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.

UK researchers outline strategy for cancer vaccine advancements

UK oncology researchers have come together to write the first ever national thought leadership strategy report into cancer vaccine advances and the opportunities these present for those affected by cancer.

21 Jan 2025

New EU project aims to advance pandemic preparedness

With viral disease emergence expected to accelerate, preparing for possible future pandemics is paramount.

21 Jan 2025

Rising Toscana virus infections in Italy highlight climate-driven health risks

A recent study reveals a sharp rise in neuroinvasive Toscana virus infections in Italy from 2022 to 2023, driven by climate factors and expanding geographic spread.

20 Jan 2025

Breakthrough study maps critical structure of Nipah virus polymerase

Scientists at Harvard Medical School and Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine have mapped a critical component of the Nipah virus, a highly lethal bat-borne pathogen that has caused outbreaks in humans almost every year since it was identified in 1999.

20 Jan 2025

Sharenting on Instagram: Are children paying the price for influencer fame?

Researchers analyzed over 5,000 Instagram posts from British motherhood influencers, revealing how "sharenting" raises privacy risks while balancing commercial and personal motivations.

16 Jan 2025

NIMH awards $1.5 million grant for long COVID neurological research

The National Institute of Mental Health has awarded a significant grant of $1.5 million to Jianyang Du, PhD, of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, for a research study aimed at uncovering the cellular and molecular mechanisms that lead to neurological disorders caused by long COVID-19.

16 Jan 2025

Measles risk heightened by undernutrition in vulnerable children

Amid a global surge in measles cases, new research suggests that undernutrition may be exacerbating outbreaks in areas suffering from food insecurity.

16 Jan 2025

Broadband access associated with fewer COVID-19 cases and deaths

The mortality rate from COVID-19 was about 50% lower in U.S. counties with higher internet access in the summer and early fall of 2020.

16 Jan 2025

COVID-19 vaccine gaps linked to higher hospitalization and death rates in the UK

Between a third and a half of the populations of the four UK nations had not had the recommended number of COVID vaccinations and boosters by summer 2022, according to the first research study to look at COVID-19 vaccine coverage of the entire UK population.

16 Jan 2025

Study reveals dangerous mutations in H5N1 bird flu

One of the earliest strains of bird flu isolated from a human in Texas shows a unique constellation of mutations that enable it to more easily replicate in human cells and cause more severe disease in mice compared to a strain found in dairy cattle, researchers from Texas Biomedical Research Institute (Texas Biomed) report in Emerging Microbes & Infections.

16 Jan 2025

Childhood vaccination rates, a rare health bright spot in struggling states, are slipping

Jen Fisher can do only so much to keep her son safe from the types of infections that children can encounter at school. The rest, she said, is up to other students and parents in their hometown of Franklin, Tennessee.

16 Jan 2025

Genetic risk factor linked to increased susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection

Researchers have identified a novel genetic risk factor for SARS-CoV-2 infection, providing new insights into the virus' ability to invade human cells. SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that spreads COVID-19.

15 Jan 2025

UQ and Vaxxas win global prize to accelerate patch-based mRNA vaccine for COVID-19

The University of Queensland's BASE facility – within the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) – and Brisbane-based biotechnology company Vaxxas have been announced as stage winners of a prestigious global prize to accelerate a patch-based mRNA vaccine for COVID-19.

13 Jan 2025

COVID-19 infection linked to increased cases of ME/CFS

New findings from the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative suggest that infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, may be associated with an increase in the number of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) cases.

13 Jan 2025

Study highlights the growing crisis of methamphetamine-related deaths in the U.S.

Methamphetamine deaths in the U.S. rose 61-fold from 1999 to 2021, according to a new study, highlighting a growing crisis in addiction and public health.

13 Jan 2025

Study reveals decline in hormonal contraceptive use and increase in fertility awareness methods

There has been a shift away from the use of more reliable hormonal methods of contraception to less reliable fertility awareness methods among women requesting abortion in England and Wales over the past 5 years, reveals research published online in the journal BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health.

13 Jan 2025