Category: COVID
Four truths about covid that have become clouded over time
Washington Post In the early days, the virus posed a graver threat to people and the health care system, Trump embraced lockdowns he now blasts, and the benefits of vaccines were oversold. Unlike in a hurricane or war zone, much of covid’s toll happened out of public view, inside the crowded hospitals where people died […]
Mar 25, 2026
COVID-19’s Stalling Effect on Children’s Executive Function
Neuroscience.com By tracking over 3,100 children in Massachusetts from 2018 to 2023, researchers found that post-pandemic EF growth rates fell below developmentally typical norms across all socioeconomic groups. This “cognitive stalling” helps explain the widespread academic and behavioral challenges observed in classrooms since the pandemic’s onset, suggesting that children now require systemic support to regain […]
Mar 25, 2026
Uncovering the evolutionary limits of the COVID-19 virus
Oxford University Press A new paper in Genome Biology and Evolution, indicates that while the COVID-19 virus has developed rapidly since 2019, it has done so within limited genetic channels. These genetic limits have remained unchanged. Despite scientists’ earlier fears about dramatic, rapid evolution of the COVID-19 virus, it appears recent changes in the virus were relatively […]
Mar 25, 2026
Yep, a mom’s COVID shot during pregnancy protects her baby, a large study finds
NPR Babies under 6 months old still have one of the highest rates of hospitalization from COVID-19 infections compared to other age groups, but no COVID vaccine is available for these infants. That’s one reason the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, or ACOG, recommends COVID vaccination during pregnancy. “There are a number of studies […]
Mar 25, 2026
San Francisco: Mutated viral variant found in US for first time in traveler
SFGate A mutated strain of the COVID-19 virus, first detected in the U.S. in a traveler to SFO, is increasingly appearing across the country. A March 19 report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention detailed the rise of the COVID-19 BA.3.2 variant. This mutated version of the COVID-19 virus contains genetic changes on a key protein […]
Mar 25, 2026
Why we don’t talk about COVID anymore
Axios Six years ago this week, COVID-19 dominated daily life. Schools closed, headlines tracked cases, and Ohio reported its first deaths and postponed a primary election. Why it matters: Today, the pandemic that killed over 1 million Americans and reshaped society has largely faded from public conversation. Driving the news: Associate professor Marian Moser Jones and other researchers have interviewed over […]
Mar 18, 2026
COVID probably killed 150,000 more people in its first two years than official U.S. tolls show
Scientific American We have severely undercounted the number of COVID deaths, scientists say. COVID may have killed significantly more people in the U.S. in the first two years of the pandemic than official records indicate, with as many as one overlooked death for every five recorded ones. That brings the total to nearly one million deaths just in 2020 and […]
Mar 18, 2026
Recent pandemic viruses, including SAR-CoV-2, spread directly to people without adaptation, researchers say
CIDRAP Contrary to prevailing belief, an evolutionary analysis finds no evidence that most viruses with epidemic or pandemic potential that jumped from animals to people were shaped by selection in a lab or prolonged evolution in an intermediate host—challenging claims that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, was engineered in a lab. A University of California (UC) […]
Mar 11, 2026
Severe COVID-19 and flu can facilitate lung cancer months or years later
Medical Express Severe COVID-19 and influenza infections prime the lungs for cancer and can accelerate the disease’s development, but vaccination heads off those harmful effects, new research from UVA Health’s Beirne B. Carter Center for Immunology Research and UVA Comprehensive Cancer Center indicates. UVA School of Medicine researcher Jie Sun, Ph.D., and colleagues found that […]
Mar 11, 2026
The Mystery of Losing Your Taste From Long COVID May Finally Have an Answer
Discover Learn how researchers may have finally uncovered why some people experience long-lasting taste loss after COVID-19. A common symptom that many experienced during a COVID-19 infection was a loss of taste. While most affected individuals regained their sense of taste within a few weeks, some experienced a persistent loss over several months. If a […]
Mar 11, 2026