About 20,000 people in the U.S. live with hemophilia A. It’s a rare X-linked genetic disorder that affects predominantly males and causes their blood to clot poorly when healing wounds. For some, routine daily activities can turn into painful medical emergencies to stop internal bleeding, all because of changes in a single gene that disables
A French population-based study provides further evidence that the BNT162b2 Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 vaccine does not increase the short-term risk for serious cardiovascular adverse events in older people. The study showed no increased risk of myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, or pulmonary embolism (PE) following vaccination in adults aged 75 years or older in the 14 days following vaccination. “These
Company testing three existing COVID-19 vaccine booster candidates against the Omicron variant Company announcing a new variant-specific vaccine candidate against Omicron (mRNA-1273.529) Moderna, a biotechnology company pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines, today announced updates to its strategy to address SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, given the emergence of the B.1.1.529 (Omicron) variant. The recently described Omicron
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a substantial and global impact on health care and has greatly accelerated the adoption of digital technology. One of these emerging digital technologies, blockchain, has unique characteristics (eg, immutability, decentralisation, and transparency) that can be useful in multiple domains (eg, management of electronic medical records and access rights, and mobile
Social media posts commenting on data from the UK, Israel and South Africa, among others, claim deaths from COVID (or all deaths) are now higher in vaccinated than unvaccinated citizens. Others make the more moderate claim vaccines do nothing to prevent death from COVID. These reports appear intimidating, because they usually utilise real data or statistics. Many of the raw numbers presented are
A new study by the WHO Regional Office for Europe and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) published in Eurosurveillance estimates that 470,000 lives have been saved among those aged 60 years and over since the start of COVID-19 vaccination roll-out in 33 countries across the WHO European Region. This estimate does not
A new variant of COVID-19 identified in Botswana and Nigeria with dozens of mutations is being watched closely, amid fears it could be resistant to the effect of currently-used vaccines. The B.1.1.529 variant has more mutations affecting the spike protein targeted by vaccines than any other strain identified to date, although it’s not yet clear
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 were developed, tested, and introduced at a remarkable speed. Although the vaccine introduction had a major impact on the evolution of COVID-19, some potential rare side-effects of the vaccines were observed. Within a short period, three scientific groups from Norway, Germany, and the UK reported cerebral
Unproven regenerative medical products have led to infections, disabilities, and deaths Stem cell products and other regenerative therapies have significant potential to treat traumatic injuries and serious diseases. Although some have earned approval from the Food and Drug Administration, most have not, and many of these unapproved interventions have led to life-threatening infections, chronic pain,
Research into the way our immune systems respond to COVID-19 reveals the sex of a patient may affect how well drugs work Anew study from the University of Calgary shows how dexamethasone, the main treatment for severe COVID-19 lung infections, alters how immune cells work, which may help male patients, but has little to no benefit for
