French health officials declared an end to the country’s COVID-19 outbreak on Monday.
France had confirmed 12 cases of the coronavirus since it first reached the country on January 24. Unfortunately, one of those patients died from their infection. But the French-language news outlet Le Parisienreports that the remaining 11 have all made complete recoveries — meaning there are no longer any COVID-19 cases in any French hospital.
There are “no longer any hospitalized patients in France,” said Health Minister Olivier Véran, in French. “The last one is cured and is no longer contagious.”
This is a guest post by Mohammed Murad, vice president, global sales and business development, Iris ID.
The world is in the grip of a coronavirus epidemic the impact of which extends well beyond people’s health, including more than 1,300 reported deaths. The fear of this recently identified disease has closed businesses and grounded thousands of flights. The impacts have led to estimates of reduced economic growth in many countries.
While the virus that was first discovered in a Chinese province has killed far fewer people than influenza this year, the fatality rate has people worried. Influenza reportedly kills between 10 to 20 people per 100,000 infections each year. The death rate from the coronavirus tops 2,300 deaths per 100,000 cases. Those latter statistics change virtually daily as more cases of the virus are reported.
A Google AI tool that can recognise and label what’s in an image will no longer attach gender tags like “woman” or “man” to photos of people. Google’s Cloud Vision API is a service for developers that allows them to, among other things, attach labels to photos identifying the contents. The tool can detect faces, landmarks, brand logos, and even explicit content, and has a host of uses from retailers using visual search to researchers identifying animal species.
A swallowable capsule that can identify warning signs of colorectal cancer is moving closer to the American market, promising an Israeli-led revolution in colorectal cancer prevention.
“When we ask patients and physicians, we get a clear answer that the device has the potential to change the natural history of colon cancer screening,” said Ovadia. “Since the device is safe, not an intervention and there is no need for preparation, we have resolved most of the barriers preventing any patient of the recommended age from undergoing screening. There is no reason now for a patient not to perform the study.”
According to Prof. Nadir Arber, the principal investigator for C-Scan clinical trials and the head of the Health Promotion Center and Integrated Cancer Prevention Center at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, the C-Scan system “can change the landscape of colorectal cancer prevention worldwide.”
“Although colorectal cancer can be prevented through the detection of precancerous polyps, screening adherence remains low due to the bowel preparation, sedation and invasiveness associated with current screening methods, and Gastroenterologists certainly struggle with that,” Arber told the Post.
HONG KONG, Feb. 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Infectious diseases represent an important portion of global public health concerns¸ in particular with regard to the current global outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). The challenge of frontline diagnosis in hospitals, clinics and ports is that infectious diseases could exhibit similar symptoms or can be asymptomatic. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) today announced the development of the world’s most comprehensive automated multiplex diagnostic system (the System) which includes a fully automated machine and a multiplex full-screening panel for the point-of-care genetic testing (POCT) of respiratory infectious disease including the 2019-nCoV.
Newborn screening covers more than 30 conditions. Yet, with genome sequencing, we could screen newborns for several thousand genetic conditions.
In the surveys’ open-ended responses about risks of genome sequencing, parents and clinicians both expressed concerns about psychological distress related to difficult or uncertain results. Clinicians were more likely to raise concerns about returning results for adult-onset conditions, unnecessary parental stress over health problems that might never actually occur, and the possibility of future discrimination against the child on the basis of their genomic information.
On the other hand, parents mentioned a broader range of benefits than clinicians. Both parents and clinicians saw potential health benefits of genome sequencing, such as the ability to search for more conditions compared to standard newborn screening and the ability to predict a child’s future disease risks. Parents went further, though, seeing benefits in family planning, preparing for the child’s future, and knowledge just for the sake of knowing. Those potential benefits fall outside of traditional definitions of clinical utility, which means they are less likely to be considered in the professional guidelines that steer adoption of practices like genome sequencing.
This brings us into a debate that may be central to the near future of genome sequencing, not only for newborns but for ostensibly healthy adults as well: how to define the utility of genomic technologies. How much weight, if any, should patients’ perceptions carry? If they think genomic information will have utility, should that count for something, even if clinicians and researchers have their doubts? Should the idea of “clinical utility” be expanded beyond information that directly affects medical care, perhaps including perceived quality of life impacts for patients?
At some point in their life almost everyone will develop a cavity in their teeth and about 70% of the global population will experience varying degrees of gingivitis. Regular brushing is the best way to prevent dental disease, but sometimes that is not enough as microscopic plaque can be left behind after brushing your teeth.
According to the Health 2000 Population Survey over half of Finns aged 30+ suffer from gum disease; and research indicates that undetected oral and chronic infections can contribute to the occurrence of many diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and lung cancer as well as increasing the risk of premature delivery.
Aalto University and Helsinki University Hospital researchers have founded Koite Health which is launching a method for home use in the coming weeks that can kill streptococcus mutans bacteria as well as the bacteria that can cause gingivitis, which has been shown to reduce the markers indicating early gingivitis and plaque formation.
In the blink of an eye, the US cases jump from 15 to 29.
Fourteen Americans evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship on US-chartered flights have tested positive for novel coronavirus, the US departments of State and Health and Human Services said.
The passengers were among more than 300 Americans who had been quarantined on the ship since February 4 at the Japanese port city of Yokohama.
The Wuhan Coronavirus continues its deadly worldwide expansion, with a fifth death outside of China, and a cruise ship that docked in Cambodia had a passenger that tested positive, but flew back to Malaysia anyway. Unbelievable!
“A further 70 people on the Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined in Japan on Sunday tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total to 355, as countries began to fly their citizens on the ship home.
There is also growing concern over possible infections among people who disembarked from the MS Westerdam in Cambodia on Friday, after it was confirmed that one passenger, who later flew to Malaysia, tested positive for the virus.
Four other deaths have occurred outside mainland China – in Japan, Hong Kong, the Philippines and France.”
A taxi driver has died from the coronavirus in Taiwan, marking the first such death on the island and the fifth fatality outside mainland China from an epidemic that has curbed travel and disrupted global supply chains.
The health minister, Chen Shih-chung, said during a news conference on Sunday that the deceased was a 61-year-old man who had diabetes and hepatitis B. Taiwan has to date reported 20 confirmed cases.
