Tag: Centers for Disease Control

Covid-19 vaccines showed high efficacy against severe Omicron: US data

Covid-19 vaccines and boosters continued to have very high efficacy against severe outcomes during the Omicron wave of the virus, a large real-world study from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed Friday. The paper evaluated data from more than 300,000 visits to emergency departments, urgent care clinics, and hospitalizations across 10 states from August 26, 2021 to January 5, 2022. During the period when the Delta variant was dominant, vaccine efficacy […]

What actually closes in a US government shutdown?

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – Hundreds of thousands of US government defense workers, park rangers and business regulators could be temporarily out of work if Congress fails to pass a budget before a midnight Friday deadline. But the looming government shutdown due to lack of funding — which would be the second in five years — does not mean every office closes its doors. Vital services will still be provided by law enforcement, immigration officers, the central […]

CDC issues guidelines for pregnant women during Zika outbreak

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention on Thursday (January 21) discussed new guidelines for doctors caring for pregnant women who might have been exposed to Zika virus, a mosquito-borne infection that can cause brain damage in a developing fetus. The new guidelines, first reported by Reuters, include a warning to pregnant women to avoid travel to 14 countries and territories in the Caribbean and Latin America affected by the virus. They include: […]

U.S. Ebola czar seeks to reverse government mistakes, step up response

(Reuters) – U.S. Ebola czar Ron Klain faces a hefty to-do list when he begins his new role: soothe Americans’ jitters about the virus, fix federal coordination with states, and restore a sense of control over the crisis that the White House had lost. Klain, a former senior aide in two Democratic administrations who is known for his keen political antenna, also must smooth over tensions with lawmakers who are angry about the government’s missteps and mixed […]

U.S. sets up rapid-response Ebola team; Dallas nurse improves

BY TERRY WADE (Reuters) – The United States is establishing a rapid-response team to help hospitals “within hours” whenever there is a case of Ebola, the top doctor leading the fight against the deadly virus said on Tuesday. Prospects for a quick end to the contagion fell as the World Health Organization (WHO) predicted that three impoverished countries in West Africa – Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea – could produce as many as 10,000 new cases […]

CDC head criticized for blaming ‘protocol breach’ as nurse gets Ebola

  BY JULIE STEENHUYSEN (Reuters) – Some healthcare experts are bristling at the assertion by a top U.S. health official that a “protocol breach” caused a Dallas nurse to be infected with Ebola while caring for a dying patient, saying the case instead shows how far the nation’s hospitals are from adequately training staff to deal with the deadly virus. Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, made the declaration […]