PharmaTimes

Apr232021 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

Covid: India sees world’s highest daily cases amid oxygen shortage

NEWS

India has recorded the highest one-day tally of new Covid-19 cases anywhere in the world - and the country's highest number of deaths over 24 hours. It has close to 16 million confirmed cases, second only to the US. The country is struggling with a second wave, raising more fears about its overwhelmed health care system. Crowds have formed outside hospitals in major cities which are filled to capacity. A number of people have died while waiting for oxygen. Families are waiting hours to perform funeral rites, Reuters news agency reports, with at least one Delhi crematorium resorting to building pyres in its car park in order to cope with the numbers arriving. Meanwhile, some countries are bringing in stricter rules affecting travel to and from India amid fears over the ri...

Apr232021 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

Malaria Vaccine Hailed as Potential Breakthrough

NEWS

A malaria vaccine has proved to be 77% effective in early trials and could be a major breakthrough against the disease, says the University of Oxford team behind it. Malaria kills more than 400,000 people a year, mostly children in sub-Saharan Africa. But despite many vaccines being trialled over the years, none has yet met the required target for success. The researchers say this vaccine could have a major public health impact. When trialled in 450 children in Burkina Faso, the vaccine was found to be safe, and showed "high-level efficacy" over 12 months of follow-up. Larger trials in nearly 5,000 children between the ages of five months and three years will now be carried out across four African countries to confirm the findings. Malaria is a life-threatening diseas...

Apr232021 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

Study Strengthens the Case for Offering COVID-19 Vaccination to Pregnant Women

NEWS

Pregnant women infected with COVID-19 stand the risk of dying, a new study states. The study was published online on Thursday in peer-reviewed journal JAMA Network and titled, ‘Maternal and Neonatal Morbidity and Mortality Among Pregnant Women With and Without COVID-19 Infection: The INTERCOVID Multinational Cohort Study. According to the findings, “In this multinational cohort study of 2,130 pregnant women in 18 countries, women with COVID-19 diagnosis were at increased risk of a composite maternal morbidity and mortality index.” It adds that “newborns of women with COVID-19 diagnosis had significantly higher severe neonatal morbidity index and severe perinatal morbidity and mortality index, compared with newborns of women without COVID-19 diagnosis.” This study

Apr232021 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

16.6m African Children Miss Measles Vaccine Doses — WHO

NEWS

The World Health Organization (WHO) says about 16.6 million children in Africa missed planned supplemental measles vaccine doses between January 2020 and April 2021 due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic ravaging. The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Ms Matshidiso Moeti, made this known during a virtual press conference facilitated by APO Group on Thursday. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Measles is highly contagious, requiring at least 95 per cent immunization coverage in the population to prevent outbreaks. Yet coverage with the first dose of the measles-containing vaccine has stagnated at around 69 per cent in the WHO African Region since 2013. Only Seven countries in the region achieved 95 per cent measles-containing vaccine coverage in 2019...

Apr222021 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

Lagos to Start Second Dose of COVID-19 Vaccination in May

NEWS

The Lagos State Government on Wednesday said it has concluded the first half of phase one COVID-19 vaccination in line with the directive of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency. The state Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, in a statement said the exercise which began on March 12 was done for 20 days. Abayomi said the second phase of the exercise would commence in May, saying about 257,756 persons had been inoculated as of April 15. “The conclusion of the first phase, which took an average of 20 days, followed the Federal Government’s directive to stop vaccination once half of the consignment has been administered so that those who received the first dose will have an opportunity for the second dose. “This will ensure that at least one per

Apr222021 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

NAFDAC’s War Against Fake Products: Need for More Biting than Barking

NEWS

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control last week issued an alert that it has found out that the flavoured drink that led to the death of three persons in Kano contained hydroxylamine — a ‘moderately’ toxic inorganic compound. In a statement issued by the agency, NAFDAC’s Director-General, Prof. Moji Adeyeye, stated that hydroxylamine is a deadly chemical that should not be used in food products, noting that adding the chemicals as additives to food and drinks to enhance taste could result in severe illness and death. While stating that three persons have been arrested in connection with the deadly juice, Adeyeye added that the agency’s Pharmacovigilance Directorate has sent an alert to all its 36 state offices and Federal Capital Territory to mount surve

Apr212021 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

EU Regulator Confirms Blood Clot as Side Effect of Johnson & Johnson Vaccine

Around The World, NEWS

Europe’s medicines regulator said on Tuesday that blood clots should be listed as a “very rare” side effect of Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine, but that the benefits of the shot still outweighed the risks. The United States is expected to announce its decision on the single-shot J&J vaccine by Friday, as nations around the world urgently try to accelerate inoculation campaigns and revive their pandemic-ravaged economies. The European Medicines Agency assessment came as an EU official promised to have enough doses available to vaccinate 70 percent of European adults by the summer — a boon for the continent’s sluggish rollout. Europe’s Johnson & Johnson campaign was delayed after US health regulators said the shot should be paused over blood clot fears.

Apr212021 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

Shun Consumption of Animal Skin to Stave off Cancer — Don Advises

Food And Nutrition, Health & Life, NEWS

Stop consuming cow skin and stave off cancer, Vice-Chancellor, Precious Cornerstone University, Ibadan, Prof. Kola Oloke, advised in Ibadan on Tuesday. “Animal skin known as “ponmo’’ is harmful to the body; it has no nutritional value. “Runaway from meat, especially red meat. If you want to eat chicken, eat the local one. “Consumption of animal protein can lead to diseases. More importantly, it causes cancer and death,’’ the microbiologist said while addressing a seminar on “Lifestyle, Diseases and Management’’ at the university. “Millions of cases of food poisoning are recorded every year which are traceable to the consumption of meat, especially those with mad cow disease and helminthic infestations,’’ he said. Prof. Oloke asserted that cancer was not only preventable

Apr212021 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

Too Little Sleep in Middle Age Increases Risk of Dementia –Study

NEWS

Sleeping six hours or less per night in your 50s and 60s is associated with an increased risk of dementia, according to a new study of nearly 8,000 British adults followed for more than 25 years. Scientists said that while the research, which was based on data from a long-running survey, could not prove cause and effect, it did draw a link between sleep and dementia as people age. The study, published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, showed a higher risk of dementia in those sleeping six or fewer hours per night at the ages of 50 or 60, compared to those who have a “normal” seven hours in bed. There was also a 30 percent increased dementia risk in those with consistently short sleeping patterns from the age of 50 to 70, irrespective of cardiometabolic or mental he

Apr212021 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

Young People to be Reinfected with Covid for Study

NEWS

Healthy young people who have had Covid-19 are being asked to volunteer for a trial that will deliberately expose them to the pandemic virus. The experts behind the study, beginning this month, want to see how the immune system copes second time round. The ultimate aim is to design better treatments and vaccines. Up to 64 people aged 18-30 will spend 17 days in a quarantine unit at a hospital suite and have numerous tests, including lung scans. They will be re-exposed to the virus, the original strain from Wuhan, China, in a "safe and controlled environment" while the medical team monitors their health. Develop Symptoms The first phase of this study, funded by the Wellcome Trust, will aim to establish the lowest dose of virus that can take hold and st...

Apr212021 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

India’s Massive COVID Surge Puzzles Scientists

NEWS

The pandemic is sweeping through India at a pace that has staggered scientists. Daily case numbers have exploded since early March: the government reported 273,810 new infections nationally on 18 April. High numbers in India have also helped drive global cases to a daily high of 854,855 in the past week, almost breaking a record set in January. Just months earlier, antibody data had suggested that many people in cities such as Delhi and Chennai had already been infected, leading some researchers to conclude that the worst of the pandemic was over in the country. Researchers in India are now trying to pinpoint what is behind the unprecedented surge, which could be due to an unfortunate confluence of factors, including the emergence of particularly infectious variants, a rise in un...

Apr212021 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

NCDC Reports Zero COVID-19-Related Death in Nine Days

Coronavirus, NEWS

The Nigerian Center for Disease Control reported zero COVID-19-related death for the ninth consecutive days as the nation’s fatality toll remains 2,061. The NCDC disclosed this on its official Twitter handle on Tuesday. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the country last registered a COVID-19-related death on April 11. It reports that aside from April 11, the number of reported deaths in week 14, which was April 6, was two from two states. NAN reports that cumulatively since the outbreak began in week 9, 2020, there have been reported 2,061 deaths with a case fatality rate of 1.3 percent. NCDC said it conducted 1,870,915 COVID-19 tests since February 27, 2020, adding that 120 infections were registered as of Tuesday, bringing the cumulative number of case

Apr202021 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

European Regulator to Give Recommendation on Johnson and Johnson Jab

Coronavirus, COVAX, NEWS

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is due to issue a recommendation on the use of the Johnson and Johnson vaccination against COVID-19. The recommendation was given after reviewing very rare cases of unusual blood clots occurring in the United States following the jab. Six cases of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) occurred in the United States, in most cases in combination with low levels of blood platelets. Earlier, Johnson and Johnson had started shipping the vaccines to countries in the European Union. The company then called for the rollout to be delayed to give time for clarification. However, the EMA said the vaccine could be used without restriction and that the benefits of the jab in preventing COVID-19 outweighed the risks of side effects. U.S. regulatory...

Apr202021 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

COVID-19 Worsens TB Cases in Nigeria – Director

Coronavirus, NEWS

Mrs Uko Itohowo, the Director, National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme, says COVID-19 has worsened Tuberculosis (TB) cases in Nigeria as about 60 per cent of patients go unnoticed and untreated. Itohowo said this on Monday in a virtual media seminar with newsmen in Ilorin. She said that according to the 2020 World Health Organisation (WHO) report, Nigeria is ranked first in leading cases of TB in Africa and sixth in the world. She said currently, TB kills 18 Nigerians every hour, with a record number of 47 Nigerians developing active TB every hour, seven of which are children. Itohowo observed that all attention were being placed on COVID-19 to the detriment of TB, which is equally a deadly disease. She said that although TB is a deadly disease yet

Apr192021 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

NCDC Records Lowest Daily Case of 26 New COVID-19

Coronavirus, NEWS

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has recorded 26 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 164,233. The NCDC disclosed this on its official Twitter handle on Sunday. The centre said that the new cases were registered in five states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). It said Ebonyi recorded 10 cases while Lagos recorded nine cases. It said the FCT recorded two cases, Kano-two, Osun-two and Oyo-one. The NCDC disclosed that seven people were treated and discharged from various isolation centres across the country in the last 24 hours. The NCDC said 154,332 people have so far recovered from COVID-19 and discharged from hospitals since the pandemic was reported in 2020. The agency said that Nigeria recorded no death from the co