DrugXpert Blog

Strain, specie and variant Before the Covid-19 pandemic, most people only talked about viruses in general. Very few people knew about terminologies used when talking about viruses. Only those who studied genetic engineering and related courses did. Read Also :  How coronavirus mutate into a new variant When the news of a new variant strain of the virus causing Covid-19 surfaced in the United Kingdom (UK) and South Africa, many news media used the term strain. Others use the term variant. This confusion can easily be cleared. What Is Strain, Specie and Variant To understand what these terms of a virus means, we will use coronavirus to explain it. Coronavirus are a large group of viruses that affect both birds and mammals. There are hundreds of coronavirus. Only seven specie affect people. Three are of economic importance. Classification of living things has seven levels which starts from kingdom and ends in species. The name coronavirus is a genus and split into four genera which ar...

When covid-19 was discovered in Nigeria, the management of the national youth service corps (NYSC) suspended orientation camp programmes nationwide. This was soon followed by weekly community development service (CDS) and monthly clearance. Little did we know that it would last up to nine months. NYSC management recently announced the reopening of  NYSC orientation camps nationwide including the federal capital territory (FCT), Abuja. Because there is still covid-19 in Nigeria, the management of NYSC requires all orientation camps to follow the Nigeria center for disease control (NCDC) guide on gathering of people. However, it also requires prospective corp members (PCM) to present a self reporting form/Health declaration form. This form may have to be filled by both officials and PCM before coming to camp. Self Reporting/Health Declaration Form Covid-19 self reporting form Self reporting form/health declaration form was a guide prescribed by the world health organisation (WHO) for...

Covid-19 drug or Vaccine The world is battling a pandemic that is affecting both the rich and poor. It is called covid-19. There is no drug or vaccine available yet to treat or prevent it. There is currently several research for a drug and or vaccine. The expected time these would be available is not until next year. Do we really need drugs or vaccines? Or do we need both of them? Let us find the answer to these questions. But before then, what is a vaccine and drug? Vaccine For Covid-19 A vaccine is a biological preparation (biologics) that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infection disease. It consists of part of a disease causing microbe. It is often gotten from weakened or killed forms of the microbe, it's toxin or one of the surface proteins. The agent stimulates the body immune system to recognize and destroy any of the microbes associated with that agent it may encounter in the future. Read Also : What may hinder covid-19 vaccine development and ...

To help find a cure for covid-19, China released the virus sequence in January 2020. Immediately, the world swung into action. Now there were two options open. First is to design and develop a vaccine using a standard process. That will take years to achieve and may eventually not work. The second option is to follow the recent theoretical vaccine process that has shown to be effective in human clinical trials. With over 100 vaccine candidates on covid-19 currently at different stages of development, the first sets which will bypass so many of the normal clinical processes based in the emergency response will be available in about a year's time. And that will be next year. According to the world health organization (WHO), a vaccine will not be readily available to the public until after 18 months. Read Also : When covid-19 vaccine will be available There are three main models that are currently under development for the theoretical approach. They are nucleic acid, viral vect...

Over the years, the world has had to battle different types of emerging diseases. They exhibit different patterns of spread and fatality. Some are epidemic localized or pandemic. Others are just an outbreak of interest. However, the government response to these disease determine how well it is manage. The approach is usually determined by the mode of transmission and partial fatality . The most recent disease is covid-19 cause by coronavirus. Read Also: Nigeria covid-19 situation Covid-19 has changed the landscape worldwide. This is the first time the world is experiencing a global pandemic of this magnitude since the beginning of this century with the last one in 1918 called the Spanish flu. How Dangerous Is Covid-19 The approach presently adopted for managing covid-19 is similar to how Spanish flu was managed. Currently, there is no cure for covid-19. The target is to break the chain of transmission. The rate of transmission of covid-19 is R0 (R naught) 3. This is t...

One of the fundamental patient rights is confidentiality. Patient confidentiality is the right an individual has to personal identifiable medical information kept private. Information about a patient is only accessible to the patient's physician. Third parties access to the data is subject to approval from the patient. Covid-19 patient The reason for such a right is to protect the patient. Some patients suffer harm when the wrong person gets to know their medical information. For example, human immune virus (HIV)/Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) victims face stigma from the public. Disclosing the identity of HIV/AIDS victims can lead to stigma which can lead to loss of job. In worse scenario suicide can occur. Read Also : Patients right and limitations However, medical personnel can share information about a patient's conditions among themselves or to the general public. The patient demographic such as name, address, phone number and other identifiable data ...

Covid-19 could be transmitted through drinking water! will be the most devastating news headline. For now there is no such news. Let's pray it remains so. Because if it is water borne disease like some viruses, expect the worst. The idea came to my mind the day I bought bottle water. As I opened it to cool my mind and quench my thirst, a dirty thought came over me. What if the worker at the water factory is infected and asymptomatic? What if the worker sneezes in the water before sealing? What if the water process is contaminated with covid-19? What if I drink this water? What if I could get infected from drinking the water? What if…. Read Also : 5g cannot be the cause of covid-19 or covid-19 related death Let us look at what scientists are saying about covid-19 and drinking water. The covid-19 virus has been shown to survive outside a living tissue or cell. Depending on the surface and environmental factors, it can survive for hours to days. The maximum that has been deter...

They keep taking covid-19 patients to isolation centers. They say covid-19 does not have a cure. This raises some questions in the minds of Nigerians. Why don't they leave these patients at home? What are they giving them as treatment in the isolation centers? Isolation centers These questions deserve answers. This blog post will do well to answer those questions. Read Also : Strategies adopted by Nations in the fight against covid-19 Samples of suspected covid-19 patients are taken from them at their houses. Some of them walk into the isolation center for tests. Unconfirmed cases are held at a tent outside with a bed. They remain here until their case is confirmed positive or negative. Those who test negative both in their houses or in the tent are encouraged to observe all the prevention of the covid-19. Those in the tent are sent home. Confirmed cases are divided into three categories. They are asymptomatic, mild and critical cases. Asymptomatic and mild cases sha...

Isolation There have been doubts about covid-19 in Nigeria. The major debate was the identity of those infected. However, as news of it's spread keeps increasing daily, other questions have been raised. Many Nigerians are unsure how the fatality rate in Nigeria is so small compared to other countries. They wonder what is the treatment in Nigeria and if it is different from other countries. This blog post will find an answer to that. Read Also : Why choose 14 days for quarantine Covid-19 is a viral infection that can infect the lungs. Not everybody that is infected will develop symptoms. The body has a natural immune system in place to fight off infection. The body develops most of these immune systems from previous infection. Some people have a stronger immune system than others. There are various reasons for that. The major thing is a healthy lifestyle and good health. Those with weak immune systems can boost it with drugs. When a person is infected with covid-19, the b...

Pharmacists are part of essential staff working at various sectors fighting covid-19. Those in the industry are working with the virus searching for a drug or vaccine that will offer cure. Those in the regulatory sectors work with those in the industry coordinating their research. The other sets are the hospital and community pharmacy. The hospital pharmacy works with front line medical doctors sometimes solving puzzles of this new disease. Community pharmacies attend to people who want simple over-the- counter drugs (OTC) or prescription only medicine (POM). Pharmacists in all sectors are exposed to covid-19. However, the degree of exposure varies. Industrial pharmacists work with, in most cases, killing viruses and they usually wear full personal protective equipment (PPE). Same goes to regulatory pharmacists. However, this is not the case with hospitals and community pharmacies that deal with both Covid-19 patients and patients whose health status is not known. Read Also : ...

Covid-19 (coronavirus) is a pandemic in many countries including Nigeria. It was discovered in 2019 in the city of Wuhan, China. There is no cure or prevention for it yet. The only solution is to test and isolate positive persons while managing their symptoms. Covid-19 test Since many people are either asymptomatic or have mild symptoms, it may be difficult to know those who are infected. Such ones can go about spreading the virus to more vulnerable groups. To avoid this, it is good to test as many as possible. Read Also : Steps to stop to spread of covid-19 around the world In the beginning due to the unavailability of test kits, the test was available for free to those who come in from high risk countries or have had contact with a confirmed case. However, community transmission on the rise test has made them to expande it to include those who are having covid-19 symptoms in high risk areas. The first test was designed in January, 2020 by the center for disease control (...

Facemask decontamination COVID-19 pandemic brought about so many problems. With limited availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) for health care workers, there is a major shift for alternatives. One area many people are looking at is how long can this equipment be used and if possible reuse. This is because the manufacturer recommendation for most of these equipment are usually one for a patient after which they are properly disposed of. But that cannot be possible in a pandemic. When a medical doctor is required to see up to 100 COVID-19 patients in a hospital, changing PPE for each patient will cost the country a huge amount of money. The current recommendation now is to use one for all the patients and dispose of them properly. Presently, the health care system of most countries have been overstretched and that is not even feasible right now. Read Also: Types of facemasks The last alternative is to decontaminate. There is no approved decontamination method....