C M Y K 2 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021 — 3 COVID-19: US suspends J&J vaccine over blood clots fears CDC, FDA investigate 6 reported cases .By Sola Ogundipe LESS than a week after Europe’s drugs regula<strong>to</strong>rs admitted that there is an extremely rare chance of fatal blood clots occurring in persons who receive the AstraZeneca COVD-19 vaccine, US health agencies have suspended the use of the Johnson & Johnson, J&J, single-dose COVID-19 vaccine following the development of a similar rare disorder involving blood clots among recipients. In a joint statement, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, and the Food and Drug Administration, FDA, said they were reviewing “six reported US cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot within 13 days after receiving the vaccine.” All the six recipients were women between the ages of 18 and 48. One woman died and a second has been hospitalised in critical condition. About 7 million Americans have so far received the single dose vaccine. The regula<strong>to</strong>rs are reviewing whether the vaccine is safe <strong>to</strong> use following discovery of the extremely rare and severe blood clot found in recipients of the jab. “Right now, these adverse events appear <strong>to</strong> be extremely rare. We are recommending a pause in the use of this vaccine out of an abundance of caution, <strong>to</strong> ensure that the health care provider community is aware of the potential for these adverse events”, the statement noted. Following the development, Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical company has announced that it would delay its European rollout of the shot. Food and Drug Administration scientist Peter Marks said the disorder might be triggered by a rare immune response <strong>to</strong> the vaccine similar <strong>to</strong> that seen among a few hundred recipients of the AstraZeneca jab in Europe. Both the Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccines are based on adenovirus vec<strong>to</strong>r technology. The suspension is another blow for the troubled European vaccine rollout campaign. European Union has signed a deal for 200 million shots of the vaccine with an option for 200 million more. Dr. Janet Woodcock, the acting FDA commissioner, said she expected the pause <strong>to</strong> last for just days. From left—Direc<strong>to</strong>r General, NACA, Dr. Gambo Aliyu; CEO, Lagos State AIDS Control Agency, LSACA, Dr. Monsurat Adeleke; Chairman of Board, NACA, Sena<strong>to</strong>r Dipo Odujirin, and Mr. Faud Laguda, at the graduation ceremony of Economic Empowerment of Youth for HIV/AIDS prevention in Lagos. “We are committed <strong>to</strong> safety and transparency and expeditiously learning as much as we can so further steps can be taken,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy direc<strong>to</strong>r for the CDC. “When we saw this pattern and were aware that treatment needed <strong>to</strong> be individualised for this condition, it was of the <strong>up</strong>most importance <strong>to</strong> get the word out,” she said. “That said, the pandemic is severe and it’s important <strong>to</strong> get vaccine out so want <strong>to</strong> make sure we make recommendation quickly.” Dr. Leana Wen, a former Baltimore health commissioner and a public health professor at the George Washing<strong>to</strong>n University, called the temporary halt of the By Gabriel Olawale MINISTER of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola has urged Nigerians <strong>to</strong> me more concerned with the quality of environment in which they live rather than agitating for more healthcare facilities. He opinioned that the conversation should focus more on the wellbeing and wellness of every citizen as no quantity of health infrastructure can be enough, "our conversation seems <strong>to</strong> be focus predominAantly on the quality of our health facilities rather than the quality of our environment. "We focus more on the number of hospitals, doc<strong>to</strong>rs, nurses among other health workers, while that is good, I think the Johnson & Johnson vaccine “exactly the right move. “To be sure, this is a disappointing setback, because the one-dose J&J has so much potential for easy distribution & administration. This, again, is why a thorough investigation is occurring. “The reason this really needs <strong>to</strong> be alerted now is for doc<strong>to</strong>rs who may see patients with this rare condition, <strong>to</strong> know what <strong>to</strong> look for and how <strong>to</strong> treat them.” The type of blood clot reportedly found in the vaccine recipients, known as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, CVST, is accompanied by low levels of blood platelets. It occurs when a blood clot forms in the brain and more need <strong>to</strong> be on the quality of our environment. For instance, cars are made <strong>to</strong> work rather than <strong>to</strong> be in mechanic garage and you all know that we cannot build enough garages in case cars break down so also we cannot build enough hospitals. "The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that even the country with abundance of hospitals and facilities soon became overwhelmed until they return <strong>to</strong> the basics such as hand washing, physical distance, sanitation among others. “So ideal healthcare system must emphasise more on proper refuse disposal, screening, healthy living among others while healthcare facilities are not left behind." Fashola, a guest lecturer leads <strong>to</strong> hemorrhages. The symp<strong>to</strong>ms are similar <strong>to</strong> that of strokes, such as headache, blurred vision, loss of mobility, seizures or fainting. People that have received the J&J vaccine who develop a severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain or shortness of breath within three weeks after vaccination, have been advised <strong>to</strong> contact their health care provider. Nigeria expects <strong>to</strong> receive <strong>up</strong> <strong>to</strong> 70 million doses of the J&J vaccine this year through the African Union, according <strong>to</strong> the the Nigeria Primary Healthcare Development Agency, NPHCDA. Up <strong>to</strong> 400 million doses of the J&J vaccine are expected <strong>to</strong> be delivered <strong>to</strong> Africa by 2022. We should prioritise environment more than health facilities — FASHOLA at the 7th Felix Oladejo Dosekun Memorial Lecture, said that Nigeria should not wait for the infrastructures <strong>to</strong> decay before starting the maintenance. "We need <strong>to</strong> ask ourselves on how we can replace, expand the decayed health infrastructures in the medical schools. No matter the quality of infrastructure, if people do not used it properly it will not last.” Speaking on the theme, "Medical Education in Nigeria: The Challenges of Infrastructural Decay", Fashola said: "Our focus is <strong>to</strong> redesign medical schools that will improve our public health and preventive health, especially epidemiology area because of outbreak of infectious disease or viruses. Study identifies potential COVID-19 drugs By Sola Ogundipe A TEAM led by scientists in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has identified nine potential new COVID-19 treatments, including three that are already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating other diseases. The team, whose findings are published in Cell Reports, screened thousands of existing drugs and drug-like molecules for ability <strong>to</strong> inhibit the replication of the COVID-19 virus. Of the nine drugs found <strong>to</strong> reduce the replication in respira<strong>to</strong>ry cells, three already have FDA approval "Our discoveries here suggest new avenues for therapeutic interventions against COVID-19, and also underscore the importance of testing candidate drugs in respira<strong>to</strong>ry cells," said Dr Sara Cherry, a professor of Pathology and Labora<strong>to</strong>ry Medicine and scientific direc<strong>to</strong>r of the High-Throughput Screening (HTS) Core at Penn Medicine. Although great progress has been made in the development of vaccines and treatments for the By Sola Ogundipe A RENOWED Nigerian gynaecologist and fertility specialist, Dr Abayomi Ajayi, has been awarded the 2022 Endo Hero of the Year Award by the Worldwide EndoMarch Board and Nezhart Family Foundation. The award was presented in recognition of Ajayi’s outstanding contributions <strong>to</strong> the community and cause of ending the pain of endometriosis through the activities of the Nigerian EndoMarch chapter - the Endometriosis S<strong>up</strong>port Gro<strong>up</strong> Nigeria, ESGN. Endometriosis is a disorder in which the endometrial tissue that normally lines the uterus grows outside the uterus, causing pain, menstrual irregularities and infertility, amongst other symp<strong>to</strong>ms. In a statement announcing the award, the World EndoMarch Board described Ajayi, who is the Founder, and Patron of the ESGN, as “an incredible leader and inspiration in the global endometriosis community.” In a response, Ajayi, who is also the Medical Direc<strong>to</strong>r, Nordica Fertility Clinic, Lagos, Asaba and Abuja, recounted how, as a trained SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, there is still much room for improvement. For their screening project, Cherry and colleagues assembled a library of 3,059 compounds, including about 1,000 FDAapproved drugs and more than 2,000 drug-like molecules that have shown activity against defined biological targets. They then tested all for their ability <strong>to</strong> significantly inhibit replication in infected cells, without causing much <strong>to</strong>xicity. They identified a suitable cell line, Calu-3, that is derived from human airway-lining cells. They used these respira<strong>to</strong>ryderived cells <strong>to</strong> test the antiviral compounds identified through the human liver cell screen, and found that only nine had activity in the new cells. The nine antivirals active in respira<strong>to</strong>ry cells include salinomycin, a veterinary antibiotic that is also being investigated as an anticancer drug; the kinase enzyme inhibi<strong>to</strong>r dacomitinib, an anticancer drug; bemcentinib, another kinase inhibi<strong>to</strong>r now being tested against cancers; the antihistamine drug ebastine; and cyclosporine, an immune s<strong>up</strong>pressing drug commonly used <strong>to</strong> prevent immune rejection of transplanted organs. Ajayi wins ‘2022 Endo Hero of the Year Award’ Dr Abayomi Ajayi gynecologist and obstetrician, he was fascinated by the disiscussions in the 80s and 90s when it was believed that black women did not suffer endometriosis. Ajayi, who affirmed that endometriosis is not a Caucasian condition, noted: “From the inception of my fertility practice in 2003, especially after the introduction of endoscopy in 2005, we encountered several patients with advanced endometriosis. “At that time, many people in Africa were struggling <strong>to</strong> pronounce the word endometriosis,” he noted. The ESGN is a non-profit organisation committed <strong>to</strong> raising awareness on endometriosis and providing s<strong>up</strong>port for women affected.
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