THE National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) is currently conducting nine studies to get to the root of the virus that caused Covid-19 within the local context and support the search for a vaccine, it was announced yesterday.
NIMR Director General Prof Yunus Mgaya made the revelation in Dar es Salaam yesterday during a media briefing on Madagascar’s Covid Organics (CVO).
“Immediately after the first coronavirus case was announced in the country, we commenced research on the epidemiology of the disease in which we also scrutinise symptoms peculiar to Tanzania to those noted in patients in other countries,” he said.
Prof Mgaya said as directed by the Deputy Minister for Health, Dr Faustine Ndugulile, they will look into other symptoms in addition to the typical ones such as cough, flu, fever, headache and body aches earlier identified by World Health Organisation (WHO).
In a recent study, loss of smell and taste has been anecdotally linked to Covid-19.
He said other research they are running include knowledge, attitude and practices, another one is on HIV positive patients and people with conditions such as hypertension and diabetes to examine to what extent they are affected by coronavirus.
Read more: https://dailynews.co.tz/news/2020-05-105eb799e40baf1
