Booster vaccines reduced the risk of COVID‑19–related hospitalisation and death, according to a new study of over 3 million adults who had the autumn 2022 vaccine in England.  The research led by the universities of Bristol and Oxford, provides further evidence of the effectiveness of booster vaccination against COVID-19.

A five-year study has revealed that children with sleep apnea are twice as likely to contract the flu or COVID-19, regardless of their age or weight. Even after undergoing surgery to remove tonsils or adenoids, this increased vulnerability persists due to long-term changes in the immune system. These findings suggest that a sleep apnea diagnosis should serve as a critical "risk marker," signaling the urgent need for consistent seasonal vaccinations to prevent severe respiratory complications.

Subsidies enacted a year into the COVID-19 pandemic to expand eligibility and offset premium costs of insurance purchased on Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces led to significant enrollment gains among eligible children ages 18 and under, Black and Hispanic individuals, and residents of rural areas, according to a new study by a researcher at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 

The increased size of, and lesser blood supply to, a key brain structure in patients with Long COVID tracks with known blood markers of Alzheimer’s disease and greater levels of dementia, a new study finds.

Study of over 540,000 people suggests people with obesity are 70% more likely to be hospitalised or die from an infectious disease; people with the most severe obesity face three times the risk.

Applying these risk estimates to global data suggests obesity was linked to one in ten infection-related global deaths in 2023.However, authors highlight estimates of the global impact should be interpreted with caution.

The proportion of infection-related deaths associated with obesity differed between countries, with roughly one in six deaths in the UK an done in four deaths in the US.

Authors warn that given rising global obesity rates, the number of serious infections linked to obesity is likely to grow in the coming decades. 

Obesity significantly increases the risk of hospitalisation and death from most infectious diseases, including flu, COVID-19, pneumonia, gastroenteritis, urinary tract infections and respiratory tract infections, suggests a study of 540,000 people published in The Lancet journal. 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsb.2025.09.026

This new article publication from Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B, discusses the discovery of SARS-CoV-2 PLpro inhibitors and RIPK1 inhibitors with synergistic antiviral efficacy in a mouse COVID-19 model.