World News

Brazil’s social inequality | Untapped arsenal in antibody drugs

Posted by: The Conversation Global

Date: Thursday, 02 July 2020

 

Brazil, Latin America’s largest country now has the second highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world. This dire situation, as Alfredo Saad Filho argues, is partly due to Brazil’s social inequality - a quarter of the population live in poverty and have insufficient access to healthcare - and President Jair Bolsonaro’s inconsistent emergency response.

Meanwhile, in the global battle against coronavirus, scientists are exploiting a previously untapped arsenal: antibody drugs. As their name suggests, these medicines are derived from antibodies made by immune systems. Lara Marks explains that these drugs could not only help quell the inflammation caused by COVID-19, but also confer a degree of immunity among people at high risk of exposure.

Rob Reddick

Commissioning Editor, COVID-19

EPA-EFE

Coronavirus: how Brazil became the second worst affected country in the world

Alfredo Saad Filho, SOAS, University of London

Inequality, confused responses and a disbelieving leader have all contributed to a crisis that's showing no signs of slowing down.

Julien Warnand/EPA

Coronavirus: the antibody drugs few people have been discussing – until now

Lara Marks, University of Cambridge

Vaccines and antivirals aren't the only game in town.

Politics + Society

Indigenous and Afro-Brazilian lands are under greater threat in Brazil during COVID-19

Elielson Pereira da Silva, Federal University of Pará; Diana Cordoba, Queen's University, Ontario

Jair Bolsonaro's government has put forward laws that could put Indigenous land into the hands of mining, agricultural and timber businesses.

Nairobi’s street names reveal what those in power want to remember, or forget

Melissa Wanjiru-Mwita, Université de Genève

In independent Kenya, road renaming happened to erase the names of the colonisers and to celebrate the new heroes: Kenya's political leaders and freedom fighters.

Science + Technology

What primates can teach us about managing arguments during lockdown

Nicola F. Koyama, Liverpool John Moores University

Primates have evolved behavioural strategies that can minimise the risk and costs of conflict.

Days with both extreme heat and extreme air pollution are becoming more common – which can’t be a good thing for global health

Yangyang Xu, Texas A&M University ; Xiaohui Xu, Texas A&M University

In South Asia, days with both extreme heat and extreme pollution are expected to increase 175% by 2050. Separately, the health effects are bad; together they will likely be worse.

COVID-19

Which drugs and therapies are proven to work, and which ones don’t, for COVID-19?

William Petri, University of Virginia

During the last six months, news reports have mentioned dozens of drugs that may be effective against the new coronavirus. Here we lay out the evidence and reveal which ones are proven to work. Or not.

Coronavirus measures give Bangladeshi workers for global clothing chains a stark choice: disease or starvation

Muhammad Azizul Islam, University of Aberdeen

Coronavirus has revealed the extreme plight of Bangladeshi factory workers.

En Français

Policer la police : de la théorie à la pratique

Stéphane Lemercier, Université de Montpellier

La police française doit se doter d’outils de régulation plus performants que ceux déjà existants. Comment et par qui est-elle contrôlée ? Qu’en est-il des polices étrangères ? Analyse.

Que sait-on des auteurs de violences sexuelles entre étudiants ?

Robert Courtois, Université de Tours; Catherine Potard, Université d'Angers; Philippe Allain, Université d'Angers

Les violences sexuelles touchent environ 30 % de la population étudiante. Si l’on ne peut pas dresser de portrait type de leurs auteurs, certains facteurs favorisent les risques d’agressions.

En español

¿A quién le importa? Pío del Río Hortega, orgullo y ciencia

Elena Lázaro, Universidad de Córdoba

El vallisoletano Pío del Río Hortega fue una de las personas que más ha aportado al avance de la neurociencia. La autora contextualiza científica, social y políticamente su trabajo y su persona, poniendo el foco en su orientación sexual.

El poder del refrán ayer y hoy: ‘Cuando las barbas de tu vecino veas pelar…’

Sonia Gómez-Jordana Ferary, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

A partir del refrán latino sobre la casa del vecino en llamas, surgió en la Edad Media esta versión ibérica y "barbuda". Se ha usado a lo largo de la historia como potente amenaza, y no ha perdido su fuerza.

 
 
 
 
 
 

6ይ ክፋል: ማዕበል ስርሒት ፈንቅል - የካቲት 1990 - ሰነዳዊት ፊልም| sirihit fenkil 1990 - part 6 - ERi-TV Documentary

Dehai Events