Clinical Research Alliance on Infectious Diseases). It will also be open to patients in hospitals that have previously participated in RECOVERY in Asia (India, Indonesia, Nepal and Vietnam) and Africa (Ghana and South Africa).
Participants will be randomly allocated to receive either the usual standard of care or the usual standard of care plus at least one of the treatments in the trial. RECOVERY will investigate the following drugs initially:
Sir Martin Landray, Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at Oxford Population Health and Joint Chief Investigator for RECOVERY, said RECOVERY was designed to provide a robust test of possible treatments for COVID-19 whilst keeping the burden on hospital staff and the health system to a minimum. This approach led to the discovery of effective treatments for COVID-19, such as dexamethasone, which have now saved hundreds of thousands of lives around the world. We are now expanding this approach to tackle the long-term challenge of influenza.
The 20222023 influenza season marked the return of influenza virus activity at almost pre-pandemic levels in the EU/EEA countries, highlighting an urgent need for assessment of flu treatments.
RECOVERYs assessment of treatments for flu is funded by Flu Lab, based in the United States. Through grants and investments, Flu Lab supports efforts to advance innovative solutions to persistent problems in the prevention and treatment of influenza.
The California Department of Public Health is urging Californians to get immunized against a triple-threat of viruses that are expected to surge in the coming months.
Rates of COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are expected to spike in the late fall and winter months as more people gather indoors, and as fewer people are getting vaccinated against COVID-19.
But a shortage of RSV antibody doses this season has federal and state health officials shifting their guidance to include more vaccinations for pregnant women during certain periods of their pregnancies.
Vaccination rates for COVID-19 are much lower compared to the past two years. The vaccines were previously free for patients, with the cost paid by the federal government, but are now on the commercial market. Those without health insurance can still access free vaccines through a state program called My Turn, which can be accessed at myturn.ca.gov.
Dr. Tomas Aragon, the state's public health officer, said during a virtual press conference Thursday that vaccination rates have been lower among Californians with lower incomes, and among certain racial and ethnic groups.
About 4.6% of the state's population is up to date on the COVID-19 vaccine, compared to 75% of the state that was fully vaccinated at the height of the pandemic. White Californians are currently vaccinated at a rate of 6.7%, while Black Californians have a rate of 2.7% and Latinos have a 1.5% rate.
Aragon recommended anyone older than 6 months to get a COVID and a flu shot.
The current COVID-19 vaccinations only require one dose, rather than needing a booster, with the exception of the Novavax vaccine, which received emergency-use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this month.
There is revised guidance for the flu vaccine for people with egg allergies who were previously cautioned against the shot. Now, people with egg allergies are encouraged to get the shot like everyone else, unless they have had an adverse reaction in the past, Aragon said.
More than 4,600 Californians died from the flu in 2021, the last full year the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has published data for.
"October is a perfect time to get vaccinated against influenza so you have enough time to build up immunity, so as influenza picks up, you'll be protected," Aragon said.
Protection against RSV can come in the form of a vaccine for older adults and pregnant women, and immunization through antibodies for infants and children. There is currently a shortage of a newly developed antibody treatment from Sanofi and AstraZeneca, Beyfortus (nirsevimab-alip), across the country, prompting the CDC to issue a health advisory Monday recommending rationing the supply.
The state's public health department is encouraging women who are between 32-36 weeks pregnant to get the vaccine as a way to transmit immunity to the fetus that lasts about six months after birth.
Newborns and toddlers between birth and 19 months old are at the highest risk of severe RSV, along with adults older than 65.
Aragon recommended wearing masks, washing your hands, and staying home when sick as prevention methods.
More information on the differences and availability of vaccines can be found at vaccines.org.
Key Takeaways
Most people who get infected with COVID nowadays may experience symptoms that are not so different from earlier iterations of the virus, including cough, sore throat, fever, and runny nose.
While less common, you may also want to be on the lookout for symptoms affecting your skin. For some people, skin issues such as rashes may be the only indication of a COVID infection, according to the American Academy of Dermatology Association (AAD). But any instances of rash are not considered a new COVID symptom, and experts arent convinced COVID is always the cause of rash occurring alongside it.
Rash associated with COVID-19 is not a new thing, Susan McLellan, MD, MPH, medical director of the Biocontainment Care Unit and director of Biosafety for Research-related Infectious Pathogens at UTMB Health, told Verywell in an email. Its important to understand that respiratory viruses, including coronaviruses which circulated prior to SARS-CoV-2, frequently produce mild rashes, with or without notable respiratory symptoms.
COVID rashes can appear in many different ways. They may range from itchy bumps and blotches to a web-like rash or even involve a little skin peeling, Linda Yancey, MD, infectious disease specialist, Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston, told Verywell in an email.
The AAD reports rashes can also appear as a patchy rash, blisters that look like chickenpox, round, pinpoint spots on the skin, large patches with smaller ones, a lace-like pattern on the skin, or even flat spots and raised bumps that join together.
Its important to recognize that COVID rash symptoms can vary significantly from one individual to another, David Cutler, MD, family medicine physician at Providence Saint Johns Health Center in Santa Monica, California, told Verywell.
The particular way a rash appears probably has the most to do not with the infection, but with the bodys immune reaction that human beings will elicit, he said. That will have a great bearing on what a rash looks like, rather than the infection agent itselfwhether its a cold virus, a flu virus, scarlet fever, or COVID.
He added that a persons age, race, and underlying skin problems impact how a rash appears, too.
In general, COVID rashes can appear on any part of the body, Yancey said, though they tend to manifest on the hands, feet/toes, chest, stomach, or back.
Since COVID-related rashes can appear in many different ways, its often difficult to determine if a rash is directly caused by COVID or if its coincidental and caused by something else during the infection, Yancey said. In fact, Cutler added there are no particular tests that can confirm if rashes are caused by COVID.
According to Yancey, several viral illnesses are associated with rash, such as chickenpox, measles, and shingles.
They are most likely a side effect of the immune response to the infection itself, she said.
Higher levels of an antibody called immunoglobulin E, also known as IgE, might also be responsible for COVID-related rashes, Cutler said. This is common in people with allergies; the immune system overreacts to an allergen by producing IgE antibodies, creating an allergic reaction (like a rash) as a side effect.
IgE latches onto immune cells. An infectious agent like COVID causes cells containing IgE to release chemicalsone of which is histamine, causing a rash, Cutler said.
Other types of antibodies, such as immunoglobulin G (IgG) and immunoglobulin M (IgM), may also react with COVID to cause a rash, he added.
In general, more research is needed to determine how and why COVID rashes occur.
Yancey said patients with underlying dermatologic or autoimmune issues may have a higher likelihood of developing a rash in response to an infection because their immune systems may react more sensitively to the infection. Generally, anyone who is immunocompromised may also be at risk for more severe symptoms.
However, Cutler and McLellan said theres not enough data to suggest which groups are most at risk of developing a rash.
There are millions of people who get COVID every day who dont get a rash, and I dont know if theres anything unique about the people that do get COVID rashes, Cutler said. You cant just draw conclusions from the very select group of people that are being seen that have COVID rashes because it represents a fairly small minority of those people with COVID. Most people with COVID dont get any rash whatsoever.
Although COVID patients can develop a rash, Yancey said that such occurrences are relatively rare and uncommon.
Cutler added that rashes have not become any more prevalent than they were previously with earlier variants, and no studies have documented an increased occurrence.
The main evidence of COVID rashes are anecdotal reports, McLellan said, making it challenging to determine the true prevalence of COVID-related rashes.
We have no way of knowing prevalence; whether COVID rash is more common or just more talked about is impossible to tell, McLellan said. When you are dealing with social media, sometimes topics just take off.
NOTE: Out of the six healthcare providers contacted by Verywell, four responded and reported that they have not observed any increase in COVID-related rashes.
Most viral rashes are very short-lived, meaning they should fade away in a few days to a couple of weeks, Yancey said. The ADA reports rashes typically last anywhere from 2 and 12 days with most people having a rash for 8 days. However, if you have a rash that has been present for over two weeks, you should see your primary care provider or a board-certified dermatologist.
The primary thing that can cure the viral rash is time. However, there are some measures you can take to ease rash-related symptoms like itching, dryness, or flaking.
According to McLellan and Cutler, these remedies include:
If rash-like symptoms do not improve, seek care from your primary care provider or dermatologist.
If you have COVID, you may experience skin-related symptoms like rashes. However, experts say that COVID-related skin issues are relatively uncommon. Typically, these rashes should resolve within a few days to weeks, but if they persist beyond this timeframe, experts recommend reaching out to a board-certified dermatologist or your primary care provider.
The information in this article is current as of the date listed, which means newer information may be available when you read this. For the most recent updates on COVID-19, visit ourcoronavirus news page.
St. Luke's introduces new immunizations against flu, COVID-19 and RSV
by CBS2 News Staff
St. Luke's (CBS2 file)
BOISE, Idaho (CBS2)
According to a recent news release from St. Luke's, during the fall and winter seasons, the spread of respiratory viruses increases, including flu, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.
Last year, COVID-19, the flu and RSV activity peaked in November, December and January in Idaho, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. St. Luke's and Idaho health authorities urge everyone who can to get the appropriate immunizations to safeguard their health and the health of the community.
The release says RSV causes acute respiratory tract infections in people of all ages and can cause severe illness and even death in infants and children with certain health conditions. Approximately 58,000-80,000 children under the age of 5 and up to 3% of children in their first year of life are hospitalized due to RSV infection each year in the United States.
Here are St. Luke's immunization options for the flu, COVID-19 and RSV.
This year, the CDC recommended new immunizations to protect against severe RSV. St. Luke's will begin administering the RSV vaccine, Abrysvo, on Nov. 1, 2023.
RSV vaccine Abrysvo for adults over 60:
RSV vaccine Abrysvo for unborn babies:
Beyfortus RSV antibody immunization for babies:
Find up-to-date information at www.cdc.gov/rsv.
An updated COVID-19 vaccine is formulated for better protection against newer circulating COVID-19 strains. St. Luke's began administering the 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, Oct. 24, to adults ages 19 years and older. Schedule in MyChart.
You can get a flu shot at local retail pharmacies, your primary care provider, St. Luke's or other local health care providers. To get your flu shot at a St. Luke's Clinic, schedule an appointment through MyChart. If you are not registered for MyChart, sign up today. You can also make an appointment by calling your primary care provider.
Many respiratory viruses can be contagious even before symptoms start, so practicing good hygiene at all times can help prevent disease spread. You can protect yourself and others by:
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Bird flu outbreaks affect more than 330,000 turkeys in Minnesota
A recent spike in avian flu continues a more than a year-long battle against the virus that has affected millions of birds.
Just in the month of October, more than 330,000 birds, across 11 flocks, in seven counties have been impacted by bird flu. It adds to the outbreak that started in 2022.
From the start of the outbreak, which was March of 2022, was when Minnesota had its first case, weve had about 5 million birds that have been affected by the disease, Dr. Shauna Voss, with the Minnesota Board of Animal Health, said.
Despite all the sick birds, Dr. Voss says the turkey on your dinner table is still safe to eat.
No infected birds [get] processed and people should have confidence that a turkey, cooked properly, is still safe to eat, Dr. Voss said.
The animal board keeps a dashboard highlighting this outbreak.
Its an outbreak that turkey farmers are hoping ends soon but they are prepared for the long haul.
I hate to say [it, but] its getting to be the typical fall outbreak, John Zimmerman, of Zimmerman Turkey Farm, said.
His farm sits just southeast of Northfield, somewhat of an ideal location to avoid the virus due to not being close to any major body of water.
Theres a mental and emotional toll on the growers that have to depopulate the birds, but on an industry as a whole, this wont affect supplies for Thanksgiving, this wont affect the price of Turkey much at all, Zimmerman said.
Zimmermans barns have been spared thus far and he hopes this outbreak ends soon due to the migratory season ending soon those birds are the main driver of the virus.
From the rocks around his barn to keep virus-carrying critters out to the biosecurity technology, hes taken steps to ensure hes ready in case its here to stay and adds there are possible advancements down the line that could help too.
Whether that means we look harder at vaccinations, or possibly some gene editing in the future, or even more stringent biosecurity, were going to have to look at different options at how to remain in business and deal with this virus because its not going away, Zimmerman said.
Whether it begins next week, next year, or next decade, another pandemic is on its way. Researchers cant predict precisely when or how the outbreak might begin. Some 1.6 million viruses are estimated to lurk in the worlds mammalian and avian wildlife, up to half of which could spill into humans; an untold number are attempting exactly that, at this very moment, bumping up against the people hunting, eating, and encroaching on those creatures. (And thats just viruses: Parasites, fungi, and bacteria represent major infectious dangers too.) The only true certainty in the pandemic forecast is that the next threat will be here sooner than anyone would like.
But scientists can at least make an educated guess about what might catalyze the next Big One. Three main families of viruses, more than most others, keep scientists up at night: flu viruses, coronaviruses, and paramyxoviruses, in descending order of threat. Together, those groups make up the trifecta of respiratory death, Sara Cherry, a virologist at the University of Pennsylvania, told me.
Flu and coronavirus have a recent track record of trouble: Since 1918, flu viruses have sparked four pandemics, all the while continuing to pester us on a seasonal basis; some scientists worry that another major human outbreak may be brewing now, as multiple H5 flu viruses continue to spread from birds to mammals. The past two decades have also featured three major and deadly coronavirus outbreaks: the original SARS epidemic that began in late 2002; MERS, which spilled into humanslikely from camelsin 2012; and SARS-CoV-2, the pandemic pathogen thats been plaguing us since the end of 2019. Common-cold-causing coronaviruses, too, remain a fixture of daily livinglikely relics of ancient animal-to-human spillovers that we kept transmitting amongst ourselves.
Read: Bird flu has never done this before
Paramyxoviruses, meanwhile, have mostly been simmering in the background, says Raina Plowright, a disease ecologist at Cornell. Unlike flu viruses and coronaviruses, which have already clearly proven themselves as tier-one outbreak risks, paramyxoviruses havent yet been caught causing a bona fide pandemic. But they seem poised to do so, and they likely have managed the feat in the past. Like flu viruses and coronaviruses, paramyxoviruses can spread through the air, sometimes very rapidly. Thats certainly been the case with measles, a paramyxovirus that is literally the most transmissible human virus on the planet, says Paul Duprex, a virologist at the University of Pittsburgh. And, like flu viruses and coronaviruses, paramyxoviruses are found in a wide range of animals; more are being discovered wherever researchers look. Consider canine distemper virus, which has been found in, yes, canines, but also in raccoons, skunks, ferrets, otters, badgers, tigers, and seals. Paramyxoviruses, like flu viruses and coronaviruses, have also repeatedly shown their potential to hopscotch from those wild creatures into us. Since 1994, Hendra virus has caused multiple highly lethal outbreaks in horses, killing four humans along the way; the closely related Nipah virus has, since 1998, spread repeatedly among both pigs and people, carrying fatality rates that can soar upwards of 50 percent.
The human versions of those past few outbreaks have petered out. But that may not always be the casefor Nipah, or for another paramyxovirus thats yet to emerge. Its entirely possible, Plowright told me, that the world may soon encounter a new paramyxovirus thats both highly transmissible and ultra deadlyan absolutely catastrophic scenario, she said, that could dwarf the death toll of any epidemic in recent memory. (In the past four years, COVID-19, a disease with a fatality rate well below Nipahs, has killed an estimated 7 million people.)
All that said, though, paramyxoviruses are a third-place contender for several good reasons. Whereas flu viruses and coronaviruses are speedy shape-shiftersthey frequently tweak their own genomes and exchange genetic material with others of their own kindparamyxoviruses have historically been a bit more reluctant to change. That takes them down a level, says Danielle Anderson, a virologist at the Doherty Institute, in Melbourne. For one, these viruses sluggishness could make it much tougher for them to acquire transmission-boosting traits or adapt rapidly to spread among new hosts. Nipah virus, for instance, can spread among people via respiratory droplets at close contact. But even though its had many chances to do so, it still hasnt gotten very good at transmitting among humans, Patricia Thibault, a biologist at the University of Saskatchewan who studied paramyxoviruses for years, told me.
The genetic stability of paramyxoviruses can also make them straightforward to vaccinate against. Our flu and coronavirus shots need regular updatesas often as annuallyto keep our immune system apace with viral evolution. But weve been using essentially the same measles vaccine for more than half a century, Duprex told me, and immunity to the virus seems to last for decades. Strong, durable vaccines are one of the main reasons that several countries have managed to eliminate measlesand why a paramyxovirus called rinderpest, once a major scourge of cattle, is one of the only infectious diseases weve ever managed to eradicate. In both cases, it helped that the paramyxovirus at play wasnt great at infecting a ton of different animals: Measles is almost exclusive to us; rinderpest primarily troubled cows and their close kin. Most flu viruses and SARS-CoV-2, meanwhile, can spread widely across the tree of animal life; I dont know how you can eradicate that, Anderson told me.
The problem with all of these trends, though, is that they represent only what researchers know of the paramyxoviruses theyve studiedwhich is, inevitably, a paltry subset of what exists, says Benhur Lee, a virologist at Mount Sinais Icahn School of Medicine. The devil we dont know can be just as frightening, if not more, Lee told me. A pattern-defying paramyxovirus may already be readying itself to jump.
Researchers are keyed into these looming threats. The World Health Organization highlights Nipah virus and its close cousins as some of its top-priority pathogens; in the U.S., paramyxoviruses recently made a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases list of pathogens essential to study for pandemic preparedness. Last year, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced a hefty initiative to fund paramyxovirus antiviral drugs. Several new paramyxovirus vaccinesmany of them targeting Nipah viruses and their close relativesmay soon be ready to debut.
Read: We have a mink problem
At the same time, though, paramyxoviruses remain neglectedat least relative to the sheer perils they pose, experts told me. Influenza has been sequenced to death, Lee said. (Thats now pretty true for SARS-CoV-2 as well.) Paramyxoviruses, meanwhile, arent regularly surveilled for; development of their treatments and vaccines also commands less attention, especially outside of Nipah and its kin. And although the family has been plaguing us for countless generations, researchers still dont know exactly how paramyxoviruses move into new species, or what mutations they would need to become more transmissible among us; they dont know why some paramyxoviruses spark only minor respiratory infections, whereas others run amok through the body until the host is dead.
Even the paramyxoviruses that feel somewhat familiar are still surprising us. In recent years, scientists have begun to realize that immunity to the paramyxovirus mumps, once thought to be pretty long-lasting and robust, wanes in the first few decades after vaccination; a version of the virus, once thought to be a problem only for humans and a few other primates, has also been detected in bats. For these and other reasons, rubulavirusesthe paramyxovirus subfamily that includes mumpsare among the potential pandemic agents that most concern Duprex. Emmie de Wit, the chief of the molecular-pathogenesis unit at Rocky Mountain Laboratories, told me that the world could also become more vulnerable to morbilliviruses, the subfamily that includes measles. If measles is ever eradicated, some regulators may push for an end to measles shots. But in the same way that the end of smallpox vaccination left the world vulnerable to mpox, the fall of measles immunity could leave an opening for a close cousin to rise.
The next pandemic wont necessarily be a paramyxovirus, or even a flu virus or a coronavirus. But it has an excellent chance of starting as so many other known pandemics havewith a spillover from animals, in parts of the world where weve invaded wild habitats. We may not be able to predict which pathogen or creature might be involved in our next big outbreak, but the common denominator will always be us.
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by Delthia Ricks , Medical Xpress
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Repeated outbreaks of bat-derived coronaviruses among humans and other mammals have heightened the need for a broad range of therapeuticsmonoclonal antibodies and antiviralstreatments that can come immediately "off-the-shelf" to address newly-emerging zoonotic threats.
A groundbreaking series of experiments by scientists at collaborating U.S. research centers has not only identified a "pre-emerging bat coronavirus," but investigators have additionally demonstrated that an off-the-shelf monoclonal antibody neutralized it potently. Additionally, in vitro tests of widely-used antivirals were also effective against the virus, researchers found.
The bat-derived coronavirus is more specifically known as BtCoV-422. And a neutralizing monoclocal antibody developed to treat Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirusMERS-CoVhas been available for years and is known as mAb JC57-11. MERS-CoV is a bat-derived zoonotic virus that infects dromedary camels, the animals that transmit the virus to people. BtCoV-422 is genetically similar to MERS-CoV.
Writing in Science Translational Medicine, investigators from Saint Louis University in Missouri worked with a team of scientists throughout the U.S. who underscored a deceptively simple principle: the types of countermeasures that have worked against other coronaviruses, such as MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2, should impact BtCoV-422. But while investigators found that most MERS-CoVneutralizing monoclonal antibodies had very limited activity against the virus, mAb JC57-11 delivered a powerful one-two punch.
Preparedness is critical to avoid future pandemics, experts say, and among the goals of the World Health Organization is identifying potential pandemic viruses and developing strategies to blunt outbreaks before they start.
New coronaviruses have infiltrated human populations with episodic regularity throughout the 21st century: SARS CoV-1 in 2002, MERS-CoV in 2012 and SARS-CoV-2 in 2019. Others may emerge in the not-too-distant future, WHO scientists have predicted.
"The repeated emergence of zoonotic human betacoronaviruses dictates the need for broad therapeutics and conserved epitope targets for countermeasure design," asserted Dr. Longping V. Tse, a molecular virologist at Saint Louis University referring to the urgent need to identify the part of suspect virusesthe epitopethat the human immune system recognizes. "Middle East respiratory syndromerelated coronaviruses remain a pressing concern for global health preparedness," he added.
As Earth's only flying mammals, bats harbor a vast array of viruses that cause them no harm. Ebola, Marburg and Nipah viruses, along with multiple types of coronaviruses, have emerged from various bat species. Scientists attribute the animals' tolerance of otherwise deadly pathogens to a remarkable immune system. Bats live longer than other animals their size, thwart most infectious organisms, and rarely get cancer.
"Bats are a reservoir for a vast number of viruses that fuel zoonotic transmission of coronaviruses to other mammals, including humans," reported Tse, lead author of the new research. "Recently, a MERS-like coronavirus was isolated from pangolins, indicating the widespread host range of MERS-like coronaviruses." As with BtCoV-422, the pangolin-specific MERS-like coronavirus is considered a pre-emerging virus.
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In experiments reported in Science Translational Medicine, Tse and colleagues analyzed BtCoV-422, and found that it has a 65% genetic sequence similarity with the receptor binding domain of MERS-CoV, a highly infectious coronavirus with a fatality rate in humans of 34.4%, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
The research team analyzed BtCoV-422's adaptation pathways by investigating its ability to use the entry receptor known as DPP4. This protein stipples the surface of mammalian cells and serves as the doorway that BtCoV-422 unlocks to enter the cellular inner sanctum. Once inside the cell, the infection process unfolds.
SARS-CoV-2, by comparison, unlocks an entirely different doorway, entering cells by way of the ACE-2 receptor. BtCoV-422 uses DPP4 to gain entry into the cells of multiple species, including humans, Tse and colleagues found.
While the discovery of BtCoV-422 is an important find, the virus doesn't appear to be a threat at this time. "Further mutation-driven evolution would be required," for BtCoV-422 to gain the genetic capability to infect humans, Tse noted in his findings.
But while that may sound comforting, the virus has already found a way to efficiently hijack the DPP4 receptor. "We assessed replication efficiency of BtCoV-422 in multiple primary human cells, including airway epithelia, lung fibroblasts, and lung endothelial cells," Tse wrote.
Scientists found that BtCoV-422 replicated efficiently in primary human airway, lung endothelial, and fibroblast cells, although less efficiently than MERS-CoV.
"We then tested current countermeasures," Tse added, which in addition to monoclonal antibodies included antiviral drugs and vaccine-elicited murine serum. Several antivirals, Remdesivir, Paxlovid and Lagevrio, an investigational nucleoside analog medication currently used to treat mild to moderate COVID-19.
All demonstrated potent inhibition against BtCoV-422 in vitro. Serum from mice that received a MERS-CoV mRNA vaccine showed reduced neutralizing activity against BtCoV-422.
The large research team included scientists from the Marsico Lung Institute and other divisions of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Maryland, and the University of Texas at Austin.
"Our research objective was to understand the potential of BtCoV-422 in infecting clinically relevant human airway cultures and testing potential antivirals and antibodies against BtCoV-422," Tse concluded.
More information: Longping V. Tse et al, A MERS-CoV antibody neutralizes a pre-emerging group 2c bat coronavirus, Science Translational Medicine (2023). DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.adg5567
Journal information: Science Translational Medicine
2023 Science X Network
Suffolk County reported the following information related to COVID-19 on October 27, 2023
According to CDC, hospital admission rates and the percentage of COVID-19 deaths among all deaths are now the primary surveillance metrics.
COVID-19 Hospitalizations for the week ending October 21, 2023
Daily Hospitalization Summary for Suffolk County From October 26, 2023
NOTE: HOSPITALS ARE NO LONGER REPORTING DATA TO NYSDOH ON WEEKENDS OR HOLIDAYS.
Fatalities 10/26/23
COVID-19 Case Tracker October 24, 2023
Note: As of May 11, 2023, COVID-19 Community Levels (CCLs) and COVID-19 Community Transmission Levels are no longer calculatable, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
* As of 4/4/22, HHS no longer requires entities conducting COVID testing to report negative or indeterminate antigen test results. This may impact the number and interpretation of total test results reported to the state and also impacts calculation of test percent positivity. Because of this, as of 4/5/22, test percent positivity is calculated using PCR tests only. Reporting of total new daily cases (positive results) and cases per 100k will continue to include PCR and antigen tests.
COVID-19 Vaccination Information
Last updated 5/12/23
Vaccination Clinics
As of September 12, 2023, the Suffolk County Department of Health Services is not authorized to offer COVID-19 vaccines to ALL Suffolk County residents.
The department will offer the updated vaccine to only uninsured and underinsured patients through New York State's Vaccines for Children program and Vaccines for Adults program, also known as the Bridge Access Program.
Those with insurance that covers the COVID-19 vaccine are encouraged to receive their vaccines at their local pharmacies, health care providers offices, or local federally qualified health centers.
The department has ordered the updated COVID-19 vaccine and will announce when the vaccine becomes available.
FOR HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS
New York State Links
CDC COVID Data Tracker Rates of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 hospitalizations by vaccination status
For additional information or explanation of data, click on the links provided in throughout this page.
New partnership will harness Moderna's mRNA rapid-response platform, clinically validated during the COVID-19 pandemic, to accelerate epidemic and pandemic vaccine development First project will enable rapid pre-clinical testing of antigen designs for high-risk viral families, to advance global outbreak readiness
CAMBRIDGE, MA / ACCESSWIRE / October 30, 2023 / The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) have entered into a strategic partnership that will harness Moderna's mRNA platform to accelerate the development of vaccines against viral disease outbreaks that threaten global health. The work undertaken as part of this partnership could expand the infectious disease targets for mRNA vaccine technology and strengthen pandemic preparedness and public health efforts in alignment with the 100 Days Mission, a global goal to compress vaccine development timelines to 100 days.
mRNA technology has been identified as a pivotal enabler of the 100 Days Mission due to its flexibility as a rapid-response platform on which new vaccine candidates can be designed and quickly made ready for clinical testing and subsequent scale-up, potentially within days from the moment a new viral threat is identified. Moderna's leading mRNA platform has enabled the development of a highly effective COVID-19 vaccine, which has subsequently been approved by multiple stringent regulatory authorities worldwide.
Dr Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI, said: "Future outbreaks are inevitable, but another pandemic is not. Thanks to the scientific and technological innovations advanced during COVID-19, the world now has the tools and capabilities to prevent the next outbreak from spiraling into a global catastrophe. Chief among them is the now proven mRNA vaccine technology, which can be used to develop safe and effective vaccines with remarkable speed that can be rapidly manufactured at scale. Our partnership with Moderna will harness the company's clinically validated mRNA platform and its world-leading team of scientists to help prepare to respond to future epidemic and pandemic threats in as little as 100 days."
Stphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, said: "We are pleased to announce our strategic partnership with CEPI, harnessing the power of Moderna's mRNA platform to accelerate the development of mRNA vaccines against viral disease outbreaks that pose global public health threats. Our mRNA Access program reinforces our dedication to public health by offering researchers the opportunity to utilize our mRNA technology in the development of vaccines for emerging and neglected infectious diseases. We believe this program can play a key role in helping the next generation of researchers and engineers to advance mRNA science."
Selecting successful pandemic vaccine designs
The partnership will kick off with an initial project to evaluate the performance of novel AI-generated antigen designs and mRNA technology against a range of viral families that carry the greatest risk of causing the next pandemic. Building upon Moderna's existing mRNA Access program, CEPI-funded vaccine researchers will send their cutting-edge computational antigen designs to Moderna, who will rapidly manufacture the related vaccine candidates using Moderna's mRNA platform technology to provide material for preclinical testing funded by CEPI.
The project will enable CEPI-funded researchers to swiftly test multiple antigen designs targeting a specific viral family and quickly identify which, if any, are most promising. It will also generate data on the performance of mRNA vaccine technology against selected viral families and assess the suitability and effectiveness of mRNA for different disease targets. This would contribute vital scientific knowledge to inform further vaccine development targets and could give the world a headstart in response to future emerging outbreaks to advance the 100 Days Mission.
CEPI and Moderna will discuss additional vaccine development projects which fall under the remit of this strategic partnership, with further announcements to follow in due course.
Enabling Equitable Access
CEPI and Moderna are committed to enabling equitable access to the outputs of this strategic partnership. CEPI will retain rights to antigen designs which have been generated using CEPI funding, with CEPI-funded partners committed to submitting their data generated by this project for publication in open-access journals for the benefit of the global scientific community.
Any licensed vaccines developed as a result of this strategic partnership are expected to be made available at affordable prices in low- and middle-income countries.
CEPI and Moderna
CEPI and Moderna first worked together in early 2020, when CEPI provided early catalytic investment of $0.9 million to support the production of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine (mRNA-1273).
About CEPI
CEPI is an innovative partnership between public, private, philanthropic, and civil organisations, launched at Davos in 2017. Its mission is to accelerate the development of vaccines and other biologic countermeasures against epidemic and pandemic threats so they can be accessible to all people in need.
CEPI has supported the development of over 30 vaccine candidates against its priority pathogens-Chikungunya virus, Ebola Virus Disease, Lassa virus, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus, Nipah virus, Rift Valley Fever virus and SARS-CoV-2-and is a leading funder of research into broadly protective coronavirus vaccines, which could protect against future variants of COVID-19 as well as other coronaviruses with epidemic and pandemic potential. The organization has also invested in the development of rapid response platforms to develop vaccines against Disease X (the threat of an unknown virus).
CEPI has overseen a number of scientific breakthroughs, including the first Phase 3 trial of a Chikungunya vaccine and the advancement of the first ever Nipah and Lassa vaccines into Phase 1 trials. The organization played a central role in the global response to COVID-19, supporting the development of one of the world's largest portfolios of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, seven of which have been approved for domestic or global use. It also co-led COVAX, the global initiative to deliver fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, which has delivered approximately 2 billion doses of vaccine to 146 countries around the world.
CEPI's five-year plan for 2022-2026 aims to dramatically reduce or even eliminate the future risk of pandemics and epidemics. Central to the plan is CEPI's goal to compress the time taken to develop safe, effective, globally accessible vaccines against new threats to just 100 days. Achieving this 100 Days Mission', which has been embraced by the G7 and G20, would give the world a fighting chance of containing a future outbreak before it can spread to become a global pandemic.
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About Moderna
In over 10 years since its inception, Moderna has transformed from a research-stage company advancing programs in the field of messenger RNA (mRNA), to an enterprise with a diverse clinical portfolio of vaccines and therapeutics across seven modalities, a broad intellectual property portfolio and integrated manufacturing facilities that allow for rapid clinical and commercial production at scale. Moderna maintains alliances with a broad range of domestic and overseas government and commercial collaborators, which has allowed for the pursuit of both groundbreaking science and rapid scaling of manufacturing. Most recently, Moderna's capabilities have come together to allow the authorized use and approval of one of the earliest and most effective vaccines against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moderna's mRNA platform builds on continuous advances in basic and applied mRNA science, delivery technology and manufacturing, and has allowed the development of therapeutics and vaccines for infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, cardiovascular diseases and auto-immune diseases. Moderna has been named a top biopharmaceutical employer by Science for the past eight years. To learn more, visit www.modernatx.com.
Moderna forward-looking statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, including regarding: Moderna and CEPI entering a strategic partnership to harness Moderna's mRNA platform to accelerate the development of vaccines against viral disease outbreaks that threaten global health. The forward-looking statements in this press release are neither promises nor guarantees, and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond Moderna's control and which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties, and other factors include those other risks and uncertainties described under the heading "Risk Factors" in Moderna's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and in subsequent filings made by Moderna with the SEC, which are available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Except as required by law, Moderna disclaims any intention or responsibility for updating or revising any forward-looking statements contained in this press release in the event of new information, future developments or otherwise. These forward-looking statements are based on Moderna's current expectations and speak only as of the date of this press release.
Contact Details:
CEPI press@cepi.net +44 7387 055214
Moderna
Media:
Luke Mircea-Willats Senior Director, International Communications Luke.mirceawillats@modernatx.com
Investors:
Lavina Talukdar Senior Vice President & Head of Investor Relations 617-209-5834| Lavina.Talukdar@modernatx.com
SOURCE: Moderna, Inc.
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