Europe

1 in 4 COVID survivors had impaired lung function 1 year on, study shows mr.suphachai praserdumrongchai / iStock CIDRAP

A quarter of COVID-19 survivors had impaired lung function 1 year after infection, and older patients, those with more than three chronic conditions, and those with severe cases improved slower than other patients over time, a Dutch study published yesterday in PLOS One reveals.

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In hopeful sign for the US, flu vaccine shows strong protection against hospitalization in South America, CDC report shows | CNN Early data from South America shows that the flu vaccine has cut the risk of hospitalization in half this year, a hopeful sign that the vaccine will provide a similar level of protection in the United States as the country heads into its own respiratory virus season. Deidre McPhillips CNN

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Study shows elite athletes suffered no long-lasting heart damage after COVID-19 Sean Fornelli / Flickr cc CIDRAP

...in Heart, researchers from Amsterdam University Medical Centers reportthat elite athletes followed up for 2 years after COVID-19 infections suffered no lasting damage to their hearts and faced no career setbacks because of their illnesses.

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EU authorises use of adapted Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine for COVID-19 variant The European Commission has authorised an updated COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and its German partner BioNtech to be used in EU countries' vaccination campaigns this autumn to target the dominant Omicron XBB.1.5 variant, it said on Friday. Reuters Reuters

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