A South African firm will begin producing the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, the first time that the shot will be produced in Africa, Pfizer announced Wednesday. The Biovac Institute based in Cape Town will manufacture the vaccine for distribution across Africa, a move that should help address the continent’s desperate need for more vaccine doses amid […]
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African American women experience higher risk of pregnancy-related stroke, death
African American women have a significantly increased risk of stroke and death during pregnancy and childbirth or in the period right after birth, compared to the risk of stroke among white women, according to preliminary research to be presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2021. “Each year, thousands of American women have […]
South African Child Gauge tackles the slow violence of malnutrition
The Children’s Institute at the University of Cape Town (UCT) publishes the South African Child Gauge annually to review the status of children in South Africa and to inform policy and programming. The South African Child Gauge 2020 was launched on 18 February in partnership with the Department of Science and Innovation-National Research Foundation (DSI-NRF) […]
South African coronavirus variant may ‘obviate’ antibody drugs, former FDA head says
Fox News Flash top headlines for January 6 Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what’s clicking on Foxnews.com. Though COVID-19 vaccines will likely render effective against the South African coronavirus variant – according to an infectious disease expert – the former head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said the strain may […]
Geographic access to critical maternal health services in an African megacity
Despite a 30% drop in global maternal deaths from 1990 to 2015, 280,000 women still die annually due to complications of pregnancy and childbirth. Sixty-six percent of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa. It is well established that timely access to critical maternal health services can reduce deaths of pregnant women by 15-50%. However, travel […]
Syndrome linked to COVID-19 seems more common among children of African ancestry
An inflammatory syndrome in children and adolescents, believed to be linked to COVID-19, seems to be more common among children of African ancestry, finds a small study from a hospital in Paris, published by The BMJ today. The syndrome has been compared with Kawasaki disease, a rare condition which mainly affects children under five. Experts […]
‘Striking’ differences in rates of HIV/AIDS within African nations
Despite the rapid scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) since 2000, HIV/AIDS is still the most common cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa, according to data from the Global Burden of Disease. A new scientific paper reveals striking variation in HIV prevalence at provincial and district levels. The paper, published in Nature, provides precise geographic estimates […]
Scientists discover Ebola virus in West African bat
The government of Liberia, in partnership with the Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and EcoHealth Alliance, announced the discovery of Ebola virus in a bat in Liberia. This is the first finding of Zaire ebolavirus in a bat in West Africa, adding to other evidence […]
South African musician plays guitar during brain surgery
His skull still open, a South African musician with a brain tumor played several notes on his guitar during a successful operation to remove most of the growth. Musa Manzini’s guitar-playing helped guide the medical team in their delicate task while preserving neural pathways, said Dr. Rohen Harrichandparsad, one of the neurosurgeons. Manzini was given […]
New genetic variants predict outcome in dilated cardiomyopathy patients of African descent
Genetic testing is a powerful diagnostic tool that is increasingly being used for the diagnosis of dilated cardiomyopathy, a disease in which the heart becomes enlarged, making it difficult to pump blood. Cardiomyopathy affects more than 3.5 million people in the United States. African Americans are at especially high risk but have been underrepresented in […]