Frontpage News (3256)
Categories of people who shouldn’t take COVID-19 vaccine, according to experts
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An associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lagos, Dr. Arinola Joda, says infants and children below 16 years of age were exempted from being inoculated with COVID-19 vaccine because they were not involved in the clinical trials.
She said that as clinical trials did not involve children, the possible effect of vaccine on them is currently unknown. This is just as renowned professor of virology and former Vice-Chancellor of the Redeemer’s University Nigeria, Oyewole Tomori, said that nobody is sure how the vaccine might react on the foetus.
Experts identify possible cause of sudden death among pregnant women
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A Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Dr. Joseph Akinde, says pulmonary embolism can lead to sudden death in pregnancy. Akinde said there is an increased tendency for the blood in a pregnant woman to form a clot.
The gynaecologist, who is the Chairman, Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria, Lagos chapter, disclosed this during an interview with PUNCH HealthWise. He spoke against the background of a study published online in peer-reviewed journal, MedCrave, describing pulmonary embolism as a complication of venous thrombosis.
WHO admits Nigerian-made COVID-19 vaccine on draft list -Researcher
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The COVID-19 candidate vaccine developed by Nigerian researchers has been listed on the World Health Organisation draft landscape of COVID-19 candidate vaccines. The team lead of the vaccine candidate research, Dr. Oladipo Kolawole, who is also a lecturer at the Adeleke University, Ede, on Monday, disclosed this in an interview with our correspondent.
Kolawole said the research was carried out at the Helix Biogen Consult, Ogbomoso, Oyo state. The WHO draft landscape is the list of all COVID-19 vaccine candidates in the world, showing different stages and it is usually found on WHO’s site.
How old you are may determine your likely COVID-19 symptoms
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A study by scientists at Imperial College London suggests that the manifestation of COVID-19 symptoms vary with age. The study, published online and undertaken by the Imperial College London-led REACT, shows that among other COVID-19 symptoms, chills, loss of appetite, headache and muscle aches were together most strongly linked with being infected, alongside the four classic symptoms such as loss of sense of taste, loss of sense of smell, fever, new persistent cough.
The acronym REACT is derived from the study’s title: Real-time Assessment of Community Transmission; and the findings are yet to be peer-reviewed.
COVID-19 likely to persist for 10 years to come -Top UK geneticist
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Director of the United Kingdom’s genetic surveillance programme, Prof. Sharon Peacock, warns that COVID-19 global pandemic will likely persist for about 10 years to come. She says the new and more infectious variant of the contagion first found in Britain will become the world’s dominant strain.
The variant was christened B117 by scientists. Prof. Peacock warned that the variant is beginning to mutate again and getting new mutations, saying it could affect the way the virus is being handled in terms of immunity and the effectiveness of vaccines.
Scientific reasons why you shouldn’t marry a close relation
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A Consultant Ophthalmologist at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Prof. Bola Adekoya, says congenital blindness can be caused by genetic defect, and is a condition common in consanguineous marriage — that is, a union between individuals who are closely related.
The renowned glaucoma specialist, who heads the Ophthalmology Department of LASUTH,
We’re experiencing lesser COVID-19 deaths now –Lagos Commissioner
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Lagos Commissioner of Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, says the state is experiencing lesser COVID-19-related deaths, even as the infection rate continues to rise. He attributed the reason for the reduced fatalities to the knowledge acquired so far in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He also noted that a sizeable number of young people are testing positive for the virus in the state; even as he disclosed that Lagos has amplified its testing capacity to 3,000 people per day. Abayomi made this known on a live radio programme on Wednesday while analysing the ‘huge strides’ made by the Lagos government at curbing the spread of the virus in the state.
The World Health Organisation says cancer is now a leading cause of death for children, noting that more than 400,000 children and adolescent of zero to 19 years are diagnosed with cancer each year.
WHO, however, stated that most childhood cancers can be cured, disclosing that cancer deaths in children have been due to late diagnosis and lack of access to affordable treatment and supportive care for patients. It noted that the most common types of childhood cancers include leukemias, brain cancers, lymphomas and solid tumours, such as neuroblastoma and Wilms tumours.
Scientists discover seven new COVID-19 variants that could be more contagious
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United States researchers say they have discovered seven new variants of COVID-19. They noted that the newly discovered variants could be more transmissible. In the study, published online in medRxiv, the researchers said that while it is still unclear if the strains are more contagious, they are concerned the seven new virus mutations were in the same genetic letter.
The study states that, “Independent genomic surveillance programmess based in New Mexico and Louisiana contemporaneously detected the rapid rise of numerous clade 20G (lineage B.1.2) infections carrying a Q677P substitution in S.
Over five million abortions have been committed globally between January 1 and this moment, according to Worldometer. According to the reference website, since the dawn of this day alone, over 43,000 abortions have been committed. Worldometer, formerly Worldometers, is a reference website that provides counters and real-time statistics for diverse topics.
It is owned and operated by a Chinese data company Dadax which generates revenue through online advertising. Dadax says the data on abortion as displayed on Worldometers is based on the latest statistics published by the World Health Organisation.
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Steam inhalation has no effect on viral infection like COVID-19 -WHO
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A retired Chief Research Fellow at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Yaba Lagos, Dr. Dan Onwujekwe, says steam inhalation cannot cure COVID-19. According to him, steam inhalation has no antiviral effect but only improves elimination of waste products in the body.
Onwujekwe disclosed this while reacting to a post by the World Health Organisation Regional Office for Africa, which states that steam inhalation is not a cure for COVID-19. WHO-AFRO, via its official Twitter handle @WHOAFRO, said, “Steam inhalation is not a cure for COVID-19. It may even cause serious burns.”
6,890 doses of Ebola vaccines ready for outbreak response, says WHO
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Four leading international health and humanitarian organisations have announced the establishment of a global Ebola vaccine stockpile to ensure outbreak response. The four organisations are the World Health Organisation, United Nations Children’s Fund, Médecins Sans Frontières [Doctors Without Borders], and International Federation of Red Cross.
An initial 6,890 doses of the Ebola vaccines are now available for outbreak response, with further quantities to be delivered into the stockpile throughout 2021 and beyond, the announcement stated.
NAFDAC approves AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine for use in Nigeria
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The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has approved Oxford/AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine for the management of the pandemic in Nigeria. The World Health Organisation had recently approved the vaccine for emergency use.
The Director-General of NAFDAC, Dr. Mojisola Adeyeye, made the announcement during a live briefing on Thursday [today]. She said that the vaccine can be stored at between +2°C to +8°C.
Many doctors infected with COVID-19 didn’t get it from hospital -Surgeon
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A Consultant Oral and Maxillofacial surgeon, Prof. Wasiu Adeyemo, on Wednesday says many of the doctors who tested positive for COVID-19 did not contract the infection from their respective workplaces.
Rather, he said, most of the confirmed cases, especially those witnessed in secondary and tertiary hospitals across the country, had been discovered to have happened outside healthcare facilities. Adeyemo, an associate professor at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, stated this during the Circum Vent training of health workers organised on Wednesday by the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research.
