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80% women at high risk of breast cancer decline to get screened: Study

Agencies
October 30, 2017

New Delhi, Oct 30: Regardless of free screening or otherwise, 80 percent women with a high risk of breast cancer decline to get it done, a study has revealed.

Breast cancer is the top cancer victimising women in the developed as well as in the developing world.

Unfortunately, low and middle-income countries are at a higher risk of breast cancer due to lack of timely diagnosis.

According to researchers, US women who had five times the risk of breast cancer were not motivated to be checked – even though they know they are at a high risk.

More than eight out of 10 women at high risk of breast cancer are declining screening, warns new research.

Early detection has been shown to be associated with reduced breast cancer morbidity and mortality. Oncologist Dr Vance Sohn from Madigan Army Medical Center in Washington, said the numbers failing to be screened may be even higher in the general population.

He said: "In the interest of helping more women be screened earlier for breast cancer, we were intrigued about what this preliminary study identified – that 85 percent of women with a 20 to 24 percent lifetime risk still did not pursue high risk surveillance."

His team plan to find out why, on an individual basis, women are declining this cancer check. Dr Sohn said, "If we understand the reason behind this circumstance, then it will help us better target those who would benefit from this imaging modality so we could provide clear explanations about the test."

The study was presented at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress in San Diego found the vast majority of these women choose not to get it. The researchers analysed data on 1,057 women who had a 20 percent or greater lifetime risk of developing breast cancer.

The screenings were offered based on their high-risk status, and not because of mammography results. Overall, only 23 percent – 247 of the women – underwent MRI screening. Furthermore, just 15 percent of women with a 20 to 24 per cent lifetime risk of breast cancer had an MRI.

A quarter (24 percent) of those with a 25 to 29 percent risk got the imaging test, while just over a third (36 percent) with a 30 to 39 percent risk sought one. And only half with more than a 40 percent took the advice.

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Agencies
June 23,2020

The record levels of new daily COVID-19 cases are due to the fact that the pandemic is peaking in a number of big countries at the same time and reflect a change in the virus' global activity, the World Health Organisation said.

At a media briefing on Monday, WHO's emergencies chief Dr Michael Ryan said that the numbers are increasing because the epidemic is developing in a number of populous countries at the same time.

Some countries have attributed their increased caseload to more testing, including India and the US But Ryan dismissed that explanation.

We do not believe this is a testing phenomenon, he said, noting that numerous countries have also noted marked increases in hospital admissions and deaths neither of which cannot be explained by increased testing.

There definitely is a shift in that the virus is now very well established, Ryan said. The epidemic is now peaking or moving towards a peak in a number of large countries.

He added the situation was definitely accelerating in a number of countries, including the US and others in South Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

Washington, Aug 2: Children under the age of five have between 10 to 100 times greater levels of genetic material of the coronavirus in their noses compared to older children and adults, a study in JAMA Pediatrics said Thursday.

Its authors wrote this meant that young children might be important drivers of Covid-19 transmission within communities -- a suggestion at odds with the current prevailing narrative.

The paper comes as the administration of US President Donald Trump is pushing hard for schools and daycare to reopen in order to kickstart the economy.

Between March 23 and April 27, researchers carried out nasal swab tests on 145 Chicago patients with mild to moderate illness within one week of symptom onset.

The patients were divided into three groups: 46 children younger than five-years-old, 51 children aged five to 17 years, and 48 adults aged 18 to 65 years.

The team, led by Dr Taylor Heald-Sargent of the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital, observed, "a 10-fold to 100-fold greater amount of SARS-CoV-2 in the upper respiratory tract of young children."

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The authors added that a recent lab study had demonstrated that the more viral genetic material was present, the more infectious virus could be grown.

It has also previously been shown that children with high viral loads of the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are more likely to spread the disease.

"Thus, young children can potentially be important drivers of SARS-CoV-2 spread in the general population," the authors wrote.

"Behavioral habits of young children and close quarters in school and daycare settings raise concern for SARS-CoV-2 amplification in this population as public health restrictions are eased," they concluded.

The new findings are at odds with the current view among health authorities that young children -- who, it has been well established, are far less likely to fall seriously ill from the virus -- don't spread it much to others either.

However, there has been fairly little research on the topic so far.

One recent study in South Korea found children aged 10 to 19 transmitted Covid-19 within households as much as adults, but children under nine transmitted the virus at lower rates.

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Agencies
April 14,2020

There is no evidence that the Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine, which is primarily used against tuberculosis, protects people against infection with the novel coronavirus, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

The WHO therefore didn't recommend BCG vaccination for the prevention of COVID-19 in the absence of evidence, according to its daily situation report on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported.

"There is experimental evidence from both animal and human studies that the BCG vaccine has non-specific effects on the immune system. These effects have not been well characterized and their clinical relevance remains unknown," WHO stated.

Two clinical trials addressing the question are underway, and WHO will evaluate the evidence when it is available, it noted.

BCG vaccination prevents severe forms of tuberculosis in children and diversion of local supplies may result in an increase of disease and deaths from the tuberculosis, it warned.

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