FOCUS: THIS WEEK'S TOP STORIES
ConCourt confirms alternative compensation remedy for negligence
April 14th, 2021 The Constitutional Court has ruled that South African courts will now be able to consider ordering alternative compensation – instead of a lump-sum payment – to those injured as a result of medical negligence. The possibility of providing...
Injected antibody cocktail cuts COVID-19 infection risk by over 80%
April 14th, 2021 A single injected administration of Regeneron's monoclonal antibody cocktail cuts the risk of developing COVID-19 by over 80%, reports MedicalBrief. Antibody drugs may give doctors a new way to protect high-risk people who havenʼt been inoculated...CORONAVIRUS WATCH
Inexpensive corticosteroid shortens recovery in non-hospitalised patients — PRINCIPLE trial
Inhaled budesonide, a common corticosteroid, is the first widely available, inexpensive drug found... April 14th, 2021Anti-parasitic drug may protect against lung cell fusion induced by SARS-CoV-2
A drug that is commonly used to treat tapeworm infections might help to prevent the formation of... April 14th, 2021Sunlight associated with lower COVID-19 deaths — Edinburgh University
Sunnier areas are associated with fewer deaths from COVID-19, an observational study suggests.... April 14th, 2021One-in-10 have long-term effects 8 months after mild COVID-19 — Swedish study
Eight months after mild COVID-19, one in ten people still has at least one moderate to severe... April 14th, 2021Reduction in infectious SAR-CoV-2 with molnupiravir — Small US study
A single pill of the investigational drug molnupiravir taken twice a day for 5 days eliminated... April 14th, 2021Blood types not linked to COVID-19 incidence and severity — Large US analysis
There was no association with blood type and either susceptibility to COVID-19 infection or disease... April 14th, 2021Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine may be less effective against SA variant — Israeli study
The coronavirus variant discovered in South Africa can "break through" Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19... April 14th, 2021WEEKLY ROUNDUP
A year before population immunity is reached — Mkhize
It’ll take a year for South Africa to reach COVID-19 population immunity – and age will be a... April 14th, 2021Some Eastern Cape doctors 'faking' health certificates for initiations
The knives are out for doctors in Buffalo City accused of cheating in the war against initiation... April 14th, 2021Only national government can buy J&J vaccine — SAHPRA
South Africa’s medicines regulator has confirmed that one of the conditions attached to its... April 14th, 2021Botswana probes 2 deaths following AstraZeneca inoculations
Botswana is investigating the deaths of two elderly people who had been given doses of... April 14th, 2021Zimbabwe smugglers sell birth control pills illicitly in SA
With long queues at clinics in South Africa and COVID-19 restrictions, women struggling to access... April 14th, 2021Nearly 40% of US Marines decline COVID-19 vaccine
Nearly 40% of US Marines who have been offered the COVID-19 vaccine have declined it, rising to 57%... April 14th, 2021Mkhize outlines planned vaccine compensation fund
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize says the creation of a COVID-19 vaccine compensation fund is well... April 14th, 2021Pilot study looks at feasibility of SA using mobile X-rays to test for TB
One of the key recommendations from the National TB Prevalence Survey is to increase “access to... April 14th, 2021Lack of ethnic diversity among donors a problem for SA Bone Marrow Registry
A lack of ethnic diversity among donors, coupled with cultural myths, have led to a paucity of bone... April 14th, 2021NEWS RELEASE
UFS: Child malnutrition – human rights violation and slow violence against children
University of Free State release on child malnutrition analysis by Dr Chantell Witten, division of health professions education, University of the Free State: A decade ago, Rob Nixon, a professor in the humanities and environment studies at... April 14th, 2021CARDIOLOGY
Work and social stress put women at significantly higher heart risk
Psychosocial stress – typically resulting from difficulty coping with challenging environments – may work synergistically to put women at significantly higher risk of developing coronary heart disease, according to a study by researchers at...
April 14th, 2021
CARDIOVASCULAR
CVD the leading cause of death in patients with type 2 diabetes
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) was the leading cause of death among the over 16,000 patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) who were enrolled in the SAVOR-TIMI 53 trial. Two-thirds (66.3%) of all 798 deaths after a median 2.1 years of follow-up were... April 14th, 2021DIETETICS
AGA: New clinical practice guidelines on IGBs for weight loss
With obesity affecting 40% of the US population, the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) has released new recommendations on the therapeutic role of intragastric balloons (IGBs), reports MedPage Today. These devices have been associated...
April 14th, 2021
HEPATOLOGY
Coffee a powerful addition to NAFLD treatment arsenal — Meta-analysis
A meta-analysis presented at the IBD Liver Disease Conference found that coffee drinkers had up 47% lower risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and was also associated with a 27% reduction in the likelihood of developing advanced...
April 14th, 2021
HIV/AIDS
High rates of cervical cancer found in women living with HIV
Spotlight reports that a study recently published in The Lancet medical journal found that women living with HIV made up an estimated 63.4% of new cervical cancer cases in South Africa in 2018 – a dramatically higher percentage than the global... April 14th, 2021A blood test to find those at high risk of TB in people living with HIV
Researchers from the South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative at the University of Cape Town, the Aurum Institute, the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa, Stellenbosch University, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical... April 14th, 2021OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH
Leisure physical activity linked to health benefits but not work activity
The first large study showing that leisure time physical activity and occupational physical activity have opposite, and independent, associations with cardiovascular disease risk and longevity has been published. "We adjusted for multiple factors... April 14th, 2021ONCOLOGY
Immunotherapy combination shows early promise in glioblastoma
Immunotherapy together with an experimental cancer drug could offer a new way of treating some patients with aggressive brain cancers, promising early results from a Phase I trial suggest. Two of the first 10 patients treated for a highly aggressive...
April 14th, 2021