HEALTH - The African Mirror

Jul

20

2021

COVID-19 lockdowns and contraception: unexpected findings in four African countries

HEALTH

THE COVID-19 pandemic has affected the sexual and reproductive health needs of women across contexts. To curb the spread of disease across sub-Saharan Africa, many governments imposed early lockdown measures, including closures of borders, enforcement of curfews, and restrictions on movement. SHANNON N. WOOD, Assistant Scientist in the Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins University CELIA KARP, Assistant Scientist in the Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins University FUNMILOLA OLAOLORUN, Lecturer/ Honorary Consultant at College of Medicine, University of Ibadan PIERRE AKILIMALI, Associate Professor of Medicine and Public Health, University of Kinshasa During these…

Feb

22

2021

By The African Mirror

Jumping the COVID-19 vaccine line

COVID-19

LIN TAYLOR WHEN two little old ladies in bonnets and gloves arrived for a COVID-19 vaccine shot in Florida, health workers sensed something was not quite right. The women – who turned out to be aged in their 30s and 40s and had “dressed up as grannies” in an effort to get vaccines reserved for vulnerable elderly people – are among a growing number of people trying to cheat or game the system to get early access to scarce shots. VIP vaccine access scandals have also forced the resignation of ministers in Argentina and Peru this week. But fines and…

Jul

19

2021

By The African Mirror

Nigeria puts six states on COVID-19 red alert

COVID-19

NIGERIA has put six states on red alert after seeing a "worrisome" rise in COVID-19 infections, a government official said, urging people to curb gatherings and hold prayers outside mosques during this week's Muslim festival Eid-el-Kabir. Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, is like most parts of the continent now facing a COVID-19 third wave after detecting the more transmissible Delta variant. The head of the presidential steering committee on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, said Lagos, Oyo, Rivers, Kaduna, Kano, Plateau and the Federal Capital Territory had been placed on red alert as part of preventive measures against the pandemic. A red…

Jul

19

2021

By The African Mirror

Olympics: First stress test for “Covid Games”

COVID-19

THE first major test of how an Olympics can be held in the midst of a pandemic may well come this week in the men's soccer tournament when Japan face a South Africa side that could struggle to field 11 players due to the novel coronavirus. South Africa's squad was severely depleted by COVID-19 infections and withdrawals before they left for the Games and was then hit with the news that two players and a video analyst had tested positive on arrival in Tokyo. Organisers said late on Monday that 21 members of the delegation were close contacts, leaving South…

Feb

28

2021

By The African Mirror

Vaccines face hurdles if shots become annual affair

COVID-19

JOHN MILLER and LUDWIG BURGER VACCINES from AstraZeneca, Russia's Gamaleya Institute and Johnson & Johnson fight the coronavirus with another virus, leaving scientists concerned the shots may lose potency if annual inoculations become necessary to fight new variants. So-called viral vector shots - also used by several Chinese COVID-19 vaccine developers - use harmless modified viruses as vehicles, or vectors, to carry genetic information that helps the body build immunity against future infections. However, there is a risk that the body also develops immunity to the vector itself, recognising it as an intruder and trying to destroy it. Most vector-vaccine…

Feb

28

2021

By The African Mirror

COVID-19 SCIENCE: Warning for lung transplant and ICU patients

COVID-19

NANCY LAPID THE following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. COVID-19 can be transmitted via lung transplant The coronavirus can linger in the lungs even when swab tests of the back of the nose and throat are negative, doctors reported after unknowingly transplanting infected lungs into a patient who later died of COVID-19. University of Michigan surgeons obtained the lungs from a deceased donor who had tested negative for the virus and had reportedly never been exposed…

Feb

28

2021

By The African Mirror

W.H.O warns vaccine selfish countries

COVID-19

COUNTRIES seeking their own vaccine doses are making deals with drug companies that threaten the supply for the global COVAX programme for poor and middle-income countries, the World Health Organization has warned. "Now countries are still pursuing deals that will compromise the COVAX supply," WHO senior adviser Bruce Aylward told a briefing. "Without a doubt." The World Health Organization has long called upon rich countries to ensure that vaccines are shared equitably. It is one of the leaders of COVAX, a programme to supply hundreds of millions of vaccine doses to poor and middle income countries. But so far, COVAX…

Jul

17

2021

By The African Mirror

Africa needs fairness and vaccines to revive its tourism sector – minister

COVID-19

DUNCAN MIRIRI AFRICAN countries need to get equal access to COVID-19 vaccines so they can start rebuilding their devastated tourism industries, Kenya's tourism minister said on Friday. About 21 million jobs have been lost in the sector across the continent since the start of the pandemic, Najib Balala said on the sidelines of a meeting of his African counterparts, called by the United Nations to discuss the crisis. "Without the vaccination of hospitality workers, Africa will be isolated," he said. Africa has essentially had to pause its rollout of COVID-19 vaccines because of supply problems - and only 18 million…

Jul

18

2021

By The African Mirror

Tunisia reports daily record 205 COVID-19 deaths

COVID-19

TUNISIA recorded 205 deaths in the last 24 hours, a daily record since the start of the pandemic, according to the health ministry said. The ministry reported 6,787 new cases, raising new concerns about the country's ability to fight the pandemic, with intensive care departments completely filled and a lack of oxygen supplies. The vaccination campaign is very slow. The World Health Organization says that the daily death rate in Tunisia is the highest in Africa and the Arab world. The total number of cases has climbed to around 530,000 and more than 17,200 deaths. Tunisia health authorities have called…

Feb

27

2021

By The African Mirror

2 people had severe allergic reactions after shot

COVID-19

A Johnson & Johnson scientist said yesterday that the company has received preliminary reports of two cases of severe allergic reactions, including one case of anaphylaxis, in people who had received the company's COVID-19 vaccine. Dr Macaya Douoguih, head of clinical development and medical affairs at J&J unit Janssen Pharmaceuticals, said the case of anaphylaxis was observed in an ongoing trial of healthcare workers in South Africa. There had not been any previously reported cases of anaphylaxis, Douoguih said. She was speaking to a panel of expert advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration which will vote later on…