The Medical Week in Review

This week: Debate rages over the best approach to COVID regulations moving forward, while some say the next variant may be worse than we think. World TB Day and it’s still the number one cause of death by infectious disease in children. The latest Global Burden of Disease study shows there are now more than 3.7 million more people aged 95+ than in 1990. And what do listeria, tetanus toxoid and pancreatic cancer have in common?

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This week we follow-up on the story regarding the poliovirus case in Malawi; we cover the latest clinical trial coming out of SA regarding the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 IgG in Gauteng prior to the 4th wave, and what that data implies for the pandemic in our country. And talking of matters of deadly, we bring you research out of Australia which is reporting the increase of zoonotic pathogens and specifically the discovery of a deadly drug-resistant strain of E.Coli. We take a brief look at research into fluid management in the ICU, the impact of gut microbiota on midlife cognition, and finally, review a new article by Professor David McQuoid Mason, in which he addresses the question of the rising incidence of criminal negligence claims against practitioners and what you really need to know.

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This week: Malawi records Africa's first polio case in 5 years; the Whitehall study reviewing data over 30 years, again rings the alarm over links between midlife morbidity and dementia. We ask is yet more research into Ivermectin the best use of research money and expertise. Africa moves closer to vaccine parity with the the mRNA transfer Hub being awarded to 6 countries. Finally - how well do you know your transplant history?

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This week: A groundbreaking vaccine development facility opens in the Cape. Does the addition of a P2Y12 inhibitor to anticoagulant therapy impact clinical outcomes in non–critically ill patients? We post a follow-up story on the increasing science supporting the use of genonmic sequencing to predict illness outcomes, while worrying new research into antimicrobial resistance and the countries most impacted is garnering media attention. Could the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine hold the key to effective treatment in Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis? And finally, fake science news online - the public are smart enough to know what’s real or not – or are they?

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This week: The WHO’s Guideline Development Group posts the 8th edition of it's Corona recommendations; dementia is set to skyrocket, genomics may help improve outcomes in critical care settings; snake envenomation, anthrax and universal flu vaccinations get a look in. And did the scientific community swop rigour for star-dust in the case of Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes?

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