Healthcare & Laboratory News

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HealthDay (5/28, Huynh) reports, “More than 500 children suspected or confirmed to have measles have died in Bangladesh since March, according to the country’s health ministry.” Although “the exact number is unconfirmed, suspected cases are estimated to have topped 60,000 in just over two months.” In April, “Bangladesh launched an emergency vaccination campaign...which UNICEF said has helped flatten the curve in highly affected areas.” HealthDay adds, “Although the vaccine’s full nationwide impact will take time to be seen, it has helped reduce the number of new infections, according to UNICEF.”

NBC News (5/28, Lovelace Jr.) reports that the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee “on Thursday recommended updating this fall’s Covid shots to target the XFG variant.” NBC News adds, “XFG is a hybrid of two omicron variants and carries mutations that could help it partially dodge antibodies, Natalie Thornburg, who leads the CDC’s respiratory division, told the panel.” CDC data indicated that “as of May 8, XFG and its descendants account for more than half of new infections in the U.S.”

The American Journal of Managed Care (5/28, McCormick) reports a study found that “pathogenic variants tied to familial melanoma may be more common in the general population than previously recognized and may increase risk for a broader range of cancers beyond melanoma itself.” The researchers examined two “population-scale genomic databases: the UK Biobank (UKBB) and the US Geisinger MyCode (GMC) cohort. Together, the cohorts included 696,665 genomically ascertained participants, including 469,379 individuals from UKBB and 227,286 from GMC.” Overall, researchers observed “the combined prevalence of pathogenic variants across the familial melanoma genes ranged from 0.5% in the GMC cohort to 0.9% in UKBB. Much of this prevalence was driven by the MITF E318K variant, which was identified in approximately 0.4% of GMC participants and 0.8% of UKBB participants.” Additionally, “the prevalence of pathogenic variants exceeded the 2.5% clinical threshold commonly used to recommend genetic testing among patients considered at high risk for melanoma.” The study was published in JAMA Dermatology.

The Hill (5/28, Weixel) reports the CDC “has said the risk of Ebola spreading to the American public remains low.” However, the “administration has cracked down on international travelers and is taking steps to ensure Americans infected or exposed to the virus remain overseas.” Furthermore, “the White House plans to send Americans exposed to Ebola to a quarantine and treatment facility being constructed in Kenya.” This “‘state-of-the-art facility’ is primarily intended for Americans who were exposed to the Ebola virus or are at high risk of exposure amid the ever-widening outbreak.” Meanwhile, Reuters (5/28, Knolle) reports, “The World Health Organization said on Thursday on X that, in partnership with the national medical research organization of the Democratic Republic of Congo, it is scaling up Ebola diagnostic capacities in the country to help swiftly contain an outbreak.” Meanwhile, “WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the effort aims to strengthen the laboratory network to deliver real-time data, rapidly identify confirmed cases and save lives.”

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KFF Health News (5/28, Sciacca) reports that while “California has some of the strictest vaccine laws in the country, conservative Shasta County’s approach during the COVID pandemic stood in stark contrast with the state’s guidance.” In response to a measles outbreak earlier this year, Shasta County public health officials retraced the steps of nine infected people, “contacting more than 600 people who may have been exposed.” Infectious disease experts believe the “rapid response executed in the mostly rural, vaccine-hesitant county offers a playbook for public health officers across the nation who are struggling to keep the highly contagious virus from spreading.”

The New York Times (5/27, Zimmer) reports that in both recent outbreaks, “the hantaviruses didn’t seem to be acting like hantaviruses, and the Ebola viruses weren’t behaving like Ebola viruses.” Jens Kuhn, a virologist who serves on the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, “said that the recent outbreaks point to yawning gaps in our understanding of the so-called virosphere, the millions – perhaps even trillions – of virus species thriving around us.” Notably, vaccines and drugs developed years ago to counter an Ebola virus first seen in Zaire “don’t work against the Bundibugyo virus, which belongs to a different evolutionary lineage. That’s one reason the new outbreak has public health experts so worried.” Meanwhile, the hantavirus outbreak on M.V. Hondius this spring was caused by a strain of “a species called Orthohantavirus andesense” that, unlike other strains, “can spread directly from one person to another.”

Reuters (5/27, Poidevin) reports that the “number of cases of Hantavirus linked ​to a cruise ship at the ‌center of an outbreak has increased to 13, the head of the World Health Organization ​said on Wednesday.” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X, “Spain reported a ​new case among the passengers who ⁠are in quarantine, which brings the ​total number of cases to 13.” Among them, “three died, but there ​have been no new deaths since ​May 2, Ghebreyesus said.” He added, “The situation remains stable. Passengers who ‌got ⁠sick are receiving needed care, while others remain in quarantine.”