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.

How a new U.S. health study is fixing bias in wearable data research

By providing wearables and internet access, ALiR closes the digital health data gap, fostering equity and improving AI model generalizability in healthcare.

9 Oct 2025

Brainstem damage found to be behind long-lasting effects of severe Covid-19

Damage to the brainstem - the brain's 'control center' - is behind long-lasting physical and psychiatric effects of severe Covid-19 infection, a study suggests.

8 Oct 2025

California’s nursing shortage is getting worse. Front-line workers blame management.

California, like much of the nation, is not producing enough nurses working at bedsides to meet the needs of an aging and diverse population, fueling a workforce crunch that risks endangering quality patient care.

8 Oct 2025

Children burn energy and enjoy exercise with InPACT at Home program

InPACT at Home videos significantly boost children's physical activity energy expenditure, highlighting their role in promoting fitness and enjoyment at home.

8 Oct 2025

Taste-based flu test that detects infection within minutes

Researchers examine the effectiveness of a novel taste-based sensor for the early detection of influenza infection.

8 Oct 2025

PAHO concludes 62nd Directing Council with Strategic Plan 2026-2031 for healthier Americas

The 62nd Directing Council of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) concluded today, setting a bold agenda to address pressing health challenges across the Americas through the approval of the PAHO Strategic Plan 2026-2031 and key resolutions aimed at expanding access to high-cost high price health technologies, and preventing and controlling noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).

6 Oct 2025

Researchers discover how HIV hides in different parts of the body

Researchers at Western University and the University of Calgary have discovered how HIV hides in different parts of the body by embedding itself into the DNA of cells in a tissue-specific manner, offering new insights into why the virus is so difficult to eliminate and cure – even decades after infection and treatment.

6 Oct 2025

Why Democrats are casting the government shutdown as a health care showdown

Hours into the federal government shutdown, Julio Fuentes stood steps from the U.S. Capitol to deliver an urgent message about the Hispanic voting bloc that helped the GOP sweep into power last year.

6 Oct 2025

Breakthrough in RNA-targeted drug discovery offers hope against viral diseases

In a quest to develop new antiviral drugs for COVID-19 and other diseases, a collaboration led by scientists at The Wertheim UF Scripps Institute has identified a potential new drug against the virus that causes COVID-19.

6 Oct 2025

Azelastine nasal spray prevents COVID-19 and rhinovirus infections

Researchers discuss the effects of azelastine nasal spray on the rate of SARS-CoV-2 infection as compared to placebo.

6 Oct 2025

Aging, not smartphones, drives America’s growing loneliness crisis

This study highlights how age and cohort dynamics, rather than smartphones, are key drivers of rising social isolation in the U.S. over the last 20 years.

6 Oct 2025

GOP falsely ties shutdown to Democrats’ alleged drive to give all immigrants health care

As the U.S. headed for a government shutdown, Republicans repeatedly accused Democrats of forcing the closure because they want to give health care access to immigrants in the U.S. illegally.

6 Oct 2025

Ripple Effects Mapping reveals success of academic-community partnership against COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic did not affect everyone equally. Communities of color, especially Latino (including undocumented persons), Black, and Native American groups, as well as people with low incomes, experienced much higher rates of infection, hospitalization, and death.

6 Oct 2025

Depression can affect surgical outcomes and postoperative costs

Depression is known to be associated with physical health challenges, in everything from disrupting sleep to an increased cancer risk.

3 Oct 2025

AI combined with the One Health approach can improve pandemic preparedness

Artificial intelligence could be a valuable tool for detecting emerging diseases earlier, researchers from five European universities and research institutes argue in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

3 Oct 2025

Experts urge vaccination during pregnancy to prevent infant whooping cough deaths

Pertussis, or whooping cough, is on the rise and incidence now exceeds pre-pandemic numbers. While in adults and older children the cough can be bothersome and last for months, pertussis in young infants can be life-threatening.

3 Oct 2025

Unusual heart rhythm disorder common in people with long COVID

A new study from Karolinska Institutet shows that an unusual heart rhythm disorder, POTS, is particularly common in people with long COVID. The majority of those affected are middle-aged women.

3 Oct 2025

New algae gel provides realistic platform for breast cancer research

In 2020, right when Jane Baude was starting her Ph.D. research at UC Santa Barbara, she learned that a critical component of her experiment - the gel needed to grow and test mammary epithelial cells - wouldn't be available for nearly a year because of pandemic-related production issues. So, she and her adviser, professor Ryan Stowers, decided to pivot: Baude would engineer her own gel to study cells.

3 Oct 2025

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Democrats make this shutdown about the ACA

As long predicted, much of the federal government shut down on Oct. 1, after Congress failed to agree on spending bills that keep most programs running.

2 Oct 2025