The East African
Wednesday January 13 2021
Scientists warn that distinct variants of the coronavirus, entirely different from those detected in the United Kingdom and South Africa, could be circulating in Kenya. PHOTO | FILE | NMG
Summary
Kenya’s cases of Covid-19 have been on a lower trajectory, with less than 100 cases reported over the last one week.
However, health experts warn that this may just be a calm before another storm.
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Scientists at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) have warned that a distinct variant of the coronavirus, entirely different from those detected in the United Kingdom and South Africa, could be circulating in the country.
Pandemic progress in Kenya
By the end of July 2020, Kenya had reported only 341 deaths and ∼20,000 cases of COVID-19. This is in marked contrast to the tens of thousands of deaths reported in many higher-income countries. The true extent of COVID-19 in the community was unknown and likely to be higher than reports indicated. Uyoga
et al. found an overall seroprevalence among blood donors of 4.3%, peaking in 35- to 44-year-old individuals (see the Perspective by Maeda and Nkengasong). The low mortality can be partly explained by the steep demographics in Kenya, where less than 4% of the population is 65 or older. These circumstances combine to result in Kenyan hospitals not currently being overwhelmed by patients with respiratory distress. However, the imposition of a strict lockdown in this country has shifted the disease burden to maternal and child deaths as a result of disruption to essential medical services.
Fractioning doses of yellow fever vaccine can help save more lives
Format
An MSF/Epicentre study has found giving one-fifth of a normal dose of yellow fever vaccine provides protection.
The disease can be deadly and is incurable, claiming 300,000 lives each year; outbreaks in Africa are common.
The study findings will allow for more people to be vaccinated – and lives saved – during sudden outbreaks of the disease.
NEW YORK/PARIS - Giving people a fraction of a yellow fever vaccine is effective and could help vaccinate millions more people during emergencies, according to results of a recent study led by Médecins Sans Frontiéres’ (MSF) research arm Epicentre, published in The Lancet. These clinical trial results, which found that giving a person one-fifth of the standard yellow fever vaccine dose is effective and safe, will make it easier for governments and international organisations to prevent people from getting sick from yellow fever during outbreaks in times of vac
THE STANDARD By
Everlyne Kwamboka |
January 6th 2021 at 14:36:04 GMT +0300
A laptop bag [Courtesy]
George Morara’s tribulations started when he masqueraded as a ‘Doctor Nyamweya’ working with the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), on June 8, 2012, a day he strolled into the premises of Nairobi Aviation College at Kahawa House.
He convinced a group of students that he was offering internships at Kemri and requested those interested to accompany him to the institute.
With lots of excitement, six students armed with their laptops boarded a waiting minibus and on reaching the said “internship institution”, they were told to leave their gadgets in the vehicle and go into a building.
Kenya’s Covid-19 testing capacity has declined, raising concern that this has affected actual infection numbers.
So far, there has been slightly over a million tests conducted, with the Health ministry doing an average of 3,495 tests a day in the last three days.
Testing was at an all-time high between November 16 and 22 last year.
A senior officer working in one of the testing sites said that there is a shortage of extraction kits used in testing and that majority of the tests conducted are actually coming from private institutions.
Testing for Covid-19 involves inserting a cotton bud like swab into the cavity between the nose and mouth (nasopharyngeal swab) for 15 seconds and rotating it several times. The swabbing is then repeated on the mouth to make sure enough material is collected.