Pandemic Watch News Brief: The News You Need To Know ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

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[link removed] October 26, 2023
AVAC's weekly Pandemic Watch is a curated news digest on the latest pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response (PPPR) news and resources.


“Undoubtedly, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the gaps and weaknesses in Africa's health security, such as inadequate surveillance, testing, tracing, isolation, treatment, and vaccination. It also brought into focus unprecedented opportunities for change and growth." - Noellah Musundi in East African ([link removed])
Table of Contents
• If You Are in a Hurry (#If You Are in a Hurry)
• Malaria Vaccine Cuts Childhood Deaths by 13% (#Malaria Vaccine Cuts Childhood Deaths by 13%)
• Malaria and Dengue Becoming More of a Threat (#Malaria and Dengue Becoming More of a Threat)
• BioNTech Challenged to Ensure Real Tech Transfer to Africa (#BioNTech Challenged to Ensure Real Tech Transfer to Africa)
• An Argument for Local Vaccine Manufacturing in Africa (#An Argument for Local Vaccine Manufacturing in Africa)
• Argentina Approves Locally Developed COVID-19 Vaccine (#Argentina Approves Locally Developed COVID-19 Vaccine)
• Pfizer More than Doubles Price of Paxlovid in the US (#Pfizer More than Doubles Price of Paxlovid in the US)
• Maternal COVID-19 Vaccination Protects Infants Up to 6 Months (#Maternal COVID-19 Vaccination Protects Infants Up to 6 Months)
• Dengue Pill Shows Promise (#Dengue Pill Shows Promise)
• Looking for Long COVID Treatments (#Looking for Long COVID Treatments)
• US CDC Recommends Rationing RSV Antibody (#US CDC Recommends Rationing RSV Antibody)
• COVID-19 Changes to HIV Care in the US (#COVID-19 Changes to HIV Care in the US)
• COVID-19 and Mental Health (#COVID-19 and Mental Health)
• K-Pop Fans and Public Health Messages (#K-Pop Fans and Public Health Messages)
• Avian Flu Found in Antarctica (#Avian Flu Found in Antarctica)
• PEPFAR Countries and COVID-19 Testing (#PEPFAR Countries and COVID-19 Testing)

The COVID-19 pandemic pulled back the curtain on what a global response to a global problem would be and exposed fault lines between rich and poor countries. As policymakers and others try to develop plans that will make a response to a future pandemic more equitable, Hazvinei Mwanaka writes in Humanitarian Media Focus on Zimbabwe ([link removed]) (Zimbabwe) “African countries should increase research in pandemics as they are lagging behind, prompting them to rely on outside studies…” She quotes Professor Kenneth Ngure, Dean of the School of Public Health of the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology: “I would like to encourage countries in Africa to participate in research and governments to set up infrastructure that will allow other conducive environments so that the interventions that are found become more useful and relevant to the populations in specific countries as opposed to researches done in Western countries.” Hazvinei
reports, “Professor Omur Anzala, Director of the KAVI Institute of Clinical Research at the University of Nairobi said African countries mainly rely on systems from the outside. ‘African countries need to set up in country or regional surveillance which will be very critical to pick for early warning signs and also to allow regional communication…. The challenges are all structures we need, human resource infrastructure and having central place where data is taken for constant analysis giving us a sense of early warning,’ said the professor.”

Development communications expert Noellah Musundi writes in an opinion piece in the East African ([link removed]) (Kenya): “Undoubtedly, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the gaps and weaknesses in Africa's health security, such as inadequate surveillance, testing, tracing, isolation, treatment, and vaccination. It also brought into focus unprecedented opportunities for change and growth…. A multi-faceted approach is needed to address both immediate concerns and long-term systemic issues. For instance, domestic and international health financing is a vital pillar that catalyses infrastructure development, human resource expansion, supplies, and training. The challenge lies in aligning public and private financing for harmonisation and high impact.”

If You Are in a Hurry
* Read an MSNBC.com ([link removed]) opinion piece that calls out Pfizer for plans to charge $1,390 for a course of paxlovid, when it costs $13 to manufacture.
* Read STAT ([link removed]) on rationing of a new antibody for RSV in infants as demand exceed availability.
* Read Science ([link removed]) on the news that the RTS,S vaccine cut childhood deaths by 13% over 4 years.
* Then read Washington Post ([link removed]) on how malaria is spreading.
* Read STAT ([link removed]) on a new study that shows the benefits of maternal COVID-19 vaccination for newborns.
* Read Vermont Public Radio ([link removed]) on how a K-Pop band helped deliver masking messages on social media.
* Read Helio ([link removed]) on PEPFAR countries and increased COVID-19 testing ability.
* Then watch a CSIS panel discussion ([link removed]) on the impact of PEPFAR on pandemic preparedness.


Malaria Vaccine Cuts Childhood Deaths by 13%

Science ([link removed]) (US) reports, “In a major analysis in Africa, the first vaccine approved to fight malaria cut deaths among young children by 13% over nearly 4 years, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported last week. The huge evaluation of a pilot rollout of the vaccine, called RTS,S or Mosquirix and made by GlaxoSmithKline, also showed a 22% reduction in severe malaria in kids young enough to receive a three-shot series. Hundreds of thousands of children are born annually in the parts of Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi included in the analysis, for which WHO revealed the final data on 20 October at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene…. Data on the feasibility of the vaccine rollout were also promising: Giving RTS,S to 5-month-olds to 24-month-olds did not hurt the uptake of other childhood vaccines, which had been a concern. And it didn’t cause a decline in bed net
use due to a false sense of security.”

Malaria and Dengue Becoming More of a Threat

Effective malaria interventions will be needed more than ever as malaria continues to spread. The Washington Post ([link removed]) (US) reports, “The threat posed by malaria stands to soar as the planet warms because of longer transmission seasons, more frequent and severe extreme weather events, and the migration of malaria-carrying mosquitoes to new latitudes and altitudes, according to a Washington Post analysis of climate modeling and reporting from the southern African country of Mozambique…. The results of the Post analysis reveal which countries and regions are at most risk, in particular as seasonal changes benefit disease-carrying mosquitoes. In some regions of the world, transmission seasons could increase by up to five months by the year 2070.

Salon ([link removed]) (US) reports on the spread of dengue fever and malaria in parts of the US and Europe even as severe outbreaks of dengue plague many countries where the disease is more common. “As a result of urbanization, climate change and natural climate patterns like El Niño, mosquito-born illnesses are on the rise across the globe. Dengue had spread across 129 countries, with half the world’s population at risk as of June, according to the World Health Organization. A 2021 study in The Lancet projected that the number of people at risk for dengue could increase by between 4 and 7 million by 2070. ‘Not only are [mosquitos] anthropophilic — that is, they like people — but they are also really good at exploiting things like small water pockets in garbage and using public environments in the urban landscape,’ Ryan said. ‘We're essentially doing what's called ecological filtering,
where we're reducing the mosquito community, or the number of different species, down into very specific ones, and they just happen to be really good disease transmitters as well.’”

BioNTech Challenged to Ensure Real Tech Transfer to Africa

Health Policy Watch ([link removed]) (Switzerland) reports “German mRNA vaccine maker BioNTech’s partnerships with vaccine manufacturing facilities in Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa will support the African Union’s ambition to produce 60% of the continent’s vaccine needs by 2040, the company told the World Health Summit. But Ayaode Alakija, former Chief Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria and World Health Summit Ambassador, cautioned that Africa needs ‘end-to-end manufacturing’ not a ‘cut-and-paste model’…. Referring to BioNTech’s self-contained modular approach, which it has shipped to the African countries to launch a production facility, and promoted as an efficient way to jump-start manufacturing in the region. ‘This is not how tech-transfer works,’ Alakija told Health Policy Watch, in an interview after the panel. ‘Let us not sugarcoat: the discussion should not be infantalizing Africa, rather about decolonizing
it.’”

An Argument for Local Vaccine Manufacturing in Africa

Biovac CEO Morena Makhoana argues in an opinion piece in Daily Maverick ([link removed]) (South Africa) for the “importance of the rationale which underpins building a local vaccine manufacturing sector with long-term sustainability. Simply put, not all sectors are equal when it comes to which economic policy approaches and considerations best serve national interests…. When disease can be prevented, whether through proactive immunisation campaigns or reactive ones during an outbreak, access to vaccines should never be the deciding factor in achieving health equity.”

Argentina Approves Locally Developed COVID-19 Vaccine

Buenos Aries Herald ([link removed]) (Argentina) reports, “The National Administration of Drugs, Food and Medical Technology (ANMAT) approved the first COVID-19 vaccine entirely developed in Argentina: the ‘ARVAC Cecilia Grierson.’…The [vaccine] — named after the first Argentine woman to receive a medical degree from Buenos Aires University — is already being produced in the Cassará manufacturing plant in Buenos Aires City and can be adapted to new variants of SARS-CoV-2 circulating in the region. According to a press release by the Health Ministry, the development of the vaccine was the result of a public-private consortium that involved more than 600 scientists and professionals, 25 institutions and over 2,000 volunteers.”

Pfizer More than Doubles Price of Paxlovid in the US

Zeeshan Aleem writes in an MSNBC.com ([link removed]) opinion piece, “Pfizer is planning to price a five-day course of Paxlovid at $1,390 when it enters the commercial market later this year. That’s more than double the $529 it was charging the U.S. government, which has been purchasing the medicine from Pfizer since 2021 and freely providing it to patients. Harvard University researchers estimate the cost of production for a 5-day course of the drug is about $13…. Paxlovid’s price hike mirrors Big Pharma’s price hikes for COVID-19 vaccines, and the price hike has been appropriately slammed by Democrats and by public health advocates….Posting a high list price for a drug has global implications. The World Health Organization recommends Paxlovid as the preferred antiviral treatment for COVID-19, and there was already a problem of the drug being out of reach for millions of high-risk people in lower-income countries.”

The Press Democrat ([link removed]) (US) reports on concerns about the cost of COVID-19 vaccines post-pandemic emergency. “The federal government is no longer supplying the vaccine for free and health care centers must now tap into their own funds to buy it. That money can be reimbursed, but many community clinics don’t have the funds on hand. At a cost of anywhere from $100 to $150 a dose, health centers like Santa Rosa Community Health and West County Health Centers say they just can’t afford it…. Local health care advocates say many low-income and minority residents are being left out of post-pandemic vaccine distribution. ‘It’s like we haven’t — as a medical system — we haven't learned anything from the pandemic,’ said Dr. Jennifer Fish, a local family physician and health care advocate.”

Maternal COVID-19 Vaccination Protects Infants Up to 6 Months

STAT ([link removed]) (US) reports, “The risks of severe neonatal morbidity, neonatal death, and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit were all significantly lower during the first month of birth in infants whose mothers were vaccinated against COVID-19, and protection against the virus continued for up to six months after birth, according to a new study published Monday ([link removed]) in JAMA Pediatrics…. This study adds to the body of research which shows that maternal vaccination, like with influenza, tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis (Tdap), and most recently RSV
([link removed]) , leads to positive outcomes for mother and baby, according to an accompanying editorial ([link removed]) .”

Dengue Pill Shows Promise

Reuters ([link removed]) (UK) reports, “A pill for dengue fever developed by Johnson & Johnson appeared to protect against a form of the virus in a handful of patients in a small human challenge trial in the United States, according to data presented by the company on Friday. There are currently no specific treatments for dengue, a growing disease threat… A key question for the future will be ensuring access to the new drug, if it works on a larger scale, in many of the low- and middle-income countries where it is most needed, an echo of the challenge for the dengue vaccine ([link removed]) the WHO backed earlier this month.”

Looking for Long COVID Treatments

In a long piece Chemistry World ([link removed]) (UK) looks at the research to find treatments for long COVID, noting that there is still work to be done to find the causes and that there are multiple types of long COVID. “The drugs that are most suited to each subtype might differ, too. Underlying Sars-CoV-2 infection could be treated with the same antivirals that are used for the acute disease; drugs that block cytokines and cytokine signalling could dampen an autoimmune response; a latent infection could be targeted with the relevant antivirals; and organ and tissue damage could be treated symptomatically…. With the Sars-CoV-2 virus still circulating and mutating, it seems likely that new long Covid diagnoses will continue to outnumber cures for some time. But successful clinical trials are showing light at the end of the tunnel…”

US CDC Recommends Rationing RSV Antibody

STAT ([link removed]) (US) reports the US CDC “has recommended rationing an important monoclonal antibody product to protect young infants from RSV due to strained supply of the new product…. RSV does its worst damage in little kids, especially those in the first months of life when airways are not fully developed. Globally it is the second most common killer of children under the age of 1. In the U.S., RSV deaths are not common — CDC estimates that between 100 and 300 children a year die from RSV infection — but the care needed to keep deaths down swamps pediatric hospitals across the country. It is estimated that between 58,000 and 80,000 children a year in this country are admitted to hospital for RSV care.”

COVID-19 Changes to HIV Care in the US

Writing in MedPage Today ([link removed]) (US) Molly Walker reports on a review ([link removed]) in the journal AIDS and Behavior that found, “The COVID-19 pandemic forced clinicians to come up with innovative workarounds to disruptions in care for people with HIV, but ultimately proved that there's no substitute for in-person visits for this population…. Samir Gupta, MD, MS, of Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, noted that while many patients opted to return to the clinic once they were able to, some patients like having a virtual option. ‘We now have the infrastructure to continue to use this modality for [people living with HIV] who may have difficulty attending in-person visits due to transportation difficulties or work conflicts. Hopefully, engagement in care will improve by our patients having this option,’ Gupta said.” Walker also notes the experiences of clinician
Monica Gandhi, who examined data from a safety net population in San Francisco, including people who were homeless, and found that rates of viral suppression improved from earlier in the pandemic once patients were allowed to return to in-person care.”

COVID-19 and Mental Health

Esther Nakkazi and Rodrigo de Oliveira Andrade write in SciDevNet ([link removed]) (UK) report, “The first global study of perceptions and experiences of risk to people’s safety showed that mental health suffered as a result of the pandemic. The 2021 edition of The Lloyd’s Register Foundation World Risk Poll ([link removed]) shows a worldwide increase in experience of harm related to mental health issues of five percentage points, compared to the findings of the first edition in 2019, making it one of the most increased sources of harm highlighted by the study.”

K-Pop Fans and Public Health Messages

Vermont Public Radio ([link removed]) (US) reports on the impact of K-Pop BTS on public health messages during the COVID-19 pandemic. Professor Herbert Chang one of the authors of a study analyzing “how pop culture icons’ social media messages influenced mask-wearing habits during the pandemic” is interviewed. “One of the natural questions we had was, who was the biggest voice driving mask wearing — especially early in the pandemic? When I asked people this question they either say health organizations, or the more cynical people would say the politicians. But when we started looking at the data, it became apparent that a lot of these entertainment groups were actually having a strong voice in terms of driving public health messaging. What we wanted to see is A, who was the strongest voice, and then B, whether their diffusion of their messaging was a little
bit different than politicians and health institutions as well…. What we found was basically, BTS was the strongest driver.”

Avian Flu Found in Antarctica

CNN ([link removed]) (US) reports, “The first cases of bird flu have been detected in seabirds in the Antarctic, according to the British Antarctic Survey, raising fears the disease will spread rapidly through dense colonies of birds and mammals…. These unprecedented cases come as several countries have experienced record outbreaks of bird flu this year. In Japan, just under 10 million birds were killed to limit the spread of the disease….”

Nature ([link removed]) (UK) reports, “Researchers studying the evolution of the bird flu virus over the past 18 years have shown how the strain currently circulating worldwide ([link removed]) , an extremely deadly form of the H5N1 subtype, has become increasingly infectious to wild birds. The strain emerged in Europe in 2020, and has spread to an unprecedented number of countries. ([link removed]) ... ‘Once it’s adapted to wild birds, we have no mechanism to control the virus. And I think that’s the biggest impact that has changed now,’ says co-author Vijaykrishna Dhanasekaran, an evolutionary biologist and virologist at the University of Hong Kong.”

PEPFAR Countries and COVID-19 Testing

Healio ([link removed]) (US) reports, “Sub-Saharan African countries supported by the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, tested for COVID-19 at three times the rate of non-PEPFAR nations, according to data presented at IDWeek. The finding is another indication that PEPFAR infrastructure has benefits beyond the global HIV pandemic, researchers said.… [They found PEPAFR] investments allowed PEPFAR countries to quickly pivot to COVID-19 diagnosis and care as the pandemic grew in 2020.”

A CSIS panel discussion ([link removed]) on HIV/AIDS and Pandemic Preparedness: PEPFAR’s Role in Advancing Global Health Security addressed the theme of health system strengthening by PEPFAR. Moderator Julie Gerberding noted, “the return on [PEPFAR] investment is more than lives saved. It really reflects the incredible investment in services, health-care strengthening, supply-chain strengthening, and a whole host of trained health-care workers, laboratorians and other infrastructure that has had a tremendous impact on the overall health system.” Watch the video here ([link removed]) .
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