Covid-19 news: Deaths and new infections are declining, say WHO

By Michael Le Page, Clare Wilson, Jessica Hamzelou, Sam Wong, Graham Lawton, Adam Vaughan, Conrad Quilty-Harper, Jason Arunn Murugesu, Layal Liverpool, Carissa Wong, Alex Wilkins and Alexandra Thompson Students queuing up for covid-19 nucleic acid tests, Qingdao, Shandong province, China Wei Zhe/VCG via Getty Images Latest coronavirus news as of 12pm 9 March Covid deaths … Read more

Australia floods: Record rainfall in Queensland driven by La Niña and climate change

A slow-moving low-pressure system has dropped 790 millimetres of rain on Brisbane in one week, causing floods that have claimed eight lives Environment 28 February 2022 By Alice Klein A flooded street in Milton, a suburb of Brisbane PATRICK HAMILTON/AFP/AFP via Getty Images Record-breaking rain on the east coast of Australia over the past week … Read more

Pet dogs really do grieve the deaths of other dogs they live with

Nearly all dogs that lose a “companion” dog from the same household show behaviours like going off their food and seeking more human attention Life 24 February 2022 By Clare Wilson Dogs show grief-like behaviour when another dog from their home dies Edwin Tan/Getty Images Pet owners may have long suspected it, but now a … Read more

Personalised medicine: Australia aims to end childhood cancer deaths

An Australian plan to eliminate childhood cancer deaths using personalised medicine will be made available to all Australian children with the condition from 2023 Health 15 February 2022 By Alice Klein DNA sequencing helps offer a personalised approach to cancer Getty Images/iStockphoto An ambitious Australian programme to use personalised medicine to reduce the number of children … Read more

Geneticists find clues to sudden unexplained child deaths | Science

In 1997, Laura Gould put her 15-month-old daughter, Maria, down for a nap and returned to find her unresponsive. She had died suddenly, with no clues to explain the tragedy besides a fever the night before. When her daughter’s body was sent to the medical examiner’s office, “I thought they’d call me in an hour … Read more

North America Could Expect Over 1 Million More Opioid Deaths by 2029

A new analysis from researchers at Stanford University and the scientific journal, The Lancet, has revealed a large number of Americans and Canadians are still becoming addicted to prescription opioids each year.   Without “urgent interventions“, the members of the Stanford-Lancet Commission estimate this deepening disaster could claim the lives of up to 1.2 million people … Read more

Covid-19 news: Third wave sees continued ethnic disparities in deaths

By Michael Le Page, Clare Wilson, Jessica Hamzelou, Sam Wong, Graham Lawton, Adam Vaughan, Conrad Quilty-Harper, Jason Arunn Murugesu and Layal Liverpool A covid-19 vaccination centre at St Thomas’ Hospital in London, England Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Latest coronavirus news as of 12pm on 27 January People in England from some ethnic backgrounds … Read more

Covid-19 news: Strain on health services led to extra non-covid deaths

By Michael Le Page, Clare Wilson, Jessica Hamzelou, Sam Wong, Graham Lawton, Adam Vaughan, Conrad Quilty-Harper, Jason Arunn Murugesu and Layal Liverpool A volunteer paints hearts on the national covid-19 memorial, London, England Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Latest coronavirus news as of 11am on 25 January Deteriorating standards in healthcare were responsible for … Read more

The 3rd Leading Global Cause of Death Is Likely Not What You Think, New Study Reveals

Antibiotic resistance is often seen as a ‘future problem’, but newly published data have revealed it’s affecting far, far more lives than you might imagine. In fact, the new estimates show that in 2019, there were 4.95 million deaths associated with bacterial antimicrobial resistance, making it the third leading cause of death worldwide.   Drugs … Read more

2021 saw record temperatures and deaths from natural disasters, NASA, NOAA reveal

2021 was another record-setting year, ranking as the sixth hottest year on record. Following a trend, these past eight years have also been the eight hottest years on record, experts revealed Thursday (Jan. 13). In an annual call to discuss climate change and the year’s climate data, experts from NASA and NOAA (the National Oceanic … Read more