The highlight of my trip to #ArabHealth was meeting Dr Mohammed Chand CEO of Diagnofirm Botswana, reminiscing about the legacy of his late dad the legendary Dr Iqbal Chand (d. June 2021) who independently re-established his own lab in 2001 after fall out with his SA partners…
Hearing Dr Iqbal Chand’s journey from his son Dr Mohammed, including how Diagnofirm Medical Laboratories started in 1990 then the partnership with SA lab group(s) in the 90s & the fallout by 2001 over financials that Dr Iqbal questioned was so profoundly touching & personal…
Even more awe-inspiring is how Dr Iqbal Chand after going on his own managed to independently restart Diagnofirm Medical Laboratories in 2001 then grew it to eclipse all other labs & became the biggest, most dominant & renowned lab player in Botswana …
Dr Iqbal Chand’s sudden death from a cardiac event in 2021 at a prime age of 59 years was a tragic loss to home-grown indigenous-owned laboratories in Botswana & Africa, but his succession planning with his son Dr Mohammed Chand who joined DML in 2018 was a big legacy in itself…
Having come in as a Medical Director in 2018 after training & working in SA, Dr Mohammed Chand oversaw a quadruple-digit growth in turnover of DML within 2-3 years, and his taking the helm was a natural succession as he continues to build on the legacy from strength to strength…
As Dr Mohammed Chand continues with a renewed visionary drive at DML, I am left with nothing but great admiration, utmost respect, deeply felt gratitude & best wishes from this opportunity of connecting in-person having been acquaintances through social media esp. via LinkedIn 🙏🏾
It’s flu season & based on information that I’ve received from lab colleagues testing swab samples for COVID-19 where the PCR test also detects influenza type A & B plus RSV, the unfolding increase in flu cases is caused by human influenza type A virus, while COVID-19 remains low
Past studies have shown that seasonality of influenza A and B in Kenya usually correspond to weather changes, while during the 2-year COVID-19 pandemic flu went down bc of masking & other public health measures but right now COVID-19 is down & seasonal flu is showing an uptick 😷
Whatever the cause of the ongoing spike in viral respiratory illnesses, and irrespective of whether it’s due to a surge in Flu A with or without rising COVID-19, the protective measures remain the same for all:
✔️Mask up 😷
✔️Isolate if ill 🤧
✔️Vaccinate esp. the vulnerable 💉
Today I had a great meeting over lunch with my friend and senior lawyer Donald B. Kipkorir who briefed me about the progress of my case that is currently in court filed in January this year, in which I’m suing for my shareholders rights & employment claims facebook.com/10001557736071…
The case was due to come up for Case Management today morning before the Trial Judge Hon. Justice Chacha Mwita, but now re-scheduled to 11-10-22 bc the Trial Judge went on annual leave 😳 @DonaldBKipkorir explained to me how such a delay is not unexpected in our judicial system
Donald also detailed to me the probable timelines with a hearing date expected sometime in 2023 followed by full determination thereafter, bar any unpredictable delays in between, which reminded me of the saying that “The wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine”
Daily Data for Hospitalization, ICU & Deaths vs Daily New Cases & Positivity Rate at corresponding points when the rolling 7-day average crossed 800 daily new confirmed cases for each respective wave in Kenya🇰🇪 indicate the 5th wave is far milder compared to previous waves👇🏾
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Whereas infection rate of the current Omicron 5th wave has rapidly surged with high positivity rates/intense community spread, the number of severe cases are relatively lower.
However, hospitalization & deaths are bound to rise as those lag behind a surging new caseload 🤞🏾
Despite Omicron being more highly infectious, causing reinfection & immune escape in the vaccinated, the fact that the majority of Kenyans already had prior exposure to COVID-19 has greatly contributed to the Omicron wave being relatively milder/less severe in the population
Though ALL the vaccines provide a significant degree of protection against serious illness from Omicron, only Pfizer & Moderna when reinforced by a booster appear to have success at stopping Omicron infection
The other shots — including those from AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson & vaccines manufactured in China and Russia — do little to nothing to stop the spread of Omicron, early research shows. AstraZeneca vaccine showed no ability to stop Omicron infection 6 months after vaccination
Demand for the J&J vaccine had been surging in Africa, because its single-shot delivery regimen makes it easy to deliver in low-resource settings. But it too has shown a negligible ability to block Omicron infection. So far Omicron appears to be less lethal than the Delta variant
@andrewsuleh@KEMRI_Kenya@MOH_Kenya@DrPatrickAmoth@LeonLidigu@alykhansatchu@YatichN I’m on record stating that the 5th wave is expected later in Oct ‘21 to peak towards the end of Nov ‘21 coinciding with the Oct-Nov flu season in Kenya. However I’ve also pointed out that based on very sound science, the 5th wave is expected to be much smaller than previous ones
@andrewsuleh@KEMRI_Kenya@MOH_Kenya@DrPatrickAmoth@LeonLidigu@alykhansatchu@YatichN We did call out the 4th wave early on before it surged as delta variant was starting to spread before the wave rose exponentially, but unfortunately that was downplayed in the early stages until it couldn’t be ignored. This time round with the 4th wave over things are different
@andrewsuleh@KEMRI_Kenya@MOH_Kenya@DrPatrickAmoth@LeonLidigu@alykhansatchu@YatichN Considering that we’ve now had 4 waves in KE with consequent high seroprevalence in the population denoting increased community immunity unlike ever before, any subsequent wave (5th…etc) will not cause as much havoc as previous waves when the population was naive immunity-wise
In the past two weeks @LancetKenya_PLK has undergone investigations & inspections by various government agencies including the National COVID-19 Command Centre, NPHL, KMPDC, KMLTTB & Departmental Committee of Health at Parliament on the matter of COVID-19 testing at our lab...1/n
The investigations & inspections included a very thorough audit by KMPDC who visited our Main Laboratory in Upper Hill on Tuesday 25-6-2020 for a detailed assessment of the Molecular/PCR lab & COVID-19 testing at @LancetKenya_PLK on instruction of the Ministry of Health...2/n
The team of inspectors from KMPDC comprised top technical experts in molecular & clinical pathology who conducted interviews of the laboratory personnel at @LancetKenya_PLK, examined the quality management systems for COVID-19 testing at the lab & reviewed test results ... 3/n