Disease

Pregnant women with COVID-19 may be at lower risk for long COVID New data from the RECOVERY trial show that women who contracted COVID-19 during pregnancy had a lower risk of developing long COVID, or post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), than other women, according to a study in eClinicalMedicine. CIDRAP

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Pharmacists prove effective, less costly care option for minor illnesses Greater use of pharmacists to treat minor illnesses could potentially save millions of dollars in health care costs, according to new research led by Washington State University. The findings also indicate ... Science X Medical Xpress

The findings also indicate a way to improve health care access by expanding availability of pharmacists' clinical services, including prescribing medications, amid an ongoing shortage of primary care providers.

Extreme weather. A lack of lifesaving vaccines. Africa's cholera crisis is worse than ever (medicalxpress.com)

Extreme weather events have hit parts of Africa relentlessly in the last three years, with tropical storms, floods and drought causing crises of hunger and displacement. They leave another deadly threat behind them: some of the continent's worst outbreaks of cholera.

In southern and East Africa, more than 6,000 people have died and nearly 350,000 cases have been reported since a series of cholera outbreaks began in late 2021.....

All have experienced floods or drought—in some cases, both—and health authorities, scientists and aid agencies say the unprecedented surge of the water-borne bacterial infection in Africa is the newest example of how extreme weather is playing a role in driving disease outbreaks.

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WHO: COVID-19 pandemic reversed decade of life expectancy gains The World Health Organization (WHO) published a new report suggesting the COVID-19 pandemic undid a decade of life expectancy at birth and healthy life expectancy gains (HALE), with global expectancy levels now matching those last seen in 2012. CIDRAP

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"Not only has the pandemic set back healthy longevity worldwide by years, it also reversed the previous trends of shifting disease burden to noncommunicable diseases," the report said.

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