News
How To Check Malaria By Urinating On A Stick, Researcher Reveal
New research has shown you don’t have to go through the pain of a needle prick to test if you have malaria—you can just pee on a stick.
In a clinical trial, published in the journal of Clinical Microbiology this November, researchers set up the newly-introduced urine malaria test (UMT) against standard tests for malaria across six Lagos hospitals.
Their aim was to compare how sensitive UMT was to the malaria parasite, and whether it could specifically a case of fever as being linked to the presence of the malaria.
They enrolled 1,691 people over age two for the study. Some 566 of them already had higher than 37.5-degree-centigrade fevers and 1,125 did not have a fever but reported a history of fever in the previous 48 hours.
Among all participants combined, UMT detected malaria in 419 people, compared with 341 who tested positive in microscopy tests or other standard tests.
Among patients who actually had a fever, UMT detected malaria in 231 people, compared by 204 cases detected by microscopy.
Among 566 patients who had fever, UMT was sensitive in 85 out of every 100 cases and specific in 84% of them.
It was even more sensitive and specific among children under age five, comparable to figures obtained for standard existing tests, the researchers found.
They said testing for malaria using urine performed better among patients with a fever, who are its intended targets—and is so specific, chances of it not catching a malaria parasite is about four in 100.
“The UMT is the first non-invasive malaria test clinically evaluated on a large scale at the population and community levels,” the researchers reported.
“This indicates that the UMT could aid in the clinical management of suspected malaria cases. For example, upon receiving a negative UMT result for a suspected malaria case, the clinician now knows this patient’s probability of having malaria parasites detectable by microscopy is unlikely – only 4%. In contrast, a positive UMT result would indicate the probability of detecting malaria parasites in this patient by microscopy is 59%.”
Credit: dailytrust
News
OpenAI chief, Sam Altman, debunks sister’s sexual abuse accusations
Open AI CEO Sam Altman on Tuesday denied allegations from his sister Annie Altman, who has filed a complaint accusing him of childhood sexual abuse.
“…Annie has made deeply hurtful and entirely untrue claims about our family, especially Sam,” the boss of the California startup said in a letter co-signed by his mother and two brothers, and published on social platform X.
“Our family loves Annie and is very concerned about her well-being. Caring for a family member who faces mental health challenges is incredibly difficult,” they wrote.
One of Silicon Valley’s more charismatic figures, Altman shot to global fame with the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, which ignited a race to advance AI research and development.
A prolific entrepreneur and already a billionaire, Altman, 39, has set himself the mission of developing a so-called “general” AI, with cognitive abilities similar to those of humans and which “benefits all of humanity”.
The Altman family said that they have tried to help their daughter and sister, covering her expenses and guaranteeing her “monthly financial support, which we expect to continue for the rest of her life”.
“Despite this, Annie continues to demand more money from us,” they said, pointing out that they have decided to respond publicly following Anne’s legal complaint filed on Monday, and after years of tension.
“The worst allegation she has made is that she was sexually abused by Sam as a child,” said the family.
“Her claims have evolved drastically over time. Newly for this lawsuit, they now include allegations of incidents where Sam was over 18.
“All these claims are utterly untrue.”
According to the complaint, Annie — who is nine years younger than Sam Altman — alleges the assaults took place from 1997, when she was three, until 2006.
In a report for New York Magazine in 2023, a journalist who met Annie in Hawaii described her as an artist suffering from depression and the growing rift with her family and supporting herself mainly through online sex work.
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ICPC files money laundering charge against el-Rufai’s ex-commissioner
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has charged Muhammad Sa’idu, a former commissioner during the administration of Nasir el-Rufai, ex-governor of Kaduna, to court over alleged money laundering.
TheCable reported that the Kaduna police command arrested Sa’idu over a petition for alleged diversion of public funds.
Osuobeni Akponimisingha, the ICPC’s assistant legal officer, filed the case against the former commissioner on Tuesday at the federal high court in Kaduna.
Sa’idu served as the commissioner of local government affairs, chief of staff, and commissioner of finance during the administration of el-Rufai.
The ICPC dismissed an earlier claim that Saidu had been exonerated of all charges after 10 months of investigation.
The former commissioner is charged alongside Ibrahim Muktar, a staff in the ministry of finance.
According to the suit No. FHC/KD/IC/2025, the defendants are charged on a two-count charge of money laundering.
“Sometime in March 2022 or thereabouts, Alhaji Muhammad Bashir Saidu, who at that time commissioner of finance, did accept cash payment of the sum of N155m from one Ibrahim Muktar exceeding the amount authorised by law, which sum you received in cash through proxy to wit: Muazu Abdu, your Special Assistant and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section2(a) and punishable under the Section 19(d) of the Money Laundering(Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022,” the charge sheet reads.
The ICPC also alleged that within the same period, Saidu “indirectly took control of the sum of N155m received in cash for and on behalf of you by one Muazu Abdul from Ibrahim Muktar, which he reasonably ought to have known, formed part of the proceeds of an unlawful activity to wit: corruption and you hereby committed an offence contrary to section 18(2)(d) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering(Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022”.
The anti-graft agency noted that section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 states that “any person who contravenes the provisions of subsection(2) is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than four years but not more than fourteen years or a fine not less than five times the value of the proceeds of the crime or both”.
News
NBS website still down three weeks after hack
The website of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) — www.nigerianstat.gov.ng — has remained inaccessible for three weeks after it was hacked.
Checks by TheCable on Monday showed that the website can not be reached according to feedback from the landing page.
Efforts to reach Ichedi Sunday, head of communications at the NBS, were unsuccessful.
The website breach was confirmed by the NBS on December 18, 2024, in a post published on X.
In the post, NBS asked members of the public to ignore any report published on its website until it recovers the website.
The hack was reported a day after the NBS published its crime experience and security perception survey.
In the report, the NBS said Nigerians paid N2.23 trillion as ransom in one year between May 2023 and April 2024.
NBS indicated that an estimated 51.89 million crime incidents were recorded across Nigerian households during the period.
The report said the north-west recorded the highest crime incidents estimated to be over 14 million, while the south-east has the least with over six million cases.
According to the publication, the crime incidence in the rural area (26,526,069) was higher than that of the urban area (25,360,963).
On December 19, reports emerged that the Department of State Services (DSS) invited Adeniran Adeyemi, statistician-general of the federation, for questioning on the report.
However, NBS denied the report, saying that no invitation or arrest had occurred.
Since the bureau confirmed the hack, NBS has not provided further updates on the restoration of its website or any progress in addressing the hacking incident.
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