Author: Claudinne Miller
4 ways vaccine skeptics mislead you on measles and more
CBS News Measles is on the rise in the United States. So far this year, the number of cases is about 17 times what it was, on average, during the same period in each of the four years before, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Half of the people infected — mainly children — have […]
May 22, 2024
3 Things to Know About FLiRT, the New Coronavirus Strains
Yale Medicine A Yale Medicine expert weighs in on the potential impact of the new strains on the spread of COVID. The good news is that in the early spring of 2024, COVID-19 cases were down, with far fewer infections and hospitalizations than were seen in the previous winter. But SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID, is […]
May 22, 2024
We Don’t Know How Bad Bird Flu Is Getting
NY Magazine Intelligencer he H5N1 influenza has killed tens of millions of birds over the last few years, and it’s not slowing down. Instead, it has confounded expectations by spreading into animals once thought immune, and even to at least one person in the United States. (There is no evidence of human-to-human transmission, and risk to the public is still considered low.) […]
May 22, 2024
Companies start work on bird flu vaccines for cows—despite major hurdles
Science Market uncertainties, safety rules, and export concerns stand in way of H5N1 shots for cattle. The outbreak of avian influenza in U.S. dairy herds raises an obvious question: Why not adopt the strategy many countries use to protect poultry and vaccinate the cows? An H5N1 vaccine might not only protect cattle from infection and […]
May 22, 2024
Will Destruction Of Smallpox Virus Get Postponed Again?
Forbes Is it finally time to eliminate the remaining stocks of variola (smallpox) virus for good? The World Health Assembly will discuss the current status on May 27. The World Health Assembly in 1996 set a date for virus destruction, but in subsequent resolutions the destruction of the virus has been postponed repeatedly to provide opportunities […]
May 22, 2024
Supernova or Coronavirus: Can You Tell the Difference?
New York Times A scientist finds beauty in the “visual synonyms” that exist in images seen through microscopes and telescopes. For Kim Arcand, a visualization scientist for NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, visual symmetry reveals how basic physics and chemistry thread through everything in the universe, from the tiniest organisms to […]
May 21, 2024
I was there when bird flu first appeared. It’s different today.
Washington Post The H5N1 flu virus and I go way back. In 1997, I watched as more than a million chickens were slaughtered in Hong Kong to combat the first major global outbreak of the disease. Eighteen people were sickened by the virus and six died, all of whom had close contact with the birds. They were the […]
May 21, 2024
Measles Is Preventable. How Did the World End Up Back Here?
MedPageToday I remember being very sick when I had measles as a child. I was confined to a darkened room for more than a week, and there was concern that it would affect my vision. Decades later, I work with patients who have had encephalitis as a result of measles, and families who are left […]
May 21, 2024
Body lice may have spread plague more than thought, science suggests
NBC News Lab experiments support the possibility that the blood-sucking bugs may have played a role in the rapid spread of the plague in the Middle Ages. Scientists have long debated whether human body lice might have helped drive the rapid spread of the bacteria responsible for the deadly plague in the Middle Ages, known as […]
May 21, 2024
Severe COVID-19 Lung Disease Linked to Ferroptosis
Genetic Engineering and Biotech News Over the past few years, researchers have uncovered countless details about how SARS-CoV-2 causes COVID-19. However, the mechanisms underlying how SARS-CoV-2 infection causes severe pulmonary manifestations remain poorly understood. This, in turn, limits treatment options. In some severe cases of COVID-19, the lungs undergo extreme damage, resulting in a range […]
May 21, 2024