Study finds 27% rate of long COVID in infected health workers CIDRAP

A new case-control study of Brazilian healthcare workers (HCWs) suggests as many as 27% developed long COVID after infection, and multiple infections raised the risk. The findings were published today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.

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WHO to expand on European Union digital COVID-19 certification system - UPI.com The World Health Organization said on Monday it will expand on the European Union's digital COVID-19 certification system for use globally which will facilitate mobility across a range of ongoing health threats and pande UPI

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Is Covid ticking up? Viruses and other bugs could make a summer comeback, doctors say Doctors are on the lookout for worrisome upticks in Covid, human metapneumovirus and enteroviruses. NBC News

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How Covid made it nearly impossible to pass new vaccine rules Around the country, vaccine policy is on hold while lawmakers recover from a pandemic-policy hangover. POLITICO

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Toxic, pandemic-era battles over immunizations and school closures have made vaccine politics radioactive, even on diseases wholly unrelated to Covid-19. In California, where lawmakers pushed through some of the nation’s strictest mandates through 2019, schools are wary of wading back into the fight.

Global COVID-19 activity remains mixed CIDRAP

Cases and death continued to decline globally over the past 4 weeks, with hot spots reported in a few countries as XBB Omicron variant proportions continue to shift, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today in its latest weekly update.

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Activity is up, however, in two regions: the Western Pacific by 10% and Africa by 3%. Deaths declined or were stable in all six regions.

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A pledge to fight climate change is sending money to strange places Rich countries promised $100 billion a year to reduce the effects of global warming. Reuters found large sums went to a coal plant, a hotel and chocolate shops. Reuters

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Although a coal plant, a hotel, chocolate stores, a movie and an airport expansion don’t seem like efforts to combat global warming, nothing prevented the governments that funded them from reporting them as such to the United Nations and counting them toward their giving total.

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Is COVID back in NYC? Wastewater surveillance shows virus is rising. Early signs indicate a coronavirus rebound in sewersheds around NYC and some suburbs, which is noteworthy because a similar trend is yet to appear with traditional testing. Gothamist

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FDA approves Pfizer RSV vaccine for older adults The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday approved Pfizer’s vaccine to prevent the respiratory disease RSV in older adults, the company announced. After decades without any RSV shot… nweixel The Hill

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The approval of Pfizer’s Abrysvo marks the second authorized RSV shot for older adults in the U.S. this month, after GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) won approval for its rival shot, Arexvy.

Night shift work, binge drinking linked to increased COVID risk in nurses About 25% of 750 survey respondents met the criteria for alcohol misuse, with 5% classified as binge drinkers. CIDRAP

Working the night shift or binge drinking may double the risk of COVID-19 infection, according to a study of nurses published this week in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research. Poor sleep quality and binge drinking have been associated with COVID-19 infections, likely because both promote a pro-inflammatory state.