laboratory tests - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

Kenya recalls J&J children’s cough syrup over suspected toxicity

KENYA'S drug regulator is recalling a batch of Johnson & Johnson children's cough syrup, it said a day after Nigeria recalled the same batch of medication under the Benylin Paediatric brand. Nigeria's health regulator said laboratory tests on the syrup showed a high level of diethylene glycol, which has been linked to the deaths of dozens of children in Gambia, Uzbekistan and Cameroon since 2022 in one of the world's worst waves of poisoning from oral medication. Kenya's Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) said in a statement it had commenced investigations and advised that sales of certain batches of the product be halted…

Apr

2024

By The African Mirror

Nigeria recalls J&J children’s cough syrup over toxic substance

NEWS

Nigeria's health regulator is recalling a batch of Johnson & Johnson children's cough syrup after finding an unacceptably high level of a potentially fatal toxic substance, it said. Laboratory tests on Benylin Paediatric showed a high level of diethylene glycol, which has been linked to the deaths of dozens of children in Gambia, Uzbekistan and Cameroon since 2022 in one of the world's worst waves of poisoning from oral medication. The syrup is used to treat cough and congestion-related symptoms, hay fever and other allergic reactions in children aged two to 12, Nigeria's National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

South African health minister says C.1.2 variant not a threat for now

COVID-19

SOUTH Africa's Health Minister Joe Phaahla said on Friday that scientists had told the government that at this stage the C.1.2 coronavirus variant detected locally was not a threat. The C.1.2 variant was first identified in May and has now been seen in all of the country's nine provinces. Health Minister Joe Phaahla It contains some mutations associated in other variants with increased transmissibility and reduced sensitivity to neutralising antibodies, leading researchers to flag its detection to the government and the World Health Organization (WHO). "At this stage, they (scientists) have assured us it's not really a threat, they are…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Vaccine appears to be effective against new variants

COVID-19

MORDENA Inc says ita COVID-19 vaccine produced virus-neutralizing antibodies in laboratory tests against new coronavirus variants found in the UK and South Africa. A two-dose regimen of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is expected to be protective against emerging strains detected to date, the company said. Moderna, however, said it would test a vaccine booster against the South Africa variant in pre-clinical trials to see if that would be more effective in boosting antibodies against the variant and other future variants. Although all viruses mutate constantly, scientists are concerned about the mutations discovered in Britain and South Africa because they are…