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International travelers often return home with new bacterial strains, confirms study

Carried like stowaways in the guts of international travelers, new and potentially deadly strains of antimicrobial resistant superbugs may be coming to a community near you, suggests new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

7 Jun 2021

COVID-19 has had a detrimental impact on adolescent mental health, study finds

A study of over 59,000 Icelandic adolescents by a team of Icelandic and North American behavioral and social scientists found that COVID-19 has had a significant, detrimental impact on adolescent mental health, especially in girls.

5 Jun 2021

Shorter treatment regimen found to be effective for treating TB

Tuberculosis (TB) is a deadly infection that occurs in every part of the world. The standard treatment for TB, a six-month multidrug regimen, has not changed in more than 40 years. Patients can find it difficult to complete the lengthy regimen, making it more likely that treatment resistance will develop.

5 Jun 2021

Study finds no genetic evidence to prove vitamin D protects against coronavirus

While previous research early in the pandemic suggested that the vitamin D cuts the risk of contracting COVID-19, a new study from McGill University finds there is no genetic evidence that the vitamin works as a protective measure against the coronavirus.

5 Jun 2021

In Missouri and other states, flawed data makes it hard to track vaccine equity

Throughout the covid-19 vaccination effort, public health officials and politicians have insisted that providing shots equitably across racial and ethnic groups is a top priority.

4 Jun 2021

Analysis: Mounting pressure on China about Covid ‘lab leak’ could backfire

President Joe Biden has ordered U.S. intelligence agencies to determine whether the Covid virus, or a near ancestor, emerged from a cave, a live-animal market, a farm — or a secretive Chinese laboratory.

4 Jun 2021

Post-COVID-19 assessment shows long-lasting consequences for many non-hospitalized individuals

Complications following COVID-19 infection require quick identification and management to help plan policy and health system responses. Researchers in the UK recently described the 12-month experience of the first dedicated post-COVID clinical service in the UK to include both hospitalized and non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients. This study has been released on the medRxiv* the preprint server.

4 Jun 2021

Another symptom of the COVID-19 pandemic: unhealthy eating

In a study of 2,000 people, researchers found that the recent abrupt change in our daily routines caused us to change our eating behaviors.

4 Jun 2021

A lack of oversight for unproven stem cell interventions is a global public health problem

Authors are urging the WHO to establish an Exert Advisory Committee on Regenerative Medicine to provide harmony to the national regulations on the SCI industry.

4 Jun 2021

People with many siblings have increased risk of cardiovascular events

First-born children have a lower risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes than brothers and sisters born later, but people who are part of a large family with many siblings have an increased risk of these events, suggests the results of a large population study in Sweden, published in the online journal BMJ Open.

4 Jun 2021

Investigative journalist looks at independency of US and British vaccine advisory committees

Experts who sit on national vaccine advisory panels are asked to disclose any industry ties and other conflicts of interest. But an investigation published by The BMJ today finds that disclosure standards differ widely, often leaving the public in the dark.

4 Jun 2021

Using AI technology to predict the risk of coronary heart disease

A new project using artificial intelligence technology could spell a medical breakthrough for people suffering from, or at risk of, coronary artery disease, the single leading cause of death in Australia.

4 Jun 2021

Effect of India's 2021 Assembly Election on COVID-19

In a recent study, Indian researchers from Midnapore City College, and Indian Center for Space Physics, looked at how the assembly elections conducted during the second wave of COVID-19 impacted the transmission of the infection - on the effective contact rate and the effective reproduction number of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The study is published on the preprint server, medRxiv*.

4 Jun 2021

Water samples collected from Baltimore’s farms and gardens contain low levels of lead, shows study

A new report that examined soil, water, and produce from urban farms and gardens in Baltimore City found low levels of lead and other metals that pose no reason for concern at the majority of growing sites.

4 Jun 2021

UK study reports on attitudes to COVID-19 symptoms and testing

Researchers from King’s College London and Public Health England studied how people engage with the NHSTT, in particular, how people recognize symptoms and get tested. They reported their results in a paper published on the medRxiv* preprint server.

4 Jun 2021

New method gives an accurate real-time estimate of epidemic trajectories

A new method to monitor epidemics like COVID-19 gives an accurate real-time estimate of the growth rate of an epidemic by carefully evaluating the relationship between the amount of viruses in infected people's bodies, called the viral load, and how fast the number of cases is increasing or decreasing.

3 Jun 2021

Heterologous AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines induce strong immune response and T cell reactivity against multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants

Researchers from Germany recently analyzed a cohort of 26 individuals in the age range of 25 to 46 (median 30.5) years who had received a ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 prime vaccine followed by a BNT162b2 boost vaccine after a 56-day interval due to changing vaccine recommendations in Germany. There were 16 females and 10 males in the cohort, and they were assessed for immune responses, reactogenicity, and T cell reactivity. This study is published on the medRxiv* preprint server.

3 Jun 2021

Research opens alternative therapeutic avenues for treatment of chronic pain

Building on previous findings, scientists have demonstrated that conolidine interacts with the newly identified opioid receptor ACKR3/CXCR7.

3 Jun 2021

Study explores COVID-19 vaccine beliefs and behaviors among college students

A recent study conducted by researchers at Pennsylvania State University in the US explored the beliefs and attitudes of students about vaccination in general and the COVID-19 vaccines in particular.

3 Jun 2021

Study reveals prevalence of multimorbidity among people using methamphetamine

People who use methamphetamine are more likely to have health conditions, mental illness, and substance use disorders than people who do not use the drug, according to a new study by researchers at the Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research (CDUHR) at NYU School of Global Public Health.

3 Jun 2021