Day: November 18, 2020

Categories : Diseases, Syndromes and ConditionsTags : Leave a comment

DRC is Ebola-free Once Again After 11th Outbreak Ends

On By ModernMedia

The 11th outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo has officially come to an end, and the country has been declared Ebola-free once again.

The outbreak which had spread along the many water bodies of Équateur province, had started just before the end of another deadly outbreak elsewhere in the country which had claimed 2280 lives. This marks the first time in nearly three years that the DRC has been Ebola-free. Logistical challenges in the geographically remote Équateur province hampered efforts to control the latest outbreak.

Experts believe that international involvement was key to bringing the situation under control. The WHO also noted that “women leaders [who] were often at the forefront of the response, empowering other women with information”.

The Secretary-General of DRC’s Red Cross, Jacques Katshishi, said the country needs continued support from the international community. He said, “Bringing Ebola to zero is a huge achievement, but now we are faced with our next challenge: keeping it there. Our teams within the DRC Red Cross are facing Covid-19 within a complex humanitarian and security environment. This is not a moment to be complacent: the world cannot afford a resurgence of Ebola in DR Congo. The time to prepare is now.”

Source: The Guardian

Categories : COVIDTags : Leave a comment

COVID Antibodies in Children without the Disease

On By ModernMedia

One case in Australia of children producing COVID antibodies while being exposed to their parents were ill with the disease has shed light into the way children appear to remain largely unaffected by it.

The parents of three children fell ill after attending a wedding, developing COVID with all the normal symptoms. Fortunately, they did not require hospitalisation but the whole family was tested for COVID. To the amazement of clinicians, the test for all three children came back negative, as did a subsequent re-test. The two older children had mild symptoms of COVID.
“It was jaw-droppingly amazing because they’d spent a week and a half with us while we were COVID-positive,” said their mother, Leila Sawenko.

Intrigued, researchers asked the family to come back for a series of tests. While polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests failed to detect SARS-CoV-2, saliva samples showed SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. The children’s cytokine levels remained low, consistent with their lack of symptoms. 

Researchers believe that, unlike their parents, the children’s immune system staged such an effective response that viral replication was severely restricted. 

“The discordance between the virological PCR results and clinical serological testing, despite an evident immune response, highlights limitations to the sensitivity of nasopharyngeal PCR and current diagnostic serology in children,” wrote the researchers.

Source: Science Alert

Categories : CancerTags : Leave a comment

Ovarian Cancer Risk not Raised by Fertility Treatments

On By ModernMedia

Existing research has thus far indicated that women who used assisted reproduction technologies (ART) were at greater risk for ovarian cancer and non-malignant borderline ovarian tumours resulting from overstimulation of the ovaries.

The tumours were proposed to be caused by excess sex hormones and disruption of ovarian tissue from multiple punctures. A pair of meta-analyses in 2013 indicated that women who used reproductive technologies were at increased risk of ovarian cancer, but no causative link was established; infertility itself could have caused the increased risk.

Researchers in the Netherlands used a database of 30 625 women who received ovarian stimulation for ART between 1983 and 2001 and 9 988 women who were infertile but did not use ART. These were linked to the Netherlands Cancer Registry and the Dutch Pathology Registry to check for invasive and borderline ovarian cancers.

Though there was an increase in ovarian cancer in women who had received ART, the increase was due to women who had received ART but not been able to fall pregnant: not having had a pregnancy has shown to be a risk factor for ovarian cancer.

Source: Medical Xpress

Categories : COVID HIVTags : Leave a comment

Many HIV Deaths in Africa Due to Interrupted Care

On By ModernMedia

An article written for The Conversation explores the reasons why, in an era of antiretroviral therapy (ART), so many people around the world are still dying of HIV.

Despite fierce resistance under Thabo Mbeku’s leadership, ART became widely available in South Africa. Yet in 2019, despite the world’s largest ART programme with 71% coverage, there were still 72 000 HIV-related deaths in South Africa. 

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) supports hospitals across Africa in treating people with HIV, but because patients present with advanced HIV up to a third die during their hospital stay.

HIV is a lifelong disease, and requires lifelong treatment. Some struggle to take tablets on a daily basis, risking drug resistance.

People with advanced HIV now typically have interrupted or failing treatment. MSF-funded studies in Kenya and the DRC showed that only 20-35% of patients with advanced HIV had never received ART.

The “Welcome Back Services” provided by Medecins Sans Frontieres in Khayelitsha, Cape Town are an example of getting patients who have lapsed back into care.

In deprived settings, TB is the leading cause of death for people with HIV, along with cryptococcal meningitis and bacterial infection. These are all treatable if caught in time; cryptococcal meningitis effectively has a zero survival rate but mortality can be reduced by 40% when treated with flucytosine and amphotericin B. By testing patients before they reach the stage where hospitalisation is necessary, survival rates can be greatly improved.

Categories : UncategorizedTags : Leave a comment

Algorithm-driven Treatment Lowers LDL-c, Blood Pressure

On By ModernMedia

Clinicians working at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the US treated patients with the aid of digital tools and an algorithm which calculated the titration of medication for pharmacists.

Over 5000 patients were enrolled into the study, entering either the cholesterol control program, the hypertension program, or both. Of those in the cholesterol program, 35% had established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD); 25% had diabetes without ASCVD; and 31% had a low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) >190 mg/dL. 

Study lead author Benjamin Scirica, MD, MPH, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and associate professor of medicine at the Harvard School of Medicine, said, “To better control cholesterol and blood pressure, both of which are major cardiovascular risk factors, we need new end-to-end treatment solutions that improve patient identification, data collection, education and care delivery, including standardizing medication regimens. We are redefining treatment pathways to address persistent gaps in health care, overcome clinical inertia and address the problems of limited access to physicians by expanding remotely-delivered care.”

Patients with high LDL-c and/or hypertension were identified using electronic patient records, and received a digital blood pressure cuff for at-home monitoring. With the aid of the algorithm, pharmacists and support staff initiated and titrated medication.

For patients who completed the titration phase of the program, a 52mg/dL (42%) decrease in LDL-c was observed, while for all patients, LDL-c levels dropped by 24mg/dL (18%) and 14mmHg systolic and 6mmHg diastolic blood pressure drops were recorded. Patients in high-risk categories saw significant drops in LDL-c.

The research showed that efficient, effective care was possible, while simultaneously reducing the need for physical consultations. Such enabling technology allows access to care delivery to be significantly expanded.

Source: Science Daily