The French government’s top advisor on COVID-19 warned Friday that a new variant of the disease would “probably” emerge in the winter months this year. The country is currently battling an unprecedented spike in new cases caused by the more infectious Delta variant, which was first recorded in India. “We …
Read More »India reports first suspected human death due to H5N1 bird flu virus
An 11-year-old boy from the Indian state of Haryana has died from a bird flu virus of the H5N1 strain, the first such fatality in the country, an official statement said on Wednesday. The boy succumbed to multi-organ dysfunction on July 12, at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) …
Read More »Neurological hospital in Baghdad to receive COVID-19 patients to overcome soaring cases
Health authorities in Baghdad decided to convert a hospital specialized in neurological diseases to a COVID-19 isolation center, a document obtained by Alghadeer News revealed. According to an official document appended by the signature of the head of Baghdad/al-Rusafa Health Directorate, Dr. Muhammad Jihad Jawad, “Dr. Saad al-Witri Neuroscience Hospital” …
Read More »Pfizer-BioNTech to produce COVID-19 jabs with S African company
Cape Town-based company Biovac expected to produce 100 million doses annually, destined for African Union countries, under the deal. Pfizer and BioNTech have said they struck a deal with South Africa-based company Biovac for the production of COVID-19 vaccines for the African Union (AU). In a statement published on Wednesday, …
Read More »Mucormycosis: India records more than 4,300 ‘black fungus’ deaths
More than 4,300 people have died of the deadly “black fungus” in India in a growing epidemic that mainly affects Covid-19 patients. India has reported 45,374 cases of this rare and dangerous infection, called mucormycosis, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has said. It affects the nose, eyes, and sometimes the brain, …
Read More »EU starts real-time review of Sanofi-GSK coronavirus jab
Sanofi-GSK hopes to get approvals by the end of this year after early-stage results showed the vaccine produces a robust immune response. Europe’s drug regulator said on Tuesday it had started a real-time review of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by French drugmaker Sanofi and the UK’s GlaxoSmithKline, the fifth shot …
Read More »Global quest underway to speed COVID-19 vaccine trials
Scientists are working on a benchmark for COVID-19 vaccine efficacy that would allow drugmakers to conduct smaller, speedier human trials to get them to market and address a huge global vaccine shortage. Researchers are trying to determine just what level of COVID-19 antibodies a vaccine must produce to provide protection …
Read More »China reports its first death of a human from rare Monkey B virus
A man in China has died after contracting a rare infectious disease from primates, known as the Monkey B virus, Chinese health officials revealed in a report Saturday. The victim, a 53-year-old veterinarian based in Beijing, was the first documented human case of the virus in China. According to the …
Read More »China’s first human infection case with Monkey B virus dies: Report
A Beijing-based veterinarian who was confirmed as China’s first human infection case with Monkey B virus (BV) has died, amid rising concerns, the official media here reported. The 53-year-old male vet, who worked for an institution researching on non-human primates, showed early-onset symptoms of nausea and vomiting, a month after …
Read More »Opinion | With soaring rates of obesity and diabetes, the West is paying a high price for colonialism
Chronic levels of sugar-related diabetes have blighted the Caribbean for years due to slavery. Now the UK and US are experiencing the pain it causes – which makes Britain’s apparent rejection of a fat tax all the more surprising. It’s one of the fastest-growing diseases in the world. It’s a …
Read More »Fauci: Smallpox would have there with today’s ‘false information’
US President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, Anthony Fauci, has said that he thinks smallpox and polio would still be spreading in the United States if today’s “false information” was there then. “If you look at the extraordinary historic success in eradicating smallpox and eliminating polio from most of the …
Read More »Ghana culls thousands of chickens, bans poultry movement amid avian flu outbreak
Ghana has destroyed 4,500 chickens and restricted the movement of poultry after nearly 6,000 birds were found to have died of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu, the country’s veterinary services director said on Saturday. The birds originated from seven farms in Ghana’s Greater Accra, Central, and Volta regions, and …
Read More »Delta COVID variant now dominant strain worldwide, US deaths surge -officials
The Delta variant of COVID-19 is now the dominant strain worldwide, accompanied by a surge of deaths around the United States almost entirely among unvaccinated people, U.S. officials said on Friday. U.S. cases of COVID-19 are up 70% over the previous week and deaths are up 26%, with outbreaks occurring …
Read More »Coronavirus: More than 8300 new cases, 44 deaths in Iraq
Iraq recorded, on Friday 8336 new cases of Covid-19 to take its total to 1,474,865, the health ministry said. It reported 44 deaths to take its coronavirus death toll to 17,751. It also reported 7805 recoveries to take its total to 1,340,383 (90.9%). The COVID-19 intensive care patients count to …
Read More »Guillain-Barre syndrome: FDA flags ‘small’ risk with J&J jab
US health officials issue new warnings over rare neurological reactions for people getting the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine. United States regulators have added a new warning to Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine about links to a rare and potentially dangerous neurological reaction. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced …
Read More »European efforts to assess Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine stymied by data gaps: Reuters
The developers of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine have repeatedly failed to provide data that regulators deem to be standard requirements of the drug approval process, according to five people with knowledge of European efforts to assess the drug, providing new insight into the country’s struggle to win foreign acceptance …
Read More »WHO: Countries should not order COVID-19 boosters while others still need vaccines
Rich countries should not be ordering booster shots for their vaccinated populations while other countries have yet to receive COVID-19 vaccines, the World Health Organization said on Monday. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said deaths were again rising from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Delta variant was becoming dominant, and many …
Read More »Pfizer, US health officials to discuss COVID boosters on Monday -company
COVID-19 vaccine maker Pfizer Inc will meet with federal health officials as soon as Monday to discuss the need for a booster dose of the coronavirus vaccine as it prepares to seek authorization, the company said on Sunday. The meeting comes days after the drugmaker and its partner BioNTech SE …
Read More »We should avoid imposing new COVID-19 restrictions: G20 presidency
Italy’s economy minister Daniele Franco said on Saturday virus variants were a major source of concern for the global economy but the world should avoid imposing new restrictions on people’s lives to combat the pandemic. “The only answer is vaccination,” said Franco, speaking at the end of a meeting of …
Read More »Indonesia short on oxygen, seeks help as virus cases soar
Just two months ago, Indonesia was coming to a gasping India’s aid with thousands of tanks of oxygen. Today, the Southeast Asia country is running out of oxygen as it endures a devastating wave of coronavirus cases and the government is seeking emergency supplies from other countries, including Singapore and …
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