Good Day BIO: Climate change is making infectious disease worse

A new study confirms that climate change is making infectious disease worse—and we’re seeing this play out in real time right here in the U.S. Meanwhile, the FDA’s EUA yesterday will make more monkeypox vaccine doses available. (761 words, 3 minutes, 48 seconds)

Climate change is making infectious disease worse, says study

A new study confirms climate change is making infectious disease worse—and we’re seeing this play out in real-time with a new deadly bacteria found for the first time on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The key finding: 58% of infectious diseases have been aggravated by extreme weather and climate change, finds the study published Monday by Nature Climate Change.

Researchers found “1,006 unique pathways in which climatic hazards, via different transmission types, resulted in cases of pathogenic diseases,” including warming, which represented the most at 160 unique diseases, as well as precipitation, floods, drought, and heatwaves.

We’re seeing this play out in real-time,Bio.News reports today, as the deadly bacteria Burkholderia pseudomallei is now making a home in the U.S. Gulf Coast region, where climate change is causing conditions in which it can thrive.

What’s so bad about a little bacteria? “Federal officials are on notice as Burkholderia pseudomallei is considered a Tier 1 select agent, along with anthrax and Ebola, meaning it is dangerous enough to be considered a bioterrorism weapon. And with a mortality rate of 10 to 50 percent, action is imperative,” explains Bio.News.

What they’re saying: “This is a big deal because clinicians generally speaking only consider melioidosis in patients who have recent travel to an endemic area like Thailand, South Asia, Australia,” Julia Petras, an epidemic intelligence service officer with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) bacterial special pathogens branch, told STAT News. “They would not consider just somebody living in the Gulf Coast area who has never traveled, that they would have melioidosis.”

Biotech has a big role to play in addressing these problems—by developing solutions to address climate change and its wide-ranging impacts, and of course, developing treatments and antimicrobials to address infectious diseases when they’re already here, explains Bio.News.

But we need policymakers to help, too—by advancing One Health and policy to incentivize antimicrobial investment and R&D.

Read more on Bio.News.

FDA increases access to monkeypox vaccine

At a critical juncture, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) that will increase the number of doses available five-fold.

The situation: More than 8,900 cases of monkeypox have been confirmed in almost every state, reports POLITICO. There have been more than 27,000 reported cases worldwide, and 10 confirmed deaths.

We have safe and effective monkeypox vaccines and treatments—but not quite enough, as we reported last week.

What’s new: FDA’s EUA will allow the JYNNEOS monkeypox vaccine to be administered intradermally (between the layers of the skin) with the same immune response, increasing the number of “doses available for use by up to five-fold,” per the statement. The EUA also allows for administration of the vaccine to high-risk individuals under 18.

The impact: The 441,000 doses in the Strategic National Stockpile could be stretched to 2.2 million, says POLITICO.

What they’re saying: “In recent weeks the monkeypox virus has continued to spread at a rate that has made it clear our current vaccine supply will not meet the current demand,” said FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert M. Califf. “By increasing the number of available doses, more individuals who want to be vaccinated against monkeypox will now have the opportunity to do so.” 

The big picture: The success of the monkeypox vaccines and therapeutics shows the importance of investment in medical countermeasures—and the rapid increase in cases and need for more vaccines shows the importance of sustaining that investment.

More Health Care News: 

Bio.News: Pfizer-Valneva’s Lyme disease vaccine enters phase 3 amid rising incidence
“With increasing global rates of Lyme disease, providing a new option for people to help protect themselves from the disease is more important than ever,” said Annaliesa Anderson, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Head of Vaccine Research & Development at Pfizer.  

Drug Channels: Texas shows us where PBMs’ rebates go
“Our analyses of new Texas-mandated PBM disclosures reveal that plan sponsors receive most of the rebates, fees, and other payments from manufacturers. However, PBMs retain an unexpectedly large share of these payments—while the patients whose prescriptions generated these funds get almost nothing,” writes Dr. Adam J. Fein.

President Biden’s Wednesday: This morning, he’ll give remarks and sign the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promises to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act (PACT) of 2022, to provide support for veterans who have been exposed to toxic substances. Then, he and the First Lady head to Charleston, SC, for a vacation on Kiawah Island, per reports.

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: The House and Senate are in recess. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said yesterday that the House will extend proxy voting due to COVID-19 until at least September 26.