Travel Vaccine News

Worldwide health leaders recently confirmed US$ 2.6 billion in funding toward the Global Polio Eradication Initiative's (GPEI) 2022-2026 Strategy to end polio.
The funding will support global efforts to vaccinate 370 million children annually over the next five years and continue disease surveillance across 50 countries.
As of October 26, 2022, wild poliovirus is endemic in just two countries – Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Air travelers who want to board an airplane in New York will soon need a star or flag on their state driver's license.
A star inside a black circle in the upper right corner indicates that the license is a REAL ID-compliant credential approved to board a flight or enter a secure federal facility.
Additionally, New York (NY) state-enhanced IDs have a flag in the corner, which is also valid for boarding a flight.

The World Health Organization (WHO in the Eastern Mediterranean representative Dr. Hamid Jafari, Director of the Polio Eradication Programme, delivered an update to the Member States on October 10, 2022, regarding efforts to halt transmission of both wild and variant polioviruses.
While noting that 20 of the Region's 22 countries have achieved the standards for polio eradication certification, he urged the Member States to continue to intensify surveillance due to an increased risk of poliovirus spreading.

Historic outbreaks of the Ebola virus are typically isolated and usually affect a few hundred people at a time. However, with innovative vaccines and antibody treatments available, recent Ebola outbreaks have been limited and less fatal.
However, the current Sudan Ebolovius (SUDV) outbreak in the Republic of Uganda does not have access to U.S. FDA-approved vaccines or treatments.
And recent data from the Uganda Ministry of Health posted on Twitter indicates the SUDV case fatality rate exceeds 40%.

Influenza viruses circulating in animal species such as pigs or birds can sporadically infect humans, causing mild to very severe diseases, reported the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
These viruses have the potential to severely affect public health, such as during the epidemics of avian influenza H5N1 in Egypt or H7N9 in China, or the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic caused by a virus initially spreading from pigs to humans.

Every year, the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) usually generates estimates of the number of healthcare encounters that happen during a flu season. These estimates are used to describe the annual burden of flu collectively.  
The CDC uses a mathematical model based on real-world data to produce these estimates.
During the USA's 2020-2021 flu season, the number of people hospitalized with influenza was too low to generate stable burden estimates.

In an accelerated effort to scale up the response to the Sudan Ebolavirus outbreak in Uganda, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced today it is delivering medical supplies, providing logistics, and deploying staff to support the national authorities in halting the spread of the deadly virus.
As of September 22, 2022, seven cases, including one death, have been confirmed to have contracted Sudan Ebolavirus. 
And forty-three contacts have been identified, with ten people receiving treatment at the regional referral hospital in Mubende, Uganda.

With the COVID-19 pandemic delaying meningitis vaccination campaigns for more than 50 million children in Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) region is at a heightened risk of outbreaks of meningitis type A, which has nearly been eliminated on the continent.
In a race against time, the WHO and partners recently launched a roadmap to stop bacterial meningitis outbreaks by 2030.
Based on reports from countries, the WHO found that meningitis control activities were reduced by 50% in 2020 compared with 2019, with a slight improvement in 2021.

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced today the Uganda Virus Research Institute confirmed a Sudan ebolavirus case after testing a sample taken from a 24-year-old male in Mubende district in the central part of the country.
The confirmation on September 20, 2022, follows an investigation by the National Rapid Response team of six suspicious deaths in the district in September 2022.
Furthermore, the WHO stated eight suspected cases are receiving care in a health facility.
Uganda last reported a Sudan ebolavirus outbreak in 2012.

Lingering symptoms have been reported by Ebola virus disease (EVD) survivors in Africa over the past few years. 
For example, the Liberian Ebola Survivors Cohort study published on September 6, 2022, found headache, fatigue, joint pain, muscle pain, hearing loss, visual loss, and numbness of hands or feet were longitudinally assessed among EVD participants.
At baseline, about 75% reported at least one symptom, and 85% significantly interfered with life.