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Coronavirus Watch
COVID-19 patients show liver injury months after infection – US study
A recent study has found that COVID-19 infection might lead to liver injury that lasts long after the acute illness, said researchers in a...
Coronaviruses’ shared pocket holds key to antiviral treatment – global study
Scientists have discovered why some coronaviruses are likelier to cause severe disease, which has remained a mystery until now, with researchers saying their findings...
One in eight adults likely to develop long COVID symptoms – Dutch study
One in eight COVID-19 patients (12.7%) is likely to experience long term symptoms, a study from the Netherlands has reported, compared with just 8.7%...
Surge in Ivermectin calls to poisons helpline during pandemic – SA study
Ivermectin-related calls to the Poisons Information Helpline of the Western Cape (PIHWC) increased 12-fold from 2015 to 2021 – mostly during the height of...
COVID patients likelier to develop CVD, diabetes, post-infection – London study
Patients who contract COVID-19 face a higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, particularly in the three months after infection, according to a...
Novavax COVID jab gets US nod, despite myocarditis concerns
The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has granted an emergency use authorisation (EUA) for Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine in adults, the agency announced last...
COVID-19 may have spread much faster than initially thought, flu surveillance system shows
The WHO Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System had outliers to typical influenza-like illness (ILI) in 16 out of 28 countries an average of...
Aspirin may still have role in moderate COVID-19 – ANCHOR cohort study
Contradicting earlier findings, a cohort study of adults hospitalised with moderate COVID-19, early aspirin use was associated with lower odds of 28-day in-hospital mortality,...
Long COVID can trigger type 2 diabetes in some – VA cohort study
People who had COVID-19 were at greater risk of developing Type 2 diabetes within a year than those who weren’t infected, according to a...
Estimated 85% of Gautengers had COVID-19 at least once before Omicron wave
An estimated 85% of people living in Gauteng had already had COVID-19 at least once before the outbreak of the Omicron wave in late...
CDC: Longer gap between first two Pfizer jabs for some, particularly young men
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued new COVID-19 mRNA vaccine guidance, expanding the recommended time between the initial two vaccine...
US and EU approval sought for new Sanofi-GSK COVID-19 vaccine
Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline are applying for United States and European Union regulatory approval of a new COVID-19 vaccine after human trials showed it provided...
Pfizer jab less effective in children aged 5-11 than in adolescents
New data suggest the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine works substantially less well at preventing infection and hospitalisations in children aged 5 to 11 than it...
Two new studies link coronavirus origins to China's Huanan live-animal market
Two preprint studies posted this past weekend (26 February) offer further evidence that the coronavirus originated in animals and spread to humans in late...
CDC: Most of US no longer needs to be under masking mandates
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued new mask-wearing mandates, based on healthcare indicates in the various counties – meaning...
Smaller dose of anticoagulants equally effective and less bleeding risk in severe COVID
Patients with COVID-19 in the intensive care unit (ICU) prescribed full-dose blood thinners are significantly more likely to experience heavy bleeding than patients prescribed...
Lingering cardiac dysfunction 3-4 months after severe COVID – Norwegian cohort study
Patients recovering from COVID-19 showed cardiac dysfunction on trans-thoracic echocardiography three to four months after hospital discharge, according to a Norwegian study in the...
Omicron: FDA limits use of some monoclonal antibodies for COVID treatment
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has said the monoclonal antibody combinations bamlanivimab/etesevimab and casirivimab/imdevimab (REGEN-COV) should be used only for COVID-19 patients...
Long COVID breathlessness: Novel scans uncover hidden lung damage
Some people with long COVID may have hidden damage to their lungs, a small pilot study in the UK suggests.
Scientists used a novel xenon...
Convalescent plasma may benefit some COVID-19 patients with comorbidities
Transfusions of blood plasma donated by people who have already recovered from infection with the pandemic virus may help other patients hospitalised with COVID-19,...
Machine-learning model uses single blood test to predict COVID-19 survival
A single blood sample from a critically ill COVID-19 patient can be analysed by a machine learning model, using blood plasma proteins to predict...
COVID hospitalisation linked to double the risk of readmission/death – UK cohort study
People who were hospitalised for COVID-19 and survived for at least a week after discharge, were more than twice as likely to die or...
Long-term damaged sense of smell in 50% of 1st wave COVID cases – Karolinska study
Nearly half of those who became ill with COVID-19 in the first wave of infections may have long-term and even permanent changes to their...
Wine drinking associated with lower COVID risk, but not beer, cider and spirits – UK Biobank analysis
Consumption of red wine, white wine and champagne above the guidelines protected against COVID-19, while consumption of beer, cider and spirits increased the risk,...
CDC shifts the definition of what it means to be 'fully vaccinated'
The definition of what it means to be “fully vaccinated” is evolving even as the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has...
FDA greenlights Veklury for children and adult patients with mild-to-moderate COVID
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expanding the use of the antiviral remdesivir drug Veklury to certain non-hospitalised adults and paediatric patients for...
More COVID deaths for sub-Saharan children than anywhere else
Infants younger than a year in Africa have nearly five times (4,89) the risk of dying from COVID than adolescents aged 15 to 19,...
Vaccines provide ongoing prevention of hospitalisation and death – Large US study
All three COVID-19 vaccines had durable effectiveness in reducing the risks of hospitalisation and death, found a US analysis of 10.6m people.
The study found...
Maternal COVID infection increases preterm/low birth/stillbirth rate in unvaccinated women
Unvaccinated pregnant women with COVID-19 are more likely to have poor birth outcomes, including preterm birth, small for gestational age, low birth weight, and...
COVID in late pregnancy linked to more complications – University of Edinburgh
A University of Edinburgh study has revealed that women who have COVID-19 towards the end of their pregnancy are vulnerable to birth-related complications, and...
Cannabinoids in hemp prevent coronavirus from entering human cells – Oregon State
Cannabinoids, isolated or in hemp, have the ability to prevent the virus that causes COVID-19 from entering human cells, found research by Oregon State University.
Findings...
SA-German study shows boosters protect but unlikely to prevent Omicron
A study by South African and German scientists has provided the first evidence in the world that even three vaccine doses might not be...
SA cohort study shows reduced chance of death or severe illness with Omicron
Unvaccinated people infected with the Omicron variant of coronavirus may be less prone to severe illness and requiring hospital care or dying than was...
Stress, anxiety and depression may increase risk of COVID-19 infection – Prospective cohort study
A British study has found that people who experienced increased stress, anxiety and depression at the start of the pandemic, were at greater risk...
Casirivimab-imdevimab reduces symptomatic COVID-19 in phase 3 trial
A phase 3 clinical trial published in JAMA has found that only 29,0% of 314 asymptomatic COVID-19–infected people living with an infected household member...
Omicron has higher asymptomatic carriage rate – Ubuntu study
Preliminary findings from SA clinical trials suggest the Omicron coronavirus variant has a much higher rate of asymptomatic carriage than earlier variants.
The studies, one...
T-cells from common colds cross-protect against COVID – Imperial College London
High levels of T-cells from common cold coronaviruses can provide protection against COVID-19, an Imperial College London study has found, which could inform approaches...
Warning from WHO and EU regulator against repeat COVID boosters
European Union regulators have warned that frequent COVID-19 booster shots could adversely affect the immune system and might not be feasible. Repeat booster doses...
Severe outcomes rare after two COVID jabs – CDC and NIH
Two COVID-19 vaccine studies published this week respectively identify risk factors for severe outcomes among adults given two doses and describe cancer patients’ antibody...
Israeli health chief: Swab throat as well as nose to detect Omicron variant
People self-testing for COVID-19 should swab their throat as well as their nose when using rapid antigen kits, to increase the chances of detecting...