Health

KARACHI: As citizens find little respite from respiratory infections, the Sindh health department confirmed on Saturday the emergence of five locally transmitted cases of JN.1, the highly contagious new variant of Covid-19, which is currently a cause of concern in several countries. The day also saw three more passengers, in their early 20s, testing positive for Covid-19 upon their arrival …

Low vaccination rates against the latest versions of COVID-19 and influenza are putting pressure on healthcare systems this winter, leading public health officials told Reuters. In the United States, several European countries, and other parts of the world, there have been reports of rising hospitalizations linked to respiratory infections in recent weeks. Death rates have also ticked up among older …

PESHAWAR: The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has recalled cough syrup after the detection of ‘poisonous ingredients’ in its composition.  The raw material, Propylene Glycol was imported by a local firm from Thailand and supplied to different pharmaceutical companies throughout the country for manufacturing of cough syrups, which are high in demand these days due to the outbreak of …

The University of Oxford said on Thursday it had begun human testing of an experimental vaccine against the brain-swelling Nipah virus that led to outbreaks in India’s Kerala state and other parts of Asia. There is no vaccine yet for the deadly virus. Nipah was first identified about 25 years ago in Malaysia and has led to outbreaks in Bangladesh, …

PTI Senator and former special assistant to the prime minister Dr Sania Nishtar was on Thursday appointed as the chief executive officer of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation. Gavi, the global vaccine alliance which played a crucial role in the Covid-19 pandemic, said in a press release issued today that Nishtar will assume office from March 18 “A …

KARACHI: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) launched on Thursday its report on the country’s health status, highlighting the multi-faceted challenges confronting Pakistan in this sector, while calling for urgent comprehensive reforms. “Pakistan faces an unprecedented health crisis, compounded by its status as the fifth most populous country globally. The World Health Organisation’s recent ranking, placing Pakistan at 124th out of …

LAHORE: The Punjab caretaker government on Wednesday said that at least 36 children died of pneumonia in Punjab during the last 10 days due to increase in cold weather. To save children from catching pneumonia, the government has decided to impose a ban on holding a morning assembly in schools till Jan 31. Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi has expressed …

LONDON: The World Health Organisation (WHO) cancelled another planned medical aid mission to Gaza on Wednesday over security concerns, the sixth such cancellation in two weeks, and sounded a fresh alarm over the spread of infectious disease there. The UN body’s director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said it was the sixth mission to northern Gaza cancelled by the UN agency …

A lab at the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) on Wednesday said that it had detected the JN.1 Covid-19 variant, currently a cause of concern in several countries, in six out of a total of 15 samples from Karachi. Classified as a variant of interest by the World Health Organisation (WHO), JN.1 is a sub-lineage of the Omicron variant and has been …

GENEVA: The World Health Organisation warned on Tuesday its ability to provide aid and support struggling hospitals in Gaza was “shr­inking”, despite international dem­ands for more aid to be allowed in. WHO staff described desperate scenes of seriously injured patients, including young children, begging for food in hospitals — which have seen most of their health workers flee for their …