As the world continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, marked by its unprecedented global impact, societies are navigating a landscape shaped by progress, challenges, and enduring lessons. From the initial emergence of the novel coronavirus to the ongoing vaccination efforts and the evolving public health response, the journey through the pandemic has been fraught with uncertainty and resilience. In this comprehensive analysis, we explore the multifaceted aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic, shedding light on the progress made, the challenges faced, and the lessons learned along the way.
Progress in Vaccination Efforts
One of the most significant milestones in the fight against COVID-19 has been the development and deployment of vaccines on an unprecedented scale. Since the approval of the first COVID-19 vaccines in late 2020, millions of doses have been administered worldwide, offering hope for a path out of the pandemic. Vaccination efforts have played a crucial role in reducing severe illness, hospitalizations, and deaths, providing a glimmer of optimism amidst the ongoing challenges.
Global Collaboration and Scientific Advancements
The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of global collaboration and scientific advancements in addressing public health crises. From the rapid sequencing of the virus's genome to the development of innovative diagnostic tests and therapeutics, the collective efforts of scientists, researchers, and healthcare professionals have been instrumental in understanding and combating the virus. International cooperation through initiatives such as COVAX has facilitated equitable access to vaccines, highlighting the need for solidarity in the face of a shared global threat.
Challenges in Containment and Mitigation
Despite progress in vaccination efforts, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to present formidable challenges in containment and mitigation. The emergence of new variants, such as Delta and Omicron, has underscored the virus's ability to evolve and adapt, posing challenges to vaccine efficacy and public health measures. Additionally, disparities in vaccine distribution and uptake, coupled with vaccine hesitancy and misinformation, have hindered efforts to achieve herd immunity and control transmission rates in certain regions.
Socioeconomic Impacts and Health Inequities
The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare existing socioeconomic disparities and health inequities, disproportionately affecting marginalized communities and vulnerable populations. From the economic repercussions of widespread lockdowns to the strain on healthcare systems and essential workers, the pandemic has exacerbated inequalities and deepened existing divides. Addressing these disparities requires a comprehensive approach that prioritizes equitable access to healthcare, economic support, and social services for all.
Resilience and Adaptability
Amidst the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, societies have demonstrated remarkable resilience and adaptability in navigating uncertain terrain. From the rapid implementation of public health measures to the adoption of remote work and virtual learning, individuals and communities have adapted to new realities with creativity and perseverance. The pandemic has sparked innovation in healthcare delivery, technology, and education, laying the groundwork for transformative changes in the post-pandemic world.
Lessons Learned and Future Preparedness
As the world continues to navigate the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there are valuable lessons to be learned and applied to future public health crises. The importance of early detection and rapid response, robust healthcare infrastructure, and evidence-based communication strategies cannot be overstated. Additionally, fostering resilience, solidarity, and global cooperation are essential for building a more resilient and prepared society in the face of emerging threats.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a transformative and defining moment in modern history, reshaping societies and economies in profound ways. While progress has been made in vaccination efforts and scientific advancements, challenges in containment, health equity, and socioeconomic recovery persist. As the world continues to navigate the complexities of the pandemic, resilience, solidarity, and collective action remain paramount in shaping a brighter and more resilient future for all.
Image by Enrique from Pixabay
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the pathogen responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), hasbeen associated with the manifestation of adversepulmonary conditions, such as pneumonia and acute respiratory distresssyndrome (ARDS).A recentNature Communicationsstudy identifies ferroptosis as amajorcell death mechanism underlying COVID-19 lung disease.
Study:Fatal COVID-19 pulmonary disease involves ferroptosis.Image Credit: Mang E / Shutterstock.com
Both acute and non-acute pulmonary damage havebeen associatedwith COVID-19. Severely infected COVID-19 patients often develop ARDS, which accounts for high mortality and poor prognosis.
Lung histology of patients with ARDS has indicated acute lung injury (ALI), particularly diffuse alveolar damage (DAD).The early stage of ARDS has been characterized byedema, hyaline membranes, and fibrosis.Non-acute lung injury (non-ALI) of COVID-19 patients includesmicrothrombi and pulmonary vascular congestion with hemangiomatosis-like changes.
COVID-19 pulmonary pathology hasbeen associatedwith host inflammatory responses, including the cytokine storm and viral infection damage. Chronic immuneresponsesinduced by macrophages and neutrophils aggravate pulmonary tissue damage. Furthermore, immune cells lead to a release of reactive oxygen species and free radicals,therebycausing oxidative injury.
Although many supportive treatments, such as mechanical ventilation and intubation, are used to alleviate the pulmonary symptoms of COVID-19, there is no specific cure for this disease. As a result, patients with COVID-19 ARDSare often treatedwith a combination of anti-inflammatory and anti-viral medications.
In addition to protease inhibitors, immunomodulatory drugs, such as interleukin 6 (IL-6) receptor inhibitors and corticosteroids, have improved survival rates among severely infected patients.Although many studies on COVID-19 havebeen conducted,additional studies are needed to improve our understanding of the pathogenesis of this disease and ultimately develop targeted and more effective therapeutic strategies.
Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent non-apoptotic form of celldeath characterized by extensive peroxidation of phospholipids containing polyunsaturated fatty acyl tails (PL-PUFAs). Lipid peroxidation adversely impacts the cellular repair system, particularly the ferroptosis suppressor protein 1 (FSP1), glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) pathway, and GTP cyclohydrolase 1 (GCH1) pathway, which ultimately leads to cell death.
Previous studies have reported that SARS-CoV-2 infection inducespro-ferroptosis molecular changes, which may lead to ferroptosis in the lungs.Modification ofiron homeostasis proteins andaccumulation ofreactive iron may lead to a disruption of iron metabolism in the lungs.
The current study involved the analysis of autopsy samplesobtained from patients who died from respiratory failure caused by severeSARS-CoV-2 infection with both ALI and non-ALI pathologies. Mild COVID-19 lung explantswere also collectedfrom patients who recovered from the infection.
Control lung samples included resections of pneumothorax lungs and neoplastic lungs, which did not exhibit any signs of SARS-CoV-2 infection or other types of lung injury. Non-COVID-19 control lung autopsies with ALI were also obtained from individuals who died from respiratory failure before the pandemic. Serum samples of all patients were collected to determine ferritin levels.
Molecular features responsible for pulmonary pathologies in human lung autopsies and a hamster model were evaluated. Mass-spectrometry-based lipidomicswas also performedto assessthe lipid profile of COVID-19 patient lung autopsies.
Post-mortem COVID-19 lung autopsy samples indicated an elevated level of ferroptosis markers, as well as increased iron dysregulation, lipid peroxidation, and lysophospholipids, as well as depletion in PL-PUFAs.
Inboth ALI and non-ALI fatal COVID-19 lung samples, a significant increase in ferroptosis featureswas observed. Blood accumulation was observed in lung parenchyma,whichindicatesintracerebral hemorrhage due to ferroptosis.Dead blood cells release cytotoxic agents and iron into the adjacent cells,whichincreasesinflammation and tissue damage.
Consistent with previous research, the current study reports the presence of high serum ferritin and ferritin light chain in the lung tissue of severe COVID-19 samples. Iron-rich extracellular vesicles secreted by ferroptotic cells, including macrophages, spread cell-death signals to their surroundings and increase tissue damage.
Mechanistically, ferric ammonium citrate (FAC) activates lipid peroxidation in primary lung epithelial cells, whichwas suppressedby ferroptosis inhibitors, ferrostatin-1 and liproxstatin-1.
Lipidomics analysis revealed a significant depletion of PL-PUFAs, dipalmitoyl-phosphatidylcholine, andpalmitoyl-oleoyl-PG,as well as an accumulation of lysophospholipids in severe COVID-19 lungs. These couldbe attributedto the formation of hyaline membranes in COVID-19 ALI.
A Syrian hamster model of COVID-19 revealed a robust correlation between ferroptosis markers (TfR1) and the lipid peroxidation product 4 hydroxynonenal-4-HNEwith lung injury severity.
The current study identified ferroptosis as akeycell death mechanism associated with COVID-19 lung disease. Analysis of human COVID-19 lung tissue exhibited unique molecular features of ferroptosis in severe lung pathologies. This observation was supported by the Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, which highlighted an association of ferroptosis with lung pathology.
Considering the role of ferroptosis in the lung pathology of SARS-CoV-2 infection, therapeutics capable of suppressing iron-dependent cell death could be effective in treating severe COVID-19.
Journal reference:
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reports it has seen a very small uptick in Covid-19 cases.
The department statistics from May 10 to 15, the most recent data available, show an average of 82 to 92 COVID-19 cases per day, an increase from earlier in the spring.
There were an average of 60 to 80 new cases a day between March 25 and May 9, L.A. County health officials said. The case counts dont include home tests or infections among people who dont test.
The statistics show coronavirus concentrations in sewage rising statewide.
The trend comes as the latest family of coronavirus subvariants, collectively nicknamed FLiRT, have made significant gains nationally.
COVID-19 concentrations in wastewater have suggested increases in several regions across California since early May. Test positivity for COVID-19 has been slowly increasing since May, the state Department of Public Health said in a statement to The Los Angeles Times on Friday.
Its too soon to tell if this very small increase in recent days will become a sustained uptick. These case counts are low, making it difficult at this time to assess real trends, the L.A. County Department of Public Health said.
Coronavirus levels in L.A. County wastewater remain relatively stable, at 9% of last winters peak.
2024 PMC. All rights reserved.
A variant known as KP.2 continues to dominate as the top cause of COVID-19 in the United States, and latest data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that its spread has become faster over this month.
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The strain, which accounted for 16 percent of cases at the end of April, now makes up more than 28 percent of COVID-19 infections.
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Another FLiRT variant KP.1.1, which is responsible for 7.5 percent of infections, appears to be gaining momentum as well.
While KP.2 and KP.1.1 are spreading fast, there is no indication that they are more dangerous than other recent prevalent strains, such as JN.1, which is also part of the omicron family.
There does not appear to be anything new regarding symptoms from the FLiRT variants; however, it may be too early to know and we should monitor for this, says Krutika Kuppalli, MD, a former medical officer for COVID-19 health operations at the World Health Organization.
On X, formerly known as Twitter, the CDC noted that these strains are not causing any higher level of severe illness.
At this point, common symptoms of the new COVID variants KP.2 and others in the FLiRT strain continue to be:
Even though KP.2 may be better able to evade immune defenses, most people will experience only mild symptoms because vaccination or prior infection has provided them with sufficient protection to fight off severe illness, according to Dr. Kuppalli.
Peter Chin-Hong, MD, a professor of medicine at the University of California in San Francisco who specializes in infectious diseases, agrees that symptoms so far appear to be similar to those caused by previous recent variants.
He does caution, however, that in some people who lose their sense of taste and smell a once-common symptom that has become more rare shortness of breath may soon follow.
Difficulty breathing may set in about seven days after the onset of [these] symptoms and some patients will get very sick, says Dr. Chin-Hong.
The CDC continues to warn that older adults are at highest risk of getting very sick from COVID-19, and more than 81 percent of COVID-19 deaths occur in people over age 65.
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With the highly transmissible KP.2 variant in circulation, health authorities expect a rise in infections as we head into the summer months.
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Its important to remember that we are still in a pandemic, its just that the public health emergency of international concern has been lifted, says Kuppalli, who also serves on the Global Health Committee for theInfectious Disease Society of America. The virus continues to evolve so its important for us to monitor for these changes and adjust accordingly.
Youd think if there were a vaccine that would prevent tens of thousands of cases of cancer a year, people would want it for themselves and for their kids.
But new data being released Thursday ahead of the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology show that just isnt the case.
The data showed that the vaccine reduced the risk of HPV-related cancers by 56% in men and 36% in women numbers that actually probably understate the efficacy of the vaccine because participants in this observational study likely got the vaccine too late to prevent all HPV infections. The data were analyzed by researchers led by Jefferson DeKloe, a research fellow at Thomas Jefferson University.
That shouldnt really be news. Its been clear since the main HPV vaccine, Gardasil, was first introduced by Merck in 2006 that it decreases the risk of both human papillomavirus infection and the precancerous lesions it causes in the cervix.
But in 1999, a researcher named Maura Gillison found that the vaccine might have another benefit. She was one of the first to document that throat cancer in men, like cervical cancer in women, was likely caused by HPV, which is usually sexually transmitted.
Data were much slower to emerge about how well the vaccine worked at preventing throat cancer, but such cancers have turned out to be a big problem. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that about 37,000 cancers are caused by HPV annually. Of these, 12,500 are oropharyngeal cancers in men and 10,500 are cancers of the cervix. More rarely, the virus causes cancers of the anus, penis, vagina, and vulva.
The data being presented at ASCO are based on the rates of HPV in a giant database of electronic health records from 90 million patients collected by TriNetX, a private company in the business of using such data to conduct observational studies. The researchers were able to compare roughly 1.7 million patients vaccinated for HPV with roughly the same number of age-matched control patients with no prior HPV vaccination. A total of 56% were female, 53% were white, 21% were Black/African American, with a mix of people of other backgrounds represented.
There are problems with this setup that actually make it tougher for the vaccine. For instance, some patients who had cervical lesions were known to get the vaccine after the lesions had shown up, and people might be getting the vaccine after they had already been infected with HPV, which takes many, many years to cause cancer. Its also possible that some people who were included in the control group somehow got the vaccine and it wasnt recorded, which would make the vaccine appear less effective.
Still, the results were dramatic. Vaccinated males had 3.4 cases of HPV-linked cancer per 100,000 patients compared to 7.5 per 100,000 unvaccinated patients. Vaccinated females had 11.5 cases per 100,000 patients compared to 15.8 per 100,000 unvaccinated patients.
We know from other studies that the vaccine can be far more effective than that when given when women are young. A recent study in Scotland found that no cases of cervical cancer were found in women who were vaccinated before they were 14 years old.
But another study being presented at ASCO found that rates of HPV vaccination in adolescents and young adults in the U.S. improved from 7.8% to 36.4% of males and from 37.7% to 49.4% of females between 2011 and March 2020 meaning most people are still not being vaccinated.
There are many reasons for this, including the rising wave of vaccine skepticism and hesitancy that was present in the U.S. even before the Covid-19 pandemic. But its a shame.
Merck did its fair share of inadvisable political jockeying when it came to launching Gardasil, and it has certainly reaped profits from selling the vaccine; sales grew 29% to $8.9 billion last year. But the story of the vaccine was also the story of a researcher, Kathrin Jansen, who pushed the vaccine through despite internal skepticism at the drugmaker. Shed later run Pfizers vaccine effort during the pandemic.
There is not really any debate, at this point, that this vaccine would prevent tens of thousands of cases of cancer a year if it were used more widely. Its a miraculous product, and we should be using it.
A bird flu outbreak could spur demand for vaccines from these key players, but is it likely?
Shares of vaccine stocks Moderna (MRNA 1.58%), Novavax (NVAX 2.31%), and BioNTech SE (BNTX -2.07%) rallied this week, appreciating 23.4%, 16.4%, and 9.3%, respectively, through Thursday trading, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
While these three stocks gained notoriety back in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, it appears this week's detection of avian bird flu in a second U.S. citizen and the first-ever detection of avian flu in a human in Australia are spurring fears of an outbreak and thus a possible boon for companies that can quickly produce a bird flu vaccine.
A new avian flu, H5N1, was detected in cattle back in March, with one worker in Texas coming down with associated conjunctivitis at that time. But on Wednesday this week, a second U.S. dairy worker in Michigan tested positive for the avian flu as well. That same day, an Australian dairy worker also tested positive for avian flu, marking the first-ever human case of avian flu in that country.
The discoveries spurred fears of an outbreak. That same day, the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response at the Department of Health and Human Services, Dawn O'Connell, noted that Moderna and Pfizer (PFE 0.66%), which partnered with BioNTech on the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, were in talks over a potential mRNA vaccine program for the new avian flu.
Unlike the COVID-19 pandemic, when the U.S. government subsidized private companies to make the COVID-19 vaccine, the government actually has a stockpile of H5N1 virus candidates that could be used to make vaccines. If used, the resulting shots would actually be a government vaccine, although the government would hire private companies to help manufacture the drug. However, federal officials have said the government would only be able to supply 135 million doses, and every person would require two shots. So, that would only vaccinate about 68 million out of 330 million people.
Avian flu detection spurred the stocks of vaccine-makers this week. Image source: Getty Images.
Therefore, the government appears to be looking for ways to supplement its supply should the current bird flu become highly transmissible between humans. In a response to Barron's Magazine, Moderna confirmed that it was already in a Phase II study for an avian flu that's in the same family as the H5N1 strain.
While Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech are currently in talks with the government, Novavax also confirmed earlier in the month that it's currently conducting a pre-clinical study for an avian flu shot. Novavax has its own unique "nano-particle" protein-based approach to vaccines that's different from Moderna and BioNTech and has attempted to advertise its COVID shots as having fewer harsh side effects than the others, even though it was later to market than Moderna and BioNTech.
Furthermore, the company just inked a landmark partnership and licensing deal with French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi earlier this month, which agreed to license Novavax's technology. Of note, Sanofi already manufactures "regular" flu shots, so their combined efforts may also yield something for avian flu.
Unfortunately for the vaccine makers, but fortunately for the rest of us, it's still a low probability that avian flu will cause a genuine widespread outbreak. While people have been fearing for years that avian flu could jump to humans and then spread easily between humans, thus far, the positive cases only appear to be in dairy workers directly exposed to infected cattle.
While avian flu could potentially mutate into a human-transmissible disease, it appears the stock moves across these vaccine developers this week may be a tad premature.
Billy Duberstein has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. His clients may own shares of the companies mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Pfizer. The Motley Fool recommends BioNTech Se and Moderna. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
CDC / Stephanie Rossow
A surveillancestudy found that carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) infections occur less frequently than extended-spectrum beta-lactamaseproducing Enterobacterales (ESBL-E) infections in US children, researchers reported today in Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Led by researchers with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Emerging Infections Program (EIP), the surveillance study analyzed CRE incidence in children in 10 states from 2016 through 2020 and ESBL-E incidence in children in six states from 2019 through 2020. While most US studies have focused on the prevalence and epidemiology of these multidrug-resistant pathogens in adults, nationwide data on children are lacking.
From 2016 through 2020, a total of 159 incident CRE cases were identified in 142 children (median age, 5 years). Most CRE isolates were from urine (82.4%), and the most commonly reported infection type was lower urinary tract infection (UTI, 56.3%). The overall annual CRE incidence rate across the 10 EIP sites was 0.70 cases per 100,000 children.
From 2019 through 2020, 207 incident ESBL-E cases were identified in 184 children, with 94.7% of isolates found in urine and UTIs accounting for 74% of cases. The overall annual ESBL-E incidence rate was 23.08. CRE and ESBL-E incidence rates were more than two-fold higher in infants than in other age-groups and were nearly always higher for girls than boys, except in the youngest age-group.
Most CRE and ESBL-E cases were healthcare-associated community-onset (43.0% for CRE vs 23.7% for ESBL-E) or community-associated (27.2% for CRE vs 64.5% for ESBL-E). A greater proportion of children with CRE than ESBL-E underwent acute care hospitalization (46.8% vs 22.5%) or surgery (38.6% vs 9.5%) within 1 year before specimen collection, while ESBL-E cases were significantly more likely than CRE cases to have no reported healthcare exposures (65.1% vs 27.2%).
The study authors say the increasing prevalence of community-associated ESBL-E UTIs mirrors trends observed in adult patients and highlights the need to monitor pediatric populations for these pathogens.
"Continued implementation of national programs to detect, prevent, and treat multidrug-resistant infections must increasingly include pediatric populations and outpatient settings," they wrote.
Shares of several vaccine makers soared after reports suggest that the Biden administration is in discussions with Moderna MRNA and Pfizer PFE to set up a possible vaccine program aimed at preventing the spread of the H5N1 virus, also known as bird flu, in humans.
These reports came to light after the discovery of two cases of H5N1 virus in dairy farm workers in Texas and Michigan this year. Both these workers experienced symptoms in the eye after coming into contact with dairy cows infected with the H5N1 virus.
Though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that the risk to the general public remains low, due to lack of evidence of human-to-human transmission. However, the regulatory body remains vigilant and is even using its flu surveillance systems to monitor for H5N1 activity.
Per the latest CDC data, nine states have confirmed bird flu cases in cows, with 52 dairy herds affected.
In response to the reports, shares of Moderna, Pfizer, Novavax NVAX, CureVac CVAC and BioNTech rose 13.7%, 3.6%, 5.3%, 18.8% and 11.1%, respectively, on Wednesday.
Some vaccine makers mentioned above are already developing a vaccine for bird flu. An article from Barrons reported that Moderna is evaluating its bird flu vaccine in a mid-stage study.
Earlier this month, Novavax mentioned that it is conducting pre-clinical studies on a vaccine for H5N1 bird flu. NVAX claimed that this vaccine uses a new approach for immunizing against the virus.
Last month, CureVac announced that it has started a phase I/II study on its bird flu vaccine. CureVac is developing this investigational mRNA-based vaccine in collaboration with GSK.
The signs of a potential bird flu transmission have provided some respite to these vaccine-focused stocks, especially for those involved in the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out. Vaccine makers, especially Moderna and Pfizer, have been suffering a heavy beatdown in product sales and market value as COVID-19 cases have significantly dropped compared with the last couple of years. Investors are counting on these companies to lead the fight against the next pandemic if one does arise.
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New research suggests that the HPV vaccine prevents cancer in men as well as in women, but fewer boys than girls are getting the shots in the United States.
The studies released by the American Society of Clinical Oncology will be presented in Chicago at the organizations yearly meeting, which will bring 40,000 doctors to McCormick Place starting Thursday for one of the biggest medical conferences in the world.
The shot for HPV the human papillomavirus was developed to prevent cervical cancer in women. Experts credit the vaccine, sold under the brand name Gardasil, and improved screening with lowering cervical cancer rates.
Its taken longer to document that the shots prevent HPV-related cancers in men, too. But the new research suggests that vaccinated men have fewer cancers of the mouth and throat compared to those who didnt get the shots. These cancers are more than twice as common among men as in women.
In the United States, the HPV vaccine has been recommended since 2006 for girls 11 or 12 years old and since 2011 for boys the same age. Catch-up shots are recommended for anyone up to 26 years old who hasnt been vaccinated.
Parents of boys not just girls should know that HPV vaccines lower cancer risk, says Jasmin Tiro of the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center, who wasnt involved in the research.
And young men who havent been vaccinated can still get the shots, she says: Its really important that teenagers get exposed to the vaccine before theyre exposed to the virus, she says.
Jasmin Tiro of the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center on the HPV vaccine: Its really important that teenagers get exposed to the vaccine before theyre exposed to the virus.
For the new research, scientists compared information on 3.4 million people of similar ages half of them vaccinated versus half unvaccinated from a large health care dataset.
As expected, the vaccinated women had a lower risk of developing cervical cancer within at least five years of having gotten the shots.
For men, there were benefits, too. Vaccinated men had a lower risk of developing any HPV-related cancer, including cancers of the anus, penis and mouth and throat.
These cancers take years to develop, so the numbers were low. There were 57 HPV-related cancers among the unvaccinated men mostly head and neck cancers compared to 26 among the men who had gotten the HPV vaccine.
We think the maximum benefit from the vaccine will actually happen in the next two or three decades, says Dr. Joseph Curry, a co-author of the study, who is a head and neck surgeon at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia. What were showing here is an early wave of effect.
A second study published by the oncologists organization thats also being presented at the ASCO conference found vaccination rates rising but with the numbers of boys and young men lagging behind girls and young women in getting the HPV shots.
Dr. Danh Nguyen of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, co-author of a new study: More boys and young men are being vaccinated against HPV, but the numbers are still far fewer than the number of girls and young women who get the shot.
HPV is very common and is spread through sex. Most HPV infections cause no symptoms and clear up without treatment. But others develop into one of several types of cancer causing about 37,000 cases a year, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For the second study, the researchers looked at self- and parent-reported HPV vaccination rates among preteens and young adults in a large government survey. From 2011 to 2020, the number of those vaccination rates among female patients rose from 38% to 49% and among male patients from 8% to 36%.
HPV vaccine uptake among young males increased by more than fourfold over the last decade, though vaccination rates among young males still fall behind females, says Dr. Danh Nguyen of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, who was a co-author of the study.
LILANDA, Zambia (AP) Extreme weather events have hit parts of Africa relentlessly in the last three years, with tropical storms, floods and drought causing crises of hunger and displacement. They leave another deadly threat behind them: some of the continents worst outbreaks of cholera.
In southern and East Africa, more than 6,000 people have died and nearly 350,000 cases have been reported since a series of cholera outbreaks began in late 2021.
Children fetch water using a wheelbarrow in Lilanda township in Lusaka, Zambia, Saturday March 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
Malawi and Zambia have had their worst outbreaks on record. Zimbabwe has had multiple waves. Mozambique, Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia also have been badly affected.
All have experienced floods or drought in some cases, both and health authorities, scientists and aid agencies say the unprecedented surge of the water-borne bacterial infection in Africa is the newest example of how extreme weather is playing a role in driving disease outbreaks.
The outbreaks are getting much larger because the extreme climate events are getting much more common, said Tulio de Oliveira, a South Africa-based scientist who studies diseases in the developing world.
A young girl fetches water from a well in Lilanda township in Lusaka, Zambia, Saturday March 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
De Oliveira, who led a team that identified new coronavirus variants during the COVID-19 pandemic, said southern Africas latest outbreaks can be traced to the cyclones and floods that hit Malawi in late 2021 and early 2022, carrying the cholera bacteria to areas it doesnt normally reach.
Zimbabwe and Zambia have seen cases rise as they wrestle with severe droughts and people rely on less safe sources of water in their desperation like boreholes, shallow wells and rivers, which can all be contaminated. Days after the deadly flooding in Kenya and other parts of East Africa this month, cholera cases appeared.
The World Health Organization calls cholera a disease of poverty, as it thrives where there is poor sanitation and a lack of clean water. Africa has had eight times as many deaths this year as the Middle East, the second-most affected region.
A nurse exits from a cholera treatment centre in Lusaka, Zambia, Saturday, March 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
Historically vulnerable, Africa is even more at risk as it faces the worst impacts of climate change as well as the effect of the El Nio weather phenomenon, health experts say.
In whats become a perfect storm, theres also a global shortage of cholera vaccines, which are needed only in poorer countries.
It doesnt affect countries with resources, said Dr. Daniela Garone, the international medical coordinator for Doctors Without Borders, also known by its French acronym MSF. So, it doesnt bring the resources.
Billions of dollars have been invested into other diseases that predominantly affect the worlds most vulnerable, like polio and tuberculosis, largely because those diseases are highly contagious and could cause outbreaks even in rich countries. But thats not the case with cholera, where epidemics remain contained.
WHO said this month there is a critical shortage of oral cholera vaccines in the global stockpile. Since the start of 2023, 15 countries the desperate few have requested a total of 82 million doses to deal with deadly outbreaks while only 46 million doses were available.
There are just 3.2 million doses left, below the target of having at least 5 million in reserve. While there are currently cholera epidemics in the Middle East, the Americas and Southeast Asia, Africa is by far the worst-affected region.
Vaccines alliance GAVI and UNICEF said last month that the approval of a new cholera vaccine would boost stocks. But the result of the shortage has already been measured in deaths.
Lilanda, a township on the edge of the Zambian capital of Lusaka, is a typical cholera hot spot. Stagnant pools of water dot the dirt roads. Clean water is like gold dust. Here, over two awful days in January, Mildred Banda saw her 1-year-old son die from cholera and rushed to save the life of her teenage daughter.
Children play near stagnant pools of water in Lilanda township in Lusaka, Zambia, Saturday March 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
Cholera shouldnt be killing anyone. The disease is easily treated and easily prevented and the vaccines are relatively simple to produce.
That didnt help Bandas son, Ndanji.
When he fell sick with diarrhea, he was treated with an oral rehydration solution at a clinic and released. He slipped back into dehydration that night at home. Banda feels terrible guilt.
I should have noticed earlier that my son was not feeling well, she said, sitting in her tiny concrete house. I should have acted faster and taken him back to the clinic. I should have taken him back to save his life.
Because of the vaccine shortage, Zambia couldnt undertake a preventative vaccination campaign after neighboring Malawis outbreak. That should have been a warning call, said de Oliveira. Zambia only made an emergency request when its cases started mounting.
FILE - People gather on a bridge after floodwater washed away houses near Nakuru, Kenya, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga, file)
The doses that might have saved Ndanji started arriving in mid-January. He died on Jan. 6.
In Zimbabwe, a drought worsened by El Nio has seen cholera take hold in distant rural areas as well as its traditional hot spots of crowded urban neighborhoods.
Abi Kebra Belaye, MSF representative for Zimbabwe, said the southern African nation normally has around 17 hard-hit areas, mostly urban. This year, cholera spread to 62 districts as the struggle to find water heightened the risk.
This part of Africa is paying the highest price of climate change, Kebra Belaye said.
Augustine Chonyera, who hails from a cholera-prone part of the capital, Harare, was shocked when he recently visited the sparsely populated rural district of Buhera.
FILE - A family uses a boat after fleeing floodwaters that wreaked havoc in the Githurai area of Nairobi, Kenya, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Patrick Ngugi, File)
He said he heard grim tales of the impact of the disease: a family losing five members, a husband and wife dying within hours of each other and local businesses using delivery trucks to take the sick to a clinic several kilometers (miles) away.
It seems now the people in rural areas are in more danger than us. I still wonder how it happened, Chonyera said.
He said he returned home as soon as he could after giving a large bottle of treated water he had brought with him to an elderly woman.
Mutsaka reported from Harare, Zimbabwe. Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa.
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