Day: April 21, 2022

South Africa has recorded a sharp increase in COVID-19 infections, the highest rate in three months, raising concerns about a possible larger surge in the disease.

South Africa’s National Health Department reported 4,406 new COVID-19 cases in a 24-hour period ending Thursday. The number represents a considerable jump from the 2,846 cases reported the day before, and the previous seven-day average of 1,549.

Adrian Puren, executive director of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases of South Africa, confirmed omicron as the dominant COVID-19 variant in the country and said no new variant of concern has been reported.

He said South Africa is not experiencing a new wave of COVID-19, noting that hospitalizations remain low.

“And as you know, hospitalizations, in other words severe cases, dramatic cases that end up in hospital, either in high care or ICU, I think will be the more appropriate proxy if you like, or indicator, that we have actually reached the fifth resurgence,” Puren said.

When asked how the pandemic is affecting South Africa compared with other countries, he noted that omicron caused high caseloads in Britain and the United States.

“We’re obviously experiencing differences” compared with those countries, “but that’s not to say that our next resurgence won’t resemble that,” Puren said. “And I think that’s the concern — that we need to really be prepared.”

He said even though South Africa plans to do away next month with the National State of Disaster restrictions adopted in the wake of COVID-19, other measures will be put in place. Those have been subject to public comment.

“So I think we’ll probably see a mixture of the things we had in place. So, for example, getting ventilation right. You know, I don’t think people are focused a lot on that. But I think that’s an area, especially for indoor events, offices, restaurants and so forth, that’s absolutely critical,” Puren said.

The main opposition party’s shadow minister for health, Michelle Clarke, said she would be asking parliament’s Health Committee to analyze the rise in numbers when it meets Friday.

“It’s expected during this time to start seeing the resurgence because you’re moving into the colder winter months. People are huddling more,” she said. “So you would see a spread of COVID happening because the environment changes. But if you look at the data that’s been produced within the clusters like, for example, old-age homes, schools, et cetera, it’s definitely not showing that resurgence in those clusters as yet.”

She added that while the party is happy for the sake of the economy that the National State of Disaster restrictions are ending, there had already been 170,000 objections to the new proposed restrictions. Those include unhappiness over the continued 50 percent capacity in venues like restaurants.

Source: Voice of America

The World Health Organization said Friday it “strongly recommended” Pfizer’s COVID-19 antiviral pill Paxlovid for patients with milder forms of the disease who were still at a high risk of hospitalization.

However, the U.N. agency warned it was “extremely concerned” that the inequality in access seen with COVID-19 vaccines would again leave low- and middle-income countries “pushed to the end of the queue.”

U.S. pharma giant Pfizer’s combination of nirmatrelvir and ritonavir was the “superior choice” of treatment for unvaccinated, elderly or immunocompromised people with COVID-19, the WHO’s experts said in the BMJ medical journal.

For the same patients, the WHO also made a “conditional (weak) recommendation” of the antiviral drug remdesivir, made by U.S. biotech firm Gilead, that it had previously recommended against.

The WHO recommended Paxlovid over remdesivir, as well as over Merck’s molnupiravir pill and monoclonal antibodies.

Pfizer’s oral treatment prevents hospitalization more than the “available alternatives, has fewer concerns with respects to harms than molnupiravir, and is easier to administer than intravenous remdesivir and antibodies,” the WHO’s experts said.

The new recommendation was based on the findings of two trials involving almost 3,100 patients which showed that Paxlovid reduced the risk of hospital admission by 85%.

The trials also “suggested no important difference in mortality” and “little or no risk of adverse effects leading to drug discontinuation.”

The recommendation applies to people over the age of 18, but not to pregnant or breastfeeding women.

It also does not apply to patients with a low risk of complications from the disease, because the benefit would be minimal.

The WHO’s experts also declined to give an opinion for patients with severe forms of the disease, due to a lack of data.

The WHO stressed the limitations of such antiviral treatments.

“The medicine can only be administered while the disease is at its early stages,” they said.

This means the patients must quickly test positive and be prescribed the pill by a doctor – all of which can pose obstacles for low- and middle-income countries, the WHO said.

Yet COVID-19 pills have been seen as a potentially huge step in ending the pandemic as they can be taken at home, rather than in hospital.

Patients must start taking their Paxlovid pills within five days of the onset of symptoms – the course then lasts five days.

Remdesivir can be taken within seven days of symptoms setting in, but it is administered intravenously over three days.

The WHO called on Pfizer to “make its pricing and deals more transparent” for Paxlovid.

Lisa Hedman, the WHO’s senior adviser on access to medicines, said that radio station NPR reported a full course of Paxlovid costs $530 in the United States. Another source unconfirmed by WHO gave the price of $250 in an upper-middle-income country.

Remdesivir meanwhile costs $520, Hedman said, but generic versions made by companies in India sell for $53-$64.

There is also a question mark over whether the virus could build resistance to these treatments.

But earlier this month Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla predicted a bright future for treatments like Paxlovid as people grow tired of getting further booster vaccinations.

Coming under fire for prioritizing wealthy countries with its vaccine, Pfizer has agreed to allow some generic drugmakers around the world to make cheaper versions of Paxlovid under a U.N.-backed scheme.

But on Friday the WHO “strongly recommended” that Pfizer let more generic manufacturers produce the drug and “make it available faster at affordable prices.”

Source: Voice of America