Author: Claudinne Miller
A Major Clue to COVID’s Origins Is Just Out of Reach
The Atlantic A key set of data could shore up the case for a purely animal origin. So why aren’t scientists sharing it? Last week, the ongoing debate about COVID-19’s origins acquired a new plot twist. A French evolutionary biologist stumbled across a trove of genetic sequences extracted from swabs collected from surfaces at a […]
Mar 21, 2023
COVID-origins study links raccoon dogs to Wuhan market: what scientists think
Nature Some scientists say the analysis provides new evidence supporting the hypothesis that the virus that causes COVID-19 spilled over from an animal — but falls short of definitive proof. Raccoon dogs, bamboo rats, palm civets: these are just some of the animals whose DNA has been found in swabs taken from the Huanan Seafood […]
Mar 21, 2023
First birds, now mammals: how H5N1 is killing thousands of sea lions in Peru
Guardian Avian flu has decimated the marine creatures on the country’s Pacific coastline and scientists fear it could be jumping from mammal to mammal. t first, it appears to be dead. Its head lies in the sand, and a small tide pool has formed around it. Its shoulder blades jut out and its coffee and […]
Mar 21, 2023
Dr. Anthony Fauci Would Like to Set the Record Straight
Rolling Stone Magazine Famed immunologist who led the nation’s COVID response talks new PBS doc, Trump and Fox News, gain-of-function research, the lab-leak theory, and more EVERYONE SEEMS TO have an opinion about Dr. Anthony Fauci. For those on the left, the famed physician and immunologist who led America’s Covid-19 response under presidents Trump and Biden is a […]
Mar 21, 2023
Study finds co-infection with ‘superbug’ bacteria increases SARS-CoV-2 replication
Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry Global data shows nearly 10 per cent of severe COVID-19 cases involve a secondary bacterial co-infection – with Staphylococcus aureus, also known as Staph A., being the most common organism responsible for co-existing infections with SARS-CoV-2. Researchers at Western have found if you add a ‘superbug’ – methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus […]
Mar 21, 2023
FDA May Authorize Additional Covid-19 Booster Shots
WSJ Agency officials could make the decision on clearing another round for people at high risk within a few weeks. Federal health regulators are nearing a decision on whether to authorize a second round of the Omicron-targeted booster shots for the elderly and other people at high-risk of severe Covid-19, people familiar with the agency’s deliberations said. […]
Mar 21, 2023
Tanzania reports a Marburg outbreak, Africa’s second this year
STAT News Africa is grappling with not one, but two outbreaks of Marburg fever, a disease that causes symptoms and a death rate comparable to Ebola, its viral cousin. Health officials in Tanzania announced Tuesday that they had confirmed the country’s first-ever Marburg outbreak, involving at least eight people so far, five of whom have […]
Mar 21, 2023
Finally, a Potential Therapy to Prevent Long COVID
MedPageToday Diabetes drug found to reduce chance of long COVID in clinical trial preprint. Hi, it’s Jeremy Faust with MedPage Today. Thanks for joining me. Today, we’re going to discuss an interesting new paper called “Outpatient Treatment of COVID-19 and the Development of Long COVID Over 10 Months.” Link to related paper in The Lancet (Preprint) […]
Mar 21, 2023
The potentially deadly Candida auris fungus is spreading quickly in the U.S.
NPR The fungus Candida auris is becoming a more dangerous public health care threat, as the number of drug-resistant cases jumped in 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. The fungus is resistant to several antifungal medications, but the CDC said it is not seen as a threat to healthy people. Still, the […]
Mar 21, 2023
Long-covid symptoms are less common now than earlier in the pandemic
Washington Post Americans infected with the coronavirus’s omicron variant are less likely to develop symptoms typical of long covid than those who had covid-19 earlier in the pandemic, according to the largest-ever study of who is most vulnerable to being sickened — or debilitated — by the virus’s lingering effects. The analysis of nearly 5 million […]
Mar 21, 2023