Study finds metformin reduces COVID-19 viral load, viral rebound

A team of University of Minnesota researchers found that metformin, a drug commonly used to treat diabetes, can decrease the amount of COVID-19 virus in the body and lower the chances of the virus coming back strongly after initial treatment. The study was published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Congo struggles to contain its biggest mpox outbreak | AP News

A new form of mpox that may spread more easily found in Congo's biggest outbreak Scientists say a new form of mpox detected in a mining town in Congo might more easily spread among people. AP News

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Peer support valuable intervention for health worker stress during COVID-19, study shows With healthcare worker (HCW) burnout one of the most pressing issues facing US clinicians, a new study in JAMA Network Open indicates that Stress First Aid, a peer-to-peer support intervention, improved the well-being of HCWs compared with usual care during the COVID-19 pandemic. CIDRAP

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UnitedHealthcare CEO says 'maybe a third' of US citizens were affected by recent hack | TechCrunch Two months after hackers broke into Change Healthcare systems stealing and then encrypting company data, it’s still unclear how many Americans were UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty finally gave an estimate of how many Americans were impacted by the hack on the company's subsidiary Change Healthcare. Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai TechCrunch

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Study: COVID vaccines not linked to seizures In the vaccine group there were 9 seizure events reported. CIDRAP

... a new meta-analysis of six randomized controlled trials in JAMA Neurology finds no increase in seizures in the month following COVID vaccination. 

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The findings suggest that there is no difference in risk of seizure incidence among vaccinated individuals vs placebo recipients," the authors concluded. "However, the risk of seizure occurrence after SARS-CoV-2 infection seems to be relatively high."

Pasteurization inactivates H5N1 bird flu in milk, new FDA and academic studies confirm Extensive testing of pasteurized commercially purchased milk and other dairy products from 38 states found no evidence of live H5N1 bird flu virus. Megan Molteni STAT

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Hospitals no longer have to report COVID-19 hospitalization data, CDC says (wtvr.com)

Global survey shows COVID booster uptake in question A new survey of 23,000 adults in 23 countries taken in October 2023 finds a lower intent to get a COVID-19 booster vaccine (71.6%), compared with 2022 (87.9%). CIDRAP

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Moreover, 60.8% expressed being more willing to get vaccinated for diseases other than COVID-19 as a result of their experiences during the pandemic, while 23.1% reported being less willing. ...

Officials warn of risks to ‘certain groups’ of people amid bird flu outbreak in cows - POLITICO

The Biden administration said Wednesday it’s working to strengthen federal testing guidance and the overall public health response should the bird flu outbreak in cows spread among humans.

State health labs have sent “around 25” human test samples to the CDC for reference testing amid the current dairy outbreak, according to officials. More than 100 workers are being monitored. Officials declined to answer questions from reporters about where in the country the monitored workers are, saying only that officials are “following the herd” of infected cows.

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EU drug watchdog urges COVID-19 vaccine update The EU's drug watchdog urged Tuesday that anti-COVID jabs be updated before another round of vaccinations to counter a new variant of the virus, which is still claiming thousands of lives. Science X Medical Xpress

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The most widely circulating COVID variant worldwide is now JN.1, having overtaken the XBB family that is the target of the most recent vaccines, the European Medicines Agency said.

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