Day: December 1, 2020

Categories : Diseases, Syndromes and ConditionsTags :

Africa has 94% of All Malaria Cases

On By ModernMedia

On November 30, the World Health Organization released this year’s World Malaria Report. Providing an up-to-date overview of the current global malaria disease burden, it also tracks investment, innovation and research against malaria.

Globally, malaria deaths have steadily declined over the years 2000–2019, from 736 000 in 2000 to 409 000 in 2019. The percentage of total malaria deaths that were children under 5 years of age was 84% in 2000 and 67% in 2019.

Six African countries accounted for 51% of global cases, with Nigeria (27%) contributing more than the other five countries combined. Partly this is due to its large relative population size compared to the rest of Africa, having over 200 million citizens.

Elsewhere, great progress is being made, The largest reduction in cases in the WHO South-East Asia Region was seen by India, from about 20 million cases in 2000 down to approximately 5.6 million in 2019.  Sri Lanka has been certified malaria free since 2015.

Source: Outbreak News Today

Categories : Cardiovascular Disease GenderTags :

Women’s Heart Attack Death Risk Higher than Men’s

On By ModernMedia

Compared to men, women have a 20% higher risk of death or heart failure after their first serious heart attack, according to an article in the journal Circulation. Prior research was unclear as to the difference in vulnerabilities to heart attack between the sexes.

The research focused on two types of heart attack; ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and a less serious but more common type referred to as Non-STEMI or NSTEMI. Women were found to be at greater risk of death after either STEMI or NSTEMI attacks, although accounting for confounding variables narrowed this difference.

Women tended to be older (72) than men (61) at the age of their first serious heart attack, and had more complicated medical histories.

In the hospital setting, women were seen less frequently by a cardiovascular specialist (72.8%, versus 84% for men), prescribed fewer drugs and had fewer surgical procedures.

Lead author Justin A Ezekowitz, MBBCh, MSc, cardiologist and co-director of the Canadian VIGOUR Centre at the University of Alberta in Canada said, “Identifying when and how women may be at higher risk for heart failure after a heart attack can help providers develop more effective approaches for prevention. Better adherence to reducing cholesterol, controlling high blood pressure, getting more exercise, eating a healthy diet and stopping smoking, combined with recognition of these problems earlier in life would save thousands of lives of women—and men.”

Padma Kaul, PhD, co-director of the Canadian VIGOUR Centre, said that the next step is to address inequalities in provision of care: “Close enough is not good enough. There are gaps across diagnosis, access, quality of care and follow-up for all patients, so we need to be vigilant, pay attention to our own biases and to those most vulnerable to ensure that we have done everything possible in providing the best treatment.”

Source: Medical Xpress

Categories : COVID LungTags :

MRI Scans Reveal Post-COVID Extent of Lung Damage

On By ModernMedia

A study of non-hospitalised individuals who had recovered from COVID but still experienced breathing difficulties had revealed lung damage where other tests were unable to.

To investigate post-COVID lung damage, Prof Fergus Gleeson led a study involving 10 participants aged 19 to 69, of whom eight had been experiencing breathing difficulties three months after a COVID infection. They had not been hospitalised for their COVID, and conventional scans had not been able to detect any abnormalities with their lungs.

The patients’ lungs were imaged using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans with xenon present in the lungs. Xenon, a noble gas, is non-toxic Xenon has a long history of use as a contrast agent, and is soluble with pulmonary tissue, allowing for investigation of specific lung characteristics that are connected to gas exchange and alveolar oxygenation, at the level of small airways where pulmonary function tests (PFTs) cannot provide information.

The scans revealed that there was indeed lung damage preventing alveolar oxygenation – and it was unexpectedly severe.

Prof Gleeson said, “I was expecting some form of lung damage, but not to the degree that we have seen.”

The findings help to explain the phenomenon of “long COVID”, where patients who have recovered from COVID continue to experience fatigue and breathing difficulties months after the original infection has ended.Based on the findings, Prof Gleeson will undertake a study with a further 100 participants based on the same criteria.

Source: BBC News 

Categories : HIV PoliticsTags :

UNAIDS Calls for Renewed Action and Sets 2025 Targets

On By ModernMedia

In a press release, UNAIDS reflects on the current state of the fight against HIV and AIDS, and notes that while there are numerous setbacks, it is possible to renew the fight.

It notes that the global response to HIV was already flagging before the advent of the COVID pandemic, and this has only pushed back the effort further. According to the agency, projections show 123 000 to 293 000 additional new HIV infections, along with 69 000 to 148 000 additional AIDS-related deaths between 2020 and 2022.

The agency strongly criticised the lack of political commitment which has led to this combined blow.  Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS  said, “The collective failure to invest sufficiently in comprehensive, rights-based, people-centred HIV responses has come at a terrible price. Implementing just the most politically palatable programmes will not turn the tide against COVID-19 or end AIDS. To get the global response back on track will require putting people first and tackling the inequalities on which epidemics thrive.” 

By proposing bold new targets for 2025, UNAIDS believes that the world can successfully meet its goal of ending HIV as a public health threat by 2030. The goals include reducing discrimination against HIV sufferers, removing punitive laws and combating gender inequality and gender-based violence. However, not all is negative: countries such as Botswana and eSwatini have already exceeded their 2020 targets. There are other positive spots, such as the infrastructure used to fight HIV/AIDS being leveraged in the fight against COVID.

Source: UNAIDS

Categories : HIV Immune SystemTags :

HIV Vaccine Search is a Marathon

On By ModernMedia

While COVID vaccines have appeared in a record-breaking short time, an HIV vaccine is still yet to arrive – though not without good reasons, as The Daily Maverick reports.

Mitchell Warren, executive director of AVAC, a US-based HIV advocacy organisation explained: “There is still no conclusive research on what type of immune response an HIV vaccine should be trying to trigger.”

“With HIV, you’re trying to do better than nature,” continued Warren. “With a Covid-19 vaccine, the jab merely has to do what nature is doing already — in the form of an immune response — just faster. But with HIV, you’re trying to do better than nature because your body isn’t able to successfully fight off the virus.”

HIV mutates quite rapidly, to the point where there are now two distinct strains, HIV-1 and HIV-1, complicating the process. SARS-CoV-2 on the other hand uses a process called proofreading when it replicates, ensuring a lower rate of mutations.

There are currently three vaccines in development; HPX2008/HVTN 705: Imbokodo and HPX3002/HVTN 706: Mosaico both use adenoviruses to deliver protein fragments of the HIV virus to train the immune system to respond to it. The “Imbokodo” is being trialled with young women, and “Mosaico” is being trialled with transgender men and men who have sex with men, and expected to end in 2022 and 2024 respectively. 

The PrEPVacc vaccine uses DNA inserted into plasmids, which induce the body to produce the virus’ proteins, but not the virus itself. The two shots contain a cocktail of proteins and the plasmids to train the immune system. The trial is expected to end in 2023

Categories : UncategorizedTags :

COVID DNA of White House “Superspreader Event” Analysed

On By ModernMedia

On September 26, numerous high-profile individuals, contracted COVID at a large official White House gathering. This White House “superspreader event” as it was known became something of a case study in how COVID can spread in large groups of people.

Although President Trump contracted the virus, it is not known if this was a result of attending that event. The event, which had over a dozen guests, resulted in 34 individuals including White House staff testing positive for COVID by October 7.

Whilst contact tracing is difficult with COVID, genome sequencing offers a chance for insights into its development and spread. The researchers analysed SARS-CoV-2 genomes from nasal swabs taken from the patients at the White House superspreader event, and analysed it, looking for mutations. They found two variants, WH-2 and WH-2. They determined that these viruses descended from those widely in circulation in Florida, New York, Texas, Connecticut, and Washington – as well as certain countries such as  New Zealand.

Source: News-Medical.Net

Categories : UncategorizedTags :

Hypertension at Night Raises Cardiovascular Disease Risk

On By ModernMedia

An eight year long study conducted in Japan added to the evidence that hypertension during the night raises cardiovascular disease risk, especially compared to the daytime. 

Hypertension levels are usually assessed during the day, and do not give an accurate snapshot of a person’s circadian rhythm.  According to lead author of the study, Kazuomi Kario, MD, PhD, hypertension at night, especially when blood pressure is lower during the day, raises cardiovascular disease risk and is increasingly being recognised as a risk factor. Kario said, “This study provides much more in-depth information about the cardiovascular risk associated with high nighttime blood pressure and different nighttime blood pressure phenotypes than have been reported previously.”

The Japan Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring Prospective (JAMP) study enrolled 6359 patients and measured daytime and nighttime levels using an at-home, wearable, ambulatory monitor. They were told to conduct their daily routine as normal, and to rest or sleep during the night. The results showed that elevated blood pressure during the night compared to the day was a significant indicator of raised cardiovascular disease risk. Patients who were hypertensive and then had a large dip in systolic pressure had a greater risk for stroke.

“Results indicate that nighttime systolic blood pressure was a significant, independent risk factor for cardiovascular events,” said Dr Kario. “The study highlights the importance of including nighttime blood pressure monitoring in patient management strategies and will hopefully encourage physicians to ensure that antihypertensive therapy is effectively lowering blood pressure throughout the 24-hour dosing period.”

Source: Medical Xpress

Categories : UncategorizedTags :

Research Suggests Vitamin C Beneficial for Severe COVID

On By ModernMedia

According to Associate Professor Anitra Carr of Otago University in New Zealand, research provides evidence that large doses of Vitamin C is beneficial for severe COVID. A 2019 study previously showed that giving Vitamin C to patients with Acute Respiratory Distress reduced mortality rates.

“A recent study that came out of the US showed that patients with coronavirus in ICU with Covid-19 also had very low vitamin C levels,” Carr said. “That’s because the body chews through a lot more of it when you get an infection – and your requirements increase significantly. But the standard doses given in the intensive care unit aren’t enough to compensate, given a severe case of the disease comes with a huge inflammatory response and oxidative stress.”

 Carr said that delivering the drug intravenously was critical to supplying the high levels of Vitamin C needed. One study from Wuhan, China showed Vitamin C conferred a survival benefit to placebo, though Carr noted that many more studies are needed and will come throughout the next year.

However, besides its normal dietary role, there was little research to show that Vitamin C had much of a preventative role. Carr said, “Some research has shown that, if you’re under enhanced stress, your risk for infection increases, so in those people vitamin C may decrease the risk of getting it. But in the general everyday population, who aren’t under extreme physical stress, it may not decrease your chances of catching the disease.”

Source: NZ Herald

Categories : UncategorizedTags :

Rights Group Supports No Patents for COVID Vaccines

On By ModernMedia

Business Live reports on the recent call by South Africa and India for COVID vaccines not to be patented. Human Rights Watch added its support by stating that vaccines obtained by public funding should be shared as widely as possible, and their intellectual property status waived.

Some 44 vaccine candidates are being trialled around the world. Wealthy countries have placed orders in order to secure stockpiles of the vaccines. South Africa has no vaccine scheme of its own and is instead has expressed interest in (without signing up to) the global Covax scheme, which involves the World Health Organization and which aims to have two billion doses to be shipped out by the end of 2021.

HRW researcher Margaret Wurth said, “You can’t fight a global pandemic by allowing publicly funded vaccines to go to the highest bidder, at whatever price pharmaceutical companies set. When a safe and effective vaccine is found, it should be available and affordable for everyone, everywhere.”