(Geneva Solutions) – As Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo discharge their last Ebola patients, following the most recent outbreak, new research points to the virus’ long lasting ability to lurk within the body. So while the 42 day countdown begins to the day when both countries can declare that the current outbreak is […] Continue reading ->
European Parliament members (MEPs) expressed overwhelming support for a coronavirus-related “Digital Green Certificate” to ease travel within the European Union, voting by a more than two-thirds majority to accelerate approval by the summer. But parliamentarians also warned that all efforts to recover from COVID-19 will be void unless Europeans are vaccinated more quickly. “We need […] Continue reading ->
A new study published by a consortium of UK-based airline industry interests suggested that administration to travelers of a rapid antigen test upon arrival at their destination, may be just as effective as quarantine requirements, to stop imports of COVID-19 cases. The study, which reviewed case studies of airport testing procedures elsewhere, claims that a […] Continue reading ->
About 10 African countries have yet to receive any doses of a COVID vaccine, while at least one country, Rwanda, has already run out of the doses that it received through the WHO co-sponsored COVAX facility, said WHO’s African Regional Office on Thursday, citing this as evidence of the vaccine inequalities that continue to […] Continue reading ->
NEW DELHI – Scientists have sequenced a new “double variant” of the coronavirus first identified in India – along with a handful of other variants of concern that are appearing during the second biggest wave of the virus since the pandemic began. The new double variant, bearing two significant mutations in the coronavirus spike protein, […] Continue reading ->
A first-ever clinical trial of a new, all-oral, treatment regime for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has stopped enrolling patients after initial data provided positive results that the new treatment could potentially save thousands of lives, as well as improving peoples’ quality of life. Findings of the TB-PRACTECAL, Phase II/III clinical trial sponsored by Médecins Sans Frontières […] Continue reading ->
A recent doctoral study at the Desmond Tutu Tuberculosis Centre at Stellenbosch University (SU), South Africa has shown that hospital-based intervention could help address the tuberculosis hospital reporting gap. The university said there were many children with tuberculosis that didn’t receive the necessary treatment because of challenges with diagnosis and reporting. “In South Africa, thousands […] Continue reading ->
Tuberculosis care is quintessentially colonial, even in 2021. While many countries have been emancipated from their colonizers, the heritage of the colonial mindset, culture and even entire economies is deeply embedded within high burden TB countries in the post-colonial era. A disease of poverty, TB has historically been terribly neglected. Although the number one infectious […] Continue reading ->
The Wellcome trust is pledging up to US $100 million (£70m/€80m) to accelerate Covid-19 research and development to ensure science keeps pace with the virus. The funding will help advance treatments and vaccines and SARS-CoV-2 tracking research in low and middle income countries. Announcing the funding on Wednesday, the trust said the rise and spread […] Continue reading ->
NEW DELHI – Reversing decades of negative messages, the World Health Organisation is once again endorsing the use of X-rays as a TB screening tool in lower-income countries – this time in conjunction with the use of new artificial intelligence programmes that can read digital x-rays and identify suspected TB cases more accurately. For community-level […] Continue reading ->