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Monday, 17 June, 2024

FOCUS: COVID-19

BMJ study on link between excess deaths and Covid jab raises questions

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A large study in 47 Western nations, published in BMJ Public Health, suggests that the “unprecedented” flood of nearly 3m pandemic-era excess deaths internationally since 2020 might be linked to Covid-19 vaccines, as well as other pandemic health strategies. The study’s authors didn’t make any definitive claims about causality but rather recommended further investigation, including into the effect delayed healthcare had on excess mortality, most notably for cancer treatment. The research found that apart from Covid deaths, there were about 1m...
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FOCUS: ONCOLOGY

Covid link to aggressive rare cancers, suggest scientists

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Increasingly, scientists are suggesting that the proliferation of aggressive cancers – including previously very rare forms of the disease – since the Covid-19 pandemic are too coincidental to ignore. Their question is, could the coronavirus trigger an inflammatory cascade and other responses that, in theory, could stimulate cancer cell growth? In 2021, a year into the pandemic, when the doctors from his US oncology practice gathered for their Friday team lunch, Dr Kashyap Patel told them he had just seen...
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NEWS UPDATE

5 years on, no report on medical schemes’ racial bias inquiry

Five years after the start of an inquiry into alleged racial bias by medical schemes, there is still no final report. The Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) appointed an investigation panel in July 2019 to investigate allegations that medical schemes are targeting black service providers when invoking section 59 of the Medical Schemes Act. This section allows funds to claw back payments due to bona fide errors, theft, fraud, or misconduct uncovered after payment. Die Burger reports that after the Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) complained to the Minister of Health about the delays in the inquiry, the CMS and investigation panel issued...

Unicef report warns that 25% of SA’s toddlers face severe food poverty

A report by the United Nations Children’s Agency Unicef shows that almost a quarter (23%) of South African children under five are at risk of malnutrition and cognitive delays because of severe poverty. Unicef defines severe child food poverty as children who survive on just one or two food groups a day, instead of at least five, and who are 50% more likely to suffer from malnutrition, reports BusinessLIVE. “The consequences of severe child food poverty can last a lifetime,” said Unicef SA representative Christine Muhigana. “Malnutrition …weakens immune systems and increases children’s risk of dying from common childhood diseases. Their...

New long Covid definition proposed by US National Academies

America’s National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) has proposed a new definition of long Covid – one requiring no lab confirmation or other proof of initial infection – in an effort to streamline diagnosis and treatment. In a detailed report, the authoring committee said long Covid has serious medical, social, and economic consequences for patients, and should now be defined as an infection-related chronic condition occurring after Covid-19, remaining present for at least three months “as a continuous, relapsing and remitting, or progressive disease state affecting one or more organ systems”. The report was compiled with input from more...

No toxicity traces in Benylin, says SA regulator

No traces of diethylene glycol had been detected in the two recalled batches of Benylin paediatric cough syrup, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has announced after investigations. In April, News24 reported that Nigeria’s health regulator had recalled a batch of Benylin that was reportedly produced in South Africa, amid claims that it contained an unacceptably high level of the toxic ingredient. The substance has been linked to the deaths of dozens of children in Gambia, Uzbekistan and Cameroon since 2022, in one of the world’s worst waves of poisoning from oral medication. The Benylin brand was previously owned by Johnson...

Gauteng pays millions for new drug rehab centre, defunds existing NPOs

Questions are being asked after the Gauteng Department of Social Development pushed through R11m in subsidies for a new drug rehab centre in the province while simultaneously defunding several similar existing non-profit organisations (NPOs). And while these other NPOs have been funded for years by the department and have been struggling with catastrophic delays in service agreements and a dysfunctional application process for their subsidies, the new centre was approved in a speedy three weeks, write Daniel Steyn, Masego Mafata and Raymond Joseph for GroundUp. Clinix Foundation, a new non-profit organisation linked to Clinix Health Group, received R11m in funding for the...

Protests at Eastern Cape hospital over doctor's transfer

Protests have erupted from hospital staff and the local community after a senior doctor, who has worked at Zithulele Hospital in the Eastern Cape for nearly 10 years, was instructed to instead report to the Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital in Mthatha. Mkhululi Ndamase, spokesperson for Health MEC Nomakhosazana Meth, confirmed that family physician Nick Fine has been removed from the remote rural hospital, writes Sue Segar in Spotlight, the unexpected decision following a turbulent two years sparked by the appointment of Nolubabalo Fatyela as the facility’s CEO. Nearly two years ago, after a tense period of conflict between the CEO and...

SA records first mpox death

The country recorded its first death from mpox on Monday when a 37-year-old man died in Tembisa Hospital, with Health Minister Joe Phaahla saying that this was the fifth case this year, suggesting local transmission. One of the cases had indicated sexual contact with multiple partners, including both males and females, Phaahla added. News24 reports that all five of the cases were reported within just one month – all men aged 30 to 39, without travel histories to countries experiencing outbreaks. “All five cases were classified (as) severe cases ... requiring hospitalisation. The cases have co-morbidities and have been identified as key populations,...

Mexican man dies from new H5N2 bird flu variant

A Mexican man, 59, has died after being infected with a bird flu subtype never before confirmed to have spread to humans, the World Health Organisation said last week. Although he had suffered from other underlying health conditions, he’d had no known exposure to poultry or other animals before being formally diagnosed by a laboratory with the H5N2 subtype of avian flu. The Washington Post reports that the case marks the first time a human has been confirmed to be infected with this subtype, and the first time an avian H5 virus was confirmed in a person in Mexico. “Due to the...

Rahima Moosa Hospital again under fire over patient treatment

Gauteng Health has denied allegations that a pregnant patient was badly treated or forced to sleep in chairs and on the floor at Rahima Moosa Mother & Child Hospital, calling her concerns “overstated”. After her waters broke at 35 weeks, the patient, 20, was taken to Westbury Midwife Obstetric Unit and then transferred to Rahima Moosa, but she and her mother have slammed both facilities, describing service as “pathetic” and saying there were no beds available. The woman, who had still not given birth, alleged she had to sleep on reclining chairs or on the floor “for days”. She told News24 she...

New NW medical school will focus on rural health

South Africa’s new medical school that is expected to open in 2028 at North West University plans to help trainee doctors to better understand the complexities of practising medicine in rural areas, writes Nthusang Lefafa in Spotlight. The North West University (NWU) Medical School will be built in an area that has one of the lowest doctor patient ratios in South Africa, with only 0.31 doctors per 1 000 people in the province – roughly a fifth of the one doctor per 1 000 people recommended by the WHO, said Jannie de Beer, chief director for strategy and planning at...

Cyber-attack disrupts London hospitals

A cyber-attack on major London hospitals has led to surgery cancellations and emergency patients being diverted elsewhere, and services like blood transfusions and test results being disrupted and held up, reports the BBC. The attack applies to hospitals partnered with pathology services provider Synnovis, and has affected King’s College Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’ – including the Royal Brompton and the Evelina London Children’s Hospital. A spokesperson from Synnovis apologised for the incident and said the company had sent in a “taskforce of IT experts” to “fully assess” the impact. “Synnovis has invested heavily in ensuring our IT arrangements are as safe...

MEDICO-LEGAL

Durban dentist admits addict got morphine without supervision

An unsupervised general worker had administered morphine to a French-Canadian drug addict who came to South Africa for treatment at the Minds Alive Wellness Centre in Durban but died two days later, the owner of the illegal clinic admitted this week. Under cross-examination in the Pietermaritzburg High Court, dentist Anwar Mohamed Jeewa, 58, also said no medical staff were present when the morphine was given in November 2017. Jeewa, whose unregistered detox and rehabilitation centre in Westville touted ibogaine therapy as an addiction cure, is charged with the murder of Milos Martinovic, 26, whose death was attributed to an Alprazolam (Xanax)...

Attorney must personally pay for hospital staff's hostage trauma

The Durban High Court has awarded damages to two Life Westville Hospital staff who were held hostage – one was shot twice – by a gun-wielding mentally ill patient in April 2012. Ironically, their former attorney will be forking out the money for the damages awarded after he failed to implement instructions to institute legal action against the hospital, or to deliver the summons, causing the plaintiffs’ claims to prescribe. Nkosinathi Mngoma was ordered to pay the damages to the two after default judgment was earlier granted against him when he failed to defend the actions brought against him by the...

Wrong to label woman ‘anti-vaxxer’ for refusing Covid jab, rules UK court

A Scottish judge has ruled that the NHS must compensate an ultrasound technician after she was called an “anti-vaxxer” for refusing the Covid-19 shot because of allergy concerns, saying the tribunal had accepted that her decision not to be vaccinated was based on her medical history. The Times reports that Gail Lauder, a clinical specialist sonographer at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, had sued Tayside Health Board for disability discrimination and harassment after she resigned in 2022 amid claims of bullying. In October 2020, Lauder complained that the surgical face mask required for staff at the hospital caused “coughing and irritation in...

Theranos founder Holmes wants fraud conviction overturned

Lawyers for the disgraced Elizabeth Holmes, founder of failed blood-testing company Theranos, asked a US federal appeals court this week to overturn the fraud conviction that earned her more than 11 years behind bars. The legal team acting for both Holmes and company president Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani argued that improper procedures and evidence in both cases warranted new trials. Holmes was indicted with Balwani, her former romantic partner, in 2018. The two were tried separately in 2022 and sentenced to 11 years and three months, and 12 years and 11 months, respectively. The Guardian reports that her legal team had filed an appeal of...

Juul e-cig ban rescinded by FDA following court rulings

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had done an about-turn and reversed a ban on e-cigarette products made by Juul Labs, the company widely identified as making the product that ignited the youth vaping craze. The decision has been welcomed by Juul but criticised by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, which has urged the agency to “finish its review and again deny marketing applications for all Juul products”, reports The Washington Post. The decision will not immediately affect consumers as the products have remained on store shelves as the company appealed the FDA’s initial June 2022 decision to banish the...

SOME RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS IN THE PAST WEEK

CARDIOLOGY

Atrial fibrillation tied to higher risk of stroke and dementia

After examining data on more than 5m people from British GP practices, researchers from the University of Birmingham found that patients with a common heart problem have a greater chance of having a stroke or developing a form of dementia than previously thought. While some people with atrial fibrillation (AF)...

COVID-19

US National Academies' report underscores severity of long Covid

One of America’s premier medical advisory organisations has weighed in on long Covid with a 265-page report that recognises the seriousness and persistence of the condition for millions of people, reports The New York Times. More than four years since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, long Covid continues to...

IMMUNOLOGY

Landmark finding on cause of inflammatory bowel disease and immune disorders

Researchers have discovered a major driver of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and several other immune disorders that affect the spine, liver and arteries, raising hopes for millions of people worldwide. The findings are particularly noteworthy because the newly found biological pathway can be targeted by drugs that are already used,...

REPRODUCTIVE MEDICINE

Male birth control gel shows promise in US trial

The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) says a combination hormonal topical gel has shown promise by suppressing sperm production in a shorter amount of time than experimental products tested in other clinical trials. The preliminary findings, described as “a milestone”, were presented recently at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting...

HEALTH & FITNESS

What's best? US study compares step-counting to timed workouts

A large US study has looked at whether physical exercise or the goal of reaching a daily step count has a better impact on health, reports TIME. For years, Americans guidelines have recommended how much time people should spend moving each week – at least 150 minutes, or 75 minutes...

ONCOLOGY

US launches 30-year study on black women and cancer

A long-term population study – which will track 100 000 women for three decades – has been started by the American Cancer Society (ACS), focusing on the high rates of cancer and cancer-related deaths among black women, who have the highest death rates and lowest survival rates for many...

PAEDIATRICS

SA children’s suffering in poor areas worse during pandemic

Certain categories of South African children were profoundly affected during the pandemic, research has shown, with six out of 10 being exposed to depressed caregivers and continued violence in their homes and communities, and with their material, physical and nutritional well-being being significantly compromised. The findings, released this week, highlight...

PSYCHIATRY

Antidepressant withdrawal symptoms common – meta-analysis

At least 15% of people who stop taking antidepressants will suffer from withdrawal symptoms, suggests a recent analysis, which found dizziness, headache and nausea among the common symptoms occurring more frequently with some medications than others. The researchers in Germany analysed data in 79 studies involving 21 000 patients and...

ABOUT US

MedicalBrief is Africa’s authoritative weekly digest of medical matters, both on the continent and around the world. It brings you a succinct summary of the latest developments, both in news and research, with links to the original material. Contact us: info@medicalbrief.co.za

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