Health News Roundup: EU signs joint procurement deal with HIPRA for COVID vaccines; Polio found in New York wastewater as state urges vaccinations and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Biden names U.S. monkeypox coordinators as more states cite emergencies

President Joe Biden has appointed two top federal officials to coordinate his administration’s response to monkeypox, the White House said on Tuesday, as more states declared emergencies to help boost vaccines and other resources to combat the virus. The top officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will coordinate the U.S. response across the federal government even as Biden’s administration has stopped short of declaring a national emergency.

EU signs joint procurement deal with HIPRA for COVID vaccines

The European Commission said on Tuesday it had signed a joint procurement contract with Spanish pharmaceutical firm HIPRA for the supply of its protein COVID-19 vaccine, which will be available if approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

The European Union’s executive said in a statement that 14 countries are participating in the agreement, under which they can purchase up to 250 million doses.

Child infected with Marburg virus dies in Ghana

A child who contracted the highly infectious Ebola-like Marburg virus in Ghana has died, a World Health Organization official said on Tuesday. The death brings the total number of fatalities in the country to three since Ghana registered its first ever outbreak of the disease last month.

Polio found in New York wastewater as state urges vaccinations

The polio virus was present in wastewater in a New York City suburb a month before health officials there announced a confirmed case of the disease last month, state health officials said on Monday, urging residents to be sure they have been vaccinated. The discovery of the disease from wastewater samples collected in June means the virus was present in the community before the Rockland County adult’s diagnosis was made public July 21.

Hong Kong lowers age for Sinovac vaccine shot to six months

Hong Kong on Tuesday reduced the minimum age for getting vaccinated with China’s Sinovac COVID-19 shot to six months from three years after several young children became infected with the virus. Adults and children in the Asian financial hub, which retains some of the world’s toughest COVID precautions, are required to have at least three coronavirus vaccine shots.

‘Living with COVID’: Where the pandemic could go next

As the third winter of the coronavirus pandemic looms in the northern hemisphere, scientists are warning weary governments and populations alike to brace for more waves of COVID-19. In the United States alone, there could be up to a million infections a day this winter, Chris Murray, head of the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), an independent modeling group at the University of Washington that has been tracking the pandemic, told Reuters. That would be around double the current daily tally.

California governor declares monkeypox emergency

California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency over monkeypox on Monday in a move aimed at bolstering vaccination efforts to slow the spread of an outbreak that has infected more than 5,800 Americans. California, the nation’s most populous state, has confirmed 827 monkeypox cases as of Monday, the second-largest state tally after the 1,390 infections documented in New York, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Indonesia aiming to get foot and mouth disease under control by year-end

Indonesia is aiming to get its foot and mouth disease (FMD)outbreak under control by the end of this year, a government official said on Tuesday, as it forges ahead with a programme to vaccinate millions of livestock. More than 455,000 livestock in 23 of the archipelago’s 37 provinces have been infected with the disease as of Tuesday, according to government data, with 4,720 animals killed by the disease and 7,561 more slaughtered.

Axcella long COVID treatment helps some patients in small trial

One of the first trials aimed at tackling long COVID helped some patients recover from lingering physical and mental fatigue, although the drug developed by Axcella Health Inc failed on the small study’s main goal of restoring the normal function of mitochondria – the energy factories of cells. In the 41-patient pilot study released on Tuesday, for three of 21 patients who received the drug, AXA1125, their physical fatigue scores returned to normal levels after 28 days of treatment, Axcella Chief Medical Officer Margaret Koziel said in a phone interview.

S.Korea develops nanotech tattoo as health monitoring device

South Koreans may soon be able to carry a device inside their own bodies in the form of a bespoke tattoo that automatically alerts them to potential health problems, if a science team’s project bears fruit. Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in the city of Daejeon southwest of Seoul have developed an electronic tattoo ink made of liquid metal and carbon nanotubes that functions as a bioelectrode.

(With inputs from agencies.)