Category Archives: Infectious Diseases

Program providing free home Covid tests to US households is ending

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A dispute over who should fund the free kits will leave test sites or insurance reimbursement as the available options

The US government is suspending its program of free home tests for Covid-19 this week amid disagreements over who should pay for the initiative.

The free home tests, which have provided up to 16 tests for each household, are scheduled to come to a halt on Friday. In the future, people requiring tests for work or travel, or wanting to confirm whether they have the illness, will need to claim the costs of a home test on health insurance or seek results through federally backed testing sites.

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Monkeypox cases appear to be declining in some large US cities

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Experts say the trend in New York, Chicago and San Francisco appears to be linked to immunity and behavior changes

Monkeypox cases in some large US cities appear to be declining, matching trends seen in Europe, and experts are cautiously optimistic the outbreak may have peaked in places hit hardest by the virus.

The optimism comes just as US officials on Friday said there’s enough of a supply of monkeypox vaccine available now – though the shots aren’t getting to some of the people who need the protection the most.

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Chinese city’s residents made to queue for Covid tests in heat above 40C

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Chongqing authorities criticised for move as area faces heatwave, wildfires, severe drought and power outages

Residents of the south-western Chinese city of Chongqing have been queueing on the streets to be tested for Covid, despite extreme temperatures that have soared past 40C (104F) this week.

Photos posted on Chinese social media also showed health workers testing residents while wearing full hazmat suits in the heatwave. Other images showed that the tests were being carried out while bushfires raged in the background, prompting descriptions of the situation as “apocalyptic”.

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Togo achieves ‘major feat’ of eradicating four neglected tropical diseases

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WHO hails west African country as first in world to stamp out Guinea worm, lymphatic filariasis, sleeping sickness and trachoma

Togo has been praised by the World Health Organization for becoming the first country in the world to eliminate four neglected tropical diseases.

The WHO presented the west African country with an outstanding achievement award this week for eliminating Guinea worm, lymphatic filariasis, sleeping sickness and trachoma in just 11 years.

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Tomato flu outbreak in India spreads to two more states

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New viral infection detected in dozens of children in Kerala, and now also in Tamil Nadu and Odisha

An outbreak of a new viral infection referred to as tomato flu that was first detected in children in the southern Indian state of Kerala in May has spread to two other states.

According to an article in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine, 82 children aged under five had been diagnosed with the virus in Kerala as of 26 July.

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NSW detects first locally acquired cases of monkeypox amid concerns about vaccine shortage

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Health authorities are urging the public to remain ‘vigilant’ for symptoms as the state recorded three cases of community transmission on Sunday

The first locally acquired cases of monkeypox have been detected in New South Wales, placing health authorities on alert amid a global vaccine shortage.

The state recorded three additional cases of monkeypox on Sunday, bringing the total caseload to 42. They included one case that acquired their infection in NSW and two cases that picked up the virus “within Australia”.

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AT&T workers fight return to office push: ‘We can do the same job from home’

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Long commutes to and from work, exorbitant childcare costs, ongoing concerns over exposure to Covid cited

The Covid-19 pandemic sent millions of workers in the US from working in offices to working remotely. As unemployment benefits ended, vaccines rolled out, and reopenings expanded, employers and commercial real estate groups have been pushing to try to get workers back into offices.

But the pandemic further exposed the issues in returning to office, from long commutes to and from work, exorbitant childcare costs, ongoing concerns over exposure to Covid-19 variants and now Monkeypox, workers are pushing to keep working from home as an option as employers force a return to the office.

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At least 89 Covid deaths; Littleproud tells Nationals he’ll bring pragmatic policies to jobs summit – as it happened

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Nationals leader outlines vision for party at federal council meeting. This blog is now closed

White whale calf seen off NSW coast

There’s one newborn hogging all the attention off the NSW coast – a southern right whale calf born whiter than usual, AAP reports:

Southern right whales are mostly very dark, although some have splashes of white called a blaze.

Its white areas will darken to grey as it ages. It’s one of around one-in-30 southern right whale calves born with brindle colouring.

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WHO stresses monkeypox surge not linked to monkeys amid attack reports

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World Health Organization issues statement after reports of animals being poisoned in Brazil

The World Health Organization has stressed that monkeypox outbreaks are not linked to monkeys, following a number of reported attacks on the primates in Brazil.

“What people need to know is that the transmission we are seeing is happening between humans,” a WHO spokesperson, Margaret Harris, told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday.

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Splendour in the Grass attenders told to monitor for symptoms of meningococcal disease after Sydney man’s death

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Music festival organisers say they are notifying patrons after two infections reported in people who visited Byron Bay site

Authorities have told people who attended Splendour in the Grass to be on alert for symptoms of meningococcal disease, after reporting that one man who attended the festival had since died of the disease.

Two cases of meningococcal have been confirmed in people who attended the Byron Bay music festival, including the man in his 40s from Sydney, who died this week.

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Australia secures 450,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine

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Jab will be prioritised for at-risk groups including gay and bisexual men – especially those who travel

The Australian government has bought 450,000 doses of the monkeypox vaccine, including 22,000 that will arrive this week and next.

The third-generation Bavarian-Nordic vaccine will be prioritised for at-risk groups including gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, especially those travelling to countries with a significant outbreak.

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New Zealand unable to say when monkeypox vaccines will arrive

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As global demand for monkeypox vaccine surges, health officials say they are stuck in the queue and don’t know when jabs will be available

New Zealand health officials have revealed they are stuck in the queue to order monkeypox vaccine and are unsure when it will arrive.

Monkeypox cases continue to rise globally – more than 23,000 people in at least 75 countries have caught the virus. New Zealand confirmed a third case this week.

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New York City declares monkeypox a public health emergency

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Mayor Eric Adams says as many as 150,000 city residents could be at risk of infection and that authorities are working to get more vaccine doses

Officials in New York City declared a public health emergency due to the spread of the monkeypox virus on Saturday, calling the city “the epicenter” of the outbreak.

The announcement by the mayor, Eric Adams, and the health commissioner, Ashwin Vasan, said as many as 150,000 city residents could be at risk of infection. The declaration will allow officials to issue emergency orders under the city health code and implement measures to help slow the spread.

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Spain reports second death related to monkeypox

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Announcement comes day after report of first such death in Europe as health ministry says 4,298 cases confirmed in country

Spain reported its second monkeypox-related death on Saturday, in what is thought to be Europe’s second death from the disease in the current outbreak.

Spain reported its first death on Friday, shortly after Brazil reported the first monkeypox-related death outside Africa in the current wave of the disease.

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Spain reports first death in Europe related to monkeypox outbreak

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Announcement on Friday follows report hours earlier from Brazil of first such death outside Africa

Spain has reported what is thought to be Europe’s first monkeypox-related death in the current outbreak of the disease.

Brazil reported earlier on Friday the first monkeypox-related death outside Africa in the current wave.

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NSW issued 501 fines to children under 15 in past year for not wearing or carrying mask

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Redfern Legal Centre says $20,000 in fines issued is ‘unjust’ and ‘sets children up for failure’

About 500 children aged under 15 were fined a total of $20,000 for not wearing or carrying a mask in New South Wales in the past 12 months, including 34 who remain in an unpaid work and development scheme to reduce their debts.

The state government has faced sustained criticism for its pursuit of children over Covid rule breaches, particularly given the confusing and shifting nature of public health orders and the disproportionate impact Covid fines are having on the most disadvantaged.

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Thai researchers test wastewater to track spread of monkeypox

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Monitoring sewage thought to be a quicker, more cost-effective way to understand the spread of the virus

Researchers in Thailand are examining wastewater for signs of monkeypox, as part of surveillance efforts to detect the spread of the virus.

Academics from Naresuan University, in Phitsanulok province, northern Thailand, began testing sewage at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport in May, adopting a technique that has also been used to track the spread of Covid-19.

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UK needs urgent vaccine drive to curb monkeypox, campaigners say

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Terrence Higgins Trust says action must be stepped up to prevent disease becoming endemic

Health authorities are underestimating the scale of the response required to stop monkeypox becoming endemic in the UK, sexual health campaigners have warned, as a new vaccination drive is launched.

The Terrence Higgins Trust urged the NHS and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to urgently pump cash into the system to pay more healthcare workers to administer vaccines. It also wants the number of doses ordered to be doubled to protect against a virus that has infected at least 2,208 people in the UK, according to the latest official figures.

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‘Covid is not going to go away’: Australia will require public health measures for foreseeable future, say experts

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Vaccine inequity and emerging variants mean the future of the pandemic is increasingly uncertain, researchers say

In May 2021, Australia’s chief medical officer, Prof Paul Kelly, described how Covid vaccines were our “ticket out of the pandemic”. Vaccination, he said, would give Australians “a life with more certainty”.

More than one year later, Australia’s Covid-19 vaccination rate is among the highest in the world.

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