Category Archives: Medical research

Iain Duncan Smith calls for review of Chinese investment in UK

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Former Conservative leader says government should assess China’s influence in areas from 5G to Covid-19 research

Chinese ownership of British businesses should be subject to a national security review by the UK government to assess the impact of Beijing’s growing economic power, according to the former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith.

The senior backbencher – a leading figure in the rebellion that forced Downing Street to introduce tougher controls on Huawei – believes ministers have failed to deal with the scale of China’s influence on strategic industries in the UK.

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Would herd immunity stop the spread of coronavirus?

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Even if achievable, the strategy would kill too many people, say scientists

Like the Covid-19 virus itself, the idea of herd immunity has surged back into public life having been suppressed for months. It was initially touted as a way to hold back the pandemic – by allowing sufficient numbers of infections to occur and so reduce numbers of non-immune potential hosts for the virus. The disease would then stop spreading, it was argued.

The notion quickly fell out of favour when researchers highlighted the high death toll that would have to occur in the UK before herd immunity was achieved. Nevertheless, the idea has now bubbled back and is again making headlines.

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The race for a Covid vaccine: inside the Australian lab working round the clock to produce 100m doses

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The Guardian is given a unique insight into the operations of CSL, which is making vaccines that could help end the crisis

Some call it the “happy soup”.

Take a dash of modified Covid-19 protein DNA, mix it with cells from a Chinese hamster’s ovary, and place the combination in two state-of-the-art 2,000L bioreactors in a sprawling scientific facility on Melbourne’s northern fringes.

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Herd immunity letter signed by fake experts including ‘Dr Johnny Bananas’

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Open letter calling for new Covid-19 strategy also signed by ‘Prof Cominic Dummings’

An open letter that made headlines calling for a herd immunity approach to Covid-19 lists a number of apparently fake names among its expert signatories, including “Dr Johnny Bananas” and “Professor Cominic Dummings”.

The Great Barrington declaration, which was said to have been signed by more than 15,000 scientists and medical practitioners around the world, was found by Sky News to contain numerous false names, as well as those of several homeopaths.

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BAME groups hit hard again as Covid second wave grips UK nations

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As cases surge, figures show the demographics of those most seriously affected by coronavirus remain the same

One of the earliest signs that black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people were being disproportionately harmed by the coronavirus pandemic came when the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre (ICNAR) published research in early April showing that 35% of almost 2,000 Covid patients in intensive care units in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were non-white.

A lot has happened in the intervening six months with numerous reports, including by the Office for National Statistics and Public Health England (PHE), confirming the increased risk to ethnic minorities and recommendations published on how to mitigate that risk. However, as the second wave intensifies, the demographics of those most seriously affected remain remarkably similar.

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‘Brain fog’: the people struggling to think clearly months after Covid

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Doctors grapple for answers as more patients report post-coronavirus cognitive impairment

For Mirabai Nicholson-McKellar, Covid-19 brought an onslaught of symptoms from chest pains to an 11-day migraine, three positive test results, and a period in hospital.

Seven months later, the rollercoaster is far from over: the 36-year-old from Byron Bay, Australia is still experiencing symptoms – including difficulties with thinking that are often described as “brain fog”.

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Scientists get hands dirty with research into medieval poop

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Study seeks to compare microbiomes of our ancestors for clues to modern diseases

Researchers working knee-deep in 14th- and 15th-century latrines have found that bacterial DNA from human excrement can last for centuries and provide clues to how our gut contents have changed significantly since medieval times.

Analysis of two cesspits, one in Jerusalem and the other in the Latvian capital, Riga, could help scientists understand if changes to our microbiome – the genetic makeup of the bacteria, virus, fungi, parasites and other microbes living inside us – affect modern-day afflictions.

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Why Edinburgh University’s lockdown study is not all it seems

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Commentators have used study as evidence government was too quick to impose full lockdown but conclusions not so clear

While it has been widely accepted that the closure of UK schools in March was bad for the life chances of its children, a research paper from the University of Edinburgh has gone as far as to say that the move could have contributed to a higher Covid-19 death toll.

The study, published in the British Medical Journal, suggested lockdown restrictions were the most effective way of reducing peak demand for intensive care unit beds, but argued they were also likely to prolong the epidemic because, once lifted, they left a large population susceptible to the virus.

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Pubs and restaurants: do scientists think Covid closures and curfews work?

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While virus can spread easily in crowded indoor venues, 10pm cut-off is questionable

Pubs, bars and restaurants in Scotland will be banned from serving alcohol to customers indoors for more than two weeks, while pubs in northern England face the possibility of tighter restrictions. But what does the science say?

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Scientists call for Covid herd immunity strategy for young

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Critics describe proposal to isolate vulnerable, disabled and older people as ‘grotesque’

An international group of scientists has called on governments to overturn their coronavirus strategies and allow young and healthy people to return to normal life while protecting the most vulnerable.

The proposal, drawn up by three researchers but signed by many more, argues for letting the virus spread in low-risk groups in the hope of achieving “herd immunity”, where enough of the population is resistant to the virus to quell the pandemic.

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Europe must go beyond science to survive Covid crisis, says WHO

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Authorities urged to develop policies to tackle ‘virus fatigue’ as Finland, Poland and Russia join nations with rapidly rising cases

The World Health Organization has said European countries will need to “move beyond biomedical science” to overcome Covid-19 as “pandemic fatigue” and new infections rapidly rise across the continent.

Hans Kluge, the WHO’s Europe director, said that while fatigue from months of uncertainty and disruption was measured differently in different countries, aggregated survey data from across the region suggested that in some cases it it had reached levels of over 60%.

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Did early focus on hand washing and not masks aid spread of Covid-19?

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Increasing number of scientists believe risk from contaminated surfaces may have been overplayed

From the moment coronavirus reached UK shores, public health advice stressed the importance of washing hands and deep-cleaning surfaces to reduce the risk of becoming infected.

The advice was informed by mountains of research into the transmission of other respiratory viruses: it was the best scientists could do with such a new pathogen.

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Trump’s steroid Covid treatment adds to confusion over health

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Dexamethasone ‘normally reserved for people going into respiratory failure’, says expert

The latest intervention from Donald Trump’s medical team has been to put the president on dexamethasone, a steroid that is proven, thanks to the UK’s Recovery trial, to benefit Covid-19 patients who are having breathing difficulties.

But the decision to administer the steroid now has only added to the confusion surrounding the president’s state of health. Normally, dexamethasone is reserved for patients who have been ill for at least a week and whose oxygen levels are low.

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Coronavirus live news: 60m Indians may have contracted Covid; Disney announces mass layoffs

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India’s pandemic agency says cases may be ten times official figure; New York introduces face mask fines as positivity rates climb; Boris Johnson apologises for getting north-east England lockdown rules wrong. Follow the latest updates

The revered living goddess is not leaving her temple this year, AP reports:

The old palace courtyard packed with hundreds of thousands of people each year during the Indrajatra festival is deserted, the temples are locked, and all public celebrations are banned by the government to curb the coronavirus.

North Korea has discovered “faults” in its anti-coronavirus measures, state media said on Wednesday, after an outcry in South Korea over a citizen who North Korean soldiers killed near their maritime border where tight virus controls are in force.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un offered a rare apology for the killing of the South Korean fisheries officer last week in waters off the west coast of the peninsula.

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Coronavirus live news: Italian senate suspended as lawmakers test positive; Covid travel slump could cost 46m jobs

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Vaccine trial shows ‘robust’ immune response; warning over global impact of travel collapse; Belgium death toll exceeds 10,000

Turkey’s health minister appeared to acknowledge that the government does not publish the full number of daily positive Covid-19 cases but only those who are symptomatic, while refuting a claim that the case number had been 19 times the official figures.

The official number of daily coronavirus cases in Turkey has begun to decline in recent days after rising over the past several weeks. Politicians and medics have expressed doubt over the government’s numbers, saying the number of coronavirus cases are actually much higher.

Moderna said it will not be ready to apply for emergency approval for its potential Covid-19 vaccine before the US presidential election in November, the Financial Times has reported.

The company’s chief executive officer, Stéphane Bancel, told FT that he did not expect to have full approval to distribute the drug to all sections of the US population until next spring.

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World Bank announces $12bn plan for poor countries to buy Covid vaccines

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Initiative aims to ensure low-income countries are not frozen out by rich nations

The World Bank has announced plans for a $12bn (£9.3bn) initiative that will allow poor countries to purchase Covid-19 vaccines to treat up to 2 billion people as soon as effective drugs become available.

In an attempt to ensure that low-income countries are not frozen out by wealthy nations, the organisation is asking its key rich-nation shareholders to back a scheme that will disburse cash over the next 12 to 18 months.

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Covid-19 tests that give results in minutes to be rolled out across world

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Global initiative will supply 120m rapid antigen tests to low- and middle-income countries

Tests for Covid-19 that show on-the-spot results in 15 to 30 minutes are about to be rolled out across the world, potentially saving many thousands of lives and slowing the pandemic in both poor and rich countries.

In a triumph for a global initiative to get vital drugs and vaccines to fight the virus, 120m rapid antigen tests from two companies will be supplied to low- and middle-income countries for $5 (£3.90) each or even less.

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Scientists work on nasal spray that could stop Covid virus replicating

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Substance has had promising results in ferrets, with hopes it may reduce transmission

A nasal spray is under development that could nip a coronavirus infection in the bud, with promising results already seen in ferrets, researchers have revealed.

With coronavirus infections surging around the world, the race is on to develop a vaccine. But researchers are also looking for other ways to tackle Covid-19.

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UK scientists begin study of how long Covid can survive in the air

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Researchers will test length of time virus stays infectious in different climatic conditions

It is the question scientists around the world are trying to answer: how long can the coronavirus survive in the tiny aerosol particles we exhale? In a high-security lab near Bristol, entered through a series of airlock doors, scientists may be weeks from finding out.

On Monday, they will start launching tiny droplets of live Sars-CoV-2 and levitating them between two electric rings to test how long the airborne virus remains infectious under different environmental conditions.

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MS treatment a step closer after drug shown to repair nerve coating

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Side-effects of bexarotene rule out use but trial suggests other drugs may halt multiple sclerosis

Doctors believe they are closer to a treatment for multiple sclerosis after discovering a drug that repairs the coatings around nerves that are damaged by the disease.

A clinical trial of the cancer drug bexarotene showed that it repaired the protective myelin sheaths that MS destroys. The loss of myelin causes a range of neurological problems including balance, vision and muscle disorders, and ultimately, disability.

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