Category: Feature Stories

Following the lead of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the World Health Organization (WHO) has also reiterated its recommendation for Astrazeneca’s Corona vaccine. The benefits of the drug outweigh the risks, the WHO advisory panel on vaccine safety said Friday. It said the vaccine has “enormous potential to prevent infections and reduce deaths worldwide.” Available data do not indicate an increased risk of “deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism” as a result of vaccination with the Astrazeneca vaccine, WHO experts said. They also said they found no evidence that rare…

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AstraZeneca’s Corona vaccine is safe, according to the European Medicines Agency (EMA), so Austria also plans to continue its vaccination program unchanged. But a warning about rare blood clots (thromboses) in cerebral veins will be included among the possible side effects, the authority said Thursday in Amsterdam. The benefits would outweigh the drawbacks, EMA Director Emer Cooke said, adding that the drug is “safe and effective” against Covid-19. Austria’s National Vaccination Panel concurred. “Following the assessment of the EMA, it is recommended to continue the vaccination program unchanged,” it said…

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The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warns against using the approaching spring and higher temperatures as an argument for relaxing coronavirus measures. There is no evidence that weather and season directly influence the incidence of infection, a team of experts holds. It has looked into the question of what influence meteorological factors and air quality have on the pandemic. The incidence of infection changes primarily as a result of protective measures, such as wearing masks and restricting travel, as well as behavioral changes. Viral infections of the respiratory tract are often…

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New study data clearly show that many agents – other than those thought – are ineffective for covid 19 infection. Zinc, vitamin C, or vitamin D make no difference in covid 19 courses or as corona prophylaxis. That’s what studies from the United States show. Researchers have also been disappointed in plasma from people who have already survived the disease. The search for ways to influence the course of SARS-CoV-2 infection or covid-19 with drugs has brought a wide variety of agents into discussion over the past year. Some important…

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The results of the so-called Wachau study are available – and they provide hope. The immunity rate of the population is likely to be higher than expected – at around 25 percent – and the antibodies appear to have a long lifespan. The screenings were conducted for the fourth time in mid-February by Danube Private University (DPU) in Krems in Weißenkirchen in der Wachau (Krems district). Almost 60 percent of the inhabitants – 824 to be exact – took part in the study, plus 463 formerly infected Lower Austrians outside…

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The dream is still an unexplained phenomenon for scientists in many parts. You have to have been awake for at least three minutes to remember a dream. Therefore, congratulations to all those who supposedly never dream – these people have a good, deep sleep. The “cinema in the brain” takes place mainly in the REM (rapid eye movement) phase, in which the eyes move very quickly under the closed eyelids. In this phase, the brain works similarly actively as in the waking state. “During sleep, we fall into the REM…

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After the European Medicines Agency (EMA) already granted approval for the Johnson & Jonson preparation on Thursday, another piece of good vaccine news follows. As reported by leading newspapers in the German speaking countries, U.S. pharmaceutical company Novavax announced that its vaccine has 96 percent efficacy against the variant of origin of COVID-19. According to the study conducted in the UK, the efficacy against the British mutation of the virus is said to be ten percent lower. However, how well the drug did against the South African and Brazilian variants…

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The Corona vaccine from U.S. pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson has a special feature: the drug only needs to be administered once. This sets it apart from the three vaccines approved so far in the EU, which require two doses. An overview of the differences and similarities between the agents. How do the vaccines work? The agents from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson are so-called vector vaccines. A virus that is harmless to humans introduces information from the pathogen that causes the disease into the body. In the case of…

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The European Medicines Agency (EMA) in Amsterdam has recommended the use of the Corona vaccine from U.S. manufacturer Johnson & Johnson. This means a fourth vaccine should soon be administered in the European Union. However, final approval must be granted by the EU Commission. Austria’s Health Ministry sees “tailwind” for domestic vaccination campaign. However, the EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), which is responsible for the matter, has only recommended conditional approval of the vaccine – and that is for everyone 18 years of age and older.…

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