By Jessica Hamzelou FDA commissioner Stephen Hahn speaking at a White House press conference on 23 August. He later clarified his remarks in a tweetSAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images Blood plasma donated by people who have recovered from covid-19 will be used as a treatment for the infection in the US. The US Food and…
the experimental therapy, which involves transfusing the antibody-rich blood serum of recovered COVID-19 patients into people who are battling the illness.Of the 5,000 seriously ill patients who received blood plasma transfusions for the study, fewer than 1 percent experienced serious adverse events. The mortality rate seven days after treatment was 14.9 percent, but the researchers…
April 24, 2020A medical procedure doctors have used to treat novel diseases for a century has emerged as a focal point in the fight against Covid-19: convalescent plasma.Conva-what-now…?Convalescent plasma is the term used for plasma that is removed from the blood of a person who has recovered from a disease, then transfused into a patient…
Kataza the baboon. Facebook / Baboon Matters The City of Cape Town has asked the public not to feed a baboon that has relocated to Tokai. The baboon, known as Kataza or SK11, is slowly being integrated into the Tokai troop. Video footage, however, shows humans feeding Kataza. The City of Cape Town has requested that Kataza…
As SA Rugby moves to determine which franchises will go to Europe in future, Rassie Erasmus has noted several potential benefits for the local game should that route be followed.The national director of rugby believes the high world rankings of Wales, Ireland and Scotland mean PRO Rugby is competitive and that fans will eventually identify…
(John Finney Photography/Moment/Getty Images) An abnormally bad season of weather may have had a significant impact on the death toll from both World War I and the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, according to new research, with many more lives being lost due to torrential rain and plummeting temperatures. Through a detailed analysis of an ice…