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Babies whose mothers were vaccinated against respiratory syncytial virus had less need for drugs against bacterial infections Health 14 March 2022 By Clare Wilson A mother and baby Prostock-studio / Alamy A vaccine against a virus that causes chest infections in young babies has an unexpected effect – it cuts the number of antibiotics given … Read more
COVID-19 CDC relaxes guidance on wearing masks in public The often-acrimonious U.S. debate over wearing masks entered a new phase last week when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) loosened its guidance and suggested about 70% of the population could jettison them. The turnabout comes as the Omicron wave ebbs and scientists consider … Read more
COVID-19 Africa builds mRNA vaccine capacity The drive to help African countries produce vaccines with messenger RNA (mRNA) technology got big boosts last week from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the company BioNTech. The success of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines made by the Pfizer-BioNTech collaboration and Moderna led to intense global demand, but African countries … Read more
For decades a global economic system based on the conversion of nature into profit has been accelerating inequality, environmental destruction and climate change. Hundreds of millions of people are vulnerable to (seemingly) natural disasters, including pandemics caused by the emergence of novel pathogens. By exacerbating xenophobic nationalism and precipitating vaccine apartheid, COVID-19 has intensified these … Read more
Between November 2020 and February 2021, Facebook introduced policies to cut down on misinformation related to covid-19 vaccines, but they only worked for about six months Technology 15 February 2022 By Chris Stokel-Walker As part of its policy on covid-19 misinformation, Facebook removed posts with false claims about vaccines Sipa US/Alamy Policies put in place … Read more
Josh Fischman: Hi, and welcome to COVID, Quickly, a Scientific American podcast series. This is your fast-track update on the COVID pandemic. We bring you up to speed on the science behind the most urgent questions about the virus and the disease. We demystify the research and help you understand what it really means. I’m Josh … Read more
New research gives a stark warning to richer nations that have been hoarding their supplies of COVID-19 vaccines: Doing so only has a short-term local benefit, and in the longer term leaves everyone more vulnerable to infection. Across a five-year model, scientists found that when rich countries gave away 46 percent of their COVID-19 … Read more
Late last year, studies showed that third shots (boosters) of COVID vaccines were effective at providing a little extra protection from infection — particularly in the face of the Omicron variant. Some countries are now offering fourth doses, but scientists say that endless boosting might not be a viable strategy, nor is it how these vaccines were … Read more
The coronavirus is evolving to become more transmissible, and eventually it could even overtake measles, the most contagious virus we know of Health 26 January 2022 By Alice Klein An illustration of SARS-CoV-2 Gerd Altmann/Pixabay Over the past two years, we have witnessed evolution in action, with new variants of the coronavirus becoming increasingly contagious. … Read more
George Franklin III is one of the longest-surviving kidney transplant recipients in the U.S. Now 67, he received his lifesaving surgery 46 years ago, which has enabled him to lead a healthy and active life—swimming, bowling, visiting friends and even competing in a sporting tournament known as the International Transplant Games. But since the beginning … Read more