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In the first year of the pandemic, covid-19 became one of the leading causes of death in the US. The country also had the biggest drop in life expectancy than any other Health 22 December 2021 By Jason Arunn Murugesu In America: Remember, an art installation in Washington, DC, memorialising those who have died in … Read more
By Michael Le Page and Graham Lawton People queue for vaccinations at St Thomas’ Hospital in London Dan Kitwood/Getty Images The world is facing a surge in hospitalisations and deaths from the omicron variant of the coronavirus that could be as bad as in previous waves, even if omicron is only a third as severe … Read more
By Clare Wilson Positive and negative rapid lateral flow tests Anna Mente/Shutterstock With the omicron variant of the coronavirus on the rise, regular testing has become even more important, particularly as people decide whether to socialise during the Christmas period. Here’s everything you need to know about testing. What is the difference between a lateral … Read more
Flushing trillions of tiny oxygen bubbles through the rectum increases blood oxygen in pigs and could be an alternative to ventilation for people with damaged lungs Health 15 December 2021 By Michael Le Page Pigs recover from low blood oxygen levels after bubbles are injected into their rectum Tyler Stableford Photography/Getty Images The injection of … Read more
Two doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine shot offered about 70 percent protection against hospitalization during a recent surge in Omicron cases in South Africa, preliminary real-world data found. This was a drop from about 92 percent in a previous Delta wave, the researchers from Discovery Health, South Africa’s largest insurer and South Africa’s Medical Research Council, said … Read more
The festive season will be dominated by a large wave of covid-19 infections caused by the omicron variant, but few countries appear to have substantially changed their plans Health 13 December 2021 By Michael Le Page A shop window in Tehran, Iran Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images There now seems little doubt that the Christmas … Read more
Evidence suggests that vaccine booster programmes can take people’s covid-19 protection to unexpectedly high levels, but we don’t yet know how effective existing vaccines will be against the omicron variant Health 30 November 2021 By Clare Wilson A road sign in Buckinghamshire, UK, in mid-November Maureen McLean/Shutterstock While the emergence of the omicron variant has caused concern worldwide, … Read more
Vaccine-makers are already adapting vaccines to fight the omicron coronavirus variant, but it will probably already have swept the world by the time these arrive Health | Analysis 30 November 2021 By Michael Le Page A health worker holds a vial of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine CHAMILA KARUNARATHNE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Is omicron better at evading existing vaccines than … Read more
US biotech company Moderna on Friday announced promising data from an early-stage human trial of its mRNA flu shot, based on the same technology used in its successful COVID-19 vaccine. The experimental flu shot was found to be safe, and successfully evoked high levels of antibodies in 180 people at all dosage levels, in … Read more
Compared with other high-income countries, the UK has been slow to approve and roll out covid-19 vaccines to teenagers, prompting concerns over long covid and the new omicron variant Health 3 December 2021 By Clare Wilson Children at a school in Cardiff, UK, in September Matthew Horwood/Getty Images For the first few months of this … Read more