WHO
Covid-19 pandemic 'far from over': WHO chief
"... the pandemic is far from over. And even as we continue to fight it, we face the task of restoring essential health services, with 90 per cent of member states reporting disruption to one or more essential health services," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.
Europe's red alert for monkeypox as nations told to prepare vaccination strategies
EU authorities are set to publish a risk assessment, which will advise all member states to draw up an inoculation strategy to control the spread of the tropical virus, Daily Mail reported. No monkeypox-specific vaccine exists � but smallpox jabs � which were routinely offered to Brits until the virus was eradicated four decades ago, is 85 per cent effective, Daily Mail reported.
Covid, monkeypox poses formidable challenge to world: WHO
Addressing the UN's World Health Assembly in Geneva on Sunday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the world is not over the pandemic, which has claimed six million lives, with almost 15 million excess mortality. However, in addition is the new monkeypox virus and several other disease outbreaks such as acute hepatitis in children and Ebola, as well as wars in Ukraine and Yemen.
Monkeypox cases reported in Israel, Switzerland, Austria
Israel and Switzerland both said they identified one infected person who had recently travelled abroad. Israel is investigating other suspected cases, the BBC reported. Monkeypox does not tend to spread easily between people and the illness is usually mild. The virus is most common in remote parts of Central and West Africa.
Monkeypox cases confirmed in 12 countries
The WHO said another 50 suspected cases are being investigated, without naming any countries, and warned that more cases are likely to be reported. Infections have been confirmed in nine European countries, as well as the US, Canada and Australia, the BBC reported citing the global health body as saying.
Monkeypox spreading fast in Europe, North America: Top 10 facts about the new virus
Monkeypox is mostly being reported in young men and originates in wild animals like rodents and primates. The World Health Organization (WHO) is monitoring this new outbreak in coordination with health officials. Human cases of the virus, so far, have been reported in countries like the USA, Canada, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, United Kingdom and Italy. Until now the cases of this virus were rarely registered outside Africa. Here are 10 facts related to this new virus.
Pakistan rejects WHO's 'baseless' report on Covid death estimates
Going by WHO estimates, almost three times as many people have died around the world as a result of Covid-19 "Coronavirus pandemic killed around 15 million people worldwide in 2020 and 2021, nearly triple the number of deaths officially attributed to the disease," the report stated.
Nearly 15 mn deaths directly or indirectly linked to Covid: WHO
According to the WHO's estimates, the full Covid-19 death toll, or "excess mortality," was approximately 14.9 million between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021. This figure is calculated as the difference between the number of deaths that have occurred and the number that would be expected in the absence of the pandemic based on data from earlier years, Xinhua news agency reported.
Severe hepatitis cases in children draw concern in US
Nine severe hepatitis cases in children were reported in Alabama during October 2021 to February 2022, seven girls and two boys -- ranging in age from 1 month to 6 years old, Xinhua news agency reported. Those cases were the first that drew attention to the liver illnesses in children in the US. All of the nine children's whole blood specimens tested positive for adenovirus.
Covid-19 pandemic not over yet: WHO
Last week, just more than 15,000 coronavirus-related deaths were reported to the WHO, the lowest weekly total since March 2020, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press briefing on Tuesday. However, the encouraging trend should be interpreted with caution, as many countries have scaled back on testing, and as a result "the WHO is receiving less and less information about transmission and sequencing," he said.
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