A new analysis suggests that the Omicron variant has comparable intrinsic severity to the ancestral (Wuhan) SARS-CoV-2 strain, but its effective severity is substantially lower because of vaccination.
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Case-patients with at least one dose of Pfizer-BioNTech or CoronaVac vaccine had significantly lower odds of mortality than unvaccinated patients, the authors said, with the lowest odds observed in people who had received three Pfizer doses (odds ratio, 0.31; 95% CI, 0.18 to 0.49).
Five- to 11-year-old children who are vaccinated with two COVID-19 vaccine doses have the highest immunity against omicron infections prior to the first infection.
In the period between March and December 2020, twice as many years of life were lost in the poorest areas of the country compared with the wealthiest. Ethnic inequalities were a feature across all waves of the pandemic, with rates of death highest among the Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities.
Global mpox transmission continues at low levels, though two regions—Southeast Asia and Africa—reported increases in recent weeks, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its latest update on the outbreak.
Since the last update on May 26, 552 new cases have been reported, reflecting a slight rise of 0.6%. Also, the WHO received reports of four more related deaths.
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