Officers seized counterfeit coronavirus test kits at Los Angeles International Airport Saturday, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

A package arrived at LAX from the United Kingdom and was labeled “Purified Water Vials,” according to a CBP news release.

Officers found six plastic bags containing vials filled with a white liquid and labeled “Corona Virus 2019nconv (COVID-19)” and “Virus1 Test Kit” inside.

CBP director of field operations in L.A. Carlos Martel said it was a “significant interception, at a time when the U.S. is in the midst of a National Emergency.”

Authorities did not provide information on where the vials were headed.

The shipment was turned over to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for analysis.

Testing for the novel coronavirus can only be conducted at verified laboratories across the United States and the kits would not be available for purchase online or at brick and mortar shops.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provide COVID-19 test kits to public health laboratories across the country and the FDA provides them to commercial labs, according to the CDC.

“The American public should be aware of bogus home testing kits for sale either online or in informal direct to consumer settings,” CBP said in the news release.

On Friday Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer and county District Attorney Jackie Lacey warned residents of false advertisements for fake coronavirus cures, treatments and vaccines.

The officials promised to crack down on scams and close down fraudulent businesses.

L.A. County residents were encouraged to call 213-978-8340 to report scams or price gouging.

via: https://ktla.com/news/local-news/fake-coronavirus-test-kits-seized-at-lax/

Photo Credit: pix11.com

(CNN) — A Seattle woman who says she had the coronavirus and is recovering has one “big takeaway” to share: Don’t panic.

Elizabeth Schneider, 37, believes she contracted the virus at a house party because a few days later, several friends who were at the party became ill at the same time she did.

Three days after the February 22 party, Schneider says, she was at work when she started feeling unwell.

She was “feeling tired, body aches, getting a headache, feeling a little bit feverish,” so she decided to go home, Schneider told CNN’s Erin Burnett.

She woke up from a nap with a 101 degree fever, and “by the time I went to bed, it had soared to 103 degrees,” Schneider said.

Schneider said she thought she had a nasty flu. It didn’t occur to her that it could be the coronavirus because the symptoms didn’t fit — she didn’t have a cough, no shortness of breath, no respiratory symptoms at all.

The “aha” moment didn’t come until she found out that about a dozen friends who’d been to the same party got sick “at the exact same day, roughly around the same time in the evening, with very similar symptoms.”

The Seattle area is the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the US. Of the 1,635 cases reported in the country since the Covid-19 first appeared in January, 457 of them are in Washington, including 41 deaths.

Still, Schneider and her friends weren’t tested for the coronavirus, she said. Their doctors thought they had the flu, but the flu tests were negative.Take Control of Cold and Flu SymptomsA Warm Wave of Relief in Every CupAd By TherafluSee More

“At this point, we were all getting a little frustrated that they weren’t allowed to be tested for coronavirus, or the doctor wasn’t even suggesting” they be tested for it, Schneider said.

So, one of her friends told her about a Seattle flu study. Participants sign up online and send in a nasal swab from a kit that’s part of the study. Recently, she said, they started testing for coronavirus, too, and “that’s how I ultimately found out.”

Schneider said she recovered after staying home, resting and taking over-the-counter medications.

“I think the big takeaway I want to tell everyone is: Please don’t panic,” Schneider said. “If you are healthy, if you are younger, if you take good care of yourself when you’re sick, you will recover, I believe. And I’m living proof of that.”

Schneider, though, had age and otherwise good health on her side. For the elderly or people with underlying health conditions, such as heart disease or diabetes, Covid-19 can be — and has been — deadly, health officials say.

“The grim reality is that, for the elderly, Covid-19 is almost a perfect killing machine,” American Health Care Association President Mark Parkinson told CNN this week.

Some states are restricting visits to nursing homes and assisted living facilities in an effort to stem the spread of the disease to that vulnerable population. Nursing homes in Washington state, for example, have been instructed to limit visitors as coronavirus cases spread across 11 facilities in the state.

via: https://www.kmov.com/news/here-s-what-this-us-coronavirus-survivor-in-seattle-learned/article_52e06f7a-652d-11ea-8a6f-8ba31daed063.html

Photo Credit: kmov.com/CNN

(CNN) — The second person ever to be cured of HIV is still free of active virus more than two years on, a study published by medical journal The Lancet HIV revealed on Tuesday.

Two and a half years ago, Adam Castillejo — previously identified as the “London patient” — finished HIV antiretroviral therapy.

He underwent a stem cell transplant to treat lymphoma and his donor carried a mutation known as CCR5-delta 32, which made him resistant to HIV.

Researchers said that in treating his lymphoma, they believe Castillejo, now 41, was cured of HIV.

HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a life-long viral infection that attacks the body’s immune system and can have significant health consequences. There is no widely available cure, however, the virus is treatable with a combination of drugs known as antiretroviral therapy that reduces the amount of virus in a person’s blood and it is preventable by using PrEP, which was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2012.

According to UNAids there were 37.9 million people globally living with HIV in 2018.

“Our findings show that the success of stem cell transplantation as a cure for HIV, first reported nine years ago in the Berlin patient, can be replicated,” said Ravindra Gupta, lead author of the study and a professor in University of Cambridge’s clinical microbiology department.

Unlike the Berlin patient — identified later as Timothy Ray Brown — Castillejo underwent only one stem-cell transplantation instead of two and did not have radiotherapy to his entire body as part of his treatment.

Castillejo represents a step toward a less intensive treatment approach, the authors said.

Still, given the invasive nature of the experimental treatment, the authors caution its widespread use.The Pismo SneakerLuxurious comfort without sacrificing style. What makes an UGG sneaker one of a kind?Ad By UGGSee More

“It is important to note that this curative treatment is high-risk, and only used as a last resort for patients with HIV who also have life-threatening haematological malignancies,” Gupta said. “Therefore, this is not a treatment that would be offered widely to patients with HIV who are on successful antiretroviral treatment.”

Since Castillejo is only the second reported patient to undergo this experimental treatment successfully, the authors note that he will require continued, but much less frequent, monitoring for re-emergence of the virus.

Sharon Lewin, director of the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity at the University of Melbourne, said that the case was an “exciting advance” but should be viewed in context.

“It’s hard to know if this is a cure, only time will tell, but this is looking very promising,” Lewin said in a statement sent to CNN.

“This case is an exciting advance, but we need to also place it in context — curing people of HIV via a bone marrow transplant is just not a viable option on any kind of scale. We need to constantly reiterate the importance of, prevention, early testing and treatment adherence as the pillars of the current global response to HIV/AIDS. And maintain the search for an HIV cure,” she added.

In an interview with the New York Times, Castillejo said that he decided to reveal his identity after years of difficult treatments and moments of despair.

“This is a unique position to be in, a unique and very humbling position,” Castillejo told the newspaper. “I want to be an ambassador of hope.”

Kat Smithson, director of policy at the National AIDS Trust, applauded Castillejo for sharing his experience, adding that there is a stigma around HIV which can make it difficult for some people to seek help.

“His story helps raise much-needed awareness of HIV, but broader than that it’s a story about incredible resilience, determination and hope,” she said in a statement to CNN.

via: https://www.kmov.com/second-person-cured-of-hiv-is-still-free-of-active/article_07937606-84e9-5afb-a801-94f319f797bb.html

Photo Credit: CDC

Soulja Boy chose the right time to invest in a soap company.

The 29-year-old rapper recently revealed that he and manager Miami Mike invested in a Mississippi franchise of The Soap Shop and sources told TMZ that the store’s profits have tripled amid the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Soap Shop corporation, which sells hand soap, dish detergent, and other cleaning products that people are snatching up amid the COVID-19 outbreak, has gone from selling 100 bottles of cleaning products a month to well-over 3,000 bottles, according to the website. That means the bubbly biz has seen a “record-setting” 3,000 percent increase.

The “Crank That” artist recently explained that he invested in The Soap Shop to mix things up.

“It’s just different businesses … once you get into the music industry, you know, branch out, do different stuff like try different things. Try different business ventures,” he told “The Breakfast Club” earlier this week. “Everybody needs soap.”

The Soap Shop also gives back to the community by benefiting local kids through Soulja’s charity called Bubbles for Cash.

Reps did not immediately respond to our request for comment.

Now that experts warn against human contact, Soulja was definitely onto something when he sang, “Kiss Me Through The Phone.”

via: https://pagesix.com/2020/03/12/soulja-boys-soap-company-triples-profits-amid-coronavirus-pandemic/?_ga=2.216453269.203279715.1583974327-2078301105.1521480554

Photo Credit: pagesix.com