The cumulative number of world infections with the new Corona virus, since the outbreak of the global epidemic at the end of 2019, has risen to 767 million. This coincided with an increase in the number of deaths in the world yesterday, to reach 6.77 million deaths. And the health authorities in Japan said yesterday that the wave of virus outbreaks currently sweeping Japan has led to a significant increase in the number of deaths, in a country with the largest number of elderly people in the world. Japan classifies COVID-19 as a Class II disease. This means that those infected with it must be treated in specialized health facilities. However, the increase in the number of infected people during the wave that began in October 2022 forced a number of these specialized hospitals to refuse to receive patients. As they continued to arrive at hospitals on board ambulances without interruption, which prompted a number of hospitals to refuse to receive a large number of them, under the weight of the lack of medical and nursing staff, a large number of whom reported that they had contracted the virus. Experts said that such problems will not end unless the Japanese government quickly downgrades the COVID-19 classification, so that regular hospitals can receive the injured and provide them with the required treatment. in Britain; Yesterday, the National Health Service announced that anyone aged 49 or under can apply to vaccination centers in various parts of the county of England, to obtain the stimulus dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, even if he has not received the two basic doses. The health service said that the last date for giving this group the two basic doses of Covid-19 vaccines will be February 12. And she added that, in the meantime, the door will remain open for hundreds of thousands of people to apply for an appointment to give them the updated stimulus dose of the Moderna and Pfizer-Biontech vaccines. After the expiration of that period, the two basic doses will only be given to people who, in the opinion of health authorities, are at risk of a possible deterioration in their health conditions if they contract the virus. British health authorities said that this week, 2,800 vaccination centers will open across England, with opportunities to book 391,000 appointments before the end of this campaign. The health service stated that only 15,000 people booked appointments for vaccination during this week. She added that the winter season witnessed the administration of the stimulus dose to about 17.3 million people. She explained that since the availability of Covid-19 vaccines in 2021, the number of doses given to the population has exceeded 144.5 million doses. British Health Minister Steve Barclay said this will be the last opportunity, and the best for thousands of people who have not been vaccinated. He added that the updated stimulatory dose is the best way to protect against the virus, especially protection from exacerbation of the disease. Government health experts expressed concern about the recent indications, which confirm the high number of patients infected with Covid-19 hospitalized in British hospitals. Government statistics indicated that 941,800 people in the United Kingdom were infected with the virus during the week ending January 24, 2023.
Advice for women: remove my fallopian tubes to avoid ovarian cancer
The Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance is urging women with a genetic risk of ovarian cancer to immediately have their ovaries and fallopian tubes removed after they have finished having children and starting a family, when they are 40 or so. The coalition warned that there is no test that can be relied upon to detect the presence of this cancer early, so that it can be easily treated. Health experts believe, according to an investigation published by The New York Times yesterday, that doctors prefer in this case to undergo surgery to remove the fallopian tubes and keep the ovaries in place. The fallopian tubes transport the egg from the ovary to the uterus. The ovaries produce hormones that are beneficial to a woman's life. These hormones reduce the risk of heart disease and bone infections. Experts believe that sparing the ovaries can generally lead to a reduction in women's mortality. Coalition president Audra Moran said ovarian cancer is a rare disease. She added that the coalition decided to distribute free tests to determine the number of women who have a genetic risk of developing ovarian and breast cancer. She explained that women who are worried about the possibility of stopping their menstruation if they remove the ovaries and fallopian tubes can only temporarily remove the fallopian tubes, and leave the ovaries in place. She added: The golden rule for avoiding ovarian cancer is to remove the fallopian tubes and ovaries simultaneously. The announcement of the aforementioned coalition represents an explicit admission of the failure of efforts to invent a test that can detect ovarian cancer at an early stage. A clinical trial in Britain indicated that x-rays, CT scans and blood tests did not result in early detection of this type of cancer, so that the life of the patient could be saved. An American study of 34,000 women concluded that those who use chemical-based hair straighteners are more likely than others to develop uterine cancer. Doctors advised women to pay attention to any vague symptoms they may feel, such as flatulence, as they may mean that something doctors must find clear. The Women's Cancer Society advised the necessity of facilitating any woman's access to examining her genes, and encouraging them to have the fallopian tubes removed. The president of the association, Dr. Stephanie Blank, said that removing the fallopian tubes is not as beneficial as removing the tubes and ovaries. But in any case, it is better than the tests, because they did not reveal anything significant. American Cancer Society chief scientist Dr. Bill Dahut said: "If we look at the issue from a biological point of view, it might be best for doctors to rename this cancer fallopian tube cancer, because ovarian cancer starts there and travels to the ovary." The association says that ovarian cancer is the fifth in the list of deadly cancers in the United States. It affects 19,710 American women and kills 31,000 of them annually. And because there are no tests capable of detecting it early, it is only discovered at an advanced stage with which no treatment works. Doctors usually have to remove the fallopian tubes and ovaries in women between the ages of 35 and 40 years, if they have the genetic mutation called BRCA1, and those between the ages of 40 and 45 years when it is discovered that they have the second genetic mutation called BRCA2. It is assumed that these women had completed childbearing when they reached puberty.
Engineer of “editing genes” of embryos: I was hasty and reckless!
A Chinese scientist, who sparked a major scientific and ethical scandal in 2018, by announcing that he had re-engineered the genes of two fetuses before they were born, said that he was too hasty when he decided to proceed with what he had done. The Chinese scientist He Jiankui, who was fired by the Chinese University of Shenzhen from his job, and was sentenced to 3 years in prison after being convicted of carrying out a scientific experiment that violates the ethics of medicine and science, and there is no sufficient justification for conducting it, explained in an interview published by the British newspaper “The Guardian” yesterday, that he may have rushed recklessly. . But he did not express regret, nor remorse for what he had done. He said he needed more time to think about what had happened. He refused to explain what he thought he should have considered before undertaking his experiment, which resulted in the birth of two children, Lulu and Nana. But he said he would provide more details during a lecture that Oxford University invited him to give next month. He pointed out that he studied physics in China, then obtained a doctorate from Rice University in the United States. He obtained post-doctoral studies in genetic sequencing at Stanford University, USA. He returned to China in 2012 to pursue his interest in gene editing. He founded a number of commercial projects related to biotechnology. Although he had begun to use gene editing in the treatment of adults; However, editing the genes of fetuses before they are born was and still is a contentious issue among scientists, because it results in changing all genes in the body of the fetus, and thus this fetus, after its birth, life and procreation, passes the genetically modified genes to its children and grandchildren over generations. Doctors believe that this step cannot be justified at all from a medical point of view. He Jiankui announced at an international scientific conference held in Hong Kong in 2018 that he had re-engineered a specific gene in two fetuses, so that they became immune to HIV infection. A Chinese court found him guilty of illegal medical practice. He confirmed that he is still in contact with the parents of the two girls. He said that Lulu and Nana live a normal life devoid of any complications. He added that he had established a laboratory for himself in Beijing, in which he intends to practice inventing genetic treatments for rare diseases.
Examination booths in China turn into libraries!
China is having a big problem with what to do with the tens of thousands of COVID-19 test booths within 15 minutes of each other; Following the receding wave of recent injuries. The companies that operated these kiosks sold their components as "junk"; Other companies offered these kiosks for sale in online auctions. However, Chinese municipalities decided to convert these kiosks into public libraries. The cost of constructing these kiosks amounted to about $39 billion. An amount equivalent to the gross domestic product of Estonia, located on the Baltic Sea. The municipality of Suzhou City, about 100 kilometers west of Shanghai, distributed 30 kiosks to businessmen to convert them into fast food kiosks. A number of kiosks were distributed to companies that pledged to turn them into public libraries. A number of them have been converted into restrooms for cleaners. Those kiosks were filled with thousands of people until December 2022 to get a Corona test swab. Residents said that they will not go to these kiosks for the rest of their lives, no matter how the nature of their role changes, because they are associated with painful memories. As confirming the infection in those kiosks meant taking the person to government health isolation centers far from his home.
Okaz (London) @OKAZ_online
