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[ad_1] The Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) confirmed on Wednesday the detection of six coronavirus cases belonging to the highly-contagious Omicron subvariant category XBB in Karachi. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the XBB is a highly contagious subvariant of Covid-19’s Omicron strain. As per early evidence, the XBB variant had a higher reinfection risk, as compared to other circulating Omicron sublineages. A statement by the US Centres for Disease Control (CDC) on Dec 31, around 40pc of confirmed US Covid-19 cases were caused by the XBB.1.5 strain, a relative strain of the XBB variant. AKUH Infectious Diseases Section Head Dr Faisal Mehmood said the XBB variant can spread rapidly, especially in people who do not have pre-existing immunity from vaccination or previous infections. “The symptoms are similar to the other Covid variants,” he added, encouraging vaccinations for people who have not received the booster shot or have low immunity. The infect...

[ad_1] In this photo illustration, Abbott's at-home covid-19 rapid test kits are seen on display in Orlando. Paul Hennessy | LightRocket | Getty Images As Covid cases surge again in the U.S., Americans are digging out unused at-home tests that they stashed earlier on in the pandemic.  Many of those tests may have passed their expiration dates , but don't throw them away just yet.  The Food and Drug Administration has extended the expiration dates of many popular at-home test products, which means some of your old kits may still be safe to use. You can check by visiting a page on the FDA's website that lists expiration information for each test brand. "That's the first thing I would do before using an expired test or throwing it away," Andrew Pekosz, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told CNBC. If the date has not changed, the FDA advises against using expired tests. Doing so increases the chance of an inaccurate tes...

[ad_1] Editor’s Note: A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Meanwhile in China newsletter, a three-times-a-week update exploring what you need to know about the country’s rise and how it impacts the world. Sign up here. Hong Kong CNN  —  The US Department of Energy’s assessment that Covid-19 most likely emerged due to a laboratory accident in China has reignited fierce debate and attention on the question of how the pandemic began. But the “low confidence” determination , made in a newly updated classified report, has raised more questions than answers, as the department has publicly provided no new evidence to back the claim. It’s also generated fierce pushback from China. “We urge the US to respect science and facts, stop politicizing this issue, stop its intelligence-led, politics-driven origins-tracing,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday. ...

[ad_1] In this photo illustration, an insulin pen manufactured by the Novo Nordisk company is displayed on March 14, 2023 in Miami, Florida. Joe Raedle | Getty Images News | Getty Images The top executives of the three drug companies that control 90% of the global insulin market will testify May 10 before the Senate Health Committee on lowering prices of their diabetes drugs, panel Chairman Sen. Bernie Sanders said Friday. Those companies — Eli Lilly , Novo Nordisk and Sanofi — had announced in March that they will slash prices of their most widely used insulin products by 70% or more. related investing news Sanders on Friday called that move an important step forward that was the result of "public outrage and strong grassroots efforts." But the Vermont independent added that Congress must ensure that insulin, whose price has increased by more than 1,000% since 1996, is affordable for everyone. "We must make certain, however, that those price reductions go in...

[ad_1] A person receives a COVID-19 vaccination dose, during a free distribution of COVID-19 rapid test kits for those who received vaccination shots or booster shots, at Union Station on January 7, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Mario Tama | Getty Images The U.S. Food and Drug Administration 's independent panel of advisors raised doubts about the need to "periodically" update Covid vaccines, noting that it's unclear if the virus is seasonal like the flu. Advisors on Thursday unanimously voted that new jabs for the fall should be monovalent — meaning they are designed against one variant of Covid — and target one of the omicron XBB strains . Those are now the dominant variants nationwide.  But the original voting question included language about whether the panel recommends a "periodic update" to Covid shots.  Dr. Peter Marks, head of the FDA's vaccine division, asked the panel's chair to strike the wording from the question after severa...

[ad_1] Boxes of mifepristone, the first pill given in a medical abortion, are prepared for patients at Women's Reproductive Clinic of New Mexico in Santa Teresa, U.S., January 13, 2023.  Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters A coalition of a dozen Democratic attorneys general sued the Food and Drug Administration on Friday to force the agency to drop all remaining restrictions on the abortion pill, the latest case in an escalating series of legal battles over access to the medication. The attorneys general asked a federal court in the eastern district of Washington to declare that the abortion pill, mifepristone, is safe and effective and that all remaining restrictions on the medication are unconstitutional. The lawsuit was led by Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Oregon's AG Ellen Rosenblum. The attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Vermont were also part of the suit. The attorneys g...

[ad_1] Travelers check in at Shanghai's Hongqiao International Airport in on Dec. 12, 2022, after China relaxed domestic travel restrictions. Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images The Biden administration will require airline passengers traveling from China to test negative for Covid before entering the U.S. as concern grows that widespread transmission of the virus in the world's most populous country could result in new variants. All airline passengers 2 years and older originating from China, Hong Kong or Macau will be required to get tested for Covid-19 no more than two days before their flight to the U.S. and show a negative result to the airline upon departure, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Wednesday. The requirements, which apply regardless of nationality and vaccination status, start Jan. 5. Travelers can get a PCR test or a rapid self test that is administered and monitored by a telehealth service. The rapid test must be authorized by...

[ad_1] Boxes of the medication Mifepristone used to induce a medical abortion are prepared for patients at Planned Parenthood health center in Birmingham, Alabama, March 14, 2022. Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters A federal judge on Friday allowed North Carolina lawmakers to defend restrictions on the abortion pill mifepristone, after the state attorney general declined to do so. Dr. Amy Bryant, a North Carolina physician, sued the state in January to block its restrictions on mifepristone because they go beyond the Food and Drug Administration's regulations. State Attorney General Joshua Stein, a Democrat, agreed with Bryant and declined to defend the state's restrictions on mifepristone. Stein told North Carolina lawmakers the FDA determined that restrictions like those in North Carolina unduly burden patients' access to a safe and effective drug. The president of North Carolina's Senate, Philip Berger, and state House Speaker Timothy Moore intervened to defend the stat...

[ad_1] From catching Covid-19 to getting caught in a blizzard, traveling can be risky business these days. But just how risky often depends on the destination — and how you define the risks. Safest cities: people's perceptions A report published by the U.K.-based insurance company William Russell ranked the "safest cities in the world," according to people's perceptions. On this list, which relied on perceived crime rates on the crowdsourced global database Numbeo, Asia and Europe dominated the rankings of "safest" cities. Taiwan's Taipei scored the highest, while Buenos Aires, Argentina, ranked the lowest (score: 36.7), according to the report. Safest cities: health and politics But the top five places for "health and safety" in Euromonitor International's " Top 100 City Destinations Index 2022 " are different. That ranking, published in December, analyzed "political stability and social safety," which includes ...

[ad_1] A GSK lab in London. Oli Scarff | Getty Images The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved an RSV vaccine produced by GlaxoSmithKline for use on adults ages 60 and older. The approval, the first ever globally by a regulatory body for an RSV vaccine , is a decisive victory for GSK in a race against drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna to bring to market a shot that targets the respiratory syncytial virus . Shares of GSK rose nearly 2% Wednesday following the approval. GSK's chief scientific officer Tony Wood said in a statement the decision "marks a turning point" in the company's effort to reduce the "significant burden" of RSV. The company will now focus on ensuring eligible older adults in the U.S. can access the vaccine "as quickly as possible," he said. GSK will also work toward regulatory review and approval of the shot in other countries. London-based GSK during an earnings presentation last week said it has "mil...

[ad_1] Weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations have risen by more than 10% across the country, according to new data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, marking the largest percent increase in this key indicator of the virus since December. At least 7,109 admissions of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were reported for the week of July 15 nationwide, the CDC said late Monday, up from 6,444 during the week before.  Another important hospital metric has also been trending up in recent weeks: an average of 0.73% of the past week's emergency room visits had COVID-19 as of July 21, up from 0.49% through June 21. The new figures come after months of largely slowing COVID-19 trends nationwide since the last wave of infections over the winter. "COVID-19 indicators, including hospital admissions, emergency department visits, test positivity, and wastewater levels, are increasing nationally," the CDC said in an update ...

[ad_1] A vial labelled "Novavax V COVID-19 Vaccine" is seen in this illustration taken January 16, 2022.  Dado Ruvic | Reuters Novavax 's updated Covid vaccine won the backing of U.S. regulators on Tuesday, putting the shot on track to roll out weeks after new jabs from Pfizer and Moderna reached Americans. The Food and Drug Administration authorized Novavax's single-strain vaccine, which targets omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 , for emergency use in people ages 12 and up. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now including Novavax's shot in the same recommendation it issued last month for updated vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. That recommendation says all Americans ages six months and older can receive an updated Covid jab. Novavax said in a statement that doses of the shot will likely be available within the next few days. "Novavax's authorization today means people will now have the choice of a protein-based non-MRNA option to help...