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According to the WHO, Until December 9, 116,108 deaths due to Covid in Spain have been confirmed.
According to the WHO, 155,898 cumulative deaths have been confirmed due to Covid in France.
According to the WHO, Until December 9, 197,723 deaths due to Covid have been confirmed in the United Kingdom.
The European Union’s health regulator on Friday expressed concern about the diminishing effectiveness of anti-COVID-19 antibody drugs to treat patients as emerging variants of the virus are challenging treatment approaches.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have gone a step further and have withdrawn their recommendations on some monoclonal antibodies, on the grounds that Omicron and the later offspring of the variant have likely rendered them obsolete. these options.
Monoclonal antibodies are designed to neutralize the SARS-CoV-2 virus by binding to the spike protein on its surface, but the virus has evolved, causing changes to this protein, which affects how antibodies bind to it. .
“Although it is not yet known to what extent reduced neutralizing activity translates into reduced benefits for patients, healthcare professionals will need to consider alternative treatments, especially if subvariants such as BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 become prevalent,” he said. the European Medicines Agency. (EMA) said.
The new offshoots of Omicron’s dominant BA.5 subvariant known as BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 are among more than 300 sublineages of the Omicron variant circulating globally, 95% of which are direct descendants of BA. .5, according to the WHO .
The EMA’s Emergency Working Group said alternative antivirals such as Pfizer’s Remdesivir, Paxlovid and Gilead can be considered and are expected to retain their activity against emerging strains.
The EMA added that it would study any necessary label updates for covid medicines.
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