Reuters Health

• Pfizer CEO Sees Annual COVID Vaccine Rather Than Frequent Boosters Pfizer Inc Chief Executive Albert Bourla said on Saturday that an annual COVID-19 vaccine would be preferable to more frequent booster shots in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
  Reuters Health Information, January 24, 2022
• Fourth COVID Vaccine Shot Raises Resistance to Serious Illness for Over-60s: Israel A fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine given to people over 60 in Israel made them three times more resistant to serious illness than thrice-vaccinated people in the same age group, Israel's Health Ministry said on Sunday.
  Reuters Health Information, January 24, 2022
• Rich Countries' Access to Foreign Nurses Raises Ethical Concerns: Group The Omicron-fuelled wave of COVID-19 infections has led wealthy countries to intensify their recruitment of nurses from poorer parts of the world, worsening dire staffing shortages in overstretched workforces there, the International Council of Nurses said.
  Reuters Health Information, January 24, 2022
• Do Not Assume COVID Pandemic Reaching 'End Game', Warns WHO The head of the World Health Organization warned on Monday that it was dangerous to assume the Omicron variant would herald the end of COVID-19's acutest phase, exhorting nations to stay focused to beat the pandemic.
  Reuters Health Information, January 24, 2022
• Depression Screening Aids Referrals for Patients With Breast Cancer Patients with breast cancer who receive depression screening as part of medical oncology checkups are more likely to receive behavioral health referrals than those who don't get screened, a clinical trial finds.
  Reuters Health Information, January 21, 2022
• Allogenic HCT Using Younger, Unrelated Donors May Curb Relapse in MDS For patients with myelodysplastic syndrome, using younger HLA-matched unrelated donors for allo-HCT was associated with better outcomes than using older matched sibling donors in a retrospective study.
  Reuters Health Information, January 21, 2022
• Antiabortion Activists March in Washington Antiabortion advocates gathered in Washington on Friday for the annual 'March for Life,' their mood boosted by recent state abortion restrictions and the possibility that the US Supreme Court could soon upend Roe v Wade ruling.
  Reuters Health Information, January 21, 2022
• Synthetic Mesh Outperforms Biological Mesh for Ventral Hernia Repair At a fraction of the cost, synthetic mesh appears to be as safe as biological mesh for ventral hernia repair and leads to significantly fewer recurrences, according to results of a clinical trial.
  Reuters Health Information, January 21, 2022
• US Opposes Plans to Strengthen World Health Organization The United States, the World Health Organization's top donor, is resisting proposals to make the agency more independent, four officials involved in the talks said.
  Reuters Health Information, January 21, 2022
• As Japan Infections Surge, So Does Risk of Pandemic Fatigue Japan on Friday acted to contain a record surge in COVID-19 cases with a return to curbs that have however shown diminishing results, while a laggard vaccine booster programme leaves many people vulnerable to breakthrough infections.
  Reuters Health Information, January 21, 2022
• People Who've Had COVID-19 May Still Benefit From Vaccine Prior to the emergence of Omicron, both people previously infected with the novel coronavirus and those vaccinated against it were at much lower risk of catching COVID-19 than peers without prior COVID-19 who remained unvaccinated, a study from the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio shows.
  Reuters Health Information, January 21, 2022
• FDA Expands Use of Remdesivir The US health regulator has expanded its approval for remdesivir.
  Reuters Health Information, January 24, 2022
• Protective Gene Variant Against COVID-19 Identified Researchers have identified a human genetic variant that appears to protect against severe COVID-19 infection, and which could serve as a target for drug development.
  Reuters Health Information, January 21, 2022
• UK Designates Omicron Sub-lineage a Variant Under Investigation The UK Health Security Agency on Friday designated a sub-lineage of the dominant and highly transmissible Omicron coronavirus variant as a variant under investigation, saying it could have a growth advantage.
  Reuters Health Information, January 21, 2022
• Italy to Set Aside 150 Mln Euros for COVID Vaccination Compensation Italy plans to set aside 150 million euros to compensate those suffering side effects from COVID-19 vaccinations, a draft decree seen by Reuters showed on Friday.
  Reuters Health Information, January 21, 2022
• WHO Recommends Reduced Dose Pfizer COVID Vaccine for Under 12s The World Health Organization on Friday recommended extending the use of a reduced dosage of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine to children aged 5 to 11 years old.
  Reuters Health Information, January 21, 2022
• EU Told to Prime for Fourth COVID Vaccine Dose, if Needed European Union health ministers were told on Friday to prepare to deploy a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccines as soon as data showed it was needed, as the bloc faces a surge in cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
  Reuters Health Information, January 21, 2022
• Is COVID Retreating in the US? Data Paints Encouraging Scenario New coronavirus cases are falling in parts of the United States hit hardest by the fast-spreading Omicron variant, according to a Reuters analysis of public health data, offering an early indication the virus might once again be in retreat.
  Reuters Health Information, January 21, 2022
• US FDA Declines to Approve Growth Hormone Deficiency Treatment The US health regulator has declined to approve the treatment for growth hormone deficiency in children that Pfizer developed with partner OPKO Health.
  Reuters Health Information, January 24, 2022
• US Will Keep Probing Diplomats' Health Incidents: Blinken The United States government will continue to investigate the possible cause of anomalous health incidents that have affected American diplomats around the world for years, US Secretary of State Blinken said on Thursday.
  Reuters Health Information, January 20, 2022