Africa Should Bargain Hard for COVID Vaccine Equity: Lessons from Indonesia during Avian Flu
The Republic of Congo received just over 300,000 doses of the COVID vaccines through the COVAX Facility in August 2021. The international COVAX initiative aimed at guaranteeing global access to the vaccines, recently announced that it was being forced to slash planned deliveries to Africa, by around 150 million doses this year. The scheme is now expected to deliver 470 million doses through the end of December. These will be enough to protect just 17 per cent of the continent, far below the 40 per cent target, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Credit: UNICEF/Aimable TwiringiyimaBy Victoria Fan and Steve Kuo...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - December 6, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Victoria Fan and Steve Kuo Tags: Africa COVID-19 COVID-19 VACCINES Development & Aid Economy & Trade Featured Financial Crisis Headlines Health TerraViva United Nations Trade & Investment IPS UN Bureau Source Type: news
Human-to-human transmission of bird flu rare, no need to panic: AIIMS chief Dr Randeep Guleria
"The transmission of the virus from birds to humans is rare and sustained human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 virus has not yet been established and therefore there is no need to panic. But then people working closely with poultry must take precautionary measures and maintain proper personal hygiene," Dr Guleria said. (Source: The Economic Times)
Source: The Economic Times - July 21, 2021 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Roche announces FDA approval of Xofluza for the prevention of influenza following contact with an infected person
Basel, 24 November 2020 - Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for Xofluza ® (baloxavir marboxil) as a treatment to prevent influenza in people 12 years of age and older following contact with someone with influenza (known as post-exposure prophylaxis). Xofluza is the first single-dose influenza medicine approved for post-exposure prophylaxis.“With today’s approval, Xofluza is now available as the first single-dose, post-exposure preventive treatment for influenza,” said Le...
Source: Roche Media News - November 24, 2020 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news
Roche announces FDA approval of Xofluza for the prevention of influenza following contact with an infected person
Basel, 24 November 2020 - Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for Xofluza ® (baloxavir marboxil) as a treatment to prevent influenza in people 12 years of age and older following contact with someone with influenza (known as post-exposure prophylaxis). Xofluza is the first single-dose influenza medicine approved for post-exposure prophylaxis.“With today’s approval, Xofluza is now available as the first single-dose, post-exposure preventive treatment for influenza,” said Le...
Source: Roche Investor Update - November 24, 2020 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news
Avian Influenza A(H5N1)- Lao People's Democratic Republic
The Ministry of Health in Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR) reported a human case of infection with an avian influenza A(H5N1) virus. The case is a one-year-old female who developed symptoms of fever, productive cough, difficulty breathing and runny nose on 13 October 2020. She was hospitalized for her illness on 16 October and discharged on 19 October. As part of severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) sentinel surveillance, a specimen was collected on the date of hospitalization and confirmed to be positive for avian influenza A(H5N1) on 28 October by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) at the...
Source: WHO Avian Influenza - November 17, 2020 Category: Infectious Diseases Tags: avian influenza [subject], bird flu, avian flu, fowl plague, influenza in birds, avian bird flu, h5n1, avian influenza [subject], bird flu, avian flu, fowl plague, influenza in birds, avian bird flu, h5n1, avian influenza [subject], bird flu, avian flu, f Source Type: news
Navigating Safely Through The Pandemic
By Stephen LeahySep 2 2020 (IPS-Partners) Having reported on SARS, Ebola, Bird Flu (H5N1) outbreaks, as well as writing about efforts to combat HIV, I was horrified by what was going on in Wuhan, China last Jan mainly because of how fast this new SARS-CoV-2 virus spread. By early Feb it seemed likely there’d be a global pandemic and by the end of Feb I started to freak out as the pandemic took hold. I’ve never been to Wuhan or China nor seen anyone who had; and I hadn’t travelled any where recently. It was nearly impossible for me to have encountered the virus but that didn’t keep me from getting sick with fear and...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - September 2, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Stephen Leahy Tags: Health Humanitarian Emergencies Source Type: news
Exclusive: The Scientist Who Sequenced the First COVID-19 Genome Speaks Out About the Controversies Surrounding His Work
Over the past few years, Professor Zhang Yongzhen has made it his business to sequence thousands of previously unknown viruses. But he knew straight away that this one was particularly nasty. It was about 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 3 that a metal box arrived at the drab, beige buildings that house the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center. Inside was a test tube packed in dry ice that contained swabs from a patient suffering from a peculiar pneumonia sweeping China’s central city of Wuhan. But little did Zhang know that that box would also unleash a vicious squall of blame and geopolitical acrimony worthy of Pandora herself....
Source: TIME: Health - August 25, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Charlie Campbell / Shanghai Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 overnight Source Type: news
Exclusive: The Chinese Scientist Who Sequenced the First COVID-19 Genome Speaks Out About the Controversies Surrounding His Work
Over the past few years, Professor Zhang Yongzhen has made it his business to sequence thousands of previously unknown viruses. But he knew straight away that this one was particularly nasty. It was about 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 3 that a metal box arrived at the drab, beige buildings that house the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center. Inside was a test tube packed in dry ice that contained swabs from a patient suffering from a peculiar pneumonia sweeping China’s central city of Wuhan. But little did Zhang know that that box would also unleash a vicious squall of blame and geopolitical acrimony worthy of Pandora herself....
Source: TIME: Science - August 25, 2020 Category: Science Authors: Charlie Campbell / Shanghai Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 overnight Source Type: news
Exclusive: The Chinese Scientist Who Sequenced the First COVID-19 Genome Speaks Out About the Controversies Surrounding His Work
Over the past few years, Professor Zhang Yongzhen has made it his business to sequence thousands of previously unknown viruses. But he knew straight away that this one was particularly nasty. It was about 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 3 that a metal box arrived at the drab, beige buildings that house the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center. Inside was a test tube packed in dry ice that contained swabs from a patient suffering from a peculiar pneumonia sweeping China’s central city of Wuhan. But little did Zhang know that that box would also unleash a vicious squall of blame and geopolitical acrimony worthy of Pandora herself....
Source: TIME: Health - August 25, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Charlie Campbell / Shanghai Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 overnight Source Type: news
Vaccine additives can enhance immune flexibility -- Implications for flu and SARS-CoV-2
(Emory Health Sciences) A vaccine additive known as an adjuvant can enhance responses to a vaccine containing the exotic avian flu virus H5N1, so that both rookie and veteran elements of the immune response are strengthened, according to results from an Emory Vaccine Center study. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - July 16, 2020 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
How Remdesivir Moved From Back Shelf to Best Hope for Treating COVID-19
This study showed that a five-day regimen is as effective as 10 days–that’s important, doctors say, since it could mean shorter stays in the hospital, which could alleviate some of the burden on the health care system. “Of course we will have to wait for the final review of all the data, but it would be very nice to have an anti-viral that’s efficacious in this terrible illness,” says Dr. Aruna Subramanian, a clinical professor of medicine at Stanford and an investigator on the study. “At least we know that we can help patients with this, and that’s really the bottom line.”
T...
Source: TIME: Health - May 21, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Alice Park Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 feature Magazine Source Type: news
We Need to Rethink Our Food System to Prevent the Next Pandemic
Once a dangerous new pathogen is out, as we are seeing, it can be difficult if not impossible to prevent it going global. One as contagious as SARS-CoV-2 has the potential to infect the whole of humanity. Eighty per cent of cases may be benign, but with such a large pool of susceptible hosts, the numbers who experience severe illness and die can still be shockingly high. So the only sensible answer to the question, how do we stop this from happening again, is: by doing all we can to prevent such pathogens infecting humans in the first place. And that means taking a long, hard look at our relationship with the natural world...
Source: TIME: Health - April 13, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Laura Spinney Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 Source Type: news
FDA accepts Roche ’s New Drug Application for Xofluza (baloxavir marboxil) for the treatment of influenza in children
Basel, 27 March 2020 - Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted a New Drug Application (NDA) as well as two supplemental New Drug Applications (sNDA) for Xofluza® (baloxavir marboxil). The FDA accepted a NDA for a new formulation of Xofluza as one-dose granules for oral suspension (2 mg/mL), potentially offering a more convenient option for children and those who have difficulty swallowing. In addition, the application seeks approval of Xofluza for the treatment of acute uncomplicated influenza in otherwise healthy children aged one to l ess than 12 y...
Source: Roche Investor Update - March 27, 2020 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news
Clinical Guidance and Coronavirus: Deploying a Mass Casualty Mindset to Stay Ahead of “The Curve”
Source: World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine (WADEM). Published: 3/24/2020.
This one-hour, 25-minute webinar provides clear and concrete clinical applications of the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 guidelines, as well as those of various emergency management/critical care professional societies for front-line practitioners. It examines lessons learned from the Ebola, SARS, H1N1, H5N1, and MERS outbreaks; Las Vegas Shooting; and Military Mass Casualty Management.
(Video or Multimedia) (Source: Disaster Lit: Resource Guide for Disaster Medicine and Public Health)
Source: Disaster Lit: Resource Guide for Disaster Medicine and Public Health - March 24, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news
