PA Hospital lung cancer researcher Dr Arutha Kulasinghe has collaborated with local and overseas researchers to identify a genetic marker called IFI27 in the lung tissue and blood of people with Covid-19 which can be used to identify how severe the virus is likely to be in Covid-19 patients and signal whether they need to be hospitalised or are able to quarantine at home. Sydney-based company SpeeDx are now developing a blood test that could be used by an infected person, early on in their symptoms, as a guide to how bad their infection will be. | https://www.pafoundation.org.au/news/36/covid-19-studies-advanced-thanks-to-cancer-research
BioNTech, which co-developed a revolutionary mRNA covid-19 vaccine in partnership with Pfizer, hopes to revolutionise another area of pharmaceuticals: vaccine manufacturing. It is developing vaccine factories to sit inside a series of standard metal shipping containers, which it plans to send to parts of the world that lack their own vaccine-manufacturing capabilities-notably Africa.
Each facility, BioNTech says, will be able to produce up to 60m doses of covid vaccines and other vaccines each year, and will cost "significantly less" than conventional factories. If so, this could be the future of drugmaking.
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/biontech-plans-to-make-vaccines-in-shipping-containers/
"The safest situation, especially for prolonged contact in crowded
settings, is when everyone is wearing well-fitting N95 respirators."
"Now it’s understood the virus is airborne. Virus-laden particles
build up in the air over time indoors because of breathing and speaking.
"It’s time to rethink and upgrade masks for you and your family."
Here are excellent explainers on why we need to think differently about
masks in response to Omicrom from:> The Conversation > https://bit.ly/3qQy8lr> The ABC > https://ab.co/3nQ8xr4And more about re-use of N95s - https://lnkd.in/ggycyNT7
IdeaSpies
Madeline Cunningham
Sabra Brock
Max Berghouse
