The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has activated the National Multi-sectoral and Multi-disciplinary Lassa fever Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) following the outbreak of the disease in some parts of the Country. The Director-General, NCDC, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa made the announcement in a statement, on Wednesday, saying the activation of the EOC was necessary following the increase in Lassa fever cases across the country.
The Senate on Wednesday passed a bill to provide for a national framework for the control of outbreaks of infectious Diseases in Nigeria and other Events Endangering Public Health and Requiring Public Health Emergency Measures and for other Related Matters (SB.413). The passage of the bill followed the consideration of a report presented by Senator representing Enugu North and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Primary Healthcare and Communicable Diseases, Chukwuka Utazi. Senator Utazi, said the objective of the Bill was to establish an updated and comprehensive legislative framework providing for the norms, basis for the making of regulations, rules and guidelines and measures to be applied in the event of an outbreak of infectious and contagious diseases or public health event within or outside Nigeria.
The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has said it has integrated childhood vaccination at the COVID-19 vaccination site for children between 0-23 months. The Executive Director, NPHCDA, Dr. Faisal Shuaib made the disclosure at the National COVID-19 vaccines weekly briefing in Abuja, saying the childhood vaccination is to further protect children of that age from the disease. He noted that the integration of childhood COVID-19 vaccination is in line with the Federal Government's plan to involve childhood immunization to the COVID-19 vaccination campaign train.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has on Friday recommended two new drugs, Baricitinib and Sotrovimab for the treatment of COVID-19, giving more options for treating the disease. According to the health body, the first drug, Baricitinib, is strongly recommended for patients with severe or critical COVID cases, however, cautioning nations against treating the Omicron variant as "common cold or mild", noting 15 million infections in seven days.
Surgeons in the United States (US) have broken a world record by transplanting the heart of a pig into a dying man for the very first time in the world. Daily Mail reported on Monday that Surgeons transplanted a genetically-modified pig’s heart into a 57-year-old man, David Bennet, at the University of Maryland Medical Centre in Baltimore on Saturday. The experimental surgery, which took about nine hours to complete required gene-editing on the pig’s heart, in order to remove sugar cells which would reduce the likelihood of the patient’s immune system from rejecting the transplanted organ.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has on Sunday issued a fresh warning over the increase in Lassa fever cases, totalling 4,632 recorded cases and 102 deaths. The centre warned Nigerians, saying it had sent letters to States on the dangers and symptoms to look out for, also, noting that there are possibilities of the disease presenting malaria-like symptoms such as fever, headache, sore throat, general body weakness, and cough among others.
