2023-05-01 05:58:00
The new corona variant XBB.1.16, or by its unofficial name “Arctorus”, is spreading around the world. In India it is The most common variant today, and recently edited there Preparedness exercise in the hospitals Towards a possible wave of hospitalizations. According to a new Indian study it appears that the symptoms that the new variant causes are similar in severity to those caused by the previous variants from the Omicron family, which have been sweeping the world since the end of 2021, that is to say, it easily infects vaccinated people or people who have already been sick, but it is no more deadly than what we have become accustomed to in the last year and a quarter . In Britain, a number of victims of the new variant have already been counted, And some are calling for the return of the obligation to wear masks in public transport, in order to live with the corona virus without endangering the most sensitive people.
The article was originally published on the Davidson Institute for Science Education website
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization raised the severity level of the variant from “under surveillance” to “of interest”. There are only two such variants now, the older XBB.1.5 which is common in 103 countries and the new XBB.1.16, which has so far been detected in 37 countries.
Here in Israel, the number of patients in serious condition with Corona has been on the decline this week, and has been around eighty in recent days. The number of deceased that was updated a few days ago reached 12,487.
Less vaccinations, more diphtheria
The diphtheria epidemic in Nigeria continues to spread. The number of patients in it at the beginning of the month was 557 Patients who received laboratory confirmation of the disease, out of approximately 1440 suspected cases. Of those verified, 73 deaths were recorded, representing a mortality rate of 13 percent. The disease can be prevented through a vaccine found in the routine vaccinations for babies, but in Nigeria, as in many places, there has been a decrease in the vaccination rate, as well as real difficulty in reaching and vaccinating in areas of the country where there is activity of armed terrorist groups. In addition to the most serious diphtheria outbreak in years, the country is also dealing with other serious diseases such as Lassa fever, cholera, monkey pox and meningitis, all of which of course makes it difficult to treat diphtheria.
Bacteria in Africa – and also in France
As mentioned, there are now in Nigeria as well An outbreak of meningitis, with over 500 laboratory-confirmed cases, and according to the latest update, 124 dead. Unlike diphtheria, which is widespread in more than half of the states that make up the state of Nigeria, most cases of meningitis have been reported from Jigwa state in northern Nigeria, near Nigeria’s border with Niger state, which also has An outbreak of meningitis. From October 2022 until last February, over 500 patients were infected there, and at least 18 of them died. Meningitis can have different causes, but the leading one in the Nigerian outbreak is the meningococcus bacterium (Neisseria meningitidis).
not only in Africa, Even in France, an increase in cases of morbidity due to the meningococcal bacterium is felt. There they identify the increase as part of the overall increase in morbidity in the period after the global pandemic, and also as complications after influenza morbidity.
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