Tag: South

Virus variant from South Africa detected in US for 1st time

A new variant of the coronavirus emerged Thursday in the United States, posing yet another public health challenge in a country already losing more than 3,000 people to COVID-19 every day. The mutated version of the virus, first identified in South Africa, was found in two cases in South Carolina. Public health officials said it’s

How changing vaccine schedules can save costs and lives: Findings from South Africa

In 2005, before most low- and middle-income countries started vaccinating children routinely for pneumococcal disease, it caused approximately 1.5 million deaths worldwide annually. About 700,000 to 1 million of these deaths were in children under five years. Pneumococcal disease occurs when Streptococcus pneumoniae invades a normally sterile area of the body, causing meningitis, pneumonia, septicaemia

South Koreans return to school amid virus outbreak

South Korean students began returning to schools Wednesday as their country prepares for a new normal amid the coronavirus pandemic. In a reminder that returning to normalcy won’t be easy, students in some schools near Seoul were quickly asked to leave and return home after two students were found to have contracted the virus. South

South Africa’s coronavirus cases jump again above 700

South Africa’s coronavirus cases jumped again to 709, the health minister said Wednesday, as the country with the most cases in Africa prepared to go into lockdown first thing Friday. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize on state television pointed out “intense local spread” in Free State province among attendees of a church gathering where five cases

New study shows Transcendental Meditation reduces PTSD in South African college students

A very high percentage of young people in South Africa suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. A college that offers the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique to its students found this approach helped reduce their symptoms. A study published today in Psychological Reports showed that after 3.5 months of practicing Transcendental Meditation (TM), most

South Asians at risk for tuberculosis often are not tested

Many South Asian immigrants from countries where tuberculosis (TB) is common do not get tested even though they are at high risk for developing the disease, according to a recent study by Rutgers University and St. Peter’s University Hospital. Tuberculosis, which mainly affects the lungs, kills more people worldwide—about 1.6 million—than any other single infectious

South Asian Americans are at high risk for heart disease and stroke

South Asians are more likely to die of heart disease, such as heart attacks and strokes caused by atherosclerosis—the disease process that narrows arteries—than East Asians and non-Hispanic whites living in the United States, according to a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association published in its journal Circulation. The statement provides an overview