José Gómez Rial

An analysis of the gut microbiota of children growing up on farms or with pets shows that early establishment of anaerobic commensal bacteria is associated with lower rates of allergy later in life. The study, which used data from 65 children aged between three days and 18 months, is published in the journal PLOS ONE. 

Antimicrobial resistance caused around 5 million deaths worldwide in 2019. The use of vaccines has the potential to reduce these deaths - 515,000 fewer deaths per year - according to a report published by the WHO. The work focused on 24 pathogens and 44 vaccines, licensed by regulatory agencies, in clinical development or in development. By counting existing vaccines alone, antibiotic use could be reduced by 142 million daily doses per year.  

Toledo and Alicante are suffering the first outbreaks of measles recorded in Spain since the pandemic, El País reported today. In total, 15 cases have been confirmed since 1 January, of which seven are imported and eight autochthonous.

The Karolinska Institute has awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their groundbreaking discoveries, which have radically changed our understanding of how mRNA interacts with our immune system, and made it possible to develop vaccines at unprecedented speed during the covid-19 pandemic.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has licensed Hipra's vaccine - currently called Bimervax - against SARS-CoV-2 as a booster in people aged 16 years and older who have previously been vaccinated with mRNA vaccines. The EMA began the ongoing evaluation of the vaccine, which was expected to be approved in the middle of last year, on 29 March 2022.

During Pfizer's appearance before the European Parliament this week, a company executive responded to the question of whether "Pfizer's vaccine was tested to stop transmission of the virus (SARS-CoV-2) before going to market" by saying "no".

The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has approved an updated version of the covid-19 vaccine manufactured by Moderna that also targets the omicron variant. It is intended to serve as a booster dose for adults.

Según datos de la OMS y UNICEF, 25 millones de niños no han recibido sus vacunas contra la difteria, el tétanos y la tosferina (DTP) a nivel global. Se trata de la mayor caída continuada en cobertura vacunal en casi treinta años.

The Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, announced in an interview on La Sexta that there will be a fourth dose of the covid-19 vaccine "for the entire population".