Health

Pfizer seeks US authorization of Covid vaccine for ages 5-11

by Becca MILFELD WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US drugmaker Pfizer said Thursday it has formally requested emergency use authorization for its Covid-19 vaccine in children age five to 11. Children have been infected in greater numbers in the latest coronavirus wave driven by the Delta variant, and inoculating young people is seen as key to keeping schools open and helping end the pandemic. In late September, Pfizer and BioNTech, the German biotechnology giant which […]

Bootleg alcohol kills 17 in Russia

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Seventeen people in Russia have died after drinking surrogate alcohol containing highly toxic methanol, officials said Friday, with investigators launching criminal probes. The deaths are the latest in Russia from the consumption of a cheap alcohol substitute, a persistent problem that authorities have previously said must be solved. An additional 16 people in the region of Orenburg, around 1,500 kilometres (930 miles) southeast of Moscow in the southern Urals, suffered alcohol […]

Shot of the Antarctic: UK vaccines arrive near South Pole

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — A delivery of Covid vaccines has arrived in Antarctica to inoculate British researchers stationed in the polar wilderness, the UK foreign ministry said Thursday. The shipment was delivered to the British Antarctic Survey’s Rothera Research Station, making the outpost the furthest destination in the British Overseas Territories to be supplied with jabs. The AstraZeneca shots were flown from a Royal Air Force base in Britain via Senegal and the Falklands […]

WHO set to restart Sputnik Covid vaccine analysis

  GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization said on Thursday it was about to restart the process of approving Russia’s Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine following a series of problems with the dossier. WHO authorisation has been sought for the Sputnik V jab created by Russia’s Gamaleya research institute, which is already being used in 45 countries, according to an AFP count. Several Covid-19 vaccines have been given the WHO green light for emergency […]

Polio leaves Ukraine toddler paralyzed: official

KIEV, Ukraine (AFP) — An 18-month-old child has been left paralyzed after contracting polio in Ukraine in a new case linked to low vaccination rates in the country, the health ministry said Wednesday. The ministry said vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 caused the disease as opposed to the original wild virus. “The parents deliberately refused vaccinations because of their religious beliefs,” the statement said without providing further details of the case in the northwestern region of […]

‘An amazing ride’: study offers dengue treatment hop

by Sara HUSSEIN TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Dengue affects tens of millions each year, producing brutal symptoms that have earned it the moniker “breakbone fever,” but new research may have found the first-ever treatment for the virus. Tests in cell cultures and mice found that a newly identified compound can effectively disarm dengue, stopping it from replicating and preventing disease, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature. And it appears to be […]

‘An amazing ride’: study offers dengue treatment hope

by Sara HUSSEIN Agence France-Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) – Dengue affects tens of millions each year, producing the brutal symptoms that earned it the moniker “breakbone fever,” but new research may have found the first-ever treatment for the virus. Tests in cell cultures and mice found that a newly identified compound can effectively disarm the virus, stopping it from replicating and preventing disease, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature. And it […]

WHO recommends use of first malaria vaccine for children

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization on Wednesday endorsed the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine, the first against the mosquito-borne disease that kills more than 400,000 people a year, mostly African children. The decision followed a review of a pilot programme deployed since 2019 in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi in which more than two million doses were given of the vaccine, first made by the pharmaceutical company GSK in 1987. After reviewing evidence from those […]

EU could start review of Merck Covid pill ‘in days’

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — The EU’s medicines watchdog could start a review within days of an oral Covid drug produced by the US pharmaceutical firm Merck, a senior official said Tuesday. Merck said last week that its drug molnupiravir was shown to reduce hospitalisations by 50 percent, bringing closer the dream of a simple pill to treat the coronavirus pandemic. “What I can say is that indeed we will be considering whether to start […]

Pfizer jab prevents severe Covid for at least 6 months: study

PARIS, France (AFP) — Vaccination with two doses of the Pfizer jab stays highly effective against severe Covid — including the Delta variant — for at least six months, an analysis of US patients said Monday. While previous data from clinical trials has shown jabs protect against hospitalisation, the study published in the Lancet measures one vaccine’s effectiveness over time in a real-world setting. Pfizer and healthcare provider Kaiser Permanente looked at records from 3.4 […]

Yemen conjoined twins ‘like any child’ after separation in Jordan

AMMAN, Jordan (AFP) — A Jordanian hospital has successfully performed the country’s first operation to separate conjoined twins, seven-month-old babies from Yemen, the chief surgeon announced Sunday. It was “a rare and delicate” procedure which is “a medical success for the whole kingdom”, said the doctor, Fawzi al-Hammouri. The nearly eight-hour operation which required 25 surgeons and technical advisers was performed in July. But Amman’s Specialised Hospital delayed any announcement because “after the operation they […]

YouTube cracks down on anti-vaccine misinformation

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — YouTube announced Wednesday it would remove videos and some high-profile users that falsely claim approved vaccines are dangerous, as social networks seek to crack down on health misinformation around Covid-19 and other diseases. Video-sharing giant YouTube has already banned posts that spread false myths around coronavirus treatments, including ones that share inaccurate claims about Covid-19 vaccines shown to be safe. But the Google-owned site said its concerns about the […]