With inputs from Dr Monica Vasudev

Weekly new Covid-19 cases continue to decline globally

A decrease of 17% was noted in the weekly Covid-19 cases in the last week of October compared to the preceding week, with more than 2.3 million new cases, as per the WHO’s latest COVID-19 Weekly Epidemiological Update although the Americas and the Western Pacific Region have shown a slight uptick in cases. A decrease in testing may preclude accurate estimation of the new cases, cautions the WHO…(Source: WHO, Nov. 2, 2022).

Pfizer starts phase 1 trial of a Covid-flu combination vaccine 

Pfizer-BioNTech will soon start testing of its mRNA-based combined coronavirus and influenza vaccine in the United States. The phase 1 trial will begin with 180 volunteers…(Source: Reuters, Nov. 3, 2022)

Covid-19 and gut dysbiosis

Covid-19 is significantly associated with gut microbiome dysbiosis, states a study reported in Nature Communications. This predisposes patients to secondary blood stream infections, which may be potentially life-threatening similar to that seen among immunocompromised patients such as those with cancer…(Source: Nature Communications, Nov. 1, 2022).

A 50-folds increase in ventilation rates lowers risk of infection with Omicron

To keep the likelihood of infection less than one percent with the Alpha SARS CoV-2 variant, the required ventilation rates are 650 - 1200 m3/hour for exposure time of 15 minutes and 8000 - 14,000 m3/hour for 3 hours of exposure. For delta variant, the rates increased to 2200 - 6800 m3/hour for 15 minutes, and 26,000–80,000 m3/hour for 3 hours. For Omicron variant, the ventilation rate increased 50-folds to  5400–17,000 m3/hour for 15 minutes and 64,000–250,000 m3/hour for 3 hours. However, wearing N95 masks would reduce this requirement…(Source: Building Simulation, Oct. 19, 2022).

Include heavy menstrual bleeding as a possible side effect of mRNA vaccines, says EMA

The Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has recommended updating of the label for the Moderna and Pfizer mRNA vaccines by including heavy menstrual bleeding as a side effect. According to the committee, “there is at least a reasonable possibility that the occurrence of heavy menstrual bleeding is causally associated with these vaccines”. The bleeding has been “non-serious and temporary”…(Source: EMA, Oct. 28, 2022).