The Pan African medical journal
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Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an unprecedented pandemic. COVID-19 is a highly contagious and potentially fatal respiratory infection which has spread within three months of its outbreak to more than 173 countries, causing 3.7 million infections and 256,551 deaths at this writing. Unfortunately, no treatment or vaccine currently exists for COVID-19, although several clinical trials are on-going to find a definite solution to this pandemic. ⋯ However, intimate partner violence has been reportedly described as a real violation of women's right before the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic in the African continent. This commentary highlights the effects of intimate partner violence due to COVID-19 confinement in France and extrapolates what may be the effect of an implementation of a COVID-19 confinement law in Cameroon. Also, the authors suggest recommendations to lessen the burden of intimate partner violence in countries with a stay-at-home policy.
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metabolic steatopathy or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is frequently associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with an increased risk of progression to advanced fibrosis. The purpose of our study was to determine the interest of hepatic steatosis index (HSI) in the detection of hepatic steatosis in patients with type 2 diabetes in order to establish an appropriate screening program of this disease in our population. ⋯ hepatic steatosis is common among our patients; it is correlated with dyslipidemia, obesity and hypertriglyceridemia.
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The epidemic of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become a global concern and subsequently labeled a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11th. As the world mobilizes to contain the COVID-19, scientists and public health experts are increasingly alarmed about the potentially catastrophic effects of an outbreak in Africa. ⋯ However, we speculate that the fear associated with COVID-19 may also lead to some of the long-standing messages about simple measures to reduce the spread, such as hand washing, finally becoming absorbed and more universally adopted by health workers and the public. Is it possible that regardless of the terrible threat posed by SARS-CoV-2, the increased adoption of these health protection measures may result in a reduction in the spread of other infectious diseases?
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The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic and the dynamics of its spread is unprecedented. Therefore, the need for a vaccine against the virus is huge. Researchers worldwide are working around the clock to find a vaccine. ⋯ The race is on to find both medicines and vaccines for the COVID-19 pandemic. As with drugs, vaccine candidates go through pre-clinical testing first before they go through the three phases of clinical trials in humans. Of the over 130 vaccine candidates, 17 are in clinical trials while others are expected to move to clinical testing after the animal studies.