Author: Claudinne Miller
COVID Continues to Take a Toll, Especially Among Older Adults, Study Suggests
MedPageToday However, estimated COVID-related hospitalizations and deaths did decrease from 2022 to 2024. Despite the end to the public health emergency declaration in May 2023, COVID-19 continued to have a large impact on the U.S. population and healthcare system, a cross-sectional study suggested. From October 2022 to September 2023, there were an estimated 43.6 million […]
Jan 7, 2026
COVID-19 still claims more than 100,000 US lives each year
Medical Express Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers report national estimates of 43.6 million COVID-19-associated illnesses and 101,300 deaths in the US during October 2022 to September 2023, plus 33.0 million illnesses and 100,800 deaths during October 2023 to September 2024. People 65 years and older accounted for the majority of hospitalizations and deaths.COVID-19 […]
Jan 7, 2026
Bayer files separate lawsuits against Moderna, J&J and Pfizer-BioNTech over COVID vaccine tech
Fierce Pharma Bayer has filed separate lawsuits against the creators of three COVID-19 vaccines, claiming they violated intellectual property developed by Monsanto, the crop science company the German company acquired a decade ago. In federal district court in Delaware, Bayer filed one complaint against Moderna and another against partners Pfizer and BioNTech. In U.S. district […]
Jan 7, 2026
The role of wild birds in the global highly pathogenic avian influenza H5 panzootic, 2020–2023
Nature The emergence of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5 clade 2.3.4.4b has triggered an unprecedented global panzootic in recent years. As the frequency and scale of HPAI H5 outbreaks continue to rise, understanding how wild birds contribute to shape the global virus spread across regions—affecting poultry, domestic and wild mammals—is increasingly critical. In this […]
Jan 7, 2026
‘It’s completely out of control’: Scientists warn bird flu could spark a human pandemic in 2026
Science Focus Bird flu has been rampaging through wildlife and farm animals worldwide. Will it make the long-feared jump to people? When a highly pathogenic strain of bird flu strain of avian influenza (H5N1) began sweeping across wild birds and poultry in 2020, it already looked concerning. Five years on, the picture has grown darker […]
Jan 7, 2026
Top US Egg Producer Says Bird Flu Still ‘Extremely Strong’
Bloomberg Cal-Maine Foods Inc., the biggest egg producer in the US, said bird flu still has an “extremely strong” presence, having last year decimated US poultry flocks and sent egg prices soaring to records. Nearly 500 outbreaks in poultry were reported across 26 countries in October and November last year, according to the World Organisation for […]
Jan 7, 2026
CDC staff ‘blindsided’ as child vaccine schedule unilaterally overhauled
Washington Post The Trump administration took unprecedented steps to recommend fewer vaccines for children without extensive consultations with career scientists. Vaccine experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were blindsided by a top deputy toHealth Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to unilaterally overhaul the childhood immunization schedule, according to current and former agency staff. […]
Jan 7, 2026
AI can now create viruses from scratch, one step away from the perfect biological weapon
Earth.com Scientists have now used artificial intelligence, computer systems that learn patterns from data, to write complete viral genomes from scratch in the lab. In parallel, a Microsoft-led study showed that AI tools can redesign known toxins so they escape common DNA synthesis safety checks. Those AI-built viruses are bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria rather than humans, […]
Jan 7, 2026
The golden age of vaccine development
Works in Progress The first vaccine was a lucky accident. Now we can design new vaccines in weeks, atom by atom. In 1796, when Edward Jenner developed the first vaccine, against the smallpox virus, no one knew what viruses were, let alone connected them to diseases. Many believed Jenner’s vaccine worked because it depleted the body of […]
Jan 7, 2026
Scientists Discover Previously Undetected Bat-Borne Virus Infecting Humans in South Asia
SciTechDaily Researchers studying infectious diseases have found evidence of Pteropine orthoreovirus (PRV), a bat-associated orthoreovirus, in stored throat swabs and virus cultures from five people in Bangladesh. These patients were originally believed to have Nipah virus infection but later tested negative. The finding expands the list of animal-to-human viruses known to infect people in Bangladesh […]
Jan 7, 2026