Long COVID's Two-Year Shadow, RSV Protection Broadened, Melanoma Combination Approved

Today's roundup moves through long COVID's cognitive aftermath, updated infant RSV guidance, a depression-treatment milestone, a Mediterranean heat advisory, a melanoma regulatory step, and sobering childhood obesity data from across Europe.

Long COVID Cognitive Effects Persist at Two Years; Targeted Rehabilitation Shows Promise

A prospective cohort study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, drawing on 8,400 participants enrolled in the NIH RECOVER initiative, reports that 18 percent of patients with confirmed post-COVID condition still show measurable cognitive impairment on standardised testing at 24 months post-infection — roughly twice the prevalence observed in a matched control group with no COVID-19 history. Deficits cluster in working memory, processing speed, and sustained attention, reflecting disruption in prefrontal-cortical networks; brain MRI shows no gross structural lesions in most cases, which the investigators attribute to persistent neuroinflammatory signalling rather than discrete tissue damage. Alongside the cohort data, a Phase 2 randomised controlled trial at Columbia University Medical Center found that eight weeks of structured cognitive rehabilitation paired with low-dose extended-release guanfacine — an alpha-2 adrenergic agonist used clinically in ADHD — produced statistically significant improvements in processing speed and self-reported cognitive function compared with rehabilitation alone; effect sizes were modest (Cohen's d ≈ 0.42), and a confirmatory Phase 3 trial is now being planned. The findings strengthen calls for dedicated post-COVID cognitive assessment pathways in primary care, particularly for working-age adults who report persistent difficulties with concentration and multitasking.

Infants Gain Broader RSV Protection as Europe Opens the 2026–27 Immunisation Season

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the WHO European Regional Office have published joint updated guidance recommending nirsevimab (Beyfortus) for all infants under 12 months entering their first RSV season — and for premature infants and those with congenital heart disease or chronic lung disease under 24 months — regardless of prior respiratory history. This extends the previous indication, which several member states had implemented more narrowly. Nirsevimab is a long-acting monoclonal antibody, not a vaccine: it provides passive immunity for approximately five months after a single intramuscular injection, without requiring the infant's immune system to generate a primary response. The Cyprus Ministry of Health and Greece's National Public Health Organisation (EODY) have both confirmed that nirsevimab administration will begin through paediatric primary-care networks in October 2026, with priority given to the highest-risk infants in the first three weeks of the rollout. Parents of newborns and infants born prematurely are advised to contact their paediatrician ahead of the season opener to ensure their child is scheduled before RSV circulation typically peaks in November.

Esketamine Nasal Spray Holds Depression in Remission for 12 Months in Phase 3 Data

Data from the SUSTAIN-3 Phase 3 trial, published this week in JAMA Psychiatry, show that adults with treatment-resistant depression who had achieved remission on esketamine nasal spray (Spravato, Janssen) plus a standard oral antidepressant remained in remission significantly longer over 12 months than those switched to placebo nasal spray plus oral antidepressant: relapse occurred in 26.7 percent of the esketamine group versus 45.3 percent in the placebo group, a 46 percent relative reduction in relapse risk. Esketamine works by blocking the NMDA glutamate receptor, producing antidepressant effects through a mechanism entirely distinct from the monoamine pathways targeted by SSRIs and SNRIs — which is why it can benefit patients for whom conventional treatments have failed after months or years of trials. The drug's risk profile — including transient dissociation, dizziness, and a regulatory requirement for supervised administration in a certified healthcare setting for at least two hours per dose — means it is not a first-line option, but SUSTAIN-3 substantially strengthens the case that it can sustain benefit rather than merely providing short-term relief. Treatment-resistant depression affects an estimated 100–120 million people globally; health authorities in countries where esketamine remains unreimbursed are expected to revisit access decisions in light of these 12-month durability data.

WHO Europe Issues Heat-Health Advisory; Cyprus Records Hottest September Week in 76 Years

The WHO European Regional Office has issued a special heat-health advisory for the eastern Mediterranean subregion this week, after syndromic surveillance showed a 34 percent above-baseline rate of emergency-department visits for heat exhaustion, dehydration, and acute kidney injury across Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, and Lebanon during the first two weeks of September. The Cyprus Meteorological Service recorded a mean daily maximum of 39.4°C over the period 8–14 September — the hottest September week measured in Nicosia since records began in 1950 — and the Cyprus Ministry of Health has extended its heat-health action plan, originally scheduled to end on 15 September, through the full month. WHO Europe specifically flags the risk for older adults living alone, people with cardiovascular or chronic kidney disease, and outdoor workers, recommending that health authorities activate cooling-centre networks, conduct welfare checks on isolated elderly residents, and intensify hydration messaging in multiple languages. A rapid analysis published in Eurosurveillance estimates that each additional 1°C above the seasonal mean is associated with approximately a 4 percent increase in heat-related mortality across the eastern Mediterranean — a finding that makes this week's advisory a preview of what public-health systems in the region must routinely manage under accelerating climate projections.

EU Approves Relatlimab Plus Nivolumab Combination for Unresectable Melanoma

The European Commission has granted formal marketing authorisation to the combination of relatlimab and nivolumab (Opdualag, Bristol Myers Squibb) for adult and adolescent patients aged 12 and older with unresectable or metastatic melanoma, following a positive Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use opinion at the European Medicines Agency. The approval rests on the RELATIVITY-047 pivotal trial, which demonstrated a median progression-free survival of 10.1 months with relatlimab plus nivolumab versus 4.6 months with nivolumab alone — an advance attributed to the complementary blockade of two distinct immune checkpoints, LAG-3 and PD-1, that tumour cells exploit to suppress anti-cancer T-cell activity; blocking both pathways simultaneously releases the immune response more fully than blocking either alone. Opdualag has been available in the United States since FDA approval in 2022; the EU authorisation means patients across member states can now seek access through national reimbursement pathways. Mediterranean countries — where UV-exposure-driven melanoma incidence is above the northern European average — stand to benefit substantially; Cypriot oncologists can apply for early compassionate access while reimbursement negotiations with national health system operator OKYPY proceed.

Mediterranean Countries Lead Europe's Childhood Obesity Ranking; School-Food Policy Gap Cited

The WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI) 2026 wave, covering 40 European countries and approximately 300,000 children aged 7–9, has placed Cyprus fourth-highest in Europe for combined childhood overweight and obesity prevalence — at 42 percent — and Greece sixth at 39 percent, rates roughly double those observed in Nordic and Baltic countries. The report identifies inconsistent school-food regulation as a key modifiable driver: in countries with mandatory national standards for school meals and sugar-sweetened-beverage restrictions, childhood obesity prevalence is on average 8–10 percentage points lower than in countries without such frameworks. WHO Europe is calling on member-state governments without national school-food standards to adopt them before 2028, and specifically recommends extending free or subsidised school-meal programmes to all children from low-income households as a front-line equity measure. For Cyprus, the Ministry of Education is currently in public consultation on revised school-canteen guidelines; the COSI report is expected to be cited prominently when those consultations close in November 2026. The data are a reminder that the Mediterranean diet, long celebrated as a model of healthy eating in adults, is not being reliably transmitted to the region's children through institutional food environments.

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This article is prepared for general informational and journalistic purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Readers should consult a qualified clinician before making any change to their treatment or health regimen.