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UArizona aims to develop a device for quick and accurate detection of pathogens, biological threats

To better protect individuals serving on the front lines of battlefields or dealing with an event like the current COVID-19 health crisis or potential future pandemics, scientists at the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix are leading an effort to develop a device for easy, quick and accurate detection of pathogens and biological threats.

28 Jul 2020

New approach could enable wider adoption of COVID-19 testing for diagnosis in research laboratories

Clinician-scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore's (NTU Singapore) Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) have demonstrated a way to improve the speed, handling time and cost of COVID-19 laboratory tests.

27 Jul 2020

Racially motivated hate crimes increase in the U.S.

Under the Hate Crime Statistic Act, hate crimes are defined as "crimes that manifest evidence of prejudice based on race, gender and gender identity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity."

22 Jul 2020

Rat plague following COVID-19?

The COVID-19 pandemic led to the widespread closure of many business establishments, including eateries and restaurants. This kind of mass change in human behavior has historically led to changes in animal behavior as well. This is especially observed with respect to urban rat behavior.

9 Jul 2020

COVID cuts a lethal path through San Quentin’s death row

The old men live in cramped spaces and breathe the same ventilated air. Many are frail, laboring with heart disease, liver and prostate cancer, tuberculosis, dementia. And now, with the coronavirus advancing through their ranks, they are falling one after the next.

8 Jul 2020

China reports Dengue fever after bubonic plague threat

The actively spreading coronavirus disease (COVID-19) first emerged in China in December 2019. More than six months after, the world grapples with nearly 11.8 confirmed cases of the viral infection. Now, as China slowly starts to reboot its economy and ease lockdown restrictions, two new health issues are emerging.

8 Jul 2020

Mongolia warns of suspected bubonic plague

Mongolia has issued a warning to residents in the western Khovd region after two people are suspected of having the bubonic plague. The National Center for Zoonotic Diseases (NCZD) states that the disease is linked to the consumption of marmots, a relatively large ground squirrel.

6 Jul 2020

Survey reveals significant mental health impact during COVID-19 pandemic

The findings of a nationwide survey assessing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the emotional wellbeing of U.S. adults show 90 percent of survey respondents reported experiencing emotional distress related to the pandemic.

2 Jul 2020

NAU research centers receive grants from Flinn Foundation to support COVID-19 response

Scientists at two Northern Arizona University research centers--the Pathogen and Microbiome Institute and the Center for Health Equity Research--recently received grants totaling $175,000 from the Flinn Foundation in support of projects directed at responding to the COVID-19 threat.

17 Jun 2020

Genomic analysis of medieval skeletons has important implications for syphilis history in Europe

Mass burials are common remnants of the many plague outbreaks that ravaged Medieval Europe. A number of these graveyards are well documented in historical sources, but the locations of most, and the victims they contain, have been lost to the pages of time. In Vilnius, Lithuania, one such cemetery was found in a typical way: accidental discovery during a routine city construction project.

12 Jun 2020

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Say what? The spread of coronavirus confusion

As we gain more and more information about the coronavirus and COVID-19, we seem to have less and less understanding of how the disease works and how prevalent it is in areas around the country and world.

11 Jun 2020

Researchers examine bat genome assemblies to find solution for COVID-19

While questions remain about the origin of COVID-19, many scientists now believe the virus spread to humans from bats. Two Texas Tech University researchers are now taking a closer look at whether bats also could offer a solution to the pandemic.

9 Jun 2020

Rats on the rampage as leftovers from closed restaurants become scarce, warns CDC

The Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) has warned that as restaurants are closed due to social distancing and lockdowns owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, rats are resurfacing en masse. The CDC warns that these rats are becoming aggressive as they are deprived of their usual source of food.

25 May 2020

Drug counterfeiters are using corona pandemic to make profits in Africa

Drug counterfeiters are using the corona pandemic to make profits in Africa selling completely ineffective or even harmful medicines.

14 May 2020

Machine learning can be used to track public interest in COVID-19 topics on popular internet sites

Machine learning can be used to track surges in interest in health topics on popular online comment boards, like Reddit, according to a new study conducted during the COVID-19 outbreak by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn Medicine).

14 May 2020

Millions face famine and food insecurity caused by new locust outbreak

Millions face famine and food insecurity caused by a second desert locust outbreak as management resources are directed towards the COVID-19 crisis, scientists warn.

13 May 2020

Keeping the COVID plague at bay: How California is protecting older veterans

Dr. Vito Imbasciani has been at war with viruses since he was 5. Growing up near the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York, he contracted polio in 1952 and couldn't walk for two months. In medical school in Vermont 30 years later, he witnessed AIDS steal the lives of otherwise healthy gay men.

11 May 2020

Researchers outline ways to manage life under COVID-19 pandemic

An international team of researchers has outlined ways to manage different facets of life under the spread of the COVID-19 virus, ranging from how we can combat racially driven bias and fake news to how we can increase cooperation and better manage stress.

2 May 2020

Is the BCG vaccine really protective against COVID-19?

A new paper published on the preprint server medRxiv in April 2020 challenges the hypothesis that BCG vaccination confers some degree of protection against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes the pneumonic illness COVID-19.

26 Apr 2020