Search

Aussie mum jailed after faking her own death for major insurance payout

A Perth woman who faked her own death to secure a $700,000 insurance payout has been sentenced to three years behind bars. Karen Salkilld, 43, an F45 gym franchise owner, claimed she died in a car accident in Broome in December 2023. The mother-of-two, also provided a falsified death certificate, a coroner report and funeral documents, when she made the claim in January. A month later, she received more than $718,000 from Insuranceline, which she accessed by posing as her former partner who was the beneficiary of the sum and opening a bank account in her name. The "relatively sophisticated" scheme was initially successful, until police became suspicious and froze her account after she moved large amounts of the money around, according to Nine News. Salkilld had to visit Palmyra Police Station in person to certify her fake documents, but after three visits, officers realised something was up and arrested her in March. There is no evidence that her former partner knew of the crime. The fitness instructor admitted that she got the idea from a movie after she fell into debt, although she didn't specify which one. "Your offending could not be described as opportunistic," Judge Vicki Stewart told Perth District Court said in sentencing the fitness instructor. "It was calculated and required both effort and persistence." "You were living beyond your means and over-committed yourself," Stewart added. Salkilld pleaded guilty to gaining benefit by fraud and knowingly using a false record to defraud, and was sentenced to three years in prison on Monday. She was ordered to pay a $101,771 compensation to the insurance company. A restitution order for funds in the bank account was also issued - one for $549,195 and another for $67,995 - with the latter being held in the bank's fraud recoveries account. Speaking to Nine News outside court after the sentencing, Salkilld's estranged sister Ann said "it doesn't surprise me that she is capable of doing things like that." She will be eligible for parole in February 2026. Image: Nine News

Legal

Could the shingles vaccine lower your risk of dementia?

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ibrahim-javed-1552271">Ibrahim Javed</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-south-australia-1180">University of South Australia</a> A <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-03201-5">recent study</a> has suggested Shingrix, a relatively new vaccine given to protect older adults against shingles, may delay the onset of dementia. This might seem like a bizarre link, but actually, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34697158/">research</a> has previously shown an older version of the shingles vaccine, Zostavax, reduced the risk of dementia. In this new study, published last week in the journal Nature Medicine, researchers from the United Kingdom found Shingrix delayed dementia onset by 17% compared with Zostavax. So how did the researchers work this out, and how could a shingles vaccine affect dementia risk? <h2>From Zostavax to Shingrix</h2> Shingles is a viral infection caused by the varicella-zoster virus. It causes <a href="https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/shingles">painful rashes</a>, and affects older people in particular. Previously, Zostavax was used to vaccinate against shingles. It was administered as a single shot and provided good protection for about <a href="https://immunisationhandbook.health.gov.au/contents/vaccine-preventable-diseases/zoster-herpes-zoster">five years</a>. Shingrix has been developed based on a newer vaccine technology, and is thought to offer stronger and longer-lasting protection. Given in two doses, it’s now the preferred option for shingles vaccination in Australia and elsewhere. In November 2023, Shingrix replaced Zostavax on the <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/news/national-immunisation-program-changes-to-shingles-vaccination-from-1-november-2023">National Immunisation Program</a>, making it available for free to those at highest risk of complications from shingles. This includes all adults aged 65 and over, First Nations people aged 50 and older, and younger adults with certain medical conditions that affect their immune systems. <h2>What the study found</h2> Shingrix was approved by the US Food and Drugs Administration in <a href="https://www.drugs.com/history/shingrix.html">October 2017</a>. The researchers in the new study used the transition from Zostavax to Shingrix in the United States as an opportunity for research. They selected 103,837 people who received Zostavax (between October 2014 and September 2017) and compared them with 103,837 people who received Shingrix (between November 2017 and October 2020). By analysing data from electronic health records, they found people who received Shingrix had a 17% increase in “diagnosis-free time” during the follow-up period (up to six years after vaccination) compared with those who received Zostavax. This was equivalent to an average of 164 extra days without a dementia diagnosis. The researchers also compared the shingles vaccines to other vaccines: influenza, and a combined vaccine for tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis. Shingrix and Zostavax performed around 14–27% better in lowering the risk of a dementia diagnosis, with Shingrix associated with a greater improvement. The benefits of Shingrix in terms of dementia risk were significant for both sexes, but more pronounced for women. This is not entirely surprising, because we know women have <a href="https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/blog/why-dementia-different-women">a higher risk</a> of developing dementia due to interplay of biological factors. These include being more sensitive to certain genetic mutations associated with dementia and hormonal differences. <h2>Why the link?</h2> The idea that vaccination against viral infection can lower the risk of dementia has been around for more than two decades. Associations have been <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11762573/">observed</a> between vaccines, such as those for diphtheria, tetanus, polio and influenza, and subsequent dementia risk. Research has shown Zostavax vaccination can <a href="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/10/e045871">reduce the risk</a> of developing dementia by 20% compared with people who are unvaccinated. But it may not be that the vaccines themselves protect against dementia. Rather, it may be the resulting lack of viral infection creating this effect. Research indicates bacterial infections in the gut, as well as viral infections, are associated with a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10169152/">higher risk of dementia</a>. Notably, untreated infections with herpes simplex (herpes) virus – closely related to the varicella-zoster virus that causes shingles – can <a href="https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/trc2.12119">significantly increase</a> the risk of developing dementia. Research has also shown shingles increases the risk of a later dementia diagnosis. The mechanism is not entirely clear. But there are two potential pathways which may help us understand why infections could increase the risk of dementia. First, certain molecules are produced when a baby is developing in the womb to help with the body’s development. These molecules have the potential to cause inflammation and accelerate ageing, so the production of these molecules is silenced around birth. However, viral infections such as shingles can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.virol.2018.07.011">reactivate</a> the production of these molecules in adult life which could <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8717685/#:%7E:text=The%20disease%20mechanisms%20of%20AD,may%20lead%20to%20new%20therapies.">hypothetically lead to dementia</a>. Second, in Alzheimer’s disease, a specific protein called Amyloid-β go rogue and kill brain cells. Certain proteins produced by viruses <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.05.16.594465v1">such as COVID</a> and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/advs.202001299">bad gut bacteria</a> have the potential to support Amyloid-β in its toxic form. In laboratory conditions, these proteins have been shown to <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1003537">accelerate the onset</a> of dementia. <h2>What does this all mean?</h2> With an ageing population, the burden of dementia is only likely to become greater in the years to come. There’s a lot more we have to learn about the causes of the disease and what we can potentially do to prevent and treat it. This new study has some limitations. For example, time without a diagnosis doesn’t necessarily mean time without disease. Some people may have underlying disease with delayed diagnosis. This research indicates Shingrix could have a silent benefit, but it’s too early to suggest we can use antiviral vaccines to prevent dementia. Overall, we need more research exploring in greater detail how infections are linked with dementia. This will help us understand the root causes of dementia and design potential therapies.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/235597/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ibrahim-javed-1552271">Ibrahim Javed</a>, Enterprise and NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow, UniSA Clinical & Health Sciences, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-south-australia-1180">University of South Australia</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/could-the-shingles-vaccine-lower-your-risk-of-dementia-235597">original article</a>. </div>

Mind

What’s the difference between ‘strep throat’ and a sore throat? We’re developing a vaccine for one of them

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kim-davis-1535254">Kim Davis</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/murdoch-childrens-research-institute-1027">Murdoch Children's Research Institute</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alma-fulurija-1535255">Alma Fulurija</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/telethon-kids-institute-1608">Telethon Kids Institute</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/myra-hardy-1535253">Myra Hardy</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/murdoch-childrens-research-institute-1027">Murdoch Children's Research Institute</a> the time of the year for coughs, colds and sore throats. So you might have heard people talk about having a “strep throat”. But what is that? Is it just a bad sore throat that goes away by itself in a day or two? Should you be worried? Here’s what we know about the similarities and differences between strep throat and a sore throat, and why they matter. <h2>How are they similar?</h2> It’s difficult to tell the difference between a sore throat and strep throat as they look and feel similar. People usually have a fever, a bright red throat and sometimes painful lumps in the neck (swollen lymph nodes). A throat swab can help diagnose strep throat, but the results can take a few days. Thankfully, both types of sore throat usually get better <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8655103/">by themselves</a>. <h2>How are they different?</h2> Most sore throats are caused by viruses such as common cold viruses, the flu (influenza virus), or the virus that causes glandular fever (Epstein-Barr virus). These viral sore throats can occur at any age. Antibiotics don’t work against viruses so if you have a viral sore throat, you won’t get better faster if you take antibiotics. You might even have some unwanted <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK401243/#:%7E:text=People%20may%20then%20wonder%20whether,infection%2C%20such%20as%20bacterial%20tonsillitis.">antibiotic side-effects</a>. But strep throat is caused by Streptococcus pyogenes bacteria, also known as strep A. Strep throat is most common in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.2217/fmb-2021-0077">school-aged children</a>, but can affect other age groups. In some cases, you may need antibiotics to avoid some rare but serious complications. In fact, the potential for complications is one key difference between a viral sore throat and strep throat. <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/605956/original/file-20240710-19-irooun.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/605956/original/file-20240710-19-irooun.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/605956/original/file-20240710-19-irooun.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/605956/original/file-20240710-19-irooun.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/605956/original/file-20240710-19-irooun.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/605956/original/file-20240710-19-irooun.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/605956/original/file-20240710-19-irooun.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/605956/original/file-20240710-19-irooun.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /></a><figcaption></figcaption></figure> Generally, a viral sore throat is <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f6867">very unlikely</a> to cause complications (one exception is those caused by Epstein-Barr virus which has been associated with illnesses such as <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3893202/">chronic fatigue syndrome</a>, <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abj8222">multiple sclerosis</a> and certain <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(22)00404-7/fulltext">cancers</a>). But strep A can cause invasive disease, a rare but serious complication. This is when bacteria living somewhere on the body (usually the skin or throat) get into another part of the body where there shouldn’t be bacteria, such as the bloodstream. This can make people extremely sick. Invasive strep A infections and deaths have been <a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2022-DON429">rising in recent years</a> <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10786649/">around the world</a>, especially in young children and older adults. This may be due to a number of factors such as increased social mixing at this stage of the COVID pandemic and an increase in circulating common cold viruses. But overall the reasons behind the increase in invasive strep A infections are not clear. Another rare but serious side effect of strep A is autoimmune disease. This is when the body’s immune system makes antibodies that react against its own cells. The most common example is <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/rheumatic-heart-disease">rheumatic heart disease</a>. This is when the body’s immune system damages the heart valves a few weeks or months after a strep throat or skin infection. <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa2102074?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%20%200pubmed">Around the world</a> more than 40 million people live with rheumatic heart disease and more than 300,000 die from its complications every year, mostly in developing countries. However, parts of Australia have some of the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.5694/mja2.50682">highest rates</a> of rheumatic heart disease in the world. <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/heart-stroke-vascular-diseases/hsvd-facts/contents/all-heart-stroke-and-vascular-disease/arf-and-rhd">More than 5,300</a> Indigenous Australians live with it. <h2>Why do some people get sicker than others?</h2> We know strep A infections and rheumatic heart disease <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/82_2012_280">are more common</a> in low socioeconomic communities where poverty and overcrowding lead to increased strep A transmission and disease. However, we don’t fully understand why some people only get a mild infection with strep throat while others get very sick with invasive disease. We also don’t understand why some people get rheumatic heart disease after strep A infections when most others don’t. Our research team is trying to find out. <h2>How about a vaccine for strep A?</h2> There is no strep A vaccine but <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6028081/">many</a> <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8545125/">groups</a> in <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6495378/">Australia</a>, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7902606/">New Zealand</a> <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3620221/">and</a> <a href="https://www.clinicalkey.com.au/#!/content/playContent/1-s2.0-S0264410X19316457?returnurl=https:%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0264410X19316457%3Fshowall%3Dtrue&referrer=https:%2F%2Fpubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2F">worldwide</a> are working towards one. For instance, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and Telethon Kids Institute have formed the <a href="https://www.asavi.org.au">Australian Strep A Vaccine Initiative</a> to develop strep A vaccines. There’s also a <a href="https://savac.ivi.int/">global consortium</a> working towards the same goal. Companies such as <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10747066/">Vaxcyte</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7696035/">GlaxoSmithKline</a> have also been developing strep A vaccines. <h2>What if I have a sore throat?</h2> Most sore throats will get better by themselves. But if yours doesn’t get better in a few days or you have ongoing fever, see your GP. Your GP can examine you, consider running some tests and help you decide if you need antibiotics.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/230292/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kim-davis-1535254">Kim Davis</a>, General paediatrician and paediatric infectious diseases specialist, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/murdoch-childrens-research-institute-1027">Murdoch Children's Research Institute</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alma-fulurija-1535255">Alma Fulurija</a>, Immunologist and the Australian Strep A Vaccine Initiative project lead, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/telethon-kids-institute-1608">Telethon Kids Institute</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/myra-hardy-1535253">Myra Hardy</a>, Postdoctoral Researcher, Infection, Immunity and Global Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/murdoch-childrens-research-institute-1027">Murdoch Children's Research Institute</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-the-difference-between-strep-throat-and-a-sore-throat-were-developing-a-vaccine-for-one-of-them-230292">original article</a>. </div>

Body

Long COVID puzzle pieces are falling into place – the picture is unsettling

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ziyad-al-aly-513663">Ziyad Al-Aly</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/washington-university-in-st-louis-732">Washington University in St. Louis</a> Since 2020, the condition known as long COVID-19 has become a <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-providers/civil-rights-covid19/guidance-long-covid-disability/index.html">widespread disability</a> affecting the health and quality of life of millions of people across the globe and costing economies billions of dollars in <a href="https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/the-impacts-of-long-covid-across-oecd-countries_8bd08383-en.html">reduced productivity of employees and an overall drop in the work force</a>. The intense scientific effort that long COVID sparked has resulted in <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=%22long+covid%22+or+%22pasc%22+or+%22post-acute+sequelae+of+covid-19%22+or+%22postacute+sequelae+of+covid-19%22+or+%22post-acute+sequelae+of+SARS-CoV-2%22+or+%22postacute+sequelae+of+SARS-CoV-2%22+or+%22post+covid+condition%22+or+%22post+covid+conditions%22+or+%E2%80%9Cchronic+covid-19%E2%80%9D+or+%E2%80%9Cpost+covid-19+condition%E2%80%9D+or+%E2%80%9Cpost+covid-19+conditions%E2%80%9D+or+%E2%80%9Cpost-covid+condition%E2%80%9D+or+%E2%80%9Cpost-covid+conditions%E2%80%9D+or+%E2%80%9Clong+covid-19%E2%80%9D+or+%28%22long-term%22+and+%22COVID-19%22%29+or+%28%22longterm%22+and+%22COVID-19%22%29+or+%28%22long-term%22+and+%22SARS-CoV-2%22%29+or+%28%22longterm%22+and+%22SARS-CoV-2%22%29+or+%E2%80%9Cpostcovid+condition%E2%80%9D+or+%E2%80%9Cpostcovid+conditions%E2%80%9D+&sort=date">more than 24,000 scientific publications</a>, making it the most researched health condition in any four years of recorded human history. <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/long-term-effects/index.html">Long COVID</a> is a term that describes the <a href="https://www.yalemedicine.org/conditions/long-covid-post-covid-conditions-pcc">constellation of long-term health effects</a> caused by infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. These range from persistent respiratory symptoms, such as shortness of breath, to debilitating fatigue or brain fog that limits people’s ability to work, and conditions such as heart failure and diabetes, which are known to last a lifetime. I am a physician scientist, and I have been deeply immersed in studying long COVID since the early days of the pandemic. I have testified before the U.S. Senate as an <a href="https://www.help.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/baf4e4e7-b423-6bef-7cb4-1b272df66eb8/Al-Aly%20Testimony.pdf">expert witness on long COVID</a>, have <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=DtuRVcUAAAAJ">published extensively on it</a> and was named as one of <a href="https://time.com/6966812/ziyad-al-aly/">Time’s 100 most influential people in health in 2024</a> for my research in this area. Over the first half of 2024, a <a href="https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/long-term-health-effects-stemming-from-covid-19-and-implications-for-the-social-security-administration#sl-three-columns-afa91458-20e0-42ab-9bd6-55e3c8262ecc">flurry of reports</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2403211">scientific papers</a> on long COVID added clarity to this complex condition. These include, in particular, insights into how COVID-19 can still wreak havoc in many organs years after the initial viral infection, as well as emerging evidence on viral persistence and immune dysfunction that last for months or years after initial infection. <h2>How long COVID affects the body</h2> A new study that my colleagues and I published in the New England Journal of Medicine on July 17, 2024, shows that the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2403211">risk of long COVID declined</a> over the course of the pandemic. In 2020, when the ancestral strain of SARS-CoV-2 was dominant and vaccines were not available, about 10.4% of adults who got COVID-19 developed long COVID. By early 2022, when the omicron family of variants predominated, that rate declined to 7.7% among unvaccinated adults and 3.5% of vaccinated adults. In other words, unvaccinated people were more than twice as likely to develop long COVID. While researchers like me do not yet have concrete numbers for the current rate in mid-2024 due to the time it takes for long COVID cases to be reflected in the data, the flow of new patients into long COVID clinics has been on par with 2022. We found that the decline was the result of two key drivers: availability of vaccines and changes in the characteristics of the virus – which made the virus less prone to cause severe acute infections and may have reduced its ability to persist in the human body long enough to cause chronic disease. Despite the decline in risk of developing long COVID, even a 3.5% risk is substantial. New and repeat COVID-19 infections translate into millions of new long COVID cases that add to an already staggering number of people suffering from this condition. Estimates for the first year of the pandemic suggests that at <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-023-00896-0">least 65 million people</a> globally have had long COVID. Along with a group of other leading scientists, my team will soon publish updated estimates of the global burden of long COVID and its impact on the global economy through 2023. In addition, a major new report by the National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine details all the <a href="https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/27756/long-term-health-effects-of-covid-19-disability-and-function">health effects that constitute long COVID</a>. The report was commissioned by the Social Security Administration to understand the implications of long COVID on its disability benefits. It concludes that long COVID is a complex chronic condition that can result in more than 200 health effects across multiple body systems. These include new onset or worsening: <ul> <li><a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-01689-3">heart disease</a></li> <li><a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-02001-z">neurologic problems</a> such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/mounting-research-shows-that-covid-19-leaves-its-mark-on-the-brain-including-with-significant-drops-in-iq-scores-224216">cognitive impairment</a>, strokes and <a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/6004-dysautonomia">dysautonomia</a>. This is a category of disorders that affect the body’s <a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/23273-autonomic-nervous-system">autonomic nervous system</a> – nerves that regulate most of the body’s vital mechanisms such as blood pressure, heart rate and temperature.</li> <li><a href="https://www.cdc.gov/me-cfs/hcp/clinical-care/treating-the-most-disruptive-symptoms-first-and-preventing-worsening-of-symptoms.html">post-exertional malaise</a>, a state of severe exhaustion that may happen after even minor activity — often leaving the patient unable to function for hours, days or weeks</li> <li><a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36223-7">gastrointestinal disorders</a></li> <li><a href="https://doi.org/10.1681/ASN.2021060734">kidney disease</a></li> <li>metabolic disorders such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-8587(22)00044-4">diabetes</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-8587(22)00355-2">hyperlipidemia</a>, or a rise in bad cholesterol</li> <li><a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-023-01724-6">immune dysfunction</a></li> </ul> Long COVID can affect people across the lifespan from children to older adults and across race and ethnicity and baseline health status. Importantly, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adl0867">more than 90% of people with long COVID</a> had mild COVID-19 infections. The National Academies report also concluded that long COVID can result in the inability to return to work or school; poor quality of life; diminished ability to perform activities of daily living; and decreased physical and cognitive function for months or years after the initial infection. The report points out that many health effects of long COVID, such as post-exertional malaise and chronic fatigue, cognitive impairment and autonomic dysfunction, are not currently captured in the <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/AdultListings.htm">Social Security Administration’s Listing of Impairments</a>, yet may significantly affect an individual’s ability to participate in work or school. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9kJ5GWb2wzw?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><figcaption>Many people experience long COVID symptoms for years following initial infection.</figcaption></figure> <h2>A long road ahead</h2> What’s more, health problems resulting from COVID-19 can last years after the initial infection. A large study published in early 2024 showed that even people who had a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-024-02987-8">mild SARS-CoV-2 infection still experienced new health problems</a> related to COVID-19 in the third year after the initial infection. Such findings parallel other research showing that the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(24)00171-3">virus persists</a> in various organ systems for months or years after COVID-19 infection. And research is showing that immune responses to the infection are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.adk3295">still evident two to three years</a> after a mild infection. Together, these studies may explain why a SARS-CoV-2 infection years ago could still cause new health problems long after the initial infection. Important progress is also being made in understanding the pathways by which long COVID wreaks havoc on the body. Two preliminary studies <a href="https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.06.18.24309100">from the U.S.</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.05.30.596590">the Netherlands</a> show that when researchers transfer auto-antibodies – antibodies generated by a person’s immune system that are directed at their own tissues and organs – from people with long COVID into healthy mice, the animals start to experience long COVID-like symptoms such as muscle weakness and poor balance. These studies suggest that an abnormal immune response thought to be responsible for the generation of these auto-antibodies may underlie long COVID and that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.zbzipqn">removing these auto-antibodies</a> may hold promise as potential treatments. <h2>An ongoing threat</h2> Despite overwhelming evidence of the wide-ranging risks of COVID-19, a great deal of messaging suggests that it is no longer a threat to the public. Although there is no empirical evidence to back this up, this misinformation has permeated the public narrative. The data, however, tells a different story. <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home">COVID-19 infections</a> continue to <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm">outnumber flu cases</a> and lead to <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/resp-net/dashboard/index.html">more hospitalization</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2024.7395">death</a> than the flu. COVID-19 also leads to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(23)00684-9">more serious long-term health problems</a>. Trivializing COVID-19 as an inconsequential cold or <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2024/02/covid-anniversary-flu-isolation-cdc/677588/">equating it with the flu</a> does not align with reality.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/233759/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ziyad-al-aly-513663">Ziyad Al-Aly</a>, Chief of Research and Development, VA St. Louis Health Care System. Clinical Epidemiologist, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/washington-university-in-st-louis-732">Washington University in St. Louis</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/long-covid-puzzle-pieces-are-falling-into-place-the-picture-is-unsettling-233759">original article</a>. </div>

Body

Jimmy Barnes warns fans about fake accounts

Jimmy Barnes has issued a "fake account alert" to his fans. The Aussie singer took to Instagram to warn his followers that there have been an increase in the number of people online pretending to be him or claiming to have direct access to him. "There have been an increasing number of fake profiles appearing in the comments of my socials media posts, claiming to either be me, have direct access to me, sell tickets to shows, and even going as far as posing as a fan trying to connect with other fans," he wrote. "These accounts also send friend or follow requests, which then progresses to more false claims, often requesting large or small sums of money," the Cold Chisel star added. He then urged his followers to take action against these fake profiles. "Please block and report any profile and or comment that makes these claims, as it would never be myself or any of my team. Look after each other," he continued. <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/C84CmW9yKBs/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C84CmW9yKBs/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Jimmy Barnes (@jimmybarnesofficial)</a> </div> </blockquote> He then shared screenshots of all the social media accounts posing as him, and a montage of all the messages they send to fans. One of the scammers wrote: "Hello thank you for your like and comments on my official page and for being a fan, it's great to know I have such a devoted fan. Much love, click on this page to send me a message." Many of the scammers had similar messages, asking fans to message them, click on a link or add them on social media. This is not the first time scammers have tried using the singer's name to con devoted fans. In 2022, Barnes slammed scammers pretending to be him and using a fake "farewell" ad on social media, which was nothing more than a cryptocurrency scam, according to The Daily Telegraph. Speaking through his manager, John Watson, Barnes said at the time that he was angry about the "illegal and misleading ads" that have allowed "scammers to prosper". Images: Instagram

Legal

Woman's fake parking fines divides internet

Finding a parking ticket on your windscreen is the last thing you'd want to see after a day out - but last month dozens of drivers were greeted with fake fines made by one woman who wanted to spread "a little kindness". Melbourne woman Karina went viral for her odd marketing tactic, where she put handmade fake fines onto cars, public phones and lamp posts across the city's southeast, in a bid to promote her photography business. The "infringement" note read: "Notice to owners: We saw you pull into this car park and I wanted to tell you that you look absolutely beautiful today, your smile could light up a whole room... "Just to make your day a little more special than you already are, I want to give you $30 towards my beach prints from my travels." When asked why she did it, Karina told Yahoo News: "I decided to do it to make people's day by spreading a little kindness. It was a reminder that life is too short." "They're going to think it's a fine but little do they know that it's actually some money towards a print for our store." While there were a few that praised her "hustle" mentality, saying that they "love this idea" and thought it was "cute", others were less pleased. "No this would make me have a panic attack," one wrote. "I thought this was wholesome until I realised ya'll are just trying to sell stuff," another added. Images: TikTok

Money & Banking

COVID vaccines saved millions of lives – linking them to excess deaths is a mistake

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/paul-hunter-991309">Paul Hunter</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-east-anglia-1268">University of East Anglia</a> A recent <a href="https://bmjpublichealth.bmj.com/content/2/1/e000282">study</a> has sparked another <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/06/06/us-news/covid-vaccines-may-have-helped-fuel-rise-in-excess-deaths-since-pandemic-study/">round of</a> <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/06/04/covid-vaccines-may-have-helped-fuel-rise-in-excess-deaths/">headlines</a> <a href="https://www.gbnews.com/health/covid-vaccine-side-effects-deaths">claiming</a> that COVID vaccines caused excess deaths. This was accompanied by a predictable outpouring of <a href="https://x.com/DrAseemMalhotra/status/1797922073798717524">I-told-you-sos</a> on social media. Excess deaths are a measure of how many more deaths are being recorded in a country over what would have been expected based on historical trends. In the UK, and in many other countries, death rates have been higher during the years 2020 to 2023 than would have been expected based on historic trends from before the pandemic. But that has been known for some time. A couple of years ago I wrote an article for <a href="https://theconversation.com/summer-2022-saw-thousands-of-excess-deaths-in-england-and-wales-heres-why-that-might-be-189351">The Conversation</a> pointing this out and suggesting some reasons. But has anything changed? The authors of the new study, published in BMJ Public Health, used publicly available data from <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/COVID-vaccinations">Our World in Data</a> to determine which countries had “statistically significant” excess deaths – in other words, excess deaths that couldn’t be explained by mere random variation. They studied the years 2020 to 2022 and found that many, but not all, countries did indeed report excess deaths. The authors did not try to explain why these excess deaths occurred, but the suggestion that COVID vaccines could have played a role is clear from their text – and indeed widely interpreted as such by certain newspapers. There is no doubt that a few deaths were associated with <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/25166026211053485">the COVID vaccines</a>, but could the vaccination programme explain the large number of excess deaths – 3 million in 47 countries – that have been reported? Based on <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/excessdeathsinenglandandwales/march2020todecember2021">death certificates</a>, during 2020 and 2021 there were more deaths from COVID than estimated excess deaths in the UK. So during the year 2021 when most vaccine doses were administered, there were actually fewer non-COVID deaths than would have been expected. It was only in 2022 that excess deaths <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/deathregistrationsummarystatisticsenglandandwales/2022">exceeded COVID deaths</a>. If the vaccination campaign was contributing to the excess deaths that we have seen in recent years, then we should expect to see more deaths in people who have been vaccinated than in those who have not. The most reliable analysis in this regard was done by the UK’s <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/excessdeathsinenglandandwales/march2020todecember2021">Office for National Statistics (ONS)</a>. In this analysis, the ONS matched death registrations with the vaccine histories of each death recorded. They then calculated “age-standardised death rates” to account for age differences between those vaccinated and those not. What the ONS found was that in all months from April 2021 to May 2023, the death rate <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/redir/eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpbmRleCI6MSwicGFnZVNpemUiOjEwLCJwYWdlIjoxLCJ1cmkiOiIvcGVvcGxlcG9wdWxhdGlvbmFuZGNvbW11bml0eS9iaXJ0aHNkZWF0aHNhbmRtYXJyaWFnZXMvZGVhdGhzL2RhdGFzZXRzL2V4Y2Vzc2RlYXRoc2luZW5nbGFuZGFuZHdhbGVzIiwibGlzdFR5cGUiOiJyZWxhdGVkZGF0YSJ9.Cot-XDe8Rr07paGllBNnVVz1nTqnXfVafn2woA3tk0c">from all causes was higher</a> in the unvaccinated than in people who had been vaccinated at least once. That deaths from all causes were lower in the vaccinated than the unvaccinated should come as no surprise given that COVID was a major cause of death in 2021 and 2022. And there is ample evidence of the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10492612/">protective effect of vaccines</a> against severe COVID and death. But what is even more convincing is that, even when known COVID deaths were excluded in the ONS report, the death rate in the unvaccinated was still higher, albeit not by very much in more recent months. Some COVID deaths would certainly not have been recognised as such. But, on the other hand, people with chronic conditions, such as diabetes, were a high priority for vaccination. And these people would have been at increased risk of death even before the pandemic. <h2>Possible causes</h2> If the vaccine is not the cause of the excess deaths, what was? The major cause of the excess deaths reported in the first two years of the BMJ Public Health study was deaths from COVID. But by 2022, excess deaths exceeded COVID deaths in many countries. Possible <a href="https://theconversation.com/summer-2022-saw-thousands-of-excess-deaths-in-england-and-wales-heres-why-that-might-be-189351">explanations</a> for these excess deaths include longer-term effects of earlier COVID infections, the return of infections such as influenza that had been suppressed during the COVID control measures, adverse effects of lockdowns on physical and mental health, and delays in the diagnosis of life-threatening infections as health services struggled to cope with the pandemic and its aftermath. We do need to look very carefully at how the pandemic was managed. There is still considerable debate about the effectiveness of different behavioural control measures, such as self-isolation and lockdowns. Even when such interventions were effective at reducing transmission of COVID, what were the harms and were the gains worth the harms? Nevertheless, we can be confident that the excess deaths seen in recent years were not a consequence of the vaccination campaign.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/231776/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/paul-hunter-991309">Paul Hunter</a>, Professor of Medicine, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-east-anglia-1268">University of East Anglia</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-vaccines-saved-millions-of-lives-linking-them-to-excess-deaths-is-a-mistake-231776">original article</a>. </div>

Body

The growing promise of cancer vaccines

<div class="copy"> A cure for cancer — which is <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/burden-of-disease-by-cause" target="_blank" rel="noopener">second only to cardiovascular diseases</a> in its contribution to the global burden of disease — has long been a dream. While no magic bullet is yet in sight, three vaccines for particular skin and lung cancer types have advanced to the last stage of clinical trials in recent months. If successful, these vaccines should be available to patients in the next three to 11 years. Unlike vaccines which prevent diseases, these aim to cure them or prevent relapses. Cancer in every person is different because the cells in every cancerous tumour have different sets of genetic mutations. Recognising this, two of the vaccines are personalised and tailor-made for each patient. Oncologists working with pharmaceutical companies have developed these individualised neoantigen therapies. A vaccine typically works by training the immune cells of our body to recognise antigens – proteins from pathogens, such as viruses – against future attacks by the pathogen. In cancer, however, there is no external pathogen. The cells of a cancerous tumour undergo continuous mutations, some of which help them to grow much faster than normal cells while some others help them evade the body’s natural immune system. The mutated proteins in cancerous cells are called ‘neoantigens’. In individualised neoantigen therapy, the gene sequence of the tumour and normal blood cells are compared to identify neoantigens from each patient, and then a subset of neoantigens are chosen that are most likely to induce an immune response. The vaccine for an individual patient targets this chosen subset of neoantigens. These vaccines, jointly developed by pharma giants Moderna and Merck, have been shown in trials conducted so far to be significantly more effective in combination with immunotherapy than immunotherapy alone in preventing both the relapse of melanoma — a type of skin cancer — and non-small cell lung cancer after the tumours had been surgically removed. Following these promising results in phase II clinical trials, the vaccines are now being tested on a larger group of patients in phase III trials. The studies are expected to be complete by 2030 for <a href="https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05933577" target="_blank" rel="noopener">melanoma</a> and 2035 for <a href="https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06077760?intr=mRNA-4157&rank=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lung cancer</a>. The Moderna-Merck cancer vaccine may not be the first to reach the market. The French company OSE Immunotherapeutics <a href="https://www.clinicaltrialsarena.com/news/ose-shares-pipeline-updates-with-plans-phase-iii-trial-for-tedopi/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published positive results</a> last September from phase III clinical trials of a vaccine using a different approach for advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Its vaccine, Tedopi, is scheduled to start <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ose-immunotherapeutics-receives-8-4-160000694.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAADAX7Kqu7RTAEowvwOw2f-2cJ7SJ4uLpvjH-3tXzGtifqidaZfPs4eHLz23UqqjHDPjbVE1Vwel5qIKzKbmWvPLfLQzzH_PvKJAMsqTHuz8p5nPoR39RbIToLShEUG53eOeDFg6pWlRc2JPqrX7sGnc3ByO9FFfqXQYpZ4FZ-jgr" target="_blank" rel="noopener">confirmatory trials</a> – which are the last step before regulatory approval – later this year and may be available by 2027. Vaccines for pancreatic cancer being developed by BioNTech and Genentech, and for colon cancer by Gritstone, are also showing promising results in the early phases of clinical trials. Like the vaccines being developed by Moderna and Merck, these too are individualised neoantigen therapies based on messenger RNA (mRNA). There is another kind of RNA therapy also under development that uses small interfering RNA (siRNA) and microRNA (miRNA). Since 2018, six siRNA-based therapies have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of neural, skin, heart and renal diseases. Several more siRNA drugs are at various clinical trial stages for different types of cancer and a diverse range of other diseases. Within cells, there are two kinds of nucleic acid molecules that contain coded information vital to life: DNA and RNA. While DNA contains genetic information, mRNA — one among the different types of RNA — carries the codes for the proteins. In addition, there are also non-coding RNA, some of which are functionally important. siRNA and miRNA are examples of such non-coding RNA. The RNA vaccine for an individualised neoantigen therapy is a cocktail of mRNA carrying the codes for neoantigens — the mutated fingerprint proteins in cancerous cells. For the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41591-023-00072-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Moderna-Merck study</a>, scientists identified 34 neoantigens per patient. They delivered the corresponding mRNA vaccine cocktail packed in lipid nanoparticles, just like the mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 developed by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech. When the vaccine is delivered after removing the tumour, it trains the immune system to recognise neoantigens and fight back against the cancer returning. Usually, the body’s natural immune system corrects mutations and prevents us from having cancers. However, in some cases this natural immune response is insufficient, leading to tumour growth. In individualised neoantigen therapy, these mutations in the tumour cells are used for vaccine development and for training the immune system to fight back against relapse after removal of the tumour. Recent advances in artificial intelligence are helping identify potential neoantigens and manage personalised therapies. Firstly, gene sequencing of tumours and normal blood cells of a patient and their comparison produces a huge amount of data. AI is used to find the genetic mutations of the patient’s cancer in such ‘big data’. Moreover, individualised therapy requires timely production and delivery of vaccines that are different for each patient. AI is also useful in the management of such data. The individualised nature of the treatment is probably why it has been <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41591-023-00072-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more effective in trials</a> than previous, unsuccessful RNA vaccine candidates. However, this personalisation is also likely to raise challenges for the timely and cost-effective delivery of treatment to populations around the world. The siRNA and miRNA treatments work in a way opposite to mRNA. While each mRNA in a vaccine carries the code for producing a protein from a pathogen (antigen) or tumour (neoantigen) to train our immune systems against future attacks by the pathogen or tumour, siRNA directly targets the mRNA of the antigen or neoantigen and terminates the production of the protein it codes. Thus, the effect of a siRNA is more direct and immediate (like a drug), rather than a protection against future attacks (like a vaccine). Discovered at the turn of this millennium, siRNA-based therapeutics attracted immediate attention, but their initial success was limited due to their inherent low stability, difficulties in delivering them to desired locations, and rapid clearance from the bloodstream. However, in recent years, siRNA therapies have been boosted through chemical modifications that have increased their stability and ability to be delivered to specific locations such as tumours, and improved delivery systems such as lipid nanoparticle encasings. These improvements led to recent successes in FDA approvals of siRNA-based therapies and further <a href="https://www.rockefeller.edu/news/35461-a-new-way-to-target-the-culprit-behind-a-deadly-liver-cancer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">promising reports of advances</a> in the treatment of diseases including a type of liver cancer. Research scientist Dr Bidyut Sarkar is the DBT-Wellcome Trust India Alliance Intermediate Fellow in the Department of Chemistry at Shiv Nadar Institute of Eminence, Delhi NCR, India. Originally published under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Creative Commons</a> by <a href="https://360info.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">360info</a>™. Image credits: Shutterstock <div> <noscript data-spai="1"><img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-198773" src="https://cdn.shortpixel.ai/spai/q_lossy+ret_img+to_auto/cosmosmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/MICROSCOPIC-TO-TELESCOPIC__Embed-graphic-720x360-1.jpg" data-spai-egr="1" width="600" alt="Buy cosmos print magazine" title="the growing promise of cancer vaccines 2"></noscript> </div>  <img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=304875&title=The+growing+promise+of+cancer+vaccines" width="1" height="1" loading="lazy" aria-label="Syndication Tracker" data-spai-target="src" data-spai-orig="" data-spai-exclude="nocdn" /> </div> <div id="contributors"> <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/the-body/the-growing-promise-of-cancer-vaccines/">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/360info-2/">360info</a>. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. </div>

Body

5 ways to fake a clean bathroom

Got a friend popping around for a catch up, and, your bathroom is less than sparkling? Don’t stress. Follow our foolproof tips to fake it so no one knows you didn’t have time to do a proper clean. 1. Scrub the loo The toilet is often a telltale sign that your bathroom is in need of a clean. If you haven’t already invested in a leave-in cleaner for your bowl, simply get in there with some toilet cleaner and give a good squirt under the rim. Leave it to do its job while you get on with the rest of the bathroom. Then when it’s had a few minutes to soak, give it a once over with the toilet brush. Grab some toilet paper (or an antibacterial wipe) and give the rim and the top of the toilet a once over to remove any dust. 2. Eliminate any obvious mould and grime Find yourself some good-quality mould spray that you can apply and then leave to work its magic while you move on to other areas of the bathroom. After 10 minutes (check your packet for the optimal time) you should be able to spray it with warm water from the shower and then wipe it clean. 3. Do a quick dust bust Grab yourself a clean cloth or antibacterial wipe and go over the shelves and basin to get rid of any dust or dirt you can see. 4.Change your bathmat and hand towel There’s nothing like a fresh and clean bathmat to trick your guests into thinking that you’ve just finished scrubbing the bathroom. Add a clean hand towel to complete the look. 5.Add a sweet scent Give your bathroom a look of freshness by popping a small vase of flowers in there. You can also try a scented candle on top of the toilet to give off a nice scent and hide any odours. Image credits: Shutterstock

Home & Garden

Too many Australians aren’t getting a flu vaccine. Why, and what can we do about it?

<div class="theconversation-article-body"> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/holly-seale-94294">Holly Seale</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/unsw-sydney-1414">UNSW Sydney</a> Australia’s childhood immunisation program gets very good uptake every year – <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/topics/immunisation/immunisation-data/childhood-immunisation-coverage">almost 94% of five-year-olds</a> have had all their routine vaccinations. But our influenza vaccine coverage doesn’t get such a good report card. Looking back over <a href="https://ncirs.org.au/influenza-vaccination-coverage-data/historical-national-influenza-vaccination-coverage-end-year-age">recent years</a>, for kids aged six months to five years, we saw a peak in flu vaccine coverage at the beginning of the COVID pandemic at 46%, which then declined to 30% by the 2023 season. While we’re still relatively early in the 2024 flu season, only <a href="https://ncirs.org.au/influenza-vaccination-coverage-data">7% of children</a> under five have received their flu shot this year so far. Although young children are a particular concern, flu vaccination rates appear to be lagging for the population as a whole. Reports indicate that <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-07/calls-to-vaccinate-young-children-against-flu-as-season-begins/103783508">from March 1 to April 28</a>, 16% fewer people were vaccinated against the flu compared with the same period last year. So what’s going on, and what can we do to boost uptake? <h2>Why do we vaccinate kids against the flu?</h2> Last year, <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-12/aisr-2023-national-influenza-season-summary.pdf">reported cases of flu</a> were highest in children aged five to nine, followed by those aged zero to four. This is not a new trend – we record a high number of flu cases and hospital admissions in kids every year. So far <a href="https://nindss.health.gov.au/pbi-dashboard/">this year</a> children aged zero to four have had the highest number of infections, marginally ahead of five- to nine-year-olds. While kids are more likely to catch and spread the flu, they’re also <a href="https://theconversation.com/kids-are-more-vulnerable-to-the-flu-heres-what-to-look-out-for-this-winter-117748">at greater risk</a> of getting very sick from it. This particularly applies to children under five, and the flu vaccine is available for free for this age group. The flu vaccine isn’t perfect – it may not prevent infections entirely – but it’s definitely our best chance of protection. Research has shown influenza-related visits to the GP were <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27577556/">more than halved</a> in vaccinated children compared with unvaccinated children. <h2>So why are kids not receiving the vaccine?</h2> Often, it comes down to misunderstandings about who is eligible for the vaccine or whom it’s recommended for. But we can address this issue by nudging people via <a href="https://www.annfammed.org/content/15/6/507?sf174332549=1">a text message reminder</a>. Some parents <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X17318285">report concerns</a> about the vaccine, including the old dogma that it can cause the flu. The flu vaccine <a href="https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/flu-influenza-immunisation">can’t give you the flu</a> because it doesn’t contain live virus. Unfortunately, that myth is really sticky. For <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jpc.15235">some parents</a>, the challenge can be forgetting to book or accessing an appointment. <h2>It’s not just kids at higher risk</h2> Adults aged 65 and over are also <a href="https://theconversation.com/im-over-65-and-worried-about-the-flu-which-vaccine-should-i-have-204810">more vulnerable</a> to the flu, and can receive a <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/topics/immunisation/vaccines/influenza-flu-vaccine">free vaccine</a>. For this group, we usually get around <a href="https://ncirs.org.au/influenza-vaccination-coverage-data/historical-national-influenza-vaccination-coverage-end-year-age">65% vaccinated</a>. So far this year, <a href="https://ncirs.org.au/influenza-vaccination-coverage-data/national-influenza-vaccination-coverage-all-people-age-group">around 35%</a> of over-65s have received their flu vaccine. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are likewise eligible for a free flu vaccine. While previously coverage rates were higher among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples compared to the overall population, this gap has narrowed. There’s even some movement backwards, especially <a href="https://ncirs.org.au/influenza-vaccination-coverage-data/historical-national-influenza-vaccination-coverage-end-year-age">in younger age groups</a>. The flu vaccine is also free for pregnant women and anyone who has <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/topics/immunisation/when-to-get-vaccinated/immunisation-for-people-with-medical-risk-conditions">a medical condition</a> such as heart disease, chronic lung disease, diabetes or kidney disease. Past studies have found flu vaccine coverage <a href="https://www.phrp.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/PHRP31232111.pdf">for pregnant women</a> varies around the country from 39% to 76% (meaning in some jurisdictions up to 60% of pregnant women are not getting vaccinated). When it comes to adults with chronic health conditions, we don’t have a good sense of how many people receive the vaccine. The reasons adults don’t always get the flu vaccine overlap with the reasons for children. Often <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08870446.2021.1957104">concerns about side effects</a> are cited as the reason for not getting vaccinated, followed by time constraints. We also know <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/primary-health-care/coordination-of-health-care-experiences-barriers/summary">accessing medical services</a> can be difficult for some people, such as those living in rural areas or experiencing financial hardship. <h2>Filling the gaps</h2> In Australia, GPs offer flu vaccines for all ages, while flu vaccination is also available at pharmacies, generally from age five and up. While some people make a conscious decision not to get themselves or their children vaccinated, for many people, the barriers are related to access. Programs offering vaccination outside the doctor’s office are increasing globally, and may assist in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14760584.2019.1698955">filling gaps</a>, especially among those who don’t have regular access to a GP. For some people, their only point of contact with the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34272104/">medical system</a> may be during emergency department visits. Others may have more regular contact with a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7046372/">specialist</a> who coordinates their medical care, rather than a GP. Offering vaccine education and programs <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0009922810374353">in these settings</a> has been shown to improve immunisation rates and may play a pivotal role in filling access gaps. Outside medical and pharmacy settings, the workplace is the most common place for Australian adults to receive their flu vaccine. A <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1326020023004272">survey</a> showed Australian adults find workplace vaccination convenient and cost-effective, especially where free or subsidised vaccines are offered. Expanding vaccination settings, such as with <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/19375867221087360?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%20%200pubmed">drive-through</a> and mobile clinics, can benefit groups who have unique access barriers or are under-served. Meanwhile, offering vaccination through faith-based organisations has been shown to improve uptake among <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37013523/">racial and ethnic minority groups</a>. Eleftheria Lentakis, a masters student at the School of Population Health at UNSW Sydney, contributed to this article.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/229477/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/holly-seale-94294">Holly Seale</a>, Associate Professor, School of Population Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/unsw-sydney-1414">UNSW Sydney</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/too-many-australians-arent-getting-a-flu-vaccine-why-and-what-can-we-do-about-it-229477">original article</a>. </div>

Body

“Is that Snoop Dog?!”: Man caught with fake passenger in carpool lane

A US motorist has been handed a traffic infringement after police found him using a dummy to drive in the carpool lane. Not only did his hilarious attempt to bypass morning traffic with the fake passenger whose goatee was "just a little too sharp" get him fined, he helped authorities answer the common question: “If I have a mannequin in the passenger seat, does that count as a second occupant in the vehicle? "The answer is simple… NO." According to an Instagram post shared by the California Highway Patrol Santa Fe Spring, authorities stopped the unnamed driver for crossing a double line when they noticed the plastic passenger. "Officer Kaplan made an enforcement stop on this vehicle for crossing solid double lines only to realise the driver was the only occupant in the vehicle with their plastic friend," they wrote. The mannequin in question had a human-like mask, sported a hoodie and sunglasses, and was seated upright with his seatbelt buckled in just like any other passenger. And he would've gotten away with it too if it weren't for the fake facial hair. "The goatee was sharp … just a little too sharp," they shared. "We've gotta give it to them, the appearance is next-level modelling but at the end of the day ... plastic is plastic." <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/C6K7Thkr2CO/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C6K7Thkr2CO/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by CHP Santa Fe Springs (@chp_santa_fe_springs)</a> </div> </blockquote> The driver was issued with a number of citations for carpool violations, but many online commenters shared their amusement at the light-hearted nature of the traffic violation. "Is that snoop dog?!" wrote one commenter. "Leave Stevie wonder alone," joked another. "I really don’t see a problem here because most people are fake and have lots of plastic on them anyways," quipped a third. Image: Instagram

Legal

AstraZeneca admits to Covid vaccine's deadly side effect

AstraZeneca has admitted that their Covid vaccine carries a very rare but deadly side effect, as "dozens" of class-action lawsuits pile up. The UK pharmaceutical giant could be facing damages of up to $38 million, as lawyers representing complainants whose loved ones who were injured or killed from the jab called the vaccine "defective". Those who received the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine could be susceptible to a rare and potentially blood clotting disorder called thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, or TTS, in which patients suffer from blood clots as well as a low blood platelet count. While the side effect is rare, recent research from RMIT University and Monash University found Australia’s Covid-19 vaccination rollout likely prevented the death of 17,760 people aged over 50 in New South Wales between August 2021 and July 2022, with some researchers suggesting that AstraZeneca alone helped saved as many as six million lives worldwide, according to the <a title="nypost.com" href="https://nypost.com/2024/04/29/world-news/astrazeneca-cops-to-rare-deadly-side-effect-of-covid-jab-as-lawsuits-mount/">New York Post.</a> AstraZeneca, which is contesting the claims, acknowledged in a February legal document that its vaccine can “in very rare cases,” cause the clotting condition, while also acknowledging that the potential complication was listed as a side effect of the vaccine since its release. So far, 51 cases have been filed in London’s High Court, estimated to be worth around $190 million (GBP100 million) total, according to the UK newspaper<a title="www.telegraph.co.uk" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/28/astrazeneca-admits-covid-vaccine-causes-rare-side-effect/"> The Telegraph</a>. However, thanks to a deal struck between AstraZeneca and the UK government during the worst of the pandemic, the drugmaker has been pre-emptively indemnified against future lawsuits – which means any successful claims for payouts will be born by taxpayers. One of the claimants is father-of-two Jamie Scott, who was left with a permanent brain injury after suffering a clot following receiving the vaccine in April 2021. His wife, Kate, told <a title="www.telegraph.co.uk" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/28/astrazeneca-admits-covid-vaccine-causes-rare-side-effect/">The Telegraph </a>she’s hopeful the company’s admission will accelerate the outcome of their case. “We need an apology, fair compensation for our family and other families who have been affected. We have the truth on our side, and we are not going to give up.” Image credits: Getty Images

Legal

Outrage after grandma beaten at home by fake officers

The quiet neighbourhood of Girrawheen, Perth, has been rocked by a vicious assault perpetrated by three assailants disguised as police officers. The aftermath of this cowardly act has left an older couple traumatised and the community reeling with shock and outrage, with police releasing a graphic image of one of the victims in an attempt to help bring the perpetrators to justice. The victim of this brutal attack, 73-year-old Nannette, bore the brunt of the assailants' aggression, enduring a savage beating while her husband, Phillip, was bound and left traumatised inside their own home. The assailants, described as having olive complexions, fled the scene after ransacking the house and stealing jewellery of significant value. The image released by Western Australia Police, with Nannette's approval, was a stark portrayal of the brutality inflicted upon her. Police Commissioner Col Blanch condemned the attack in the strongest terms, expressing his disgust at the violence perpetrated against innocent civilians in their own home. “I saw the photo of the victim this morning, and it made me sick to my stomach,” Blanch said. “To have people at home suffer that type of attack is a disgrace.” Detective Inspector Gary Butler, visibly disturbed by the severity of the incident, highlighted the need for the community to come together to support the investigation and ensure that justice is served. "Violence of this nature is unacceptable, and it will not be tolerated," he said. The daughter of the victims also spoke out, shedding light on the harrowing ordeal her parents endured. She described her mother as a resilient individual who had recently battled cancer and was in the process of recovering. The attack has not only left physical scars but has also shattered their sense of security in their own home. “They tied my dad up, in their own home," she said. "So it’s not safe to come back.” Nannette, reportedly traumatised and in pain, requires medical treatment for her injuries. The psychological toll of such a traumatic experience is immeasurable, not only for the victims but also for their loved ones and the wider community. In the wake of this despicable act, Inspector Butler issued a plea for information, urging anyone with knowledge of the incident to come forward. "We will not stop until these offenders are apprehended and placed before the courts," he said. Anyone with information can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Images: WA Police | Nine News

Caring

There are new flu vaccines on offer for 2024. Should I get one? What do I need to know?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/allen-cheng-94997">Allen Cheng</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a> Influenza is a common respiratory infection. Although most cases are relatively mild, flu can cause more severe illness in young children and older people. Influenza virtually <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33243355/">disappeared</a> from Australia during the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic when public health restrictions reduced contact between people. Since 2022, it has returned to a seasonal pattern, although the flu season has started and peaked a few months earlier than before 2020. It’s difficult to predict the intensity of the flu season at this point in the year, but we can sometimes get clues from the northern hemisphere. There, the season <a href="https://www.who.int/tools/flunet">started</a> <a href="https://gis.cdc.gov/grasp/fluview/flu_by_age_virus.html">earlier</a> than usual for the third year running (peaking in early January rather than late February/March), with a similar number of reported cases and hospitalisations to the previous year. Influenza vaccines are recommended annually, but there are now an increasing number of different vaccine types. Here’s what to know about this year’s shots, available from <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/topics/immunisation/vaccines/influenza-flu-vaccine">this month</a>. <h2>What goes into a flu vaccine?</h2> Like other vaccines, influenza vaccines work by “training” the immune system on a harmless component of the influenza virus (known as an antigen), so it can respond appropriately when the body encounters the real virus. Influenza strains are constantly changing due to genetic mutation, with the pace of genetic change <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10421855">much higher</a> than for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID). The strains that go into the vaccine are <a href="https://www.who.int/teams/global-influenza-programme/vaccines/who-recommendations">reviewed</a> twice each year by the World Health Organization (WHO), which selects vaccine strains to match the next season’s predicted circulating strains. All current influenza vaccines in <a href="https://www.tga.gov.au/resources/publication/meeting-statements/aivc-recommendations-composition-influenza-vaccines-australia-2024">Australia</a> contain four different strains (known as quadrivalent vaccines). One of the strains appeared to <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2314801">disappear</a> during the COVID pandemic, and the WHO has recently <a href="https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/influenza/who-influenza-recommendations/vcm-southern-hemisphere-recommendation-2024/202309_qanda_recommendation.pdf?sfvrsn=7a6906d1_5">recommended</a> dropping this strain from the vaccine. It’s expected trivalent (three strain) vaccines will become available in the near future. <h2>What’s different about new flu vaccines?</h2> There are eight brands of flu vaccines <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/atagi-statement-on-the-administration-of-seasonal-influenza-vaccines-in-2024?language=en">available</a> in Australia in 2024. These include egg-based vaccines (Vaxigrip Tetra, Fluarix Tetra, Afluria Quad, FluQuadri and Influvac Tetra), cell-based vaccines (Flucelvax Quad), adjuvanted vaccines (Fluad Quad) and high-dose vaccines (Fluzone High-Dose Quad). Until recently, the process of manufacturing flu vaccines has remained similar. Since the development of the influenza vaccine in the <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/spotlight/history-of-vaccination/history-of-influenza-vaccination">1940s</a>, influenza viruses were grown in chicken eggs, then extracted, inactivated, purified and processed to make up the egg-based vaccines that are still used widely. However, there have been several enhancements to influenza vaccines in recent years. Older people’s immune systems tend not to respond as strongly to vaccines. In some flu vaccines, adjuvants (components that stimulate the immune system) are included with the influenza antigens. For example, an adjuvant is used in the Fluad Quad vaccine, recommended for over 65s. Studies <a href="https://ncirs.org.au/sites/default/files/2021-02/Adjuvanted%20influenza%20vaccine%20vs%20standard%20dose%20influenza%20vaccine%20SoF%20EP%20E2D%20tables_26%20Feb%202021_Final.pdf">suggest</a> adjuvanted influenza vaccines are slightly better than standard egg-based vaccines without adjuvant in older people. An alternative approach to improving the immune response is to use higher doses of the vaccine strains. An example is Fluzone High-Dose Quad – another option for older adults – which contains the equivalent of four doses of a standard influenza vaccine. Studies <a href="https://ncirs.org.au/sites/default/files/2022-05/HD%20vs%20sIV%20SoF%20EP%20E2D_March%202022_Final.pdf">suggest</a> the high dose vaccine is better than the standard dose vaccine (without an adjuvant) in preventing hospitalisation and complications in older people. Other manufacturers have updated the manufacturing process. Cell-based vaccines, such as Flucelvax Quad, use cells instead of eggs in the manufacturing process. Other vaccines that are <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/advances.htm">not yet available</a> also use different technologies. In the past, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31151913/">manufacturing issues</a> with egg-based vaccines have reduced their effectiveness. Using an alternative method of production provides some degree of insurance against this in the future. <h2>What should I do this year?</h2> Given indications this year’s flu season may be earlier than usual, it’s probably safest to get your vaccine early. This is particularly <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/atagi-statement-on-the-administration-of-seasonal-influenza-vaccines-in-2024?language=en">important</a> for those at highest risk of severe illness, including older adults (65 years and over), those with chronic medical conditions, young children (six months to five years) and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Influenza vaccines are also recommended in pregnancy to protect both the mother and the baby for the first months of life. Influenza vaccines are widely available, including at GP clinics and pharmacies, while many workplaces have occupational programs. For high-risk groups, <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/topics/immunisation/vaccines/influenza-flu-vaccine">four of the vaccines</a> are subsidised by the Australian government through the <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/national-immunisation-program">National Immunisation Program</a>. In older people, a number of vaccines are now recommended: <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-03/atagi-statement-on-the-administration-of-covid-19-vaccines-in-2024.pdf">COVID</a> and influenza, as well as one-off courses of <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2020/06/national-immunisation-program-pneumococcal-vaccination-schedule-from-1-july-2020-clinical-advice-for-vaccination-providers.pdf">pneumococcal</a> and <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/topics/immunisation/vaccines/shingles-herpes-zoster-immunisation-service">shingles</a> vaccines. In general, most vaccines can be given in the same visit, but talk to your doctor about which ones you need. <h2>Are there side effects?</h2> All influenza vaccines can <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/topics/immunisation/vaccines/influenza-flu-vaccine">cause</a> a sore arm and sometimes more generalised symptoms such as fever and tiredness. These are expected and reflect the immune system reacting appropriately to the vaccine, and are mostly mild and short-term. These side effects are slightly more common in <a href="https://ncirs.org.au/sites/default/files/2021-02/Adjuvanted%20influenza%20vaccine%20vs%20standard%20dose%20influenza%20vaccine%20SoF%20EP%20E2D%20tables_26%20Feb%202021_Final.pdf">adjuvanted</a> and <a href="https://ncirs.org.au/sites/default/files/2022-05/HD%20vs%20sIV%20SoF%20EP%20E2D_March%202022_Final.pdf">high dose</a> vaccines. As with all medications and vaccines, allergic reactions such as anaphylaxis can occur after the flu vaccine. All vaccine providers are trained to recognise and respond to anaphylaxis. People with egg allergies should discuss this with their doctor, but in general, <a href="https://www.allergy.org.au/patients/food-allergy/egg-allergy-flu-vaccine">studies suggest</a> they can safely receive any (including egg-based) influenza vaccines. Serious side effects from the influenza vaccine, such as Guillain-Barré syndrome, a neurological complication, are very rare (one case per million people vaccinated). They are <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23810252/">thought</a> to be less common after influenza vaccination than after infection with influenza.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226623/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/allen-cheng-94997">Allen Cheng</a>, Professor of Infectious Diseases, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/there-are-new-flu-vaccines-on-offer-for-2024-should-i-get-one-what-do-i-need-to-know-226623">original article</a>.

Body

Dad awarded compensation after developing heart issue from mandatory vaccine

An Adelaide father is set to receive hefty compensation after a mandatory Covid jab left him with a debilitating health condition. In 2021 at the height of the Covid pandemic in Australia, 44-year-old Daniel Shepherd was required to receive tow Covid vaccinations, due to his hands on role at an aged care facility. After having two Pfizer vaccines, he suffered some adverse effects, but dismissed his symptoms as nothing serious. In the months after, Shepherd was required to have a booster shot when he began a new job with the Department of Child Protection in October of the same year. In January 2022, the father was told if we wanted to keep his job as a health and childcare worker, he needed to have the jab. After eventually agreeing to the booster, Shepherd has his third dose of Pfizer in late February 2022, but began suffering from chest pains just hours later. "It felt like someone had their knee right on my chest," he told <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/adelaide-news-covid-vaccine-man-to-get-government-compensation-after-developing-heart-condition/55cc0fbf-4631-4cf0-b395-8c8b6c71a43f" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">9News.</a> The pain kept getting worse until he was rushed to hospital a few weeks later when he thought he was having a heart attack. There he was diagnosed with post-vaccine pericarditis: an inflammation of the membrane around the heart. His illness meant he was unable to work full time, and also meant he was unable to keep up with his young son. "Even today with just mild exertion [I get] chest pains and then it's followed by fatigue, like severe fatigue," Shepard said. "It's heartbreaking to have to say 'sorry buddy, daddy's tired'." Mr Shepherd decided to take legal action after he was unable to work, launching a workers compensation claim against the government. In a landmark ruling in mid-January, the South Australian Employment Tribunal agreed to pay weekly compensation and medical bills to Shepherd. Doctors were unanimous in his case that the vaccine was the cause of his inability to work, but the government argued emergency directions that were in place at the time trumped the laws around workplace injury. Pericarditis is meant to clear within a few months, but Shepherd's symptoms have plagued him for almost two years. Image credits: 9News

Legal

Millions of high-risk Australians aren’t getting vaccinated. A policy reset could save lives

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/peter-breadon-1348098">Peter Breadon</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/grattan-institute-1168">Grattan Institute</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ingrid-burfurd-1295906">Ingrid Burfurd</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/grattan-institute-1168">Grattan Institute</a> Each year, vaccines prevent thousands of deaths and hospitalisations in Australia. But millions of high-risk older Australians <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/a-fair-shot-ensuring-all-australians-can-get-the-vaccines-they-need/">aren’t getting</a> recommended vaccinations against COVID, the flu, pneumococcal disease and shingles. Some people are more likely to miss out, such as migrant communities and those in rural areas and poorer suburbs. As our new <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/a-fair-shot-ensuring-all-australians-can-get-the-vaccines-they-need/">Grattan report shows</a>, a policy reset to encourage more Australians to get vaccinated could save lives and help ease the pressure on our struggling hospitals. <h2>Adult vaccines reduce the risk of serious illness</h2> Vaccines slash the risk of <a href="https://www.ncirs.org.au/sites/default/files/2021-03/Influenza-fact-sheet_31%20March%202021_Final.pdf">hospitalisation</a> and serious illness, <a href="https://ncirs.org.au/recent-covid-19-vaccination-highly-effective-against-death-caused-sars-cov-2-infection-older">often by more than half</a>. COVID has already caused more than <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/causes-death/provisional-mortality-statistics/latest-release">3,000 deaths in Australia this year</a>. On average, the flu kills about <a href="https://www.doherty.edu.au/news-events/news/statement-on-the-doherty-institute-modelling">600 people a year</a>, although a bad flu season, like 2017, can mean <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/3303.0%7E2017%7EMain%20Features%7EAustralia's%20leading%20causes%20of%20death,%202017%7E2">several thousand deaths</a>. And pneumococcal disease may also kill <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/49809836-8ead-4da5-81c4-352fa64df75b/aihw-phe-263.pdf?inline=true">hundreds</a> of people a year. Shingles is rarely fatal, but can be extremely painful and cause <a href="https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/shingles#complications">long-term nerve damage</a>. Even before COVID, vaccine-preventable diseases caused tens of thousands of potentially preventable hospitalisations each year – more than <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/primary-health-care/disparities-in-potentially-preventable-hospitalisa/data">80,000 in 2018</a>. Vaccines offered in Australia have been tested for safety and efficacy and have been found to be <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/topics/immunisation/about-immunisation/vaccine-safety#:%7E:text=serious%20side%20effects.-,Vaccine%20safety%20monitoring,approved%20for%20use%20in%20Australia.">very safe</a> for people who are <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/topics/immunisation/when-to-get-vaccinated/national-immunisation-program-schedule">recommended to get them</a>. <h2>Too many high-risk people are missing out</h2> Our <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/roundabouts-overpasses-carparks-hauling-the-federal-government-back-to-its-proper-role-in-transport-projects">report</a> shows that before winter this year, only 60% of high-risk Australians were vaccinated against the flu. Only 38% had a COVID vaccination in the last six months. Compared to a year earlier, two million more high-risk people went into winter without a recent COVID vaccination. Vaccination rates have fallen further since. Just over one-quarter (<a href="https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-11/covid-19-vaccine-rollout-update-10-november-2023.pdf">27%</a>) of people over 75 have been vaccinated in the last six months. That leaves more than 1.3 million without a recent COVID vaccination. Uptake is also low for other vaccines. Among Australians in their 70s, <a href="https://ncirs.org.au/sites/default/files/2022-12/Coverage%20report%202021%20SUMMARY%20FINAL.pdf">less than half</a> are vaccinated against shingles and only one in five are vaccinated against pneumococcal disease. These vaccination rates aren’t just low – they’re also unfair. The likelihood that someone is vaccinated changes depending on where they live, where they were born, what language they speak at home, and how much they earn. For example, at the start of winter this year, the COVID vaccination rate for high-risk Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults was only 25%. This makes them about one-third less likely to have been vaccinated against COVID in the previous six months, compared to the average high-risk Australian. For more than 750,000 high-risk adults who do not speak English at home, the COVID vaccination rate is below 20% – about half the level of the average high-risk adult. Within this group, 250,000 adults aren’t proficient in English. They were 58% less likely to be vaccinated for COVID in the previous six months, compared to the average high-risk person. High-risk adults who speak English at home have a flu vaccination rate of 62%. But for people from 29 other language groups, who aren’t proficient in English, the rate is less than 31%. These 39,000 people have half the vaccination rate of people who speak English at home. These vaccination gaps contribute to the differences in people’s health. Australians born overseas don’t just have much lower rates of COVID vaccination, they also have much higher rates of death from COVID. Where people live also affects vaccination rates. High-risk people living in remote and very remote areas are less likely to be vaccinated, and even within capital cities there are big differences between different areas. <h2>We need to set ambitious targets</h2> Australia needs a vaccination reset. A new National Vaccination Agreement between the federal and state governments should include ambitious but achievable targets for adult vaccines. This can build on the success of targets for childhood and adolescent vaccination, setting targets for overall uptake and for communities that are falling behind. The federal government should ask the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) to advise on vaccination targets for COVID, flu, pneumococcal and shingles for all high-risk older adults. <h2>Different solutions for different barriers</h2> Barriers to vaccination range from the trivial to the profound. A new national vaccination strategy needs to dismantle high and low barriers alike. First, to increase overall uptake, vaccination should be easier, and easier to understand. The federal government should introduce vaccination “surges”, especially in the lead-up to winter, as <a href="https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/09-10-2023-vulnerable--vaccinate.-protecting-the-unprotected-from-covid-19-and-influenza">countries in Europe</a> do. During surges, high-risk people should be able to get vaccinated even if they have had a recent infection or injection. This will make the rules simpler and make vaccination in aged care easier. Surges should be reinforced with advertising explaining who should get vaccinated and why. High-risk people should get SMS reminders. Second, targeted policies are needed for the many people who are happy to use mainstream primary care services, but who don’t get vaccinated – for example, due to <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-can-governments-communicate-with-multicultural-australians-about-covid-vaccines-its-not-as-simple-as-having-a-poster-in-their-language-156097">language barriers</a>, or living in <a href="https://theconversation.com/over-half-of-eligible-aged-care-residents-are-yet-to-receive-their-covid-booster-and-winter-is-coming-205403">aged care</a>. <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/phn/what-PHNs-are">Primary Health Networks</a> should get funding to coordinate initiatives such as vaccination events in aged care and disability care homes, workforce training to support culturally appropriate care, and provision of interpreters. Third, tailored programs are needed to reach <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/health-promotion">people who are not comfortable or able to access mainstream health care</a>, who have the most complex barriers to vaccination – for example, distrust of the health system or poverty. These communities are all very different, so one-size-fits-all programs don’t work. The pandemic showed that vaccination programs can succeed when they are designed and delivered with the communities they are trying to reach. Examples are “<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36366401/">community champions</a>” who challenge misinformation, or health services organising vaccination events where communities work, gather or <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/aug/11/hundreds-queue-for-hours-and-some-camp-overnight-at-pop-up-vaccine-clinic-in-sydneys-lakemba">worship</a>. These programs should get ongoing funding, but also be accountable for achieving results. Adult vaccines are the missing piece in Australia’s whole-of-life vaccination strategy. For the health and safety of the most vulnerable members of our community, we need to close the vaccination gap. <img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217915/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/peter-breadon-1348098">Peter Breadon</a>, Program Director, Health and Aged Care, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/grattan-institute-1168">Grattan Institute</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ingrid-burfurd-1295906">Ingrid Burfurd</a>, Senior Associate, Health Program, Grattan Institute, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/grattan-institute-1168">Grattan Institute</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/millions-of-high-risk-australians-arent-getting-vaccinated-a-policy-reset-could-save-lives-217915">original article</a>.

Body

What are the new COVID booster vaccines? Can I get one? Do they work? Are they safe?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/paul-griffin-1129798">Paul Griffin</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a> As the COVID virus continues to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36680207/">evolve</a>, so does our vaccine response. From <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/ministers/the-hon-mark-butler-mp/media/new-covid-19-vaccines-available-to-target-current-variants?language=en">December 11</a>, Australians will have access to <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/news/atagi-recommendations-on-use-of-the-moderna-and-pfizer-monovalent-omicron-xbb15-covid-19-vaccines?language=en">new vaccines</a> that offer better protection. These “monovalent” booster vaccines are expected to be a <a href="https://theconversation.com/cdc-greenlights-two-updated-covid-19-vaccines-but-how-will-they-fare-against-the-latest-variants-5-questions-answered-213341">better match</a> for currently circulating strains of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID. Pfizer’s monovalent vaccine will be <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/ministers/the-hon-mark-butler-mp/media/new-covid-19-vaccines-available-to-target-current-variants?language=en">available</a> to eligible people aged five years and older. The Moderna monovalent vaccine can be used for those aged 12 years and older. Who is eligible for these new boosters? How do they differ from earlier ones? Do they work? Are they safe? <h2>Who’s eligible for the new boosters?</h2> The federal government has accepted the Australian Technical Advisory Group (ATAGI) recommendation to use the new vaccines, after Australia’s regulator <a href="https://www.tga.gov.au/products/covid-19/covid-19-vaccines/covid-19-vaccines-regulatory-status">approved their use last month</a>. However, vaccine eligibility has remained the same since September. ATAGI <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/news/atagi-recommendations-on-use-of-the-moderna-and-pfizer-monovalent-omicron-xbb15-covid-19-vaccines?language=en">recommends</a> Australians aged over 75 get vaccinated if it has been six months or more since their last dose. People aged 65 to 74 are recommended to have a 2023 booster if they haven’t already had one. <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560533/original/file-20231120-21-4igdnx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560533/original/file-20231120-21-4igdnx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560533/original/file-20231120-21-4igdnx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560533/original/file-20231120-21-4igdnx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560533/original/file-20231120-21-4igdnx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560533/original/file-20231120-21-4igdnx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560533/original/file-20231120-21-4igdnx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560533/original/file-20231120-21-4igdnx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /></a><figcaption>For people without risk factors. <a class="source" href="https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-10/atagi-recommended-covid-19-vaccine-doses.pdf">Health.gov.au</a></figcaption></figure> Adults aged 18 to 64 with underlying risk factors that increase their risk of severe COVID are also recommended to have a 2023 booster if they haven’t had one yet. And if they’ve already had a 2023 booster, they can consider an additional dose. <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560532/original/file-20231120-26-70jfyr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560532/original/file-20231120-26-70jfyr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560532/original/file-20231120-26-70jfyr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=311&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560532/original/file-20231120-26-70jfyr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=311&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560532/original/file-20231120-26-70jfyr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=311&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560532/original/file-20231120-26-70jfyr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560532/original/file-20231120-26-70jfyr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560532/original/file-20231120-26-70jfyr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /></a><figcaption>Advice for people with risk factors. <a class="source" href="https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-10/atagi-recommended-covid-19-vaccine-doses.pdf">Health.gov.au</a></figcaption></figure> For adults aged 18 to 64 without underlying risk factors who have already received a 2023 booster, an additional dose isn’t recommended. But if you’re aged 18 to 64 and haven’t had a booster in 2023, you can consider an additional dose. Additional doses aren’t recommended for children without underlying conditions that increase their risk of severe COVID. A primary course is not recommended for children aged six months to five years without additional risk factors. <h2>Monovalent, bivalent? What’s the difference?</h2> From monovalent The initial COVID vaccines were “monovalent”. They had one target – the original viral strain. But as the virus mutated, we assigned new letters of the Greek alphabet to each variant. This brings us to Omicron. With this significant change, we saw “immune evasion”. The virus had changed so much the original vaccines didn’t provide sufficient immunity. To bivalent So vaccines were updated to target an early Omicron subvariant, BA.1, plus the original ancestral strain. With two targets, these were the first of the “bivalent” vaccines, which were approved in Australia <a href="https://theconversation.com/omicron-specific-vaccines-may-give-slightly-better-covid-protection-but-getting-boosted-promptly-is-the-best-bet-190736">in 2022</a>. Omicron continued to evolve, leading to more “immune escape”, contributing to repeated waves of transmission. The vaccines were updated again in <a href="https://theconversation.com/havent-had-covid-or-a-vaccine-dose-in-the-past-six-months-consider-getting-a-booster-199096">early 2023</a>. These newer bivalent vaccines target two strains – the ancestral strain plus the subvariants BA.4 and BA.5. Back to monovalent Further changes in the virus have meant our boosters needed to be updated again. This takes us to the recent announcement. This time the booster targets another subvariant of Omicron known as XBB.1.5 (sometimes known as <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-kraken-subvariant-xbb-1-5-sounds-scary-but-behind-the-headlines-are-clues-to-where-covids-heading-198158">Kraken</a>). This vaccine is monovalent once more, meaning it has only one target. The target against the original viral strain has been removed. According to advice given to the World Health Organization <a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/18-05-2023-statement-on-the-antigen-composition-of-covid-19-vaccines">in May</a>, this is largely because immunity to this original strain is no longer required (it’s no longer infecting humans). Raising immunity to the original strain may also hamper the immune response to the newer component, but we’re not sure if this is occurring or how important this is. The United States <a href="https://theconversation.com/cdc-greenlights-two-updated-covid-19-vaccines-but-how-will-they-fare-against-the-latest-variants-5-questions-answered-213341">approved</a> XBB.1.5-specific vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna in <a href="https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-takes-action-updated-mrna-covid-19-vaccines-better-protect-against-currently-circulating">mid-September</a>. These updated vaccines have also been <a href="https://www.tga.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-10/auspar-spikevax-xbb.1.5-231012.pdf">approved in</a> places including Europe, Canada, Japan and Singapore. In Australia, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approved them <a href="https://www.tga.gov.au/products/covid-19/covid-19-vaccines/covid-19-vaccines-regulatory-status">in October</a>. <h2>Do these newer vaccines work?</h2> Evidence for the efficacy of these new monovalent vaccines comes from the results of research <a href="https://www.ebs.tga.gov.au/ebs/picmi/picmirepository.nsf/pdf?OpenAgent=&id=CP-2023-PI-02409-1&d=20231117172310101">Pfizer</a> and <a href="https://www.tga.gov.au/resources/auspar/auspar-spikevax-xbb15">Moderna</a> submitted to the TGA. Evidence also comes from a <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.08.22.23293434v2">preprint</a> (preliminary research available online that has yet to be independently reviewed) and an update Pfizer <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/downloads/slides-2023-09-12/10-COVID-Modjarrad-508.pdf">presented</a> to the US Centers for Disease Control. Taken together, the available evidence shows the updated vaccines produce good levels of antibodies in <a href="https://www.tga.gov.au/resources/auspar/auspar-spikevax-xbb15">laboratory studies</a>, <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.08.22.23293434v2">in humans</a> and <a href="https://www.tga.gov.au/resources/auspar/auspar-spikevax-xbb15">mice</a> when compared to previous vaccines and when looking at multiple emerging variants, including EG.5 (sometimes known as <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-who-has-declared-eris-a-variant-of-interest-how-is-it-different-from-other-omicron-variants-211276">Eris</a>). This variant is the one causing high numbers of cases around the world currently, including in Australia. It is very similar to the XBB version contained in the updated booster. The updated vaccines should also cover <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-evasive-and-transmissible-is-the-newest-omicron-offshoot-ba-2-86-that-causes-covid-19-4-questions-answered-212453">BA.2.86 or Pirola</a>, according to <a href="https://www.tga.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-10/auspar-spikevax-xbb.1.5-231012.pdf">early results</a> from clinical trials and the US <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/whats-new/covid-19-variant.html">Centers for Disease Control</a>. This variant is responsible for a rapidly increasing proportion of cases, with case numbers growing <a href="https://twitter.com/BigBadDenis/status/1725310295596560662?s=19">in Australia</a>. It’s clear the virus is going to continue to evolve. So performance of these vaccines against new variants will continue to be closely monitored. <h2>Are they safe?</h2> The <a href="https://www.ebs.tga.gov.au/ebs/picmi/picmirepository.nsf/pdf?OpenAgent=&id=CP-2023-PI-02409-1&d=20231117172310101">safety</a> of the updated vaccines has also been shown to be similar to previous versions. Studies <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.08.22.23293434v2">comparing them</a> found no significant difference in terms of the adverse events reported. Given the availability of the updated vaccines, some countries have removed their approval for earlier versions. This is because newer versions are a closer match to currently circulating strains, rather than any safety issue with the older vaccines. <h2>What happens next?</h2> The availability of updated vaccines is a welcome development, however this is not the end of the story. We need to make sure eligible people get vaccinated. We also need to acknowledge that vaccination should form part of a comprehensive strategy to limit the impact of COVID from now on. That includes measures such as mask wearing, social distancing, focusing on ventilation and air quality, and to a lesser degree hand hygiene. Rapidly accessing antivirals if eligible is also still important, as is keeping away from others if you are infected.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217804/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/paul-griffin-1129798">Paul Griffin</a>, Professor, Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-the-new-covid-booster-vaccines-can-i-get-one-do-they-work-are-they-safe-217804">original article</a>.

Body

Top End tourism surge after massive search for fake Aussie town

In an absolute boon to Top End tourism, it appears that Google users have been working overtime trying to locate a little slice of Northern Territory paradise known as Agnes Bluff and its nearby neighbour Mia Tukurta National Park. Why, you ask? Because they're convinced it's the next hidden holiday hotspot. But here's the catch: it's completely made up. This newfound obsession with Agnes Bluff and Mia Tukurta National Park is all thanks to Amazon Prime's latest hit series, The Lost Flowers Of Alice Hart. People have been binge-watching the show and drooling over the stunning landscapes, causing Google searches for these places to shoot up like a rocket on a sugar rush. According to <a href="https://www.news.com.au/travel/australian-holidays/northern-territory/google-searches-surge-for-agnes-bluff-an-aussie-town-that-doesnt-exist/news-story/59f00cc1e89074de0e6464c0072ae4b8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news.com.au</a>, Google searches for Agnes Bluff skyrocketed by a whopping 1640 per cent between July and August in Australia, and then another 40 per cent in September, all thanks to the series. And it's not just our fellow Aussies on the hunt for these mystical places – folks from Spain, Canada, the UK, the United States and Italy are also joining the imaginary treasure hunt. Can we blame them for trying to uncover these hidden gems? After all, in the show, Agnes Bluff and Mia Tukurta National Park look so darn spectacular that even the Loch Ness Monster might want to visit. But chin up, dear travellers! While you can't exactly book a one-way ticket to Fantasyland, you can still visit the real-life locations that inspired the series. This show was born from the creative genius of Aussie author Holly Ringland, who drew inspiration from her time living on Anangu land in Australia's Western Desert. In her news.com.au interview, she said, "To know people are Googling these places I fictionalised feels like a shot of joy straight to my heart – I don't know that there could be a greater compliment given to my writing." So, where was the series actually filmed? Well, it turns out they filmed all over Central Australia, including places like the Alice Springs Desert Park, Simpsons Gap, Ooraminna Station, Standley Chasm and Ormiston Gorge – just to name a few. And that crater that had everyone drooling? It's called Tnorala, or Gosses Bluff, and it's a mere 175km from Alice Springs. In fact, search interest in Gosses Bluff crater has hit a 15-year high in Australia, increasing by a whopping 500 per cent in August alone – so, it seems like people are genuinely eager to find their own piece of Alice Hart's world. Now, if you're wondering about the burning question that's on everyone's minds, it's this: "What is the crater in The Lost Flowers for Alice Hart?" And let me tell you, Gosses Bluff, or Tnorala, is the crater-du-jour. But here's the best part – this place is absolutely real; it's not a mirage or a figment of some writer's imagination. You can actually go there, touch it (not the crater itself, though), and breathe in the stunning views. Sure, you can't frolic inside the crater, but there are viewing points that will have you oohing and aahing like a kid in a candy store. And so, while Agnes Bluff and Mia Tukurta National Park might be the stuff of dreams, Gosses Bluff is the real deal. So it could be ime to pack your bags, grab your camera and get ready for an adventure that's so real, it'll make your Google searches feel like a distant dream. Images: Prime Video

Domestic Travel

Woman dies after being accused by doctors of faking symptoms

A woman from New Zealand has passed away from a debilitating illness after being told by a doctor that her illness was “all in her head”. Stephanie Aston, 33, died after a long and public battle with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), a rare genetic disorder affecting the body’s connective tissue, on September 1st. EDS, of which there are 13 different variants, is often referred to as an "invisible illness", as sufferers can often appear healthy despite experiencing excruciating symptoms, such as severe migraines, dislocating joints, easy bruising, abdominal pain, iron deficiency, fainting and an abnormally fast heart-rate. Aston said she was dismissed by a doctor in 2016, who dismissed her symptoms and told her that she was faking her disease. Despite being diagnosed with EDS by three different specialists, one doctor in Auckland, who Aston referred to as 'Doctor A', suggested she was not seriously unwell and indicated she was causing her illnesses, <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/stephanie-aston-death-eds-sufferers-call-for-change-after-doctors-accused-woman-of-faking-illness/VX4Q6CAWRVH25I6OCKGQ4KTW4M/">The NZ Herald</a> reports. Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes New Zealand founder Kelly McQuinlan said Stephanie's death has shocked the community, and said more needs to be done for those suffering with the debilitating condition. “A lot of people are feeling very lost,” she said. “I think most people in these rare positions or invisible illnesses, definitely experience setbacks and disbelieving because things can’t be seen but really the clinical symptoms are there that are being ignored.” Ms McQuinlan described Ms Aston as a “beacon” for those with the illness in a tribute to her on Facebook. “Most people in our community have experienced some form of sort of doctors not believing them or questioning their diagnosis which is extremely hard,” she wrote. “When they see someone in their community pass away, the first thing they think is ‘What if my care is not looked after? What’s going to happen to me?’.” “At the end of the day, if symptoms aren’t managed correctly, anyone can get sick enough that they will pass away.” Image credits: Facebook

Caring

“Done with the vaccine”: Karl Stefanovic blasts fifth booster

Karl Stefanovic has once again sparked controversy after declaring he is “done with the vaccine.” Karl shocked viewers after expressing concerns that the jab could cause “heart issues” as the Australian Technical Advisory Group (ATAGI) updated its vaccine recommendations. According to the ATAGI, as of February 20, anyone aged 18 and over who has not had the COVID vaccine or has not contracted the virus in the past six months will be eligible to get another shot - opening up a fourth dose for Aussies aged 19-29 and a fifth dose for those 65 and over. “As you know, I am not a glowing ambassador for more than two shots,” Stefanovic said. The Today show host then questioned whether another dose would be able to fight new strains of the virus, stating he is aware of people “over the age of 60 who are still incredibly nervous about getting it." “The other thing that I am concerned about, if I have another dose, is that I may get complications,” he said. The host’s guest, medical expert Dr Nick Coatsway insisted Australians aged 60 and over “needn’t be” scared of the jab but added that the conceded boosters are only a temporary solution. “Let’s understand the science, if you get a fifth dose your protection is enhanced for around about 8-12 weeks and then it returns after the fourth dose or the third dose,” Dr Coatsworth said. The ATAGI has again emphasised the importance of Aussies who are already eligible, including people over 65, to get their booster in 2023 as they remain at high risk of severe disease and death from COVID. Currently, there is no additional booster available to those 18 and below, with the exception of children aged 5-17 who are at high risk of developing a severe illness. Image credit: Getty

Our Partners

Over 60

News

Shop

Catalogues

Contests

Entertainment

Travel

Health

Lifestyle

Finance

Property

Games

Information

Keep up to date

Search

Aussie mum jailed after faking her own death for major insurance payout

Could the shingles vaccine lower your risk of dementia?

What’s the difference between ‘strep throat’ and a sore throat? We’re developing a vaccine for one of them

Long COVID puzzle pieces are falling into place – the picture is unsettling

Jimmy Barnes warns fans about fake accounts

Woman's fake parking fines divides internet

COVID vaccines saved millions of lives – linking them to excess deaths is a mistake

The growing promise of cancer vaccines

5 ways to fake a clean bathroom

Too many Australians aren’t getting a flu vaccine. Why, and what can we do about it?

“Is that Snoop Dog?!”: Man caught with fake passenger in carpool lane

AstraZeneca admits to Covid vaccine's deadly side effect

Outrage after grandma beaten at home by fake officers

There are new flu vaccines on offer for 2024. Should I get one? What do I need to know?

Dad awarded compensation after developing heart issue from mandatory vaccine

Millions of high-risk Australians aren’t getting vaccinated. A policy reset could save lives

What are the new COVID booster vaccines? Can I get one? Do they work? Are they safe?

Top End tourism surge after massive search for fake Aussie town

Woman dies after being accused by doctors of faking symptoms

“Done with the vaccine”: Karl Stefanovic blasts fifth booster

Our Partners