More than half the world faces high measles risk, WHO says
Geneva, Switzerland Reuters More than half the world’s countries will be at high or very high risk of measles outbreaks by the end of the year unless urgent preventative measures are taken, the World Health Organization warned on Tuesday. Measles cases have been increasing across most regions mainly due to missed vaccinations during the COVID-19 […]
Measles now an imminent global threat due to pandemic, say WHO and CDC
Reuters There is now an imminent threat of measles spreading in various regions globally, as COVID-19 led to a steady decline in vaccination coverage and weakened surveillance of the disease, the World Health Organization and the US public health agency said on Wednesday. Measles is one of the most contagious human viruses and is almost […]
Immunisation backslide: COVID disrupted measles vaccinations in Africa and now cases are surging
EDWARD MCALLISTER and JENNIFER RIGBY, of Reuters, report on the surging cases of measles involving children around the world…
Migrants in Mexico despair; US extends pandemic asylum limits
Reynosa, MexicoReuters Migrants across northern Mexico voiced frustration and desperation on Monday, after the US Government failed to lift a pandemic-era policy that has largely prevented them from seeking asylum in the United States for over two years. An eleventh-hour decision by a federal judge in Louisiana on Friday made it impossible for the U.S. […]
COVID-19 third leading cause of death again in 2021- US study
Reuters COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in the United States for the second year in a row in 2021, with death rates rising for most age groups, a government study showed on Friday. COVID-19 was the underlying or contributing cause of 460,513 deaths in the United States last year, a nearly 20 […]
The Interview: US CDC researcher Susan Hillis on how people of faith can support COVID orphans
EMILY MCFARLAN MILLER, of Religion News Service, speaks with Susan Hillis, a member of the COVID-19 International Task Force at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about how her Christian faith connects with her work and how people can support children and families devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic…
Delta spreads “like wildfire” as doctors study whether it makes patients sicker
Los Angeles, USReuters With a new wave of COVID-19 infections fueled by the Delta variant striking countries worldwide, disease experts are scrambling to learn whether the latest version of coronavirus is making people – mainly the unvaccinated – sicker than before. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that Delta, first identified in […]
Hard-won gains at risk as Delta variant spreads – WHO
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters The world is at risk of losing hard-won gains in fighting COVID-19 as the highly transmissible Delta variant spreads, but WHO-approved vaccines remain effective, the World Health Organization said on Friday. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has described the Delta variant of the coronavirus as being as transmissible as chickenpox […]
Delta COVID variant now dominant strain worldwide, US deaths surge – officials
Reuters The Delta variant of COVID-19 is now the dominant strain worldwide, accompanied by a surge of deaths around the United States almost entirely among unvaccinated people, US officials said on Friday. US cases of COVID-19 are up 70 per cent over the previous week and deaths are up 26 per cent, with outbreaks occurring […]
Explainer: How worried should we be about blood clots linked to AstraZeneca and J&J vaccines?
Zurich, SwitzerlandReuters US regulators have recommended pausing the use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine as they investigate rare blood clotting in six women, including one who died. J&J also said it was delaying the rollout of its vaccine in Europe. US officials said the temporary halt is expected only to last a few days. […]