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Coronavirus Watch
Guidelines on COVID-19 and indoor ventilation – CDC, WHO and NICD
International agencies have issued reminders to people to be aware of the risk of COVID-19 spreading in enclosed spaces. They have also published guidelines...
COVID vaccination not linked to premature birth or unusually small babies – CDC study
COVID vaccinations during pregnancy present no greater risk of premature birth or of unusually small babies than for vaccinated women, a US study has...
Microclot formation may have ‘long COVID’ implications – Stellenbosch
An overload of inflammatory molecules trapped inside microscopic blood clots could be behind long COVID, according to a Stellenbosch University study in Bioscience Reports.
Prof...
Omicron variant: Clinical severity and hospitalisation profile in South Africa
A new South African study suggests that the Omicron variant boosts immunity to Delta and might displace it, while another found that it may...
NHS rolls out two new antivirals to reduce COVID19 hospitalisation
Britain’s National Health Service (NHI) has started treatment the monoclonal antibody treatments sotrovimab and molnupiravir to reduce the hospitalisation of COVID-19 patients, and is...
Namilumab shows benefit for COVID pneumonia patients – Small UK trial
The proof-of-concept CATALYST trial has identified namilumab as offering benefit over usual care for some patients hospitalised with COVID-19 pneumonia.
The trial tested UK-based bio-pharmaceutical company Izana...
Metabolic syndrome boosts risk of ARDS and death in COVID patients — 26-country study
Patients hospitalised with COVID-19, who had a combination of high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, or other conditions associated with metabolic syndrome, were at much...
J&J booster 84% effective against hospitalisation — Sisonke 2
A booster dose of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine was 84% effective at preventing hospitalisation of South African healthcare workers who became infected...
COVID incubation exceeds a fortnight in 10% of Chinese patients
A modelling study of COVID-19 patients in China in 2020 published in BMC Public Health estimates that some 10% had incubation periods that were...
Substantial degree of vaccine hesitancy in Africa and its diaspora — UCT study
There is a substantial degree of vaccine hesitancy among Africans living on the continent, as well as in the diaspora, found a University of...
Pfizer’s anti-COVID oral tablets show robust efficacy
Pfizer has said its oral COVID-19 antiviral, nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (Paxlovid), reduced the risk of hospitalisation or death by 89% if taken within three days of...
Rapid antigen test found more effective than PCR assay — Large US study
A rapid antigen detection test for SARS-CoV-2 proved more effective than expected compared with virus detection rates using the established standard test, the polymerase...
Increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection associated with Omicron — South African study
Population-level evidence suggests that the Omicron variant is associated with substantial ability to evade immunity from prior infection, found a study published on MedRxiv...
Previous infection + vaccines deliver ’stronger than basic' Omicron defence — China in-vitro study
One of the earliest, peer-reviewed studies looking into the Omicron variant of COVID-19, published this week, suggests that people previously infected with COVID, and...
COVID reduced South African life expectancy by 3.5 years
The pandemic has reduced SA’s life expectancy by three-and-a-half years, according to Jacques van Zaydam, Department of Social Development's chief director, population and development.
Speaking...
NICD: Positivity rate spikes after COVID test results delay at state labs
Technical problems at state laboratories led to delays in the release of results of coronavirus tests, as well as a dump of close to...
Gauteng considering to Pfizer’s Paxlovid and Merck’s Molnupiravir for COVID-19
As Gauteng faces an escalating fourth wave of COVID-19 infections, consideration is being given for the use of two overseas drugs that have showed...
WHO: Omicron more transmissible but not necessarily milder
The Omicron variant, already detected in nearly 60 countries, may be more transmissible, but increased transmissibility does not necessarily mean it will cause less...
Two-dose vaccines induce lower antibodies against Omicron — Oxford study
Two-dose COVID-19 vaccine regimens do not induce enough neutralising antibodies against the Omicron coronavirus variant, British scientists have found, meaning that increased infections in...
Pfizer course may have only 23% efficacy against. Omicron — Small Durban study
A two-shot course of Pfizer’s vaccine may have just 22.5% efficacy against symptomatic infection with the Omicron variant, but can thwart severe disease, according...
Delta may have increased ability to evade vaccine-induced immunity — Glasgow study
A study in PLOS Pathogens from the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, United Kingdom, suggests that the Delta variant may be more...
Mixing COVID-19 vaccinations gives better immune response — Oxford trial
People had a better immune response when they received a first dose of AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech shots followed by Moderna nine weeks late, found...
Boosters significantly strengthen immunity — Cov-Boost trial
Those boosted with the Pfizer vaccine after two doses of AstraZeneca had antibody levels a month later nearly 25 times higher than controls. When...
So far, milder disease seen with Omicron, with shorter hospital stays — SA hospitals analysis
Although it’s too early to draw definite conclusions, it appears that the Omicron variant might cause less severe infection than previous strains, according a...
COVID increases pregnancy and birth complications — French hospital study
Pregnant women with COVID-19 are more likely to have complications with pregnancy and birth than those without, according to a University of Paris study...
SA women’s life expectancy drops from effect of COVID-19 — UCT, SAMRC study
South African women's life expectancy dropped by a year in 2020 and is likely to fall further in 2021 because of COVID-19, found a...
SAMRC: Rising levels of SARS-CoV-2 RNA fragments in Tshwane and NMB wastewater
The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) has confirmed rising concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 RNA fragments in wastewater in the cities of Tshwane (Gauteng) and...
Preliminary results from two UK studies suggest significant heart inflammation from COVID
Early results from some large-scale national studies suggest that up to one in eight UK hospitalised patients subsequently shows signs of heart injury, writes...
4th wave: More10- to 19-year-olds than older groups being admitted — UCT epidemiologist
There are more children and younger people than older age groups being affected by this fourth wave of COVID-19, and being admitted to hospital....
Prevalence of the double-jabbed in England’s first Omicron cases — UKHSA
More than half of the first 22 infected with the Omicron variant in England had been double jabbed, health officials have said, as cases...
Merck’s COVID pill narrowly wins FDA panel's 'yes' vote
A divided US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel voted 13-10 to recommend Merck’s oral antiviral molnupiravir for emergency use authorisation (EUA) for...
Peptide vaccine creates T-cells for ‘better immune response than current alternativesʼ
A new peptide-based vaccine designed to specifically create T-cells against COVID produces a better immune response than the alternatives already in use, according to...
mRNA vaccines may pose acute coronary syndrome risk — US study
A US study found that mRNA vaccines “dramatically increase” inflammation on the endothelium and T cell infiltration of cardiac muscle and may account for...
SAHPRA yet to receive registration applications for novel oral treatments for COVID-19
Two new oral treatments for COVID may prevent deaths and severe cases of COVID, but South Africa’s medicines regulator has yet to receive registration...
Mask-wearing significantly reduces COVID-19 incidence — Systematic review
Wearing masks is the single most effective public health measure against the coronavirus, cutting incidence by up to 53%, according to a systematic review...
COVID patients on SSRI antidepressants significantly less likely to die
A large analysis of health records from 87 healthcare centres across the United States found that people taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) depressants,...
Monoclonal antibodies effective for breakthrough COVID cases — Mayo Clinic
Monoclonal antibodies reduce the risk of hospitalisation 77% in 1,395 patients who had breakthrough COVID-19 infections, found research from the Mayo Clinic in the...
Vaccinated and COVID-recovered mothers produce breast milk with antibodies
Mothers with two types of immunity from COVID — disease-acquired (those who have contracted COVID and recovered) and vaccination-acquired — produced breast milk with...
Heparin benefits COVID-19 patients — Medical University of Vienna
Treatment with low-molecular-weight heparin has a beneficial effect on survival of COVID-19 patients and influences the duration of active infection, found a study from...
Regeneron cocktail cuts COVID risk by 82%, gets go-ahead from European Commission
The European Commission (EC) has approved the use of Regeron Pharmaceuticals’ casirivimab and imdevimab antibody cocktail, known as REGEN-COV in the US and Ronapreve...