Pandemic News and Research

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A pandemic is a global disease outbreak. During a pandemic, transmission can be anticipated in the workplace, not only from patient to workers in health care settings, but also among co-workers in general work settings. A pandemic would cause high levels of illness, death, social disruption, and economic loss. Everyday life would be disrupted because so many people in so many places become seriously ill at the same time. Impacts could range from school and business closings to the interruption of basic services such as public transportation and food delivery.

Nanopore sequencing unveils novel telomere length patterns

We depend on our cells being able to divide and multiply, whether it's to replace sunburnt skin or replenish our blood supply and recover from injury.

12 Apr 2024

Nearly 1 in 4 adults dumped from Medicaid are now uninsured, survey finds

Nearly a quarter of adults disenrolled from Medicaid in the past year say they are now uninsured, according to a survey released Friday that details how tens of millions of Americans struggled to retain coverage in the government insurance program for low-income people after pandemic-era protections began expiring last spring.

12 Apr 2024

California fails to adequately help blind and deaf prisoners, US judge rules

Thirty years after prisoners with disabilities sued the state of California and 25 years after a federal court first ordered accommodations, a judge found that state prison and parole officials still are not doing enough to help deaf and blind prisoners — in part because they are not using readily available technology such as video recordings and laptop computers.

12 Apr 2024

Quality dementia care in nursing homes: Lessons from the pandemic

No one associated with nursing homes – as residents or their families, friends, staff or administrators – is unaware of the massive impact of the pandemic on these facilities which provide essential services to a growing number of older adults, many living with cognitive impairment.

12 Apr 2024

Older adults' social patterns shift post-pandemic, study finds

Years after the U.S. began to slowly emerge from mandatory COVID-19 lockdowns, more than half of older adults still spend more time at home and less time socializing in public spaces than they did pre-pandemic, according to new University of Colorado Boulder research.

10 Apr 2024

Oxford University and Brazil partner to advance malaria vaccine development

Professor Sue Ann Costa Clemens CBE, Chair of Global Health at the Department of Paediatrics and Head of Oxford Latam Research Group - a collaboration between Oxford and Brazil, aimed at strengthening our commitment to global health - met with His Excellency Antonio Patriota, Brazilian Ambassador to the UK, to discuss the co-development of a Malaria vaccine and advance public health outcomes in Brazil.

10 Apr 2024

Study reveals unexpected vulnerability of lung immune cells to SARS-CoV-2

The lung-cell type that's most susceptible to infection by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is not the one previously assumed to be most vulnerable.

10 Apr 2024

New natural supplement shows promise in preventing postpartum blues

A new study published in the Lancet discovery science journal eClinicalMedicine has confirmed that a novel natural supplement-;invented, researched, developed and commercialized at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)-;prevents postpartum blues, and reduces symptoms of postpartum depression over the following six months after giving birth.

10 Apr 2024

COVID-19 survivors face lingering health challenges

UC San Francisco researchers examined COVID-19 patients across the United States who survived some of the longest and most harrowing battles with the virus and found that about two-thirds still had physical, psychiatric, and cognitive problems for up to a year later.

10 Apr 2024

Congress likely to kick the can on covid-era telehealth policies

Nearly two hours into a Capitol Hill hearing focused on rural health, Rep. Brad Wenstrup emphatically told the committee's five witnesses: "Hang with us."

10 Apr 2024

Avian flu's leap to humans: Understanding risks and prevention strategies

Comprehensive report by the EFSA and ECDC delves into the factors that could prompt an avian influenza virus to evolve and potentially spark a pandemic, emphasizing the One Health approach for effective prevention and risk mitigation strategies.

10 Apr 2024

Experts urge to promote healthy movement behaviors in children under five in Europe

The SUNRISE European Study Group, led by experts in physical activity and children's health, is urgently appealing to countries across Europe to take specific measures to promote healthy movement behaviors in children aged under five years.

9 Apr 2024

PHMC Health Center on Cedar: A new hub for community health in West Philadelphia

Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC), a nonprofit public health institute that creates and sustains healthier communities, has opened the PHMC Health Center on Cedar, a federally qualified health center (FQHC) located inside the PHMC Public Health Campus on Cedar at 54th Street and Cedar Avenue in West Philadelphia.

9 Apr 2024

City-country mortality gap widens amid persistent holes in rural health care access

In Matthew Roach's two years as vital statistics manager for the Arizona Department of Health Services, and 10 years previously in its epidemiology program, he has witnessed a trend in mortality rates that has rural health experts worried.

9 Apr 2024

Denmark's pertussis epidemic reveals the power of maternal vaccination

A study published in Eurosurveillance details the 2023 pertussis epidemic in Denmark, emphasizing the age-specific incidence, the role of maternal vaccination in reducing infant hospitalizations, and the impact of vaccination strategies on managing the outbreak.

8 Apr 2024

TAVR demonstrates lower risk and improved outcomes compared to SAVR in low-risk patients

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) was found to bring no increased risks and was associated with substantial decreased rates of death or stroke at one year in low-risk patients, compared with surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR), according to findings presented at the American College of Cardiology's Annual Scientific Session.

8 Apr 2024

Treating early-stage heart failure in diabetic patients: Insights from ARISE-HF trial

One of the first studies to attempt to treat early-stage heart failure in patients with Type 2 diabetes did not meet its primary endpoint, but a preplanned subgroup analysis found a statistically significant effect of treatment in patients who were not taking SGLT2 inhibitors or GLP-1 RAs, which are antidiabetic medications that also have benefits for the heart.

8 Apr 2024

Remote monitoring for COVID-19 patients shows no benefit from pulse oximetry

Using a pulse oximeter to measure oxygen levels is no better than just regularly asking patients with COVID-19 if they are short of breath, according to new research at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania.

8 Apr 2024

Study: Empagliflozin shows mixed results in heart attack patients

Use of the sodium glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitor empagliflozin following a heart attack did not show a significant benefit in reducing overall heart failure hospitalizations or death from any cause, according to a study presented at the American College of Cardiology's Annual Scientific Session.

8 Apr 2024

MADs show comparable blood pressure reduction to CPAP in hypertensive patients with sleep apnea

People with hypertension and obstructive sleep apnea were no less likely to see their blood pressure drop over six months if they used a mandibular advancement device (MAD), which is inserted onto the teeth similar to a bite guard.

8 Apr 2024