Pandemic Watch News Brief: The news you need to know

View this email in your browser ([link removed])
AVAC's weekly Pandemic Watch is a curated news digest on the latest pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response (PPPR) news and resources.
"[The Johnson & Johnson TB Drug Agreement] hasn’t done anything to dismantle or even acknowledge how insidious the practice of patent evergreening is. These secondary patents are an issue across the board for lots of drugs that should be considered public goods.”
-- Lindsey McKenna from T ([link removed]) reatment Action Group (TAG) ([link removed]) in Science ([link removed])


** Table of Contents
------------------------------------------------------------
* If You Are in a Hurry (#If You Are in a Hurry)
* Continued Push for Vaccine Manufacturing in Global South (#Continued Push for Vaccine Manufacturing in Global South)
* Childhood Vaccines Recovering…. In Some Places (#Childhood Vaccines Recovering…. In Some Places)
* New RSV Antibody Approved by US FDA (#New RSV Antibody Approved by US FDA)
* Potential Measles Outbreak in London (#Potential Measles Outbreak in London)
* Politics, Trust and Public Health in the US (#Politics, Trust and Public Health in the US)
* US Suspends Funding to Wuhan Lab (#US Suspends Funding to Wuhan Lab)
* Bird Flu Concerns (#Bird Flu Concerns)
* Pandemic Accord Negotiations Resume (#Pandemic Accord Negotiations Resume)
* Dogs Detect COVID-19 (#Dogs Detect COVID-19)

There’s some good news (with caveats) on TB drug access this week. The Guardian ([link removed]) (UK) reports, “Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson has struck a deal to allow generic versions of its tuberculosis drug to be supplied to low-income countries – but the deal ([link removed]) has been criticised for not going far enough to end the company’s monopoly on global supplies of bedaquiline. The global patent of the drug ends on Tuesday 18 July, but in a number of countries Johnson & Johnson continues to control the market with secondary patents – for which small modifications are made to a product to extend a patent…. J&J’s decision will allow the Stop TB Partnership coalition to procure and supply generic bedaquiline to 44 low- and middle-income countries through its Global Drug Facility (GDF).

But activist say the action doesn’t go far enough. Science ([link removed]) (US) quotes TAG’s Lindsay McKenna, who says the agreement “hasn’t done anything to dismantle or even acknowledge how insidious the practice of patent evergreening is. These secondary patents are an issue across the board for lots of drugs that should be considered public goods.”



** If You Are in a Hurry
------------------------------------------------------------
* Read an update on the mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub in The Washington Post ([link removed]) .
* Read Reuters ([link removed]) and STAT ([link removed]) on upticks in childhood vaccinations in some countries, but not all.
* Read STAT ([link removed]) on a new RSV antibody for infants.
* Read Medscape ([link removed]) on increasing violence against healthcare workers in the US, caused in part by misinformation.
* Then read an opinion in MedPage Today ([link removed]) on the erosion of trust in public health driven my politics and misinformation.
* Read Vox ([link removed]) for the latest information on an ongoing global bird flu outbreak and what it could mean for humans.




** Continued Push for Vaccine Manufacturing in Global South
------------------------------------------------------------

Amy Maxmen reports in The Washington Post ([link removed]) (US) on the mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub, conceived to develop and manufacture vaccines in the global south to work around rich country hoarding of vaccines and intellectual property. “Now, two years after the initiative’s start, the market for coronavirus vaccines has dwindled, and governments have turned their attention to other emergencies, such as the war in Ukraine. But the groups involved with the project continue to push forward…. the initiative is distinct from the typical, competitive mode of drug development in which companies keep discoveries secret…. [One] reason for hope is that the mRNA initiative has sustained interest from influential groups, including the biggest buyer of vaccines for lower-income countries, the Gavi vaccine alliance. Gavi has pledged support by offering to pay extra for vaccines produced in Africa — although it hasn’t contributed
money to the effort…”



** Childhood Vaccines Recovering…. In Some Places
------------------------------------------------------------

Reuters ([link removed]) (UK) reports, “Efforts to vaccinate children worldwide against deadly diseases such as measles and diphtheria began to recover in 2022 after a historic backslide caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new figures from [WHO and UNICEF].... But the recovery remains uneven, with strong bouncebacks in large lower-middle income countries such as India and Indonesia masking ongoing problems in many smaller and poorer countries, the agencies said in a statement released on Tuesday…. Of the 73 countries that saw substantial declines in routine coverage during the pandemic, 34 – including countries such as Angola to Syria - have seen no improvement since or even got worse. Fifteen have recovered to pre-pandemic levels, and 24 were on the route to recovery, the WHO and UNICEF said.”

STAT ([link removed]) (US) reports, “One bright spot in the report was the data on HPV vaccinations, which are given to preteens with the goal of protecting them from the infection that causes 90 percent of cases of cervical cancer. HPV vaccination rates surpassed pre-pandemic levels to reach 21 percent of girls globally in 2022, compared with 19 percent in 2019. That said, HPV vaccine rates have a long way to go to achieve the UN’s goal of reaching 90 percent of girls worldwide by 2030.



** New RSV Antibody Approved by US FDA
------------------------------------------------------------

STAT ([link removed]) (US) reports the US FDA “approved a monoclonal antibody to protect infants and young children from severe illness caused by RSV on Monday, a potential game-changer for a disease that is the No. 1 cause of hospitalization of babies in this country…. A special meeting of the [CDC advisory committee on immunization practices] has been set for Aug. 3 to vote on whether to recommend the antibody, and on whether to add it to the Vaccines for Children program, which would require the federal government to pay for it for children without health insurance…. Both the monoclonal antibodies and the maternal vaccine may also run into acceptance issues. Some people are reluctant to be vaccinated during pregnancy, and even those who agree to some vaccines may be hesitant to add another shot to a growing list of jabs — influenza, COVID-19, the combined tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis
vaccine — that they are urged to get while pregnant.”



** Potential Measles Outbreak in London
------------------------------------------------------------

The Guardian ([link removed]) (UK) reports, “London is at risk of a major measles outbreak that could result in tens of thousands of cases, the UK Health Security Agency has warned. Without an improvement in MMR vaccination rates, the capital could experience an outbreak of between 40,000 and 160,0000 cases, fresh analysis by the UKHSA suggests. Experts said an outbreak of this scale could lead to dozens of deaths and thousands of people hospitalised.”



** Politics, Trust and Public Health in the US
------------------------------------------------------------

Martin A. Strosberg and Daniel Teres write in an opinion piece in MedPage Today ([link removed]) (US) that the US is not in a good place to combat another pandemic. “The erosion of public trust in public health and the wide-spread roll-back of federal and state emergency preparedness powers will limit our ability to prevent disease from becoming widespread or mitigate already widespread disease. A local public health official has described the situation as: ‘like having your hands tied in the middle of a boxing match.’… The fact is that traditional public health efforts to flatten the curve in anticipation of any future vaccine arrival for a possible next pandemic will be limited by an unprecedented set of political constraints. Furthermore, we cannot be optimistic about vaccine uptake. It is not clear how we will factor this new set of constraints into pandemic preparedness planning.”

KFF Health News via Poz ([link removed]) (US) reports, “Over the course of the pandemic, lawsuits came from every direction, questioning public health policies and hospitals’ authority. Petitioners argued for care to be provided in a different way, they questioned mandates on mask and vaccine use, and they attacked restrictions on gatherings. Historically, ‘there’s been nothing but a cascade of supportive deference to public health,’ said Lawrence Gostin, a professor specializing in public health law at Georgetown University. That changed during the pandemic. ‘It’s the opposite. It’s been a torrent.’… Even as COVID-19 wanes, lawyers representing the health care sector predict their days in court aren’t about to end soon. A group of litigators and media companies, among others, are eyeing policy changes and even some profits from yet more lawsuits. Because such groups can reach millions of people, public
health advocates like Gostin and Brian Castrucci, president of the de Beaumont Foundation, a public health nonprofit, suggest that the result, beyond creating legal setbacks, could spread more misinformation about their work.”

Medscape ([link removed]) (US) reports, “In an August 2022 survey ([link removed]) of emergency doctors conducted by the American College of Emergency Physicians, 85 percent of respondents said violence against them is increasing ([link removed]) …. This uptick of violence and threats against physicians didn't come out of nowhere; violence against healthcare workers has been gradually increasing over the past decade. Healthcare providers can attest to the hostility that particular topics have sparked for years: vaccines in pediatrics, abortion in ob-gyn, and gender-affirming care in endocrinology. But the pandemic fueled the fire. While there have always been hot-button issues in medicine, the ire they arouse today is more intense than ever before. The proliferation of misinformation (often via social media) and the
politicization of public health and medicine are at the center of the problem.



** US Suspends Funding to Wuhan Lab
------------------------------------------------------------

Bloomberg ([link removed]) (US) reports, “The Biden administration has halted the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s access to federal funding after the lab failed to provide documents about safety and security measures, according to a memo obtained by Bloomberg News. The Department of Health and Human Services notified the Wuhan Institute on Monday of the suspension, and also told the lab it’s seeking to debar it entirely, according to the memo.”



** Bird Flu Concerns
------------------------------------------------------------

Reuters ([link removed]) (UK) reports on a warning last week from three UN agencies, “that an ongoing rise in avian flu outbreaks globally raised concerns that the virus might adapt to infect humans more easily, and urged countries to strengthen disease surveillance and improve hygiene at poultry farms. Earlier this year, a new H5N1 strain of bird flu that is highly contagious among wild birds explosively spread to new geographical regions, infecting and killing a variety of mammal species and raising fears of a pandemic ([link removed]) among humans.

Vox ([link removed]) (US) reports, “In the last two years, more than half a billion birds have died globally…. The majority of these birds were farmed chickens and turkeys; as the virus, known as H5N1, began circulating among poultry flocks in the US, Europe, and elsewhere, farmers started culling a record number of birds to stop the pathogen from spreading. Yet what’s unusual about this virus is that it’s also been spreading rapidly among wild birds and even mammals, such as mink and sea lions, often causing severe infection or death. This raises a red flag among health officials…. The risk of humans contracting bird flu is still incredibly low, new research shows ([link removed]) , and the virus does not have the biological machinery to cause a pandemic…. But the more this pathogen spreads, especially among mammals, the more opportunities it has to evolve traits
that make it dangerous. That’s why scientists are taking it so seriously.”

The Telegraph ([link removed]) (UK) reports WHO “said it had confirmed that 29 cats in Poland had tested positive for the virus.” Most of the cats have died or been euthanized. “Last week the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) issued a report saying there were ‘several uncertainties.… Regarding the source of infection’ and the WHO said on Monday that the source of the infection in cats remained ‘unknown’. It added: ‘There are several possibilities for the source of infection, among which the cats could have had direct or indirect contact with infected birds or their environments, ate infected birds, or ate food contaminated with the virus’…. Although ECDC assessments show the current risk to the general public is low, it is considered moderate in persons exposed to infected cats, particularly if they belong to a vulnerable population group.”



** Pandemic Accord Negotiations Resume
------------------------------------------------------------

Health Policy Watch ([link removed]) (Switzerland) reports, “Pandemic accord negotiations resumed ([link removed]) on Monday with World Health Organization (WHO) member states expressing a hunger for text-based talks to begin on a first draft amid grave concerns about whether enough progress will be made before the northern hemisphere summer break…. Since the last INB meeting a month ago, member states have met in informal sessions to discuss three controversial issues in Chapter Two of the compilation draft. These sessions focused on research and development related to pandemic products, particularly vaccines and medicines (Article 9); access to these products and benefit-sharing, including sharing genomic sequencing of whatever pathogen is causing the pandemic (Article 12) and supply chain logistics (Article 13).”



** Dogs Detect COVID-19
------------------------------------------------------------

CIDRAP ([link removed]) (US) reports, “A new review ([link removed]) of literature on COVID-19–sniffing canines shows dogs outperformed or matched reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests or antigen tests in detecting the novel coronavirus among humans or patient samples containing sweat, saliva, or urine…. ‘We believe that scent dogs deserve their place as a serious diagnostic methodology that could be particularly useful during pandemics, potentially as part of rapid health screenings in public spaces,’ said study author Tommy Dickey, PhD, of the University of California, in a press release ([link removed]) . ‘We are confident that scent dogs will be useful in detecting a wide variety of diseases in the future.’"

Got this from a friend? Subscribe here. ([link removed])

============================================================
Our mailing address is:
** [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
** update subscription preferences ([link removed])