Coronavirus: Fomite transmission is possible, but it just seems to be rare
In 1987, researchers at the University of Wisconsin – Madison put healthy volunteers in a room to play cards with people infected with a common-cold rhinovirus. When the healthy volunteers had their arms restrained to stop them touching their faces and prevent them transferring the virus from contaminated surfaces, half...
Coronavirus rarely spreads through surfaces; so why are we still deep cleaning?
When Emanuel Goldman went to his local New Jersey supermarket last March, he didn’t take any chances. Reports of Covid-19 cases were popping up across the United States, so he donned gloves to avoid contaminated surfaces and wore a mask to prevent him inhaling tiny virus-laden droplets from fellow shoppers....
Drug firm AstraZeneca recognised as top employer in Kenya and South Africa
World pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has been recognised as a Top Employer in Kenya and South Africa. The drug manufacturer, which has been in the news in recent months as a leader in the search for a coronavirus vaccine was picked for the 2021 Top Employers award by Top Employers Institute...
With just one horrific act, Kenya faces a nightmare she’s never dared imagine
For so long, Kenyan leaders have conditioned the populace to accept corruption. A collective state of mind exists in which the ordinary Kenyan has come to expect America, Europe and other foreigners to solve his pressing problems through all forms of aid. Call it a tragic dependency syndrome. The ordinary...
New report: Western sources still dominate how the Africa story is told
One-third of all African stories in news outlets on the continent are sourced from foreign news services, a new report from Africa No Filter, says. The How African Media Covers Africa report highlights the fact that stories about Africa continue to be told through the same persistent and negative stereotypes...
Risky: Retracted studies still routinely cited in fight against coronavirus
In June 2020, in the biggest research scandal of the pandemic so far, two of the most important medical journals each retracted a high-profile study of Coovid-19 patients. Thousands of news articles, tweets, and scholarly commentaries highlighted the scandal, yet many researchers apparently failed to notice. In an examination of...
What is Africa’s gift to humanity in terms of democracy, science, law?
After the end of the cold-war, Washington and Brussels lauded Africa’s burgeoning democracy. And direct foreign investments poured into Africa. But things have changed. As you read this, Kenya’s is in the throes of a constitutional amendment. It is obvious the governing elite want to succeed itself. Two weeks ago,...
‘Community health workers deserve better this year’
Frontline health workers are expected to be honoured during the World Health Organisation’s International Year of the Healthcare Worker in 2021 in recognition to their selflessness in fending off Covid-19 pandemic However, the community health workers must be better-supported in their vital role to further beat back the global Covid-19...
Although concussions heal, some patients struggle at times to remember tasks
Italian physician Paolo Mascagni created a detailed atlas of the lymphatic system – including this drawing from his 1787 Vasorum Lymphaticorum Corporis Humani Historia et Ichnographic. Mascagni depicted the vessels in the meninges around the brain, but other scientists dismissed the idea, arguing that the lymphatic system was separate from...
Facebook’s oversight board to decide whether to give Trump bullhorn back
In the wake of this month’s violent insurrection at the US Capitol, Facebook suspended the account of the inciter-in-chief Donald Trump. On January 7, citing the danger that the president’s posts might incite further violence, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company would keep Trump off the platform “indefinitely and for...
