International — Due to the current evolution of COVID-19 but also monkeypox and other epidemics, we bring you a selection of international news covered by our local editorial teams*.The recall campaign with the new bivalent vaccines against Omicron has begunIn France, the vaccination campaign with the new bivalent vaccine Omicron from Moderna (Spikevax Original/Omicron BA.1) and that from Pfizer (original strain/BA.5) started this week for the most vulnerable patients.As the number of doses available is limited, the French High Authority for Health recommends using conventional mRNA vaccines to carry out the booster rather than waiting in the event of difficulties in accessing new vaccines.This new vaccination campaign is launched as the circulation of SARS-CoV-2 continues to increase over almost the entire territory.The increase in the incidence rate was +31% on October 2 compared to the previous week.This rate was 470 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, an average of almost 42,653 new cases per day.It has increased in all age groups, except in the under 10s.At the national level, conventional and intensive care hospitalizations also increased (respectively +42% and +29%).In mainland France, on September 12, the Omicron BA.5 variant represented 91% of the interpretable sequences and the BA.4, 8%.Due to its neutralizing activity on the Omicron BA.5 variant, Evusheld®, a long-acting tixagevimab/cilgavimab monoclonal antibody combination, received a marketing authorization extension on September 16 for the treatment of Covid-19. -19 in people at risk of progression to severe disease.Concerning another epidemic, that of monkey pox, as of October 4, 2022 at 12:00 p.m., 4,043 confirmed cases of infection with the Monkeypox virus have been identified in France, i.e. 44 additional cases since the Public Health report of September 27. France.The data collected so far shows that the peak of contaminations took place at the end of June/beginning of July and that the number of confirmed cases has since decreased.In Spain, the incidence of Covid-19 at 14 days has increased slightly (reaching almost 150 per 100,000 inhabitants) in people over 60 years old.This means an increase of 8 points on Friday September 30 compared to Tuesday September 26, and an increase of 14 points compared to Friday September 23.The highest incidence is recorded in people over 80 (over 200 cases/100,000).Nevertheless, the pressure in hospitals remains under control with an ICU occupancy rate of 1.6%.The vaccination campaign is progressing slowly.According to the latest report published by the Ministry of Health, almost 26 million people, or 54.8% of the Spanish population, received the booster dose.On September 26, some regions started the administration of the fourth dose of the Covid-19 vaccine in combination with the flu vaccine in people over 80 years of age and those at high risk, the rest of the regions will start the vaccination campaign during the month of October.According to data from the National Epidemiological Surveillance Network (RENAVE), as of September 30, a total of 7,188 confirmed cases of monkeypox have been reported in the country.In the UK, for the second week in a row, Covid-19 infections increased between the week of September 19-25.Data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows a sharp rise in infections among people aged over 80 and in the South West of England, but the total number of cases has increased in all age groups and all regions.The fall flu and Covid-19 reminder campaign is underway.Everyone aged 50 and over is urged to get the flu and Covid-19 vaccines to minimize both infections and prevent people from getting them at the same time.All primary school children and children between the ages of 2 and 3 were also asked to receive a dose of the nasal flu vaccine.On the morning of September 27, a total of 1,849,110 confirmed cases of Covid-19 were reported in England (confirmed by PCR test).This number includes possible reinfections.Hospital admission rates also rose to 7.62 per 100,000 from 4.96 last week.Hospitalization rates were highest in the North East region, with a rate of 10.82 per 100,000 population.The incidence of Covid-19 related deaths remained similar to the previous week.On Wednesday September 28, during the 30th Pan American Sanitary Conference of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the new director of PAHO was elected.This is Dr. Jarbas Barbosa da Silva Jr, of Brazilian nationality, who will begin his five-year term on February 1, 2023, succeeding Dr. Etienne who has led PAHO since 2012.Since the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and as of September 17, America has reported more than 177 million cases and 2.8 million deaths, or 29.1% and 43% of the global total, respectively.Over the past 14 days, cases have increased by 0.7% and deaths by 0.3%.More than a third of these cases (36%) and a smaller proportion of deaths (12.5%) were reported between January 1, 2022 and June 30, 2022. The highest numbers of monthly cases and deaths were reported in January 2021.As of June 30, 2022, two countries in the Americas (United States and Brazil) were among the top ten countries in the world reporting the highest number of cumulative cases, and four (United States, Brazil, Mexico, and Peru) were among the top ten. countries in the world with the highest number of cumulative deaths.The rate of primary vaccination (first two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine) has stagnated in the region since October 2021.At the same time, cases of monkeypox have been reported in 31 countries and US territories, amounting to nearly 40,000 cases.The United States continues to account for more than half of the cases, but rapid increases have been seen in Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Mexico and Chile for the past two months.The epidemic continues to affect mainly men, who account for 95.5% of cases, including more than 70% among men who have sex with men aged 20-49.More than 60% of cases in America concern HIV-positive people, a proportion twice as large as in Europe.In 1994, America was the first country in the world to be certified polio-free by the WHO.However, following declining immunization levels, which have fallen below 80% in almost all countries in the Americas in recent years, 12 countries in the region are at very high or high risk of experiencing an outbreak of polio after confirmation. of poliovirus circulation in New York State.The recommended vaccination coverage to prevent the reintroduction of the virus is 95%.Of the 243,947,095 vaccines against Covid-19 that Mexico has received, whether by contract or by donation, 5,041,050 have expired.Most of the expired doses match those given by AstraZeneca, with 3.4 million, and the rest match Sputnik V.Dr. Hugo Lopez-Gatell Ramirez, undersecretary for prevention and health promotion, reiterated his accusations against pharmaceutical companies, pointing out that they are “pressure” on governments to proceed periodic vaccinations against the coronavirus;he assured that there is still no “solid scientific evidence” in favor of an annual vaccination against Covid-19.Mexico has recorded the lowest number of infections, hospitalizations and deaths since the start of the pandemic, with a daily average of 616 cases and zero deaths.The indicators have been falling for 11 consecutive weeks.On the occasion of World Heart Day (September 29), Dr. Enrique Gómez Álvarez, head of the Cardiology Service of the National Medical Center (CMN) of November 20 of the Institute of Safety and Social Services of Workers of the State (ISSSTE), explained: "With the Covid-19 pandemic, mortality from cardiovascular disease has increased by 45% in Mexico".According to the WHO, the African region had 546,290 active cases of Covid-19 as of October 3 (928 new cases and 5 deaths).Ghana and Guinea are the countries reporting the highest number of cases, 285 and 257 respectively. 21.7% of the African population has received the full Covid-19 vaccination schedule.Uganda declared an outbreak of Ebola virus disease caused by the virus from Sudan on September 20.As of May 2019, and according to the International Classification of Diseases for Filoviruses (ICD-11), outbreaks caused by Sudan ebolavirus are named Sudan virus disease outbreaks.According to WHO, as of September 25, 36 cases have been reported (18 confirmed and 18 probable) and 23 deaths (5 confirmed).Women (67%) are twice as affected as men, and 37% of cases are under 20 years old.As on other continents, new cases of monkeypox have been reported in Africa over the past week.One was reported in Sudan (a newly affected country) and one in Cameroon, compared to six the previous week.Cameroon has reported two deaths.Eleven countries have confirmed monkeypox cases in Africa between January and August 2022. Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo and Ghana remain the top countries with the highest number of monkeypox cases.The Gambia has been experiencing an epidemic of acute kidney injury of unknown etiology in children since early August.75 cases have been reported so far, as of September 23, all in children aged one month to seven years.A total of 50 deaths have been reported, representing a case fatality rate of 66.7%.Stool samples from some cases tested positive for the bacterium Escherichia Coli (E.coli) and toxicology analyzes of two samples revealed the presence of ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol plus ethylene glycol, respectively.Based on the available evidence, the event was classified as acute kidney injury secondary to E. coli infection, aggravated by toxic substances contained in paracetamol syrup.In Syria, cholera, which had disappeared since 2009, reappeared in early September when around two thirds of water treatment plants, half of pumping stations and a third of water towers were damaged by eleven years of war. , according to the UN.The world organization speaks of the "worst epidemic the country has seen in years".Australia will end the mandatory five-day home quarantine for people infected with Covid from October 14, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday.Some doctors worry that this measure puts the population in danger.Indonesia has granted emergency use authorization to the Covid-19 mRNA vaccine developed by a Chinese company, Walvax Biotechnology Co Ltd, becoming the first country, even before China, to do so.This vaccine targets the original strain of the coronavirus.Immunity to Covid-19 among the Japanese population has reached around 90% in most regions after the recent Omicron wave, according to a study published on Tuesday which specifies however that this immunity is temporary.Since March, a 33-year-old Chinese artist from Jiangsu province has been filming his Covid-19 tests with a small camera in his mouth.Taiwan will end its mandatory quarantine for arrivals to its territory from Oct. 13 and welcome tourists again, the government said Thursday.The Hong Kong government said on Friday (September 30) that it intended to ease some measures relating to the fight against the coronavirus, as the trends of the pandemic continue to stabilize.*Contributors to this article Aude Lecrubier (Medscape French edition), Claudia Bravo (Medscape in Spanish), Leoleli Schwartz (Medscape in Portuguese), Vanessa Sibbald (Medscape United Kingdom), Maria Baena (Univadis Spain).Note: This overview provides an overview of clinical practices, recommendations, emerging discoveries during this pandemic.In general, all information concerning Covid-19 is likely to be updated with the advancement of knowledge.Article publication dates are more important than ever.Some of the information below may also not be in line with the directives of the French health authorities.Follow Medscape in French on Twitter.Follow theheart.org |Medscape Cardiology on Twitter.Subscribe to Medscape newsletters: select your choicesFront page image credit: DreamstimeMedscape News © 2022 WebMD, LLCCite this article: COVID-19, Monkeypox, Polio, Ebola...Key Figures and Global Developments - Medscape - Oct 7, 2022.The Medscape editorial team has no conflict of interest related to the subject