Category: Europe
European Coronavirus News
Preprint: Enhanced Fusogenicity of BA.4, BA.5 and BA.2.12.1
“We found that the new Omicron subvariants BA.4/5 and BA.2.12.1 were more resistant to neutralization by mRNA-vaccinated and boosted health care worker sera and Omicron-BA.1-wave patient sera than were the BA.1 and BA.2 variants.”… ...More...
Band of England: Long Covid is a very serious issue
“The issue of Long Covid and the pandemic’s effects on public health and participation is a very serious issue.”… ...More...
UK: Summer Covid wave incoming *1 Update*
According to the ZOE COVID Study figures, on May 13th 2022, there were 116,609 new daily symptomatic cases of COVID in the UK on average.… ...More...
UK: Half a million people have sought Long Covid advice
Asthma and Lung UK said that over the last six months about half a million had visited its long COVID advice pages or called its helpline – and some sufferers are considering buying their own oxygen supplies.… ...More...
France: Nearly one million Covid reinfections in a year
961,550 possible cases of Covid reinfection were identified in France between March 2, 2021 and April 24, 2022, of which 96.7% were since December 6, 2021.… ...More...
Preprint: Infection of mink with SARS-COV-2 Omicron Variant
Mink infected with Omicron were consistently PCR-positive from day 3 onwards, indicating mink-to-mink transmission. Infectious virus was detected in cell culture even before it was detected by PCR.… ...More...
ECDC & WHO: Joint statement on hepatitis in kids
The World Health Organisation have issued a joint statement with the ECDC on the recent cases of hepatitis in children. … ...More...
Sardinia: XJ recombinant is at ~20% of sequences, XM at ~15%
In Sardinia, XJ and XM Omicron recombinants are at 19.67% and 14.75% of sequences respectively. BA.2 is at just 65.57% of sequences.… ...More...
Europe: BA.4 and BA.5 reclassified as Variants of Concern
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has issued an Epidemiological update on 13th May 2022. BA.4 and BA.5 have been reclassified as Variants of Concern.… ...More...
UK: 1,880 cases of XE Covid recombinant sequenced
The UKHSA have released a new technical briefing outlining the SARS-CoV-2 variants circulating in Britain. The latest case count for the XE recombinant is 1,880 cases in the UK, with 1,569 of those cases in England.… ...More...
West European summer Covid wave brewing *2 updates, 1 prediction*
A new western European summer Covid wave appears to be developing, with increases in cases in countries that also saw large waves in the summer of 2021.… ...More...
Shielding “would not have been a viable public health strategy for COVID-19”
Shielding the vulnerable while allowing infections to spread among the wider population would not have been a viable public health strategy for COVID-19 and is unlikely to be effective for future pandemics.… ...More...
France: Persistent Alpha variant infection in immunosuppressed patient in 2022
“We describe persistent circulation of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant in an immunosuppressed patient in France during February 2022. The virus had a new pattern of mutation accumulation.… ...More...
UKHSA: Hepatitis in kids – revised hypotheses include new SARS-CoV-2 variant
THE UKHSA have released a new technical briefing today outlining their latest hypotheses for the outbreak of acute hepatitis in kids across Britain.… ...More...