- Phylex Biosciences, a vaccine company based in Del Mar, Calif., yesterday announced promising results from an animal immunogenicity study for its mRNA nanoparticle vaccine against Nipah virus. Currently, no drugs or treatments are available against the virus, which has a fatality rate as high as 50% and is among the diseases targeted by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. The company recently published preprint findings for the study, which involved testing in mice and collaboration with scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In a statement, the company said the vaccine prompted a robust antibody response even after a single dose and resulted in higher neutralization titers than other Nipah vaccine designs. The company signaled that it would pursue clinical development to initiate clinical trials involving people exposed to the virus on a compassionate basis as soon as possible.
- Finland's Institute for Health and Welfare today announced the launch of H5 avian influenza vaccination in high-risk groups, including people who work on fur farms and with poultry, according to a statement translated and posted by Avian Flu Dairy (AFD), an infectious disease news blog. It said the 20,000-dose H5N8 vaccine batch it has expires at the end of September and that those who want to be immunized need two doses, one in August and the other by the end of September.
- Mozambique yesterday became the third African country to launch the R21 malaria vaccine, according to a statement from the World Health Organization (WHO). The country received 800,000 doses from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, enough to vaccinate 300,000 children. Eleven African countries have now incorporated malaria vaccination into their childhood vaccine programs, with eight offering the RTS,S vaccine and three offering the R21 vaccine, which was codeveloped by Oxford University and the Serum Institute of India.
Quick takes: Nipah virus mRNA vaccine results, H5 vaccination in Finland, Mozambique malaria vaccine launch
News brief
Study: Heart attack drop during pandemic part of ongoing trend
News brief
A recent study in JAMA Cardiology explores why acute myocardial infarction (AMI) hospital visits dropped so sharply after the COVID-19 pandemic began, and found the reason is likely twofold: initial care avoidance and the continuation of a downward trend in AMI incidence in the United States.
The study was based on claims from all traditional Medicare enrollees in a given month from January 2016 through June 2023. AMIs were defined as any emergency department visit, observation stay, or inpatient stay with a primary diagnosis of myocardial infarction.
On average, each month included 31,623,928 patients.
Between June 2019 and June 2023, AMI hospital encounters dropped by 20%, from 0.055 AMI hospital encounters per 100 patients in 2019 to 0.044 AMI hospital encounters per 100 patients in 2023.
Drop viewed as public health success
Some have suggested this decrease is because COVID-19 killed patients who would have had an AMI, but the authors counter that idea. Though the initial months of the pandemic brought a sharp decline in case numbers, likely because people avoided hospitals, the overall trend is due to the ongoing annual drop in AMI incidence, which has been declining from 1% to 5% per year.
"With this perspective, the 20% fewer AMI hospital encounters per capita we observed in June 2023 compared with June 2019 would be viewed as a public health success," the authors wrote.
The success was due to trends in smoking cessation, greater use of hypertension and other cardiovascular medications, and improved diagnostic and treatment procedures, the authors wrote.
Once the acuity of the pandemic subsided, the expected time-related and years-long decrease in AMI rates was again on track
In an editor's note, the editors said the research shows a careful examination of an at-times perplexing phenomenon, "Once the acuity of the pandemic subsided, the expected time-related and years-long decrease in AMI rates was again on track."
