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Three global health groups today issued a joint statement that strongly urged countries to be aware of the pandemic potential for an H1N1 swine influenza subtype circulating in Chinese pigs. The statement is from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), and the World Health Organization (WHO). The 1C.2.3 ("G4") genetic clade of H1N1 swine influenza was first identified by Chinese researchers in 2016 and has become the dominant genotype circulating in China's pigs. Two variant H1N1 cases involving the subtype have recently been detected in humans, and a small seroprevalence study in Chinese swine workers suggested that 10% had been exposed to the virus. The WHO Collaborating Center in China has developed a candidate vaccine virus targeting the strain. (9/9)

More quiet zones in high-risk indoor spaces, such as hospitals and restaurants, could help to cut coronavirus contagion risks, researchers have said, after a study showed that lowering speaking volume can reduce the spread of the disease. In efforts to rein in transmission, a reduction of 6 decibels in average speech levels can have the same effect as doubling a room’s ventilation, scientists said on Wednesday, in an advance copy of a paper detailing their study. (Swift, 9/10)

Disruptions to health services due to the coronavirus pandemic could reverse decades of progress in reducing child mortality, the United Nations said Wednesday. The number of infant deaths dropped to 5.2 million in 2019 – the lowest point on record – from 12.5 million in 1990, according to data jointly released by the World Health Organization, UNICEF and other organizations. The disruptions, these organizations said, “are putting millions of additional lives at stake.” (Genovese, 9/9)

The coronavirus targets the lungs foremost, but also the kidneys, liver and blood vessels. Still, about half of patients report neurological symptoms, including headaches, confusion and delirium, suggesting the virus may also attack the brain. A new study offers the first clear evidence that, in some people, the coronavirus invades brain cells, hijacking them to make copies of itself. The virus also seems to suck up all of the oxygen nearby, starving neighboring cells to death. (Mandavilli, 9/9)

New findings suggest infants and young kids process language in both hemispheres of the brain, which could help compensate after a neural injury, researchers say. In nearly all adults, sentence processing only takes place in the left hemisphere, according to neuroscientists from Georgetown University Medical Center. Previously, with traditional scanning, it was unclear whether “strong left dominance for language [was] present at birth or [appeared] gradually during development,” said Elissa Newport, Ph.D., Georgetown neurology professor, in a news release. (Rivas, 9/8)