Measles News and Research

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Measles is a highly contagious, serious disease caused by a virus. It remains a leading cause of death among young children globally, despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine. An estimated 197 000 people died from measles in 2007, mostly children under the age of five.

Measles is caused by a virus in the paramyxovirus family. The measles virus normally grows in the cells that line the back of the throat and the lungs. It is a human disease not known to occur in animals.

Study highlights the importance of child vaccine against infections

In the U.S., our children rarely fall ill to grave infections because they are protected by vaccines.

2 Jun 2020

UW creates free, online course for contact tracing to help combat COVID-19

As businesses and public spaces reopen across the nation, the old-school public health detective work known as contact tracing is becoming a major component of the battle to contain the novel coronavirus that causes the deadly COVID-19 disease.

29 May 2020

Revolutionary air disinfection system protects dentists against COVID-19

Eschmann Technologies has launched a revolutionary air disinfection system developed by Novaerus to help protect dentists against the spread of airborne viruses such as COVID-19.

22 May 2020

Prediction of incubation period for COVID-19 and other viruses

A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in May 2020 provides a method to estimate the incubation period for any new pathogen, which could help to define the optimal quarantine period necessary to keep the spread of the causative agent in check.

22 May 2020

Analysis: Get ready for the vaccine — they’re never simple

If there is a silver lining to the flawed U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic, it is this: The relatively high number of new cases being diagnosed daily — upward of 20,000 — will make it easier to test new vaccines.

21 May 2020

Main receptors used by SARS-CoV-2 for cell entry are absent in the human placenta

Although severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is unlikely to infect human placenta through the canonical cell entry mediators, Wayne State University researchers showed that other interacting proteins may still play an important role during the viral infection. The study is currently available on the preprint server bioRxiv.

20 May 2020

Kids missing measles shots due to coronavirus pandemic

A year ago, the United States saw the highest annual number of measles cases since 1992, with 1,249 cases reported. Of these, 89 percent of the measles patients were unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status. Now, fears of another measles outbreak in the country loom as the coronavirus pandemic indirectly is causing a drop in measles vaccinations.

20 May 2020

New map shows that distrust in health expertise could dominate online conversations

Communities on Facebook that distrust establishment health guidance are more effective than government health agencies and other reliable health groups at reaching and engaging "undecided" individuals, according to a study published today in the journal Nature.

14 May 2020

Experts highlight triumph over polio and hope to do the same for COVID-19

For much of the 20th century, summer was considered "polio season," and people were accustomed to seeing swimming pools and movie theaters closed to stave off the latest epidemic. Shaking hands was off limits, and even touching money was perilous.

14 May 2020

Italy develops vaccine candidate that neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 in mice

As the world grapples with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), scientists race to develop treatments and vaccines to combat the viral infection. Though many ongoing trials show promise in fighting the novel coronavirus, Italian researchers claim they have developed a vaccine that can neutralize severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in animal cells.

10 May 2020

Internet search patterns important in tracing and predicting COVID-19 spread

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in May 2020 has identified a link between Internet search patterns and local disease progression for COVID-19. It recommends the use of search data to track and predict COVID-19 spread as a complementary method to established public health surveillance methods.

10 May 2020

The nutritional key to control autoimmunity and cancer

Scientists at the Department of Infection and Immunity of the Luxembourg Institute of Health revealed a novel mechanism through which the immune system can control autoimmunity and cancer.

8 May 2020

Children are immune prepared for SARS-CoV-2

At least 30 new diseases have emerged in the last 20 years and now together threaten the health of hundreds of millions of people. For many of these diseases, there is no treatment, cure, or vaccine. While most of these diseases are dangerous to children, especially those younger than five years old, the novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), seems to spare most of them.

8 May 2020

COVID-19 and exposure to air pollution

A scientist from the Netherlands has worked on a study that looked at the association between COVID-19 infections and exposure to air pollution. Researcher Bo Pieter Johannes Andrée’s study titled “Incidence of COVID-19 and Connections with Air Pollution Exposure Evidence from the Netherlands” was released prior to the peer review process on the online server Medrxiv.

5 May 2020

Study could help inform long-term public health response to COVID-19 pandemic

In the most detailed study to date of epidemic spread, an international team of researchers has modeled measles dynamics based on over 40 years of data collected in England and Wales.

28 Apr 2020

India's Serum Institute gears up to make millions of doses of potential COVID-19 vaccine

The Serum Institute of India plans to start manufacturing Oxford University's COVID-19 vaccine in 3 weeks to get a head start on production, the company announced. This comes even as experts warn that any successful vaccine will take two or more years to come on the market.

28 Apr 2020

Misinformation on COVID-19 is tied to media usage

People who relied on conservative media or social media in the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak were more likely to be misinformed about how to prevent the virus and believe conspiracy theories about it, a study of media use and public knowledge has found.

25 Apr 2020

Resurgence of measles or polio outbreaks likely to happen, experts warn

Interruptions to vaccination programmes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic could result in new waves of measles or polio outbreaks, health experts warn.

24 Apr 2020

Anti-vaccine activists latch onto coronavirus to bolster their movement

While most of the world hungers for a vaccine to put an end to the death and economic destruction wrought by COVID-19, some anti-vaccine groups are joining with anti-lockdown protesters to challenge restrictions aimed at protecting public health.

24 Apr 2020

Coronavirus has mutated into at least 30 variants

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues to threaten millions of people across the globe, and lockdowns appear set to remain in place in many countries amid rising death tolls, as governments decide whether to extend restrictions aimed at reducing the spread of the virus. Now, a new study reveals that the novel coronavirus has mutated into at least 30 different genetic variants, affecting different parts of the world.

22 Apr 2020