Top 5 Infectious Disease Stories of the Week: July 1, 2022

Have you been too busy to catch up on the news this past week? Here is an opportunity to do so with some of the important stories we have been covering this week.

Contagion compiles 5 highlights of our coverage in infectious disease including video interviews, podcasts, and significant stories from the week ending July 1, 2022.

Here are Contagion’s highlights from the week:

1. FDA Vaccine Advisory Committee Recommends Booster Vaccines Optimized for Omicron
After an all-day meeting, the FDA’s Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) voted 90% YES to recommend this fall’s COVID-19 booster doses target Omicron.

2. Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine Efficacy Against Omicron in Children 5-11 Years
 In children 5-11 years old, 2 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine were moderately effective against documented, symptomatic Omicron infection.

3. WHO Emergency Committee Does Not Declare Monkeypox Public Health Emergency
The World Health Organization did not declare monkeypox a global health emergency, instead calling it an “evolving health threat” that requires continued monitoring.

4. Pfizer Files FDA NDA for Paxlovid
The submission is based off both non-clinical and clinical data, including results from the phase 2/3 EPIC-HR study.

5. CDC: Listeria Outbreak With Most Living or Traveling to Florida
The federal agency has reported 1 death and 22 hospitalizations stemming back to January of 2021.