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by Sara HUSSEIN TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Ebola survivors can relapse and trigger outbreaks at least five years after infection, and long-term follow-up of former patients is needed to prevent devastating flare-ups, according to new research. Scientists already knew Ebola could lie dormant in survivors, who test negative because the virus is in tissue rather than circulating in the blood. But analysis of an outbreak this year in Guinea, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, […]
by Sara HUSSEIN Agence France Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Paralyzed from the neck down, the man stares intently at a screen. As he imagines handwriting letters, they appear before him as typed text thanks to a new brain implant. The 65-year-old is “typing” at a speed similar to his peers tapping on a smartphone, using a device that could one day help paralyzed people communicate quickly and easily. The research could benefit people […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain’s Oxford University said on Friday its researchers behind the joint AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine had found it to be effective against the UK virus variant now dominant across the country. The university, which developed the jab with the British-Swedish pharmaceutical firm, said an ongoing assessment of its effectiveness showed that it has “similar efficacy” to other coronavirus strains. “Data from our trials… in the United Kingdom indicate that the […]
by Nina LARSON Agence France-Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Data indicating that a vaccine being developed against Covid-19 is highly effective is the “best science news of the year”, a pharmaceutical industry association chief said, voicing hope that other vaccine candidates would show equally good results. “A vaccine that has 90 percent efficacy and is pretty safe, that is a historic breakthrough,” the head of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), Thomas […]
by Sara HUSSEIN Agence France-Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Warmer seas caused by climate change are making hurricanes stronger for longer after landfall, increasing the destruction they can wreak on impact, a new study has found. Researchers warn the finding suggests inland communities — which may be less prepared than coastal regions to face hurricanes — are increasingly at risk. The effects of climate change on tropical storms including hurricanes are still being studied, although […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British researchers on Tuesday said they hope to expose healthy volunteers to the virus that causes Covid-19 in a groundbreaking study to discover the amount needed for people to become infected. The Human Challenge Programme — a partnership that includes Imperial College London — hopes the work will ultimately help to “reduce the spread of the coronavirus, mitigate its impact and reduce deaths”. In what researchers called a world […]
by Holly ROBERTSON Agence France-Presse BRISBANE, Australia (AFP) — The coronavirus that causes Covid-19 can survive on items such as banknotes and phones for up to 28 days in cool, dark conditions, according to a study by Australia’s national science agency. Researchers at CSIRO’s disease preparedness centre tested the longevity of SARS-CoV-2 in the dark at three temperatures, showing survival rates decreased as conditions became hotter, the agency said Monday. The scientists found that at 20 […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The maker of anti-influenza drug Avigan said Wednesday it will apply for the medication to be approved for treating coronavirus patients after trials showed it can shorten recovery time. In a statement, manufacturer Fujifilm Toyama Chemical said its phase III trial in Japan, which began in March, was now complete. Of 156 individuals described as “analysis targets”, the median recovery time was 11.9 days in those receiving Avigan compared with 14.7 […]
A group of pharmaceutical companies give an update on their research to find a vaccine for the novel coronavirus, with US giant Pfizer saying it could have results from its late-stage vaccine trial as early as October
WASHINGTON D.C., United States (AFP) — People wearing plastic face shields or masks fitted with a valve can spray invisible droplets over a very wide area when they sneeze or cough, making the devices ineffective at preventing the spread of coronavirus when used on their own, a simulation model shows. In a report published Tuesday in the US journal Physics of Fluids, researchers at Florida Atlantic University used vertical and horizontal laser sheets to track […]
by Sara HUSSEIN TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A new method to create insulin-producing pancreatic cells from stem cells and protect them from the body’s immune system could pave the way for improving experimental diabetes treatment. In type-1 diabetes, the body turns on itself and attacks the so-called beta cells inside clusters in the pancreas called “islets”. These beta cells are responsible for gauging sugar levels in the blood and releasing insulin to keep them stable. […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Moscow has dubbed its new coronavirus vaccine “Sputnik V” after the Soviet satellite, the head of the country’s sovereign wealth fund said Tuesday, after Russia declared itself the first country to develop a vaccine. Kirill Dmitriyev, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund which finances the vaccine project, said Phase 3 trials would start on Wednesday and industrial production was expected from September. “We’ve seen considerable interest in the Russian […]
