Health

First UK patient has died from omicron variant

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday the first patient had died after contracting the omicron variant of the coronavirus, Sky news reported.

Britain said on Monday that the Omicron coronavirus variant was spreading at a "phenomenal rate" and now accounted for about 40 percent of infections in London, so people should get a booster shot because the double-vaccinated are still vulnerable.

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Since the first Omicron cases were detected on Nov. 27 in the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has imposed tougher restrictions and told the nation on Sunday that a "tidal wave" of Omicron was coming.

Britain says that unless action is taken there could be a million people infected with Omicron by the end of the month.

"It's spreading at a phenomenal rate, something that we've never seen before, it's doubling every two to three days in infections," Health Secretary Sajid Javid told Sky News.

"That means we're facing a tidal wave of infection, we're once again in a race between the vaccine and the virus."

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Health

Syria: WHO Regional Director calls for greater investment in health sector

Failure to invest in the health of the Syrian people will only deepen instability in the war-ravaged country and pose threats to regional and global security, a senior official with the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.

Health

World News in Brief: Vaccine ‘patches’ trial shows promise, lowering catheter infection risk, Guantanamo detainee facing revictimisation

Few enjoy having injections and if you have children, you probably like them even less when it’s time for their mandated vaccine shots.

Health

No sign yet of H5N1 bird flu spreading between humans, says WHO chief

The H5N1 avian influenza virus has so far shown no signs of adapting to allow human to human transmission, the UN health agency said on Wednesday, urging continued surveillance.