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.

Kennedy’s take on vaccine science fractures cohesive national public health strategies

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has had a busy few months. He fired the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, purged the agency's vaccine advisory committee, and included among the group's new members appointees who espouse anti-vaccine views.

19 Sep 2025

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Ousted CDC officials clap back at RFK Jr.

Fired less than a month after being confirmed as head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Susan Monarez appeared at a dramatic Senate hearing this week alongside another ousted CDC official and directly contradicted Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's earlier testimony about why she was fired.

18 Sep 2025

New NIH grant supports development of experimental pediatric HIV vaccine

A multi-institutional team led by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators has been awarded a five-year, $20.8 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, for advanced preclinical development of a promising experimental HIV vaccine.

18 Sep 2025

Light-activated coating kills bacteria and viruses

Light on – bacteria dead. Disinfecting surfaces could be as simple as that. To turn this idea into a weapon against antibiotic-resistant germs, Empa researchers are developing a coating whose germicidal effect can be activated by infrared light.

18 Sep 2025

Outdoor walking programs cut frailty in older adults

Findings indicate that while outdoor walking reduces frailty in older adults, maintaining these gains necessitates continuous, diverse intervention approaches.

18 Sep 2025

New study reveals a 25-year rise in alcohol-induced mortality

In an analysis by race, sex, age, and geography, alcohol-induced death rates in 2024 are nearly double those in 1999, with a sharp increase at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

18 Sep 2025

Research reveals widespread cardiac harm from COVID, offers solutions

Millions of people around the world are suffering with the serious cardiovascular effects of Covid infection and long Covid. A lack of clear guidance on how to reduce this suffering and prevent further harm means that patients are not receiving the care they need, and some are turning to unproven or unsafe treatments.

18 Sep 2025

Holder vs Retort: How milk pasteurization shapes preterm infants’ gut health

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center found that pasteurization methods shape the gut microbiomes of preterm infants fed donor human milk. Holder pasteurization preserved microbial diversity and beneficial taxa better than Retort, producing microbiomes more similar to those from mothers’ own milk.

17 Sep 2025

Covid vaccinations remain vital to protect global heart health

Regular Covid vaccinations should continue worldwide to reduce cardiac risks associated with the virus - according to new research from the University of East Anglia.

17 Sep 2025

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