Communicable Disease News and Research

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Communicable Disease is a disease capable of being transmitted from an infected person or species to a susceptible host.

Experts urge to invest in local data sharing for better pandemic preparedness

Northern health data experts call on the Government to invest in local data sharing to help recover from COVID-19 and prepare for future pandemics.

22 Jul 2020

'Night owl' teens more likely to develop asthma and allergies

Teenagers who prefer to stay up late at night and sleep in late the next day are more likely to develop asthma and allergies than their "early bird" counterparts, according to new research published today.

6 Jul 2020

Hiring a diverse army to track COVID-19 amid reopening

As a contact tracer, Teresa Ayala-Castillo is sometimes asked whether herbal teas and Vicks VapoRub can treat COVID-19. These therapies aren't exactly official health guidance, but Ayala-Castillo isn't fazed. She listens and then suggests other ideas — like getting rest and drinking plenty of fluids.

2 Jun 2020

PiCoVacc vaccine candidate for COVID-19 effective in animal trials

In a new study available on the bioRxiv preprint server, a group of researchers from China report on the pilot-scale production of a purified inactivated severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus vaccine candidate (PiCoVacc), shown to induce virus-specific neutralizing antibodies in rats, mice, and non-human primates.

21 Apr 2020

Healthy lifestyle, greater disease-free life expectancy

For years, doctors have been advocating a healthy diet, more regular exercise, stress relief, and weight control. However, no study has examined a combination of all these factors with the number of years that one can live free of major chronic disease. This could help communicate the benefits of a healthy lifestyle more convincingly than the commonly reported relative risk of disease with each of these risk factors.

6 Apr 2020

Putting an end to the pandemic

From the plagues of medieval Europe to the influenza pandemic of 1918, the specter of the next public health disaster has gripped the minds of scientists, captivated the imaginations of writers and vexed conspiracy theorists.

1 Apr 2020

Public health officials to Newsom: Lockdown won’t work without enforcement

When Gov. Gavin Newsom last week ordered nearly all 40 million Californians to stay in their homes to combat the spread of COVID-19, he set the tone for the nation, becoming the first to issue a statewide lockdown.

26 Mar 2020

First responders need to take special precautions to protect themselves from coronavirus

Healthcare personnel working on the front lines to contain and prevent the spread of the new coronavirus that originated in China need to take special, yet common, precautions to keep themselves and others safe.

3 Feb 2020

Researchers develop new tool to tackle diet epidemic in India

New research led by Queen's University Belfast aims to better understand the link between diet and disease in India.

23 Jan 2020

Climate-friendly eating patterns confer potential health gains, protect the planet

Increased uptake of plant-based diets in New Zealand could substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions while greatly improving population health and saving the healthcare system billions of dollars in the coming decades, according to a new University of Otago study.

22 Jan 2020

Bioactive peptide helps prevent new cavities, heal existing ones

Cavities, or dental caries, are the most widespread non-communicable disease globally, according to the World Health Organization. Having a cavity drilled and filled at the dentist's office can be painful, but untreated caries could lead to worse pain, tooth loss, infection, and even illness or death.

22 Jan 2020

Novel coronavirus from Wuhan in China

The Australian Government Department of Health is aware of the cases of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) from the region of Wuhan in China, and watching developments very closely.

20 Jan 2020

Sugar content in soft drinks has reduced by 29% in the UK, shows study

Lead researcher Lauren Bandy and her colleagues looked at the nutritional information of a range of soft drinks in the UK, including carbonated drinks, concentrates, 100% juice, juice drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks and bottled water, and combined this with sales data from 2015-2018.

12 Jan 2020

Experts say source of newly identified virus in China must be found

Scientists have identified the virus likely to have caused a pneumonia-like illness that has caused an outbreak in Wuhan, China.

9 Jan 2020

BIDMC and Harvard launch first-of-its-kind Climate and Human Health Fellowship

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the Harvard FXB Center for Health and Human Rights and the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Harvard C-CHANGE), have launched a first-of-its-kind Climate and Human Health Fellowship.

22 Nov 2019

As measles outbreak fades, N.Y. sets in motion new rules on school vaccinations

As children head to school this fall, the number of measles cases in New York has slowed to a trickle, and officials this week declared that the outbreak in New York City, which largely affected Orthodox Jewish families who avoided immunizations, is over.

5 Sep 2019

Adults with cerebral palsy twice as likely to develop cardiovascular, chronic respiratory diseases

Adults with cerebral palsy are about twice as likely to develop cardiovascular disease and chronic respiratory disease compared to adults without cerebral palsy, according to a new study led by RCSI (Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland) and Brunel University London.

29 Aug 2019