Although many of the infections have been mild, emerging data indicate that variants of the avian influenza virus H5N1 that are spreading in North America can cause severe disease and death, especially when passed directly to humans from birds. The virus is also adapting to new hosts — cows and other mammals — raising the risk that it could spark a human pandemic.
...In terms of its effectiveness in preventing deaths, our analysis of the data shows that influenza vaccination is able to reduce infection-associated mortality by half overall, including H3N2 infections.
Despite concerns about the future of research at the National Institutes of Health, current clinical trials can continue as scheduled, the agency’s acting director told staff scientists in an email Monday.
The clarification followed what staffers called “chaos” Wednesday when the Trump administration “paused” all communications from federal health agencies and suspended all government travel. The directive left NIH staff members with unanswered questions about their work and even whether they’d be able to continue caring for their patients.
The Trump administration pulled back from its order to pause nearly all foreign aid, and will now exempt “core life saving programs” that involve medicine, medical services, food and shelter, according to a Tuesday memo from Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
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