Health

Potential breakthrough: Doctors in Australia map body’s COVID-19 immune response

by Patrick GALEY and Marlowe HOOD Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP)—Researchers in Australia said Tuesday they had mapped the body’s immune response to the novel coronavirus, in a potential breakthrough in the fight against the global killer. A team of scientists were able to test blood samples from a patient who had contracted COVID-19 and was hospitalized with moderate symptoms. Authors of the study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, said it was the first time […]

New coronavirus can survive on surfaces for hours: study

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The novel coronavirus can survive on surfaces or in the air for several hours, according to a US-government funded study published Tuesday. Scientists found that the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease had similar levels of viability outside the body to its predecessor that caused SARS. This means that factors like greater transmission between people with no symptoms might be why the current pandemic is far greater than the SARS […]

Doctors map body’s COVID-19 immune response: study

  by Patrick GALEY and Marlowe HOOD PARIS, France (AFP) — Researchers in Australia said Tuesday they had mapped the body’s immune response to the novel coronavirus, in a potential breakthrough in the fight against the global killer. A team of scientists was able to test blood samples from a patient who had contracted COVID-19 and was hospitalized with moderate symptoms. Authors of the study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, said it was the […]

Avoid self-medication with ibuprofen against COVID-19 symptoms: WHO

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization recommended Tuesday that people suffering from COVID-19-like symptoms should avoid self-medicating with ibuprofen after French authorities warned anti-inflammatory drugs could worsen the effects of the virus. The warnings over the weekend by French Health Minister Olivier Veran followed a recent study in The Lancet weekly medical journal that hypothesized that an enzyme that is boosted when taking anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen could facilitate and worsen COVID-19 infections. […]

Coronavirus drugs: Who’s doing what, and when they might come

by Issam AHMED WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Pharmaceuticals and research labs across the world are racing to find vaccines and treatments for the new coronavirus, using a variety of different technologies. According to Benjamin Neuman, a virologist at Texas A&M University-Texarkana, immunizing against the pathogen is a long shot: There has never been a very successful human vaccine against any member of the coronavirus family. “This is going to be a lot of trials, […]

Air pollution ‘likely’ to cut COVID19 survival: experts

by Patrick GALEY PARIS, France (AFP) — Air pollution from petrol and diesel vehicles is likely to increase mortality from the novel coronavirus in cities, public health experts told AFP Monday. The European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) warned that dirty air in urban areas that causes hypertension, diabetes and other respiratory illness could lead to a higher overall death toll from the virus currently sweeping the world. Emissions from petrol and diesel engines were still […]

Children less sick from COVID-19, but can still spread the virus, says experts

  by Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS / Marlowe HOOD Agence France Presse For reasons unknown, children rarely have severe symptoms when infected by COVID-19 and may even be a bit less likely to get the disease in the first place, experts told AFP. But that doesn’t mean infants, toddlers and teens are not carriers for the new coronavirus, which jumped from animals to humans in central China at the end of last year. As of Friday, there […]

On mission to eradicate virus germs, China firms see the UV light

  by Beiyi Seow with Jessica Yang in Shanghai Agence France Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — Ultraviolet light is being beamed through public buses and lifts in China to wipe out any possible germs as part of efforts to clear the country of the deadly coronavirus epidemic. With companies under pressure to meet strict prevention measures for the virus, which has killed more than 3,100 people in China, some are turning to new technology to […]

WATCH: Fight COVID-19: Wash your hands properly to prevent spread of infection

(video courtesy Agence France Presse)   (Eagle News) – Proper handwashing is one of the best ways to prevent the spread of the novel 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19), according to the World Health Organization (WHO). “Washing your hands with soap and water or using alcohol-based hand rub kills viruses that may be on your hands,” a WHO advisory said. It is important to wash your hands before touching the mouth, nose and eyes because these […]

“This is a controllable pandemic,” WHO chief says of COVID-19 spread; urges all to double efforts to contain virus

  (Eagle News) — The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) clarified on Thursday, March 12, that its earlier announcement of the coronavirus disease spread as a “pandemic” does not mean that countries should give up, and stressed that the COVID-19 is a “controllable pandemic.” WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that countries should instead “double down” and work on measures to control and contain the virus with the “political commitment” needed to […]

‘Don’t panic’ says US woman who recovered from coronavirus

  by David Albright with Issam Ahmed in Washington Agence France Presse SEATTLE, United States (AFP) — An American woman who has recovered from the novel coronavirus has a simple message for people who are worried: Don’t panic — but do think about high-risk individuals and stay home if you feel ill. Elizabeth Schneider lives in Seattle, the biggest city of Washington state, which has the most deaths in the United States from the disease […]

No, coronavirus isn’t the same as the flu

PARIS, France (AFP) — Aches and pains, sore throat, fever — although they may feel similar to those suffering from their symptoms, the novel coronavirus is not the same as the seasonal flu, experts stressed Wednesday. Mortality  COVID-19, the illness caused by a coronavirus, proves deadly in around 3.5 percent of confirmed cases. While this is not the same as its mortality rate, given many people may be infected but not realize it, it is […]