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.

Rising threat of sexually transmitted gut infections demands stronger prevention strategies

It's time to develop more effective ways to control and prevent sexually transmitted gut infections, urge the authors of an article appearing today in Clinical Microbiology Reviews, a journal of the American Society of Microbiology.

17 Sep 2025

Florida chickens help scientists forecast West Nile virus outbreaks

A new study has significant bearing on the hackneyed joke about chickens and their numerous reasons for crossing roads.

17 Sep 2025

Soap shortages undermine global hand hygiene efforts

A lack of soap is the most often reported barrier to effective hand hygiene-key to curbing the spread of infection-in shared community spaces, such as households, schools, and public places, finds a systematic review of the available research, published in the open access journal BMJ Global Health.

17 Sep 2025

Team Trump’s answer to ballooning Obamacare premiums: Less generous coverage

Trump administration officials, looking at the possible impact of large insurance premium increases for millions of next year's Obamacare customers, want more people to consider plans with less generous benefits and high deductibles.

17 Sep 2025

AI breakthrough offers a new way to predict and visualize disease processes

To solve a problem, we have to see it clearly. Whether it's an infection by a novel virus or memory-stealing plaques forming in the brains of Alzheimer's patients, visualizing disease processes in the body is the first step toward alleviating human suffering. It's also often the most difficult and costly.

16 Sep 2025

Decline in pediatric rescue breathing increased deaths during the pandemic

Cardiac arrest happens when the heart stops pumping blood properly, cutting off oxygen to the brain and other vital organs.

16 Sep 2025

Research challenges negative stereotypes about growing older

The aging population is one of the most important social issues of our time. However, discussions about aging are often one-sided and tinged with negativity.

16 Sep 2025

RFK Jr.’s vaccine panel expected to recommend delaying hepatitis B shot for children

A key federal vaccine advisory panel whose members were recently replaced by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is expected to vote to recommend delaying until age 4 the hepatitis B vaccine that's currently given to newborns, according to two former senior Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials.

16 Sep 2025

SwRI and UT San Antonio advance biosensor coating to streamline production of immunotherapies

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and The University of Texas at San Antonio (UT San Antonio) are advancing a smart biosensor coating to streamline the production of immunotherapies for cancer treatments.

15 Sep 2025

Parents fear losing disability protections as Trump slashes civil rights office

Devon Price, a 15-year-old boy with autism, has attended the largest school district in North Carolina for 10 years, but he cannot read or write. His twin sister, Danielle, who is also autistic, was bullied by classmates and became suicidal.

15 Sep 2025

RSV vaccine slashes hospitalizations in older adults in real-world trial

A large, real-world randomized trial in Denmark found that the RSVpreF vaccine reduced RSV-related hospitalizations in adults aged 60 and over by over 80%. The vaccine also showed protection against broader respiratory illness with a favorable safety profile.

15 Sep 2025

Texas Tech research team earns $3 million renewal to advance stroke therapy

Stroke research aims to understand the brain's self-protective and repair mechanisms. Gaining detailed insight into these mechanisms is crucial as such knowledge could lead to newly developed medications and interventions which mimic or engage the brain's self-protective/repair mechanisms, leading to innovative stroke therapies.

13 Sep 2025

School closures during COVID created massive long-term costs with limited health benefits

School closures during the COVID-19 pandemic imposed enormous long-term costs while other measures delivered better health outcomes for far less money, according to new research led by Oxford University's Department of Statistics and the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science analysing non-pharmaceutical interventions in the United States.

13 Sep 2025

Study reveals global differences in balancing health and economy during COVID-19

How did different countries fare in achieving a balance between infection control and economic stability during the COVID-19 pandemic? To address this question, researchers studied the temporal dynamics of number of deaths, vaccination rates, production, and economic recovery across multiple countries.

13 Sep 2025

Fast food’s grip on American diets weakens as younger adults cut back

About one-third of U.S. adults consumed fast food on a given day between 2021 and 2023, with an average of 11.7% of daily calories coming from it. Intake has declined from 14.1% in 2013–14, driven mainly by reduced consumption among younger adults.

11 Sep 2025

Toddlers exposed to the COVID pandemic show fewer behavioral problems

A study finds that toddlers exposed to the COVID-19 pandemic showed fewer behavioral issues, suggesting hidden resilience factors in diverse family backgrounds.

11 Sep 2025

Antibody cocktail could change the way the world fights influenza

An unusual therapy developed at The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) could change the way the world fights influenza, one of the deadliest infectious diseases.

11 Sep 2025

Novel method accurately identifies therapeutic antibodies to treat infectious diseases

Scientists at Scripps Research have developed a novel method that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced imaging techniques to more accurately and efficiently identify therapeutic antibodies to treat infectious diseases.

10 Sep 2025

Breathlessness linked to higher mortality in Malawian hospital patients

Research led by Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and the Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Programme shows that over half of hospital patients with breathlessness had died within a year of admission (51%), as opposed to just 26% of those without the symptom.

10 Sep 2025

Daylight saving time does not increase heart attack risk, study shows

A large U.S. registry study of more than 168,000 patients found that daylight saving time (DST) clock changes did not increase heart attack rates or worsen in-hospital outcomes. The findings suggest that the lost or gained hour is unlikely to trigger acute myocardial infarction in contemporary care.

10 Sep 2025