Among fully vaccinated, study shows Paxlovid does not shorten symptoms A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that, for those fully vaccinated against COVID-19 but having at least one risk factor for severe COVID, the antiviral drug Paxlovid did little to reduce symptom duration, but experts caution the findings might not apply to older patients. CIDRAP

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Bird flu dairy cow outbreak widens in Ohio, Kansas, New Mexico Bird flu has infected a dairy herd in Ohio for the first time and was detected in additional herds in Kansas and New Mexico, according to the U.S. government, expanding an outbreak in cows that has raised concerns about possible risks to humans. Tom Polansek Reuters

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Lamborghini and Rolexes seized in massive EU police raid over €600M Covid fraud Cops said the organized crime group used “advanced technologies” including AI to produce false documents for laundering cash. POLITICO

ROME — Police on Thursday arrested more than 20 suspects in Italy, Austria, Romania and Slovakia as part of a major investigation into massive fraud linked to the EU’s post-pandemic recovery fund.

Covid cut life expectancy by 1.6 years globally, but the leading causes of death haven’t changed since 1990 The top causes of death globally — heart disease, stroke, COPD, and lower respiratory infections — were unchanged since 1990 except for two years of Covid pandemic. Annalisa Merelli STAT

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New study reveals increased risk of allergic diseases after COVID-19 infection (news-medical.net)

New study reveals increased risk of allergic diseases after COVID-19 infection The association of COVID-19 with long term allergic conditions. Dr. Liji Thomas, MD News-Medical

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Wider bird flu spread raises concern for humans, animal health body says The spread of bird flu to an increasing number of species and its widening geographic reach have raised the risks of humans being infected by the virus, the head of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said on Thursday. Sybille De La Hamaide Reuters

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Testing environmental water to monitor COVID-19 spread in unsheltered encampments

To better understand COVID-19's spread during the pandemic, public health officials have expanded wastewater surveillance. These efforts track SARS-CoV-2 levels and health risks among most people, but they miss people who live without shelter, a population particularly vulnerable to severe infection.

To fill this information gap, researchers reporting in Environmental Science & Technology Letters tested flood-control waterways near unsheltered encampments, finding similar transmission patterns as in the broader community and identifying previously unseen viral mutations.

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Covid boosters are a gamechanger – if they are free for everyone Only private jabs are available to most, but annual shots could reduce healthcare costs and prevent deaths The Guardian

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Study describes more severe pediatric mental health crises during pandemic Children visiting the emergency department (ED) for mental health crises during the pandemic had longer stays and more severe diagnoses, according to a new study in Academic Emergency Medicine. CIDRAP

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The study was based on ED visits to nine US hospitals participating in the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network Registry from 2017 to 2022.

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