Frontpage News (3249)
Can holding your breath when people sneeze or cough prevent COVID-19 infection?
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While most experts agree that the risk of catching COVID-19 outdoors is very low, it still does not preclude efforts to maintain non-pharmaceutical protocols of checking COVID-19 spread, such as wearing face masks, avoiding large gathering and maintaining social distancing.
This is because there is still the possibility of getting infected when you come too close to someone who is shedding viral loads through coughing or sneezing.
How Lagos plans to curb brain drain in its hospitals -Commissioner
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Lagos Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, says the state plans to arrest the perennial challenge of brain drain through its proposed Blueprint For Medical Infrastructure Transformation. He described the blueprint as the harmonization and digitization of primary to tertiary institutions in the health sector.
Abayomi made the statement while analysing ‘State of Health Facilities and Vaccine Roll-Out Prospect’ on a live TV interview on Wednesday.
Healthcare Federation urges private participation in vaccine roll out
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The Healthcare Federation of Nigeria (HFN) has implored the Federal Government to consider harnessing the expertise and resources within the Nigerian private sector for a successful rollout of COVID-19 vaccine in the country. President of HFN, Dr. Pamela Ajayi, who spoke recently on behalf of the Federation appealed to the government to consider the benefits of private sector participation in the enormous task of getting the vaccines to millions of Nigerians that need it.
Not drinking enough water could cause depression, physician warns
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A General Physician, Dr. Peter Atangwho, on Sunday, said drinking enough water every day was one of the ways to avoid depression. Atangwho, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of TeleMed Online Clinic, told the News Agency of Nigeria, in Awka, that not drinking enough water would result in dehydration, a condition that could affect or damage the human brain.
He described dehydration as the loss of body fluid due to illness, sweating or inadequate water intake, explaining that not drinking enough water can make the brain cells suffer enough to produce symptoms of low mood.
WHO excludes Nigeria, eight others from Pfizer vaccine shortlist
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Nigeria is missing on the list of four countries shortlisted to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines by the World Health Organisation-led COVAX global initiative.
It seems the countries that did not make the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines shortlist were unable to meet the standard requirement of being able to store the vaccines at the required -70 degrees Celsius. A Press briefing addressed by WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, on Thursday, stated:
The World Health Organisation, (WHO), yesterday said it has not disqualified Nigeria or any African country from accessing COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX facility. Rather, it is supporting all countries to access vaccines as quickly as possible.
However, Nigeria has missed out on the first phase of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, as the 100,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine expected to arrive the country this month has been replaced with 16 million doses of Astrazeneca vaccine.
Cervical cancer: WHO partners NPHCDA to introduce HPV vaccine in Nigeria
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World Health Organisation Country Representative to Nigeria, Walter Mulombo, says the organisation is working with National Primary Health Care Development Agency to introduce Human papillomavirus vaccine into Expanded Programme on Immunisation schedule.
The information is in Mulombo’s message to mark the World Cancer Day on Thursday in Abuja. World Cancer Day is an international day marked on Feb. 4 to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection, and treatment.
Categories of people who shouldn’t take COVID-19 vaccine, according to experts
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An associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lagos, Dr. Arinola Joda, says infants and children below 16 years of age were exempted from being inoculated with COVID-19 vaccine because they were not involved in the clinical trials.
She said that as clinical trials did not involve children, the possible effect of vaccine on them is currently unknown. This is just as renowned professor of virology and former Vice-Chancellor of the Redeemer’s University Nigeria, Oyewole Tomori, said that nobody is sure how the vaccine might react on the foetus.
Experts identify possible cause of sudden death among pregnant women
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A Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Dr. Joseph Akinde, says pulmonary embolism can lead to sudden death in pregnancy. Akinde said there is an increased tendency for the blood in a pregnant woman to form a clot.
The gynaecologist, who is the Chairman, Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria, Lagos chapter, disclosed this during an interview with PUNCH HealthWise. He spoke against the background of a study published online in peer-reviewed journal, MedCrave, describing pulmonary embolism as a complication of venous thrombosis.
WHO admits Nigerian-made COVID-19 vaccine on draft list -Researcher
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The COVID-19 candidate vaccine developed by Nigerian researchers has been listed on the World Health Organisation draft landscape of COVID-19 candidate vaccines. The team lead of the vaccine candidate research, Dr. Oladipo Kolawole, who is also a lecturer at the Adeleke University, Ede, on Monday, disclosed this in an interview with our correspondent.
Kolawole said the research was carried out at the Helix Biogen Consult, Ogbomoso, Oyo state. The WHO draft landscape is the list of all COVID-19 vaccine candidates in the world, showing different stages and it is usually found on WHO’s site.
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How old you are may determine your likely COVID-19 symptoms
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A study by scientists at Imperial College London suggests that the manifestation of COVID-19 symptoms vary with age. The study, published online and undertaken by the Imperial College London-led REACT, shows that among other COVID-19 symptoms, chills, loss of appetite, headache and muscle aches were together most strongly linked with being infected, alongside the four classic symptoms such as loss of sense of taste, loss of sense of smell, fever, new persistent cough.
The acronym REACT is derived from the study’s title: Real-time Assessment of Community Transmission; and the findings are yet to be peer-reviewed.
COVID-19 likely to persist for 10 years to come -Top UK geneticist
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Director of the United Kingdom’s genetic surveillance programme, Prof. Sharon Peacock, warns that COVID-19 global pandemic will likely persist for about 10 years to come. She says the new and more infectious variant of the contagion first found in Britain will become the world’s dominant strain.
The variant was christened B117 by scientists. Prof. Peacock warned that the variant is beginning to mutate again and getting new mutations, saying it could affect the way the virus is being handled in terms of immunity and the effectiveness of vaccines.
Scientific reasons why you shouldn’t marry a close relation
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A Consultant Ophthalmologist at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Prof. Bola Adekoya, says congenital blindness can be caused by genetic defect, and is a condition common in consanguineous marriage — that is, a union between individuals who are closely related.
The renowned glaucoma specialist, who heads the Ophthalmology Department of LASUTH,
We’re experiencing lesser COVID-19 deaths now –Lagos Commissioner
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Lagos Commissioner of Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, says the state is experiencing lesser COVID-19-related deaths, even as the infection rate continues to rise. He attributed the reason for the reduced fatalities to the knowledge acquired so far in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He also noted that a sizeable number of young people are testing positive for the virus in the state; even as he disclosed that Lagos has amplified its testing capacity to 3,000 people per day. Abayomi made this known on a live radio programme on Wednesday while analysing the ‘huge strides’ made by the Lagos government at curbing the spread of the virus in the state.
