Health

Oxford University pushing science to the limit in vaccine hunt

by Sylvain PEUCHMAURD Agence France-Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Oxford University is launching a human trial of a potential coronavirus vaccine, with the daunting aim of making a successful jab available to the public later this year. Of the more than 100 research projects around the world to find a vaccine — described by the United Nations as the only route back to “normality” — seven are currently in clinical trials, according to the London […]

Swiss launch country-wide study on COVID-19 immunity

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Researchers said Thursday they had begun collecting blood samples and interviewing people across Switzerland to determine what proportion of the population has antibodies to the novel coronavirus, and their level of immunity. The new research programme, called “Corona Immunitas”, said in a statement that over the next six months it would collect epidemiological data on immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19. The deadly disease has so far killed nearly […]

Filipino ingenuity: Who can beat this face shield?

  (Eagle News) — Amid the shortage of face shields and face masks, this resident in Manila made his own version of this personal protective equipment (PPE) — a plastic water tank to protect himself. Filipinos have resorted to do-it-yourself PPEs to protect themselves amid the COVID-19 pandemic — from hand-sewn face masks, face shields made from plastic covers, to this ultimate head cover shown in the photo above, raising the DIY face shield to […]

Troops returning to Hawaii experience unique homecoming amid pandemic

Eagle News — Last week a group of US Army soldiers based in Hawaii returned home after their year-long deployment in Afghanistan and Iraq. Soldiers arrived at Honolulu International Airport after being quarantined in Texas for a few days to screen soldiers for COVID-19. Once touched down in the Aloha state, the homecoming was different from what these soldiers are used to. “It is what it is. We understand that there are limitations that there are […]

US starts contact tracing the old-fashioned way, but ‘it’s late’

by Ivan Couronne Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON DC, United States (AFP) — Taiwan and South Korea have led the world in digital contact tracing for the COVID-19 pandemic — an example the US with its emphasis on personal privacy and decentralized system of government is unlikely to be able to follow. Instead, states and cities are opting to hire thousands of public health workers who will have to carry out the laborious task of phoning everyone with […]

No benefit, higher death rate for malaria drug in coronavirus study

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A malaria drug widely touted as a potential cure for COVID-19 showed no benefit against the disease over standard care — and was in fact associated with more deaths, the biggest study of its kind showed Tuesday. The US government-funded analysis of how American military veterans fared on hydroxychloroquine was posted on a medical preprint site and has not yet been peer-reviewed. The experiment had several important limitations but adds […]

Humans to blame for spread of coronavirus and other ‘zoonoses’

by Stéphane ORJOLLET Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Whether it came from a bat or a pangolin is not certain, but one thing is: the coronavirus outbreak that has killed tens of thousands and turned the world upside down comes from the animal world. It is human activity enabled the virus to jump to people, and specialists are warning that if nothing changes many other pandemics of this nature will follow. The name given to […]

Italy mulls psychological tests to gauge lockdown impact

ROME, Italy (AFP) — Italian scientists want the government to conduct psychological tests on a sample of the population to determine how long people can stay confined to their homes, a report said Monday. The Corriere della Sera newspaper said scientists want to understand how long Italians “are able to endure a lockdown” in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte will announce a new set of social guidelines this week that […]

DOH issues circular telling public to “avoid spraying and misting at this time”; no evidence it can kill virus

  (Eagle News) — The Department of Health has issued a department circular advising the public “to avoid spraying and misting at this time” saying that there is no evidence to support that this actually kills the COVID-19 virus. In Department circular no. 2020-0172, DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III said that misting or spraying in fact poses an additional health and safety concerns. “There is no evidence to support that spraying surfaces or large scale […]

Recovery from coronavirus may not confer immunity, warn experts

by Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Even as virologists zero in on the virus that causes COVID-19, a very basic question remains unanswered: do those who recover from the disease have immunity? There is no clear answer to this question, experts say, even if many have assumed that contracting the potentially deadly disease confers immunity, at least for a while. “Being immunized means that you have developed an immune response against […]

New York woman meets baby she gave birth to in COVID-19 coma

by Ivan Couronne Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON DC, United States (AFP) — A woman in New York has met for the first time the baby she gave birth to in early April while she was on a ventilator in an artificial coma because she had a serious form of COVID-19. Yanira Soriano, 36, was intubated for 11 days in an intensive care unit before recovering “miraculously” to welcome her fourth child, her doctor told AFP. “We really […]

Confusion, seizure, strokes: How COVID-19 may affect the brain

  by Issam AHMED Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A pattern is emerging among COVID-19 patients arriving at hospitals in New York: Beyond fever, cough and shortness of breath, some are deeply disoriented to the point of not knowing where they are or what year it is. At times this is linked to low oxygen levels in their blood, but in certain patients the confusion appears disproportionate to how their lungs are […]