A new case-control study of Brazilian healthcare workers (HCWs) suggests as many as 27% developed long COVID after infection, and multiple infections raised the risk. The findings were published today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.
...while fast-tracking candidate vaccines represents a positive step forward in the race to stop these outbreaks and to improve global health security, it raises an important question. If vaccine candidates already existed for both of these viruses before the outbreaks began, then why weren’t investigational stockpiles of vaccine ready to go when the first cases were detected?
Experts often cite mistrust of the government as a key reason certain communities have suffered disproportionately during deadly outbreaks, including Ebola and Covid-19. Mistrust is a serious problem in a pandemic if it prevents people from obeying health recommendations, seeking medical care and accepting vaccines.
"Our findings are concerning, as even people with a mild case of COVID-19 are showing changes in their brains months later. More studies are needed to hopefully identify treatments to prevent any long-term effects on people's quality of life," she added.
As global demand for Covid-19 vaccines dries up, the program responsible for vaccinating the world’s poor has been urgently negotiating to try to get out of its deals with pharmaceutical companies for shots it no longer needs.
Drug companies have so far declined to refund $1.4 billion in advance payments for now-canceled doses, according to confidential documents obtained by The New York Times.