Soft corals at three sites in the U.S. Virgin Islands were able to recover from the destructive effects of nearly back-to-back Category 5 storms in 2017, but the story of these apparently hardy communities of colorful marine life is part of a larger, rapidly shifting narrative surrounding the future of coral reefs, according to a new study led by a University at Buffalo marine ecologist.

Sleep deprivation is so common around the world that it’s often shrugged off, making people “comfortable” with functioning on minimal sleep. According to the South African Society of Sleep Medicine, about 30 to 40% of South African adults suffer from insomnia.

A previous Health24 article mentions that there is no magic amount of sleep, and that different sleep needs depend on various factors, such as your age and your own personal basal need for sleep. However, on average, seven to eight hours is recommended to ensure your immune system doesn’t become compromised.

Sufficient sleep can boost your immune system

Sleep is critical to the immune system. Getting less than the recommended amount is not just detrimental to your physical health, but your brain health too. Sufficient sleep has been shown to boost the immune system, which can reduce our chances of developing chronic illness. 

A healthy immune system can fight off infection

Studies have shown that when we are completely deprived of sleep, our immune systems are severely compromised, as reported in a 2017 study. 

Another study monitored participants’ sleep patterns and found that those who were recorded as having less than five hours’ sleep per night had 4.5 times the risk of catching a cold, compared with those sleeping more than seven hours a night, according to the National Health Service (NHS).

Similarly, a University of California study also found that people who sleep six hours a night or less are four times more likely to catch a cold when exposed to the virus, compared to those who manage more than seven hours a night.

Australian sleep specialist Olivia Arezzolo told news.com.au that adults should aim for seven to nine hours of sleep per night in order to battle coronavirus.

“Evidence shows that lack of sleep impairs immunity: Studies show a 70% reduction in natural immune cells after only four to five hours of sleep,” she told the publication.

“As a result, you aren’t able to fight off contagious viruses, such as corona, as effectively. Fortunately, this reduction is amended as soon as you have sufficient sleep (seven to nine hours).”

The bottom line is that good, quality sleep is a natural immune booster and that focusing on your sleep habits is really one of the best ways to strengthen your immune system and fight off infection.

Slowing down

Feel like your health is deteriorating and your body is crashing? It might be that you’re losing at the sleep game and need to improve your sleep patterns. Here are some tips to sleep better at night:

• Stick to a regular bedtime, as much as you can.
• Avoid caffeine, alcohol and eating a couple of hours before going to bed.
• A bedroom that is aesthetically-pleasing, i.e. without clutter, will help create a more soothing environment and help you fall asleep faster.
• Limit your phone interaction time – bright light, particularly blue light from electronics and LED bulbs can disrupt your sleep. 

Apart from sleep, stress, diet and exercise, basic hygiene are also crucial for ensuring a healthy immune system. The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests the following tips to protect yourself against the Covid-19 virus:

• Wash your hands frequently and thoroughly with soap.
• Maintain a social distance of at least one metre between yourself and someone who is coughing or sneezing.
• Cover your mouth and nose with a bent elbow or a tissue when sneezing.
• If you display symptoms of the Covid-19 virus, seek medical help.

World Sleep Day® is an annual event and aims to raise awareness of sleep as a human privilege that is often compromised by the habits of modern life.

READ MORE | Coronavirus in SA: All the confirmed cases

READ MORE | Not getting enough sleep? You have plenty of company

READ MORE | What impact does getting less than 7 hours of sleep have on your body?

^{Image credit: iStock}

Compiled by Zakiyah Ebrahim

Infectious disease researchers at The University of Texas at Austin studying the novel coronavirus were able to identify how quickly the virus can spread, a factor that may help public health officials in their efforts at containment. They found that time between cases in a chain of transmission is less than a week and that more than 10% of patients are infected by somebody who has the virus but does not yet have symptoms.

It follows criticism of the government’s handling of the outbreak and confusion over its advice to the over-70s.

As the new coronavirus rapidly spreads around the world, scientists are still trying to figure out how exactly this virus will affect us.

A hot topic is whether climate and weather play a part in the spreading of the disease.

Surely it’s simply too hot in South Africa right now, and surely we can contain an outbreak before winter hits us?

Will the pandemic start flat-lining in the Northern Hemisphere as their spring arrives? Is the panic really necessary – isn’t it just flu after all?

Experts are hoping for the former – that the virus will start tapering off in spring, just like seasonal influenza. Nelson Michael, a leading US military medical researcher, said to CNN World: “This is a respiratory virus and they always give us trouble during cold weather, for obvious reasons. We are all inside, the windows are closed etc., so we typically call that the influenza or the flu season.”

We know that seasonal influenza tends to thrive in colder, drier conditions, hence the reason why people are hoping that the new coronavirus behaves like seasonal influenza. But is this new strain of virus climate sensitive?

What the evidence says

While there is some evidence to suggest that the coronavirus thrives in certain climates, it’s not enough to reach a definite conclusion.

A new study was published last week. In this research, a team from the University of Maryland and the University of Medical Sciences in Tehran used weather modelling to determine which regions were most likely to be at a high risk of transmission of the new coronavirus.

The study suggested that the ideal region would be between five and 11 degrees Celsius, with a humidity of between 50% and 80%.

This, however, doesn’t necessarily mean that warmer regions are less at risk of a severe outbreak.

Marc Lipssitch, an epidemiologist from Harvard, wrote that warmer weather is simply not enough to slow down the transmission of the virus. 

“New viruses have a temporary but important advantage – few or no individuals in the population are immune to them. Old viruses, which have been among the population for longer, operate on a thinner margin – most individuals are immune, and they have to make do with transmitting among the few who aren’t. In simple terms, viruses that have been around for a long time can make a living – spread through the population – only when the conditions are most favourable, in this case in winter,” he stated.

This means that new pandemic viruses are not affected by seasonality.

Is warmer weather generally better for health?

Even though we shouldn’t cling to the reassurance of temperature, it seems that spring and summer change the behaviour and thus the rate of transmission of a new virus.

When experts compare this new coronavirus to the virus that caused the SARS outbreak in 2003, there are similarities – this outbreak also started in the winter of the Northern Hemisphere and tapered off in July 2003.

David Cennimo, who studies infectious diseases at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, was quoted on CNN, saying that many experts “hope – and I think the correct word is hope – that the summer will push down the case numbers”. He, however, added that “the data from tropical countries may rain on this hope somewhat”.

While we remain unsure about the extent of the situation in South Africa, there is at least the good news that outbreaks in two of the countries that were initially worst hit, China and South Korea, are tapering off.

In the meantime, the best way to protect yourself is to limit travel to current high-risk areas, to wash your hands regularly and to avoid close contact with those who have travelled to high-risk areas. 

^{Image credit: CDC, Unsplash}

Compiled by Marelize Wilke

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday has called on South Africans to change their behaviour as the country fights the spread of the new coronavirus.

In his address to the nation, the president stressed the importance of good hygiene and changed behaviour to avoid spreading the virus.

“We are undertaking a mass communication campaign on good hygiene and effective prevention behaviour,” he said.

He said South Africans are called upon to:

• Wash their hands frequently with soap and water or hand sanitisers for at least 20 seconds; 

• Cover their nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing with tissue or flexed elbow; 

• Avoid close contact with anyone with cold or flu-like symptoms.

In essence, he said, “we are calling for a change of behaviour amongst all South Africans”.

“We must minimise physical contact with other people, and, encourage the elbow greeting rather than shaking hands.”

He said the priority must be to safeguard the health and well-being of all South Africans, to minimise the number of infections and to ensure all those infected get proper treatment.

Stop the fake news

As we battle the virus, he said, perhaps the greatest dangers to our country at this time are fear and ignorance.

“We must appreciate the extent of the threat that this disease presents, we must accept the anxiety that it causes, but we cannot allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by fear and panic.

“We should stop spreading fake and unverified news and create further apprehension and alarm.”

Collective effort

The president stressed that this needs to be a collective effort, to limit the spread and effect of the virus.

“While we are facing a medical emergency far graver than we have experienced in recent times, we are not helpless.

“We have the knowledge, the means and the resources to fight this disease.

“If we act swiftly, with purpose and collectively, we can limit the effects of the coronavirus on our people and our country,” he said.

Although fighting the spread of the virus requires us to limit contact, he said the situation had the potential to bring us closer together.

“We are responding as a united nation to a common threat. This national emergency demands cooperation, collaboration and common action.

“More than that, it requires solidarity, understanding and compassion,” President Ramaphosa said

READ | Coronavirus in SA: President confirms first local transmission in the country

READ | Coronavirus in SA: All the confirmed cases

READ | Kids still get the coronavirus – even if symptoms are mostly mild

READ | Coronavirus 101: Here’s what you need to know

^{Image credit: Getty Images}

Compiled by Bevan Lakay

Family doctors are gearing up for a major increase in coronavirus in the community. How will they cope?

As the UK death toll hits 35, officials say some people will be asked to stay home for “a very long time”.

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday said he was worried about the first confirmed local transmission of coronavirus in the country.

In his address to the nation, the president also confirmed that total number of confirmed cases in the country were now at 61.

“Initially, it was people who had travelled out of the country, especially from Italy, who had positively tested for the virus.

“It is concerning that we are now dealing with internal transmission of the virus”, he said.

President Ramaphosa also said that on the back of the number of cases rising to 61, the expectation is that the total is expected to rise in the coming days and weeks.

No country is immune

Addressing the nation, he referred to the situation as “a matter of great national importance”.

“The world is facing a medical emergency far graver than what we have experienced in over a century,” he said, as he started his speech.

“Given the scale and the speed at which the virus is spreading, it is now clear that no country is immune from the disease or will be spared its severe impact.

“Never before in the history of our democracy has our country been confronted with such a severe situation,” he added.

Wits case awaiting NICD confirmation

In his address, the president also mentioned a Wits University student who had tested positive for the virus.

Earlier on Sunday, News24 reported the Department of Health as saying that the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) was conducting a “confirmatory test” on the specimen of a Wits University student who had tested positive for the Covid-19 virus.

On Sunday, the tertiary institution said the medical student had tested positive for the virus, despite not showing any symptoms of the virus.

The university’s senior executive made the announcement in an email circulated to staff and students on Sunday. 

The student had been in self-isolation since Wednesday – a precaution taken by the university while they waited on his test results.

The student was tested last week, and results came back positive on Sunday afternoon.

The department said the test had been conducted by a private laboratory.

Classes cancelled

“As previously announced by the Minister of Health, on receiving positive results from a private laboratory, the NICD will conduct a retest in order to confirm and validate the results before they are released,” the statement read.

The department added that it would make a formal announcement once the NICD’s results were available.

The Wits senior executive team said the student was “asymptomatic and attended classes last Monday and Tuesday, without knowledge that the student had contracted the virus”.

The university’s statement added that the institution had since taken an immediate decision to cancel all contact classes for the Graduate Medical Programme 1 (MMBBCh 3 classes). The programme will continue online.

The university has also instructed students in the programme to immediately go into self-isolation for 14 days.

“The Faculty is personally reaching out to each of the 350 students who could be affected. They will receive the full support of the Faculty, including the requisite monitoring and testing,” the executive team said.

Dean of Students Jerome September would be making arrangements for students in residences who required self-isolation.

READ | Coronavirus in SA: President confirms first local transmission in the country

READ | Coronavirus in SA: All the confirmed cases

READ | Kids still get the coronavirus – even if symptoms are mostly mild

READ | Coronavirus 101: Here’s what you need to know

^{Image credit: Getty Images}

Compiled by Bevan Lakay