Category: Emerging Infectious Diseases
Uganda to close schools after eight children die of Ebola
(ECR) Uganda will close schools nationwide later this month after 23 Ebola cases were confirmed among pupils, including eight children who died, the country’s first lady said on Tuesday. Janet Museveni, who is also the education minister, said there had been cases in five schools in the capital Kampala, as well as the neighbouring Wakiso […]
Nov 8, 2022
(Nature) SARS-CoV-2 infection causes COVID-19, a severe acute respiratory disease associated with cardiovascular complications including long-term outcomes. The presence of virus in cardiac tissue of patients with COVID-19 suggests this is a direct, rather than secondary, effect of infection. Here, by expressing individual SARS-CoV-2 proteins in the Drosophila heart, we demonstrate interaction of virus Nsp6 with host […]
Nov 8, 2022
How a SARS-CoV-2 virus protein damages the heart?
(Tech Expert) Scientists at the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s (UMSOM) Center for Precision Disease Modeling identified how SARS-CoV-2 damages heart tissue. Last year, in research involving fruit flies and human cells, the most lethal SARS-CoV-2 proteins were discovered. They found a promising drug selinexor reduced the toxicity of one of these proteins but not the […]
Nov 8, 2022
New VA study finds Paxlovid may cut the risk of long COVID
(NPR) It’s well-documented that Paxlovid — a 5-day course of antiviral pills from Pfizer — can reduce the risk of hospitalization in COVID-19 patients who are more likely to develop severe illness. Now, researchers from the Veterans Health Administration find that taking the medication may also reduce the risks of later developing long COVID, according […]
Nov 8, 2022
Panic as Ebola team buries 3 family members in Kassanda
(Monitor) Panic gripped residents of Kitongo Village in Kalwana Sub-county, Kassanda, as the district taskforce delivered the remains of four people that succumbed to the Ebola Virus Disease for burial.Three of the bodies belong to one family that allegedly exhumed the remains of their relative who had earlier succumbed to Ebola. Mr Muzaffalu Ssenyonjo, the […]
Nov 7, 2022
FDA Fast-Tracks Codagenix RSV Vaccine Candidate
(Contagion Live) Codagenix Inc. announced the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted Fast Track designation to CodaVax-RSV, their respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine candidate. RSV is a common, contagious respiratory virus that attacks the lungs and breathing passageways. There is currently no approved vaccine for RSV, but an ongoing uptick in cases has led to an increased fervor of […]
Nov 7, 2022
Pfizer’s Paxlovid Antiviral Lowered Long-Covid Risk in Study
(Bloomberg) Pfizer Inc.’s blockbuster Paxlovid antiviral that lowers rates of illness and death in people infected with the coronavirus also cuts the risk of some symptoms of disabling long Covid, a study found.Taking the oral medication within five days of testing positive for a SARS-CoV-2 infection was linked to a 26% lower risk of lingering […]
Nov 7, 2022
WFP Uganda Ebola Virus Disease Situation Report
(WFP) The Ministry of Health (MoH) now reports 131 confirmed cases and a further 21 probable cases. This is now one of the largest EVD outbreaks in Ugandan history. On a positive note, there hasn’t been a chain of transmission in Kampala since 14 cases were reported there last week. This indicates that contact tracing […]
Nov 7, 2022