Health Alerts

According to the Sept 7 WHO weekly epi update, global COVID-19 case incidence has been relatively stable for the past month, with the exception of the Americas which did see a 19 percent increase over the last week. The region was also one of two to report a rise in deaths, together with Europe (17 and 20 percent increases respectively). The agency’s Aug 31 update made mention of ‘substantial increases in case incidence’ in French Polynesia, Japan and Vietnam (up 86, 53 and 36 percent).   

In related news:

- A BBC article on the results of a study of COVID-19 infections caused by Alpha and Delta variants in more than 43,000 Britons between March and May this year: ‘Covid: Delta variant patients twice as likely to need hospital care’.

- The Mu variant of interest (VoI), first detected in Colombia in January, is one to watch according to the WHO as it has some similarities to the Beta variant which demonstrated some immune escape capabilities. Detection of the Mu variant has been highest in North America, followed by South America and Europe. Read more

- ‘mRNA COVID vaccines not tied to serious side effects’ is a CIDRAP summary of US data obtained from monitoring more than six million people post-vaccination.

- Chilean health authorities have approved the use of the Sinovac vaccine, known as Coronavac, in children over six years of age. Read more

- Moving towards digital documentation of COVID-19 status, the WHO has published its ‘Digital documentation of COVID-19 certificates: vaccination status’ which offers guidance ‘for countries and implementing partners on the technical requirements for developing digital information systems for issuing standards-based interoperable digital certificates for COVID-19 vaccination status, and considerations for implementation of such systems, for the purposes of continuity of care, and proof of vaccination’. Read more  

- Three US states have already started using so-called vaccine passports to check the use of counterfeit vaccination cards and limit new COVID-19 cases. The SMART Health Cards, which are not part of a national scheme, are currently in use in California, New York and Louisiana, with more states expected to participate in the coming months. Read more

- The WHO has established the Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin, Germany ‘to provide the world with better data, analytics and decisions to detect and respond to health emergencies’. Read more.