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LATEST SCIENCES AND RESEARCH
READ | Children’s Immune Systems Respond Differently to Covid-19 Than Adults, Research Suggests
Early in the Covid-19 outbreak, evidence showed that children are likely to experience milder Covid-19 symptoms than adults.
A study published in Science Translational Medicine is the first to compare the immune responses of children and adults. This new research found some key differences to explain the phenomenon.
For the research, scientists from the Albert Einstein School of Medicine, Montefiore Children’s Hospital and Yale University investigated cases of 60 adult patients with Covid-19 and 65 child patients (all under 24 years old) between March 13. and on May 17, 2020.
The scientists analyzed the patients’ blood for various types of immune cells, antibody responses, and cytokines produced by immune cells.
The children’s immune responses looked significantly better than those of the adults. Twenty-two adults required ventilation, compared with just five children, and 17 adults died compared with just two of the pediatric patients.
“Our findings suggest that children with Covid-19 do better than adults because their stronger innate immunity protects them against SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus that causes the disease,” said lead co-author, the Dr. Betsy Herold, chief of infectious diseases and vice president of research in the department of pediatrics at Einstein and CHAM.
LATEST CORONAVIRUS CASES
SA cases update:
The latest number of confirmed cases is 667049.
According to the latest update, 16,283 deaths have been registered in the country.
There have been 595,916 recoveries.
So far, more than 4.1 million tests have been performed and 18,405 new tests have been reported.
Global Cases Update:
For the latest global data, follow this interactive map from Johns Hopkins University & Medicine.
As of early Friday morning, positive cases worldwide surpassed 32 million, while deaths were nearly 980,000.
The United States had the highest number of cases in the world, more than 6.9 million, as well as the highest number of deaths, about 203,000.
WHAT IS HAPPENING IN SA
Last News:
READ MORE | Mental Health: Is Drug Shortage Fueling a Shadow Epidemic?
By August, nearly half of the drugs most commonly used to treat mental illness in South Africa were out of stock, and many have been in short supply since March.
Now, experts are warning that amid the Covid-19 outbreak, the nation could see a “shadow epidemic” of psychiatric illness and it could prove deadly to patients.
David Nkosi was agitated, recalls Lucy Monroe, who runs a licensed nonprofit home for people with mental illness and intellectual disabilities.
Nkosi, not his real name, is one of many people in the home whose care is subsidized by the Gauteng Health Department in a decades-long agreement with non-governmental organizations there.
Each month, home staff collect boxes of prepackaged medications for these patients at a state hospital pharmacy.
But recently, what was in the sealed box was not what Monroe expected.
“I would take the box home, open it, and find that medication was missing,” Monroe explains.
READ | Masuku Threatens ‘Action’ Against DA MPL Over Nasrec Hospital Cost Claims
The beleaguered Gauteng Health MEC Bandile Masuku has threatened to take action against Gauteng DA MPL Jack Bloom.
Masuku has asked Bloom to retract her media statement that under Masuku’s leadership, R500,000 was spent per patient admitted to the Nasrec field hospital.
Bloom said only 700 patients were admitted to the 1,500-capacity facility.
“The Nasrec field hospital was commissioned on June 15 this year and has so far admitted 604 patients for quarantine and isolation, and 96 patients for intermediate care, including oxygen. The total capacity of beds is 1500, but as of August 28 there were only 25 patients. 2020, “he said.”
The installation has cost around R350 million in total, which means that R500,000 has been spent on each patient. This is a colossal waste of money caused by poor judgment and probable corruption, as the people connected benefited from the big contracts.
“The quarantined patients could easily have been housed in hotels, and private hospitals could have been paid to treat the 96 patients requiring intermediate care.”
Bloom said that at some point, doctors had to appeal for oxygen to be donated to help patients.
“The runaway costs of the Nasrec facility are yet another reason why Masuku, who is suspended, should be fired, in addition to his inability to prevent massive corruption in PPE contracts,” said Bloom.
READ | Covid-19 corruption ‘against what SA represents as a nation’: the presidents of Parliament
Presiding parliament officials, National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise and Provincial National Council President Amos Masondo, said the “blatant” corruption of Covid-19 goes against everything South Africa stands for as a nation.
Modise and Masondo spoke in a joint statement to mark Heritage Day.
They said that September 24 was declared a holiday in recognition and celebration of our cultural richness and diversity as a nation.
“It’s about celebrating South Africa’s rich tapestry of people (which the apartheid regime sought to divide and rule on the basis of race), with their different languages and cultures, human solidarity, human dignity, unity and respect. , among other things.
“It’s about looking at what unites us, what makes us stronger to withstand testing times, while building a truly non-racial, non-sexist, united and prosperous nation,” their statement reads.
Modise and Masondo said that, through unity of purpose, partnerships and synergies, the country had prevailed against Covid-19.
“As the battle continues, we pay tribute to all front-line workers, at the center of our fight against the pandemic, for their courage, their noble altruism.”
Modise and Masondo said that rebuilding the economy after Covid-19 would require all South Africans to harness what they should consider their common heritage, the spirit of Ubuntu, by ensuring a united front to address socioeconomic difficulties.
WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE REST OF THE WORLD
Last News:
READ | London could soon return to coronavirus lockdown as officials warn of a ‘rising tide’ of cases
London could soon come under lockdown if the measures Boris Johnson introduced this week are not effective in curbing the rapid rise in coronavirus infections in the capital.
Health officials recorded 6,178 new cases of Covid-19 in the UK on Wednesday, an increase from 1,252 on Tuesday’s numbers as the virus continues to spread rapidly in all parts of the country.
Boris Johnson said Tuesday that all pubs and restaurants would be forced to close by 10 p.m. But scientists advising the government on its response to the coronavirus have warned that such measures will not be enough to contain the virus.
Kevin Fenton, England’s director of Public Health, warned that the virus was particularly prevalent in London and said the situation there threatened to “escalate.”
He cautioned that the outbreak in London appeared to be as severe as the one in northeast England, where the outbreak has been most severe in the UK.
“We are seeing a rising tide of coronavirus cases in London across a wide age range. This is no longer limited to young people in their twenties,” he said in a statement.
Fenton said that “while the number of cases per municipality varies, the general trend across the city is one of steadily increasing transmission, and if that continues, the situation could get worse.”
HEALTH TIPS (as recommended by the NICD and WHO)
• Keep your physical distance: stay at least one meter from someone who is coughing or sneezing
• Practice frequent hand washing, especially after direct contact with sick people or their surroundings.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth, as your hands touch many surfaces and could transmit the virus.
• Practice respiratory hygiene: Cover your mouth with a bent elbow or with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Remember to dispose of the tissue immediately after use.
Image Credit: Getty Images
