Health News at Your Fingertips

Russia on Friday reported 798 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours as well as 19,509 new cases, including 1,509 in Moscow, Reuters reports.

Official case numbers have been gradually falling since a surge of infections that was blamed on the contagious Delta variant peaked in July.

Rock band Kiss have cancelled a performance after frontman Paul Stanley tested positive for Covid-19.

The chart-topping group was supposed to appear in Pennsylvania, US, on Thursday but pulled out due to the virus, PA reports.

Stanley, 69, is fully vaccinated, as is “everyone on the entire tour, both band and crew,” Kiss said in a statement.

The band said more information on future show dates would be released as soon as possible.

The statement said:

The band and their crew have operated in a bubble independently to safeguard everyone as much as possible at each show and in between shows.

The tour also has a COVID safety protocol officer on staff full-time that is ensuring everyone is closely following all CDC guidelines.

Stanley told fans he is “fine”, describing the diagnosis as “absolute nonsense”.

He tweeted:

The more contagious Delta variant of the virus has led to a spike in cases across the US, hampering the live entertainment industry’s recovery.

At the beginning of summer Covid-19 appeared to be on the retreat in America, however it has made a deadly return.

The daily average of new cases as of August 25 was 152,341, according to official figures.
Musicians including Stevie Nicks, Garth Brooks and Nine Inch Nails have all axed their performances for the rest of the year, citing concern over the Delta variant.

Fatigue and shortness of breath still afflict many patients a year after their hospitalisation for Covid-19, according to a Chinese study calling for a better understanding of the pandemic’s long-term health effects.

About half of patients discharged from hospital for Covid still suffer from at least one persistent symptom – most often fatigue or muscle weakness – after 12 months, said the study published in British medical journal the Lancet today, as reported by Agence France-Presse.

The research, the largest yet on the condition known as “long Covid”, added that one in three patients still have shortness of breath a year after their diagnosis. That number is even higher in patients hit more severely by the illness.

The Lancet said in an editorial published with the study:

With no proven treatments or even rehabilitation guidance, long Covid affects people’s ability to resume normal life and their capacity to work.

The study shows that for many patients, full recovery from Covid-19 will take more than 1 year.

The study followed nearly 1,300 people hospitalised for Covid between January and May 2020 in the central Chinese city of Wuhan – the first place affected by a pandemic that has since infected 214 million people worldwide, killing more than 4 million.

The share of observed patients with at least one symptom decreased from 68% after six months to 49% after 12 months.

Respiratory discomfort increased from 26% of patients after six months to 30% after 12 months, it said.

It found affected women were 43% more likely than affected men to suffer from fatigue or persistent muscle weakness, and twice as likely to be diagnosed with anxiety or depression.

But it said 88% of patients who worked before their diagnosis had returned to their jobs a year later.

The study adds to previous research that warned authorities in different countries they must be prepared to provide long-term support to health workers and patients affected by Covid.

“Long Covid is a modern medical challenge of the first order,” the editorial said, calling for more research to understand the condition and better care for patients who suffer from it.

Myanmar will vaccinate the minority Rohingya people against the coronavirus in Rakhine state, a spokesman for its ruling military council said on Friday.

Spokesman Zaw Min Tun told a news conference the minority were “our people as well” adding, “we will not leave anyone behind” in the vaccination programme. He referred to the Rohingya as Bengali.

Thailand will ease Covid-19 restrictions on retail and dining, its Covid-19 taskforce said today.

A spokeswoman for the taskforce did not say when the restrictions would be eased.

Researchers at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) have created a mask using silver and copper nanolayers that neutralizes SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, the university said in its official gazette on Thursday.

UNAM said that if the viral concentration was high, the virus disappeared by more than 80% in about eight hours and if the viral load was low, in two hours none of the virus RNA was detected.

UNAM is calling the triple-layered antimicrobial mask SakCu; Sak means silver in Mayan and Cu is the chemical symbol for copper.

The university said:

Upon contact with the silver-copper nanolayer, the SARS-CoV-2 membrane breaks and its RNA is damaged.

Thus, even if SakCu is disposed of improperly, it will not be a problem as it does not remain contaminated, like many of the masks that are thrown away.

The mask is reusable and can be washed up to 10 times without losing its biocide properties.

A contaminant found in a batch of Moderna Inc’s COVID-19 vaccines delivered to Japan is believed to be a metallic particle, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported, citing sources at the health ministry.

The NHK, in a report published late on Thursday, cited ministry sources as saying the particle reacted to magnets and was therefore suspected to be a metal. Moderna has described it as “particulate matter” that did not pose a safety or efficacy issue.

Spanish pharma company Rovi, which bottles Moderna vaccines for markets other than the United States, said the contamination could be due to a manufacturing issue in a production line and that it was conducting an investigation.

The ministry has said the suspension of the Moderna batches was a precaution, but it prompted several Japanese companies to cancel worker vaccinations and the European drugs regulator to launch an investigation.