Monday 5 March 2018

Breaking: Researchers discover new HIV antibody

Researchers said they have discovered an HIV pathogen that can suppress the virus for nearly six months without spare treatment.
The new study involved well-nigh half of a group of monkeys, infused with a widely neutralising pathogen to HIV combined with an immune stimulatory compound.
The findings, released at the 25th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Boston, lend a track to strategies that struggle to unzip sustained, drug-free viral remission in people living with HIV.
Being supported in part by the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the study may have targeted the viral reservoir, populations of long-lived, latently infected cells that harbour the virus and that lead to resurgent viral replication when suppressive therapy was stopped.
“HIV excels at evading the immune system by hiding out in unrepealable immune cells,” said NIAID Director Anthony Fauci.
“The virus can be suppressed to very low levels with antiretroviral therapy, but quickly rebounds to upper levels if a person stops taking medications as prescribed.”
“The findings from this early stage research offer remoter vestige that achieving sustained viral remission without daily medication might be possible,” he added.
In the study, scientists from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center infected 44 rhesus macaques with simian human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV), an HIV-like virus wontedly used in nonhuman primate studies.
They then initiated daily antiretroviral therapy (ART) during vigilant infection to suppress the virus to unelevated detectable levels in the monkey’s blood.
After a 96-week treatment, researchers divided the monkeys into four equal groups and unfurled to supervise ART for 16 spare weeks, with an aim to determine whether the combination of HIV pathogen and immune stimulant could reduce the viral reservoir while virus replication was well controlled by the ART.
After discontinuation of ART, the virus rebounded in the thoroughbred of all 11 monkeys that neither received HIV antibodies or immune stimulant without a median of 21 days.
The experts moreover said six of 11 monkeys that received the therapy combination showed a elapsed viral rebound without a median of 112 days, and five others of the 11 did not rebound for at least 168 days.
“Our findings suggest that the minutiae of interventions to vivify and eliminate a fraction of the viral reservoir might be possible,” said Dan Barouch, principal investigator of the study.
The researchers said compared with the antiretroviral therapy which needs to be taken daily, antibodies to HIV tend to last longer in the soul and have shown promise for longer-acting HIV therapeutics and prevention modalities.

"My Wife Is The Best Cook'' – Mercy Johnson's Husband

Nollywood actress Mercy Johnson‘s husband, Prince Oddy Okojie, has taken to Instagram to gush about his wife, saying she is the best cook.
He shared a photo from a recent eat out they had and captioned it;
"That moment you taste something different from the normal, and then i complained. “Baby all meal mustn’t taste like mine” You just have to
manage, says my wifey. My wife is the best cook, she fixes all my meals. I love you so much”

Friday 2 March 2018

Doctor performs brain surgery on wrong patient

A neurosurgeon has been suspended for opening up the head of the wrong patient in one of the worst cases of medical malpractice to become public at Kenyatta National Hospital.
Two men had been wheeled into KNH unconscious last Sunday. One needed head surgery to remove a blood clot in his brain, while the other only required nursing and medication to heal a trauma swelling in his head, medically known as closed head injury.
However, a horror mix-up of identification tags saw the wrong man wheeled into theatre and his skull opened.
Doctors did not realise the mistake until hours into the surgery when they discovered there was no blood clot in the brain of the man sprawled on the operating table.
The hospital’s chief operating officer, Lily Koros, issued a statement announcing the suspension of four medics who were at work on that night.
They included the neurosurgeon, the ward nurse, theatre receiving nurse, and the anaesthetist.
“The management has suspended the admission rights of a neurosurgery registrar and issued him with a show-cause letter for apparently operating on the wrong patient,” Ms. Koros said.
In a miracle of some sort, the Nation was informed that both patients were in good condition and that the one who had a clot might not undergo surgery because he had improved significantly.
Few medical errors are as vivid and terrifying as those that involve patients who have undergone surgery on the wrong body part, undergone the incorrect procedure, or had a procedure intended for another patient.

Buhari, others to witness Ganduje, Ajimobi’s children’s wedding

Ahead is the wedding of Governor Abdullahi Ganduje’s daughter, Fatima, and the son of Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State, Idris, in Kano, President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to lead other high-profile guests like Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and governors from several states to the occasion on Saturday.
Apart from government officials, technocrats, captains of industries and diplomats representing different nations are also expected to be a part of the ceremony.
Wife of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Oludolapo, had arrived Kano on Friday in company with wives of 15 state governors in preparation for the event.
The wedding Fatiha is expected to hold at the Kano Central Mosque, adjacent to the Emir’s palace.
Stern-looking security personnel had taken positions in strategic locations all across the city as of Friday while more were expected to arrive on Saturday for the event.
Commenting on the event’s security arrangement, Commissioner of Police, Kano Police Command Mr. Rabiu Yusuf, said that all necessary plans to ensure the safety of guests had been put in place.
He said, “We have deployed our men in strategic positions. Everywhere is calm and there is no cause for alarm.”

Bloodshed in Borno as B’Haram kills three UN workers, three soldiers

The United Nations Organisation on Friday began the evacuation of aid workers from Rann community in the Kala-Balge Local Government Area of Borno State, following a heavy Boko Haram terrorists’ attack which left three UN workers dead.
It was learnt that the Boko Haram insurgents late on Thursday attacked the Rann Internally Displaced Persons camp, during which the UN workers were killed.
Two of the deceased workers were with UN agency; International Organisation for Migration, while the third victim was a doctor, working with the UN Children’s Fund. A female UN nurse was also reported to have been abducted by the insurgents.
Saturday PUNCH learnt that apart from the officials, a yet-to-be-ascertained number of civilians in the camp were also killed while many others were injured during the gun battle.
The Boko Haram terrorists reportedly abducted three aid workers and civilians apart from the UN nurse.
Two of the abducted workers are reportedly working with the International Committee of the Red Cross – another major international relief agency in the North-East.
A military source said the terrorists stormed the unit of 3 Battalion, 7 Division, located in Rann at about 6 pm on Thursday and exchanged fire with the soldiers for about five hours.
Three soldiers and three mobile policemen were killed after the firefight.
The source claimed that the terrorists made away with an Armoured Personnel Carrier and a military truck from the unit in Rann.
The United Nations for the Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in a statement on Friday by its spokesperson, Samantha Newport, confirmed the death of its three workers, noting that three other workers were injured by the insurgents.
The UN said, “The Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, has condemned the killing of three aid workers in Rann town, Borno State, northeast Nigeria on Thursday night following an attack by a non-state armed group on the military facilities next to the town.
“Three aid workers were also injured in the attack, and a female nurse is missing and feared abducted. Two deceased aid workers were contractors with the International Organisation for Migration, working as coordinators in the camp for 55,000 internally displaced persons, who have fled their homes as a result of the ongoing conflict.
“The other deceased aid worker was a medical doctor employed as a third party consultant with UNICEF. The United Nations is also concerned about other civilians who may have been injured or killed in the attack.
“The humanitarian crisis in Nigeria’s northeast, now in its ninth year, shows no sign of abating. Close to 80,000 people, including 55,000 internally displaced persons, currently reside in Rann and are supported with humanitarian assistance.
“The United Nations and non-governmental humanitarian organisations are working across the north-east of Nigeria to provide aid, including food, safe water and medicine, to some 6.1 million people in need in the northeast. Some 3,000 aid workers are present in the northeast, the majority of whom are Nigerian nationals.”
The Humanitarian Coordinator, Kallon, said, “Aid workers put their lives on the line every single day to provide emergency assistance to vulnerable women, children and men. Our deepest condolences go to the families of the victims and our brave colleagues and we call on authorities to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice and account .”
Speaking further with our correspondent, the UNOCHA Head of Communications, Newport, confirmed the evacuation of aid workers from Rann.
She said, “It is true that they have started evacuating aid workers. It is largely because the event has been very critical and traumatic. This is what the United Nations tries to do which is to find the right balance – to keep the work going but also to protect the aid workers.
“There has not been a final decision on how many people are coming out and how many people are going back in. There are certainly very important decisions to be made in the next 48 hours.”
Also, the Spokesperson for the ICRC, Aleksandra Mosimann, said there were two midwives in Rann who had yet to be reached.
She said, “The situation is still confusing and we are still trying to make sense of what is going on.
There are two midwives that we have not heard from. We are concerned about their whereabouts and we are hoping that they will be found. When things like this happen, people are scattered.”

5000 screened for viral hepatitis, immunised in Bauchi

A total of 5000 people have been screened for viral hepatitis and immunisation by the Yakubu Gowon Centre and its partners in Bauchi State.
The exercise which is supported and funded by the Presidential Committee on North East (PCNI) has conducted a screening and immunization for patients and residents in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps, Bauchi State Specialist Hospital, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH), General Hospital, Bayara, Ilelah and Kandahar Communities in Bauchi among others.
While speaking in an interview with newsmen during the exercise at the State Ministry of Health Thursday, the Team Leader, Mr Nduka Ozor said that the four -day programme was part of President Muhammadu Buhari’s plan for health care delivery services meant for vulnerable Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and residents in host communities in the North-East.
According to him, in this pilot phase in Bauchi, the support from PCNI is going to cover 5,000 people especially health workers because we realise that there is high prevalence among the health workers and these are the people that are supposed to take care of other patients”.
He noted that this intervention by the PCNI and Yakubu Gowon Centre will go a long way to help the poor masses, especially that the universal health coverage has not been attained.The NHIS scheme has not reached the people at the grassroots, so an intervention of this nature still has a place in contemporary healthcare delivery system in Nigeria”.
“And you know that viral hepatitis is very infectious, more deadly than HIV/AIDs. In fact, hepatitis B is more dangerous than HIV. It is important you screen the whole of your household because if you are living with an infected person, you can easily contract the virus. The virus is more stubborn than HIV,” he said.
He added that “Our mandate is to cover the whole of the Northeast to do viral hepatitis screening and vaccination. Those who are not reactive, we vaccinate them, give them three shots of the vaccine within three months and that covers them for between 30 and 40 years, that’s for hepatitis “.
The Team Leader also explained that “those that are positive for hepatitis C, we begin to initiate treatment, and luckily there’s treatment for hepatitis C but for hepatitis B, It’s only management, and we are in Bauchi to initiate the process “.
In his remarks, the Permanent Secretary, State Ministry of Health, Dr Saidu Aliyu Gital thanked the Yakubu Gowon Centre for the intervention and reiterated the commitment of the state government in supporting such laudable intervention and commitment.

Saidi Balogun bags Actor of the Year at Daily Independent Awards

Star actor and movie producer was full of appreciation to the organiser of the Independent Newspapers Awards after receiving the Actor of The Year award last Sunday in Lagos.
The colourful event, had in attendance current and former governors, including Chief James Ibori, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan.
In keeping with its avowed commitment to promoting the common good and rewarding excellence in the society, the Independent Newspapers Limited, publishers of the Daily Independent, Saturday Independent and Sunday Independent honoured Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as the Independent 2017 Man of the Year.
The governor received the award at an event on Saturday at the Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos.
Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode is Governor of the Year and Rivers State counterpart, Nyesom Wike is the Political Icon of the Year.
For his sterling role in weathering the storm of the killer-herdsmen in his state Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom, was decorated as Governor of the Year on Security, while Ebonyi State Governor Dave Umahi is Agriculture Governor of the Year.
Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal is the 2017 Grassroots Governor of the Year. The Outstanding deputy governor of the Year is Otunba Titilayo-Tomori, of Osun State.
The newspaper also nominated Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu,Lagos State Speaker Mudashiru Obasa is Outstanding Legislator of the Year (National) and Outstanding Legislator of the Year (State) respectively.
Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi, is Party Leader of the Year.
Ooni of Ife Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi is Bridge Builder In Leadership
Alhaji Rasak Okoya gets Life Achievement Award, Dr. Wale Babalakin, Most Outstanding Aviation Terminal Operator of the Year.
The Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) are the Federal Agency of the Year and Most Outstanding State Agency of the Year respectively
Most Outstanding Telecommunications Company of the Year is Globacom Limited.
Harry Song is Musician of the Year. Saidi Balogun and Patience Ozokwo are Actor and Actress nominees of the Year respectively.

Dapchi 110: Sack Service Chiefs, Security Adviser, Defence Minister now -Ikimi tells Buhari

human right activist,Oghenejabor Ikimi, has charged President Muhammadu Buhari to sack all security adviser,service chief and the defence minister immediately after the latest occur of abduction of about 110 in dapchi Ikimi, who condemned the abduction in strong terms, wondered how shortly after the president announced the decimation of Boko Haram elements by the Nigerian Army, the insurgents still struck with the incredible abduction of the girls reminiscent of Chibok girls in 2014.
According to the lawyer, the national tragedy has proved to the world that the service chiefs, security advisers and minister of defence have been misleading the president on the actual state of the war against insurgency all along.
he there announce for the dismissal of the security bosses and to be replace with new security affairs of the nation
Ikimi also called on all Nigerians, irrespective of their religion, tribe and political leanings to join hands with the Federal Government in ensuring the release of the Dapchi school girls and the remaining Chibok school girls.
“Gentlemen of the Press, my attention has been drawn to the recent abduction of 110 Girls of the Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State and I call on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately ensure the rescue of the said Girls as their abduction by members of the Boko Haram sect is a national shame.
“It is indeed sad that the above abduction which is reminiscent of that of the over 260 abducted Chibok School Girls, wherein 100 of them are still being unaccounted for by the Federal Government, has again been replayed while our security agencies were caught napping in Dapchi.
“More confusing is the fact that President Muhammadu Buhari, had days before the said abduction assured Nigerians that Boko Haram has been decimated by our gallant security agencies.