Smallpox, a disease that killed an estimated 500 million people in the 20th century alone, is the only human disease to be eradicated. However, a new report, "Future State of Smallpox Medical Countermeasures," from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) argues that the U.S. and the global community should prepare for smallpox to make a return.
the analysis shows that the risk of sudden death in young adults after being vaccinated is significantly lower than the risk of sudden cardiac death from all causes — about 1 in 500,000 per year, compared to 1 in 100,000 per year, according to his estimates.
A study today in CMAJ describes the characteristics of family practice physicians who see the largest share of patients unvaccinated against COVID-19, and reveals that the largest percentage practice in marginalized, lower-income neighborhoods.
A vaccine from Pfizer showed the potential to protect adults ages 18 to 59 who are at increased risk of getting severely sick from respiratory syncytial virus in a late stage clinical trial, the company said Tuesday.
Scientists have been searching for the optimal coronavirus vaccine since the COVID-19 pandemic started. The mRNA vaccines developed through the federal government's "Operation Warp Speed" program were a massive innovation; however, annually updating those boosters for specific SARS-CoV-2 variants is inefficient for scientists and patients.
SARS-CoV-2 is just one member of the Sarbecovirus (SARS Betacoronavirus) subfamily (others include SARS-CoV-1, which caused the 2002 SARS outbreak, as well as other viruses circulating in bats that could cause future pandemics).
Antibody levels fell to low or near zero within the first few months of getting the vaccine, unless the person had previously received a smallpox vaccine, scientists reported Saturday at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Barcelona.
