The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates 10–20% of people suffer from long COVID after they recover from the initial COVID infection. Common symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath and “brain fog”, but more than 200 different symptoms have been linked to long COVID. The condition affects daily functioning and can be debilitating. Our research, published today, estimated the economic burden of long COVID in Australia. We calculated long COVID cost the Australian economy almost A$10 billion in 2022 alone. What is long COVID? The WHO defines long COVID as the continuation or development of new symptoms three months after the…
Author: C Raina MacIntyre, Professor of Global Biosecurity, NHMRC L3 Research Fellow, Head, Biosecurity Program, Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern, after rising cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the potential for further spread. This now triggers a coordinated international response to an extraordinary event and the mobilisation of resources, such as vaccines and diagnostic testing, to curb the spread of this infectious disease. But WHO has not declared mpox a pandemic. Rather, the measures it has triggered are designed to prevent it from becoming one. What triggered this latest alert? Mpox, once known as monkeypox, is a viral infection closely related to…