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Pfizer fourth booster vaccine: Three side effects to expect from fourth dose - new trial

The coronavirus vaccine has positively altered the course of the pandemic, slashing hospitalisation and death rates across the nation. But waning protection has presented the latest hurdle in the vaccination drive. In a bid to tackle dwindling immunity, thousands of vulnerable individuals will be called forward for a top-up this week. Data obtained from an Israeli study earlier this year has outlined some side effects to expect.

Preliminary data released in January revealed that side effects from a fourth dose of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine are mild.

The findings were obtained during the Sheba Medical Centre trial in January, which administered the second booster jab to its staff amid a nationwide surge in Omicron infections.

A fourth dose of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine was administered to 150 medical personnel whose antibody levels had significantly dropped since receiving their third dose between four to five months prior.

Researchers did not pick up on any marked differences between the side effects of the fourth and third doses of the vaccine.

Side effects of Pfizer's

The Medical Centre did however note that side effects included pain, fever and headaches, reported Reuters.

The Israeli study, conducted by the Sheba Medical Centre in January, also revealed that the fourth booster dose increased antibody count fivefold within a week of receiving the dose.

To date, the most common side effects to follow the third dose have been body aches, headaches and fatigue, with some individuals complaining of chills and swollen lymph nodes.

Scientists have stressed that such after-effects are an indication of the immune system responding to the shots.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet told reporters in January: "A week into the fourth dose, we know to a higher degree of certainty that the fourth dose is safe.

"The second piece of news [is] we know that a week after administration of a fourth dose, we see a fivefold increase in the number of antibodies in the vaccinated person.

"This most likely means a significant increase against infection and hospitalisation and severe symptoms."

Earlier this month the medical centre published a report in the New England Journal of Medicine, outlining the efficacy of a fourth dose.

The findings confirmed that the fourth dose "did not lead to substantial adverse events despite triggering mild systemic and local symptoms in the majority of recipients".

However, the study authors said that adding the fourth dose for people inoculated and boostered with the Pfizer-BioNTech shot may only have "marginal benefits".

They added: "Our cohort was too small to allow for accurate determination of vaccine efficacy.

"However, within the wide confidence intervals of our estimates, vaccine efficacy against symptomatic disease was 65 percent at most."

It comes as coronavirus cases have surged across the country, with infections among over-70s reaching record heights.

Second Booster

What's more, survey data released earlier this month showed almost five percent of the population had Covid.

However, health secretary Sajid Javid has said he remains confident the "vaccine wall of defence" will keep the situation stable.

The recent surge has been put down to the lifting of restrictions across the country, which has led to increased social mixing.

The health secretary told BBC1's programme earlier this week: "Our levels of concern haven't changed. Although the case numbers are rising, infections are rising, and indeed hospital numbers are rising, they are still way below their peak." 

Reference: Daily Express: Solen Le Net

Secondhand bong smoke worse than cigarette smoke, study finds

Secondhand marijuana smoke from bongs can be more dangerous than secondhand cigarette smoke, researchers have found.

A new study says the reason for this is the increased concentration of fine particulate matter found in secondhand bong smoke.

Fine particulate matter penetrates the respiratory system further than larger particles, which is why it can be more harmful.

The report was published on the JAMA Open Network this week and researchers from the University of California, Berkeley measured levels of the matter before, during and after eight social-smoking sessions of cannabis.

Students at the university participated in the study, and the smoking sessions took place in the living room of an apartment near the campus.

The students were not observed during the sessions and provided their own bongs and cannabis.

Marijuana is legal in California for adults over the age of 21 to possess, purchase or give away up to an ounce, and adults can also cultivate up to six live cannabis plants. Smoking or ingesting marijuana remains illegal in public places as is using the drug in a car.

A professor who oversaw the study, S Katharine Hammond told the San Francisco Chronicle: “We exerted no control and gave no direction to the students on how to smoke the cannabis in the bong.

“They were free to smoke as much as they wanted when they started the session.”

Graduate student Patton Khuu Nguyen was a co-author on the study and together with Hammond used an aerosol monitor to measure the air quality before, during and after each session.

They then compared the data from the bong-smoking session to data collected from tobacco smokers.

Secondhand cannabis smoke was determined to have four times the amount of fine particulate matter than secondhand tobacco smoke.

“This cohort study suggests that, contrary to popular beliefs, bong smoking is not safe … Incorrect beliefs about SHCS [second hand cannabis smoke] safety promote indoor cannabis smoking,” the study concludes.

In a separate statement to USA Today, Hammond added: “[SHCS] can actually affect the health of children who are nearby or other people in pretty serious ways. We need to wake up to that.”

Reference: The Independent: Laura Hampson

Cancer symptoms: Abdominal pain brought on by eating could be a sign of bowel cancer

Cancer, says the NHS, is: "A condition where cells in a specific part of the body grow and reproduce uncontrollably. The cancerous cells can invade and destroy surrounding healthy tissue, including organs." Although there are over 200 types of cancer, the four most common in the UK are breast cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, and bowel cancer. Bowel cancer is most commonly found in those over the age of 60, but like all cancers it can appear in anyone of any age. Symptoms, meanwhile, can arise in several areas.

One of the symptoms is abdominal pain brought on by eating.

Other symptoms include:

• A persistent change in bowel habit

• Bleeding from the bottom

• Blood in the poo

• Unexplained weight loss

• Extreme tiredness for no reason

• A pain or lump in the tummy.

Bowel Cancer UK says: "Most people with these symptoms don't have bowel cancer. Other health problems can cause serious symptoms. But if you have one or more of these, or if things just don't feel right, go to see your GP."

Bowel cancer

Meanwhile, new research by Bowel Cancer Research UK has found one in two Britons don't know a single symptom of bowel cancer.

Results of the survey found only 35 percent of participants could name the main red flag symptom of blood in a person's poo.

The charity said it was shocked by a lack of awareness around the condition despite its prevalence.

Around 43,000 people every year are diagnosed with bowel cancer while over 16,500 people lose their lives to the disease annually.

Director of Research and External Affairs at Bowel Cancer UK Dr Lisa Wilde said: "While the disease largely affects people over the age of 50, more than 2,600 under 50s are diagnosed each year, so it's really important people seek advice as soon as possible - whatever their age - if they're worried."

These results come just weeks after the government announced its War on Cancer, a 10 year campaign to find new treatments for cancer.

Dr Wilde says: "It is clear from these findings that this plan must include action to increase awareness of symptoms of bowel cancer and encourage people to seek help as early as possible."

The earlier a cancer is diagnosed, the more effective the treatment will be and the longer the patient will survive.

Bowel cancer abdominal pain

Meanwhile, as the government opens up its new campaign on cancer, it will have to look to areas of medicinal research for new and effective treatments.

This includes medicinal cannabis.

A recent laboratory trial has found medicinal cannabis can kill up to 90 percent of colon cancer cells.

Speaking of the results, Senior Oncologist Professor Tami Peretz said: "Based on these experiments, there is room to perform animal studies and, in the future, to examine the possibility of incorporating these products in colorectal cancer patients."

Although the results are promising, it is important to note there is a significant difference between laboratory tests and animal or human trials.

Nevertheless, the results are promising for medicinal cannabis having a positive role in the government's War on Cancer.

As the evidence base continues to grow and the benefits of medicinal cannabis become more and more obvious, this may help to lift the stigma that has enshrouded the plant since the 20th Century.

For more information on bowel cancer contact the NHS or consult with your GP. 

Reference: Christopher Sharp: Daily Express:

New gene-therapy gel shows promise for treating rare 'butterfly disease'

A new gel that contains DNA shows promise in helping people with "butterfly disease," a condition in which the skin erupts in blisters when placed under the slightest pressure, even a light touch. 

Provided by Live Science a photo of a child's hands, drawing a picture; the child has "butterfly disease" and their skin is visibly peeling and blistering

Researchers tested this gel-based form of gene therapy in a small trial of six adults and three children with the rare inherited disease, known by the scientific name "epidermolysis bullosa," according to a statement from Stanford Medicine. 

Specifically, the trial participants had a subtype of epidermolysis bullosa (EB) called recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), which means their cells lack the genetic instructions to build a protein called collagen VII. Normally, this collagen would bind several layers of skin together, thus preventing these layers from painfully rubbing against each other. In people with RDEB, these skin layers scrape past each other, and this abracsion drives the formation of blisters and chronic wounds that can remain unhealed for months or years, according to Stanford.

There are several experimental treatments for EB, which involve skin grafts and engineered stem cells with working copies of the EB-related genes, for example, Science reported. Compared with these treatments, the new gene therapy is much simpler to apply, and based on the early trial results, it's "arguably the most successful [such therapy] to date," David Schaffer, a bioengineer at the University of California, Berkeley, who was not involved with the study, told Science.

The gene therapy involves applying a gel-based ointment directly to patients' skin wounds. The gel contains a modified version of the herpes simplex virus 1, the herpesvirus that normally causes cold sores, according to Science. The virus in the gel has been modified such that it can no longer replicate in human cells. Instead, the virus acts as a vessel for two functional copies of COL7A1, the gene that codes for collagen VII.

During the recent trial, the researchers applied this gel to one wound on each participant over a 25-day period. They also applied a placebo gel to a different wound, for comparison. 

The wounds treated with the placebo healed and reopened or blistered again at varying rates throughout the trial, the team reported. In contrast, all but one of the wounds treated with the gene therapy closed within three months after the 25-day treatment period ended. The remaining treated wound closed and remained healed for eight months after a second round of treatment. 

Biopsies of the trial participants' skin suggested that their skin cells started making collagen VII as soon as nine days after the start of treatment, and for some, that protein production lasted for upward of three months, according to Stanford. That said, eventually, collagen VII degrades and the treated skin turns over, so in general, the gel would need to be periodically reapplied, Science reported.

The trial results were published Monday (March 28) in the journal Nature Medicine.

"It's not a permanent cure, but it's a way to really keep on top of the wounds," trial leader Dr. Peter Marinkovich, director of the Blistering Disease Clinic at Stanford Health Care and an associate professor of dermatology at the Stanford University School of Medicine, told Science. "It significantly improves patients' quality of life."

The results of a larger trial were recently announced by Krystal Biotech Inc., one of the trials' funders, but these results haven't been published in full yet. The company plans to apply for approval from the Food and Drug Administration within the year, according to Stanford.