Jerusalem | After becoming the first country to roll out a fourth dose of Covid vaccine, a study conducted in Israel now says that the second booster shot is not enough to fight the Omicron variant. According to experts at the Sheba Medical Centre, which launched a trial in December 2021 to test the efficacy of […]
Category: World
Omicron 91% less likely to cause death in infected patients: CDC
Washington | The Omicron variant is significantly less severe than other strains of Covid-19, according to a report from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to the agency, the risk of hospitalisation from Omicron was half compared to the risk from the Delta variant, Daily Mail reported. Among people hospitalised, they were […]
57-year-old US man gets pig heart in world-first transplant
New York | In a rare medical feat, the US doctors have successfully transplanted a genetically-modified pig heart to a 57-year-old patient with terminal heart disease. The patient, David Bennett, a Maryland resident, who had been hospitalised and bedridden for the past few months, is doing well three days after a first-of-its-kind surgery, said doctors at […]
Cyprus detects new Covid variant – ‘Deltacron’
New Delhi | Cyprus has detected a new variant dubbed as “Deltacron”, that has a similar genetic background to the Delta variant, coupled with 10 mutations from Omicron. The variant has already affected 25 people in Cyprus. According to Dr Leondios Kostrikis, the head of the laboratory of biotechnology and molecular virology at the University of […]
Omicron 105% more transmissible than Delta: Study
Paris | The Omicron Covid-19 variant may be 105 per cent more transmissible than Delta, according to a research by French scientists. The study, published on the medRxiv site and yet to be peer-reviewed, analysed 131,478 tests in France from October 25 to December 18, 2021. The team applied statistical models to variant-specific screening tests and […]
Omicron not mild, hospitalising and killing people: WHO chief
Geneva | While Omicron does appear to be less severe compared to Delta, especially in those vaccinated, it does not mean it should be categorised as ‘mild’ as just like previous variants, Omicron is hospitalising people and it is killing people, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Thursday. In fact, the tsunami of cases […]
Covid-19: US sees record rise in kids getting hospitalised
Washington | Increasing number of children in the US are getting hospitalised with Covid-19 than ever before, even as the country shattered a single-day record with over 1 million Covid-19 cases this week. According to data from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an average of 672 children were admitted to hospitals every […]
Omicron is not common cold, warns WHO
Geneva | Amid reports that Omicron has symptoms akin to a common cold, the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday warned that it is not a common cold and should not be taken lightly. The four most common symptoms of the Omicron variant are cough, fatigue, congestion and runny nose, according to a US Centers for […]
Nausea, loss of appetite may be new symptoms of Omicron
London | While the Omicron variant is considered to be “mild”, the new symptoms include nausea and loss of appetite, according to a Zoe Covid app study. According to the UK’s NHS, the symptoms of coronavirus generally include “a high temperature, a new, continuous cough, or a loss or change to your sense of smell or […]
Boosters raise vaccine effectiveness against Omicron by 88%: UK studies
London | Although the Omicron variant of Covid has been shown to evade vaccines, two new studies led by the UK health agency showed that a third booster dose increases vaccines’ effectiveness by 88 per cent. The studies, led by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), found a substantial reduction in risk of hospitalisation for Omicron […]