CDC’S MARBURG RESPONSE — Rwanda is seeing an outbreak of a highly deadly virus called Marburg, Sophie reports. In response, the CDC has taken measures to combat the potential of the virus spreading in the U.S. In an alert Thursday, the CDC said that any health care workers who were in any health facility in Rwanda — including outpatient settings or traditional healers — shouldn’t return to work in the U.S. for at least 21 days, Sophie reports. The agency also instructed public health departments to contact any health care personnel who return from a Rwanda facility, conduct an “exposure risk assessment” and give them information on self-monitoring and what to do if they develop symptoms. Public health departments must notify CDC about any high-risk exposures. “Currently, the risk of Marburg virus exposure in returning healthcare personnel is unknown,” the CDC wrote in the alert. The advisory comes as California-based drugmaker Gilead said it will send 5,000 vials of its antiviral remdesivir to Rwanda. The drug is only authorized for emergency use as a Marburg treatment in Rwanda. “Remdesivir is not approved for the treatment of MVD anywhere globally, and the safety and efficacy of this use is not known,” the California company said in a statement Thursday. No other treatments or cures are approved for the virus. Key context: At least 36 cases and 11 deaths have been reported in Rwanda that are tied to the outbreak — which hasn’t spread outside of the country. The Ebola-like virus spreads through direct contact between broken skin or mucous membranes and the body fluids of an infected person. COVID ANTIVIRALS ESCHEWED — About half of adults 65 years and older who get Covid-19 are prescribed outpatient antiviral treatments, with the oldest adults the least likely to receive treatment, according to a new CDC report. Paxlovid, a Covid antiviral drug, reduces the risk of hospitalization and death for unvaccinated patients by 87 percent, with similar results among vaccinated populations. Adults 65 and older are still at the highest risk of Covid-related hospitalizations, accounting for 70 percent of all such hospitalizations from Oct. 2023 to April 2024. According to the CDC, among more than 393,300 nonhospitalized 65+ patients who got Covid from April 2023 to September 2023, more than 48 percent of those ages 65-75, more than 43 percent of those 76-89 and about 35 percent of those 90 and older received an antiviral. Among the patients who had severe symptoms, 21 percent had received an antiviral. “In addition to vaccination and access to early sensitive diagnostics such as polymerase chain reaction testing, COVID-19 treatment should be routinely discussed with older adults with mild or moderate COVID-19,” researchers wrote.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment