Author: Claudinne Miller
Tanzania Declares End of Deadly Marburg Virus Outbreak
VOA Tanzania on Friday declared the end of a deadly outbreak of the Marburg virus, more than two months after it was first confirmed, the World Health Organization said. Nine cases – eight confirmed and one probable – and six deaths were recorded in the outbreak of the hemorrhagic fever in the northwestern region of […]
Jun 6, 2023
The deadliest viruses in human history, from COVID to smallpox
PopSci Deadly viral pathogens include rabies, which is fatal without swift treatment, and the flu, which has a huge global toll. Over the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the coronavirus directly or indirectly killed about 15 million people worldwide, according to estimates from the World Health Organization. In the United States, more people died […]
Jun 6, 2023
Mysterious COVID strain found in central Ohio
NBC Viral researchers believe someone in central Ohio has been infected with COVID-19 for at least two years, and they want to find that person. While the researchers believe there is no threat to public health, they hope this case holds much-needed answers to treating long COVID. Molecular virologist Dr. Marc Johnson, a microbiology professor […]
Jun 6, 2023
Does COVID-19 damage the brain?
Harvard Health How does COVID-19 damage the brain, and can the damage be permanent? A. When the pandemic started in early 2020, doctors didn’t know much yet about COVID and did not think it affected the brain. Boy, were we wrong! We now know that, unfortunately, COVID can damage the brain in many ways. When people […]
Jun 6, 2023
The Medieval Black Death Made You Healthier—If You Survived
Time Game of Thrones doesn’t tell you the half of it. Life during the medieval ages was nasty, brutish and short. That was especially true during what became known as the Black Death. The widespread outbreak of plague struck between 1347 and 1351, killing tens of millions of people, resulting in the loss of 30 to […]
Jun 6, 2023
Martha Nelson on the SARS-CoV-2 virus in deer
Penn State “There don’t appear to be evolutionary adaptations required for human SARS-CoV-2 virus to transmit in deer so far,” said Eberly College of Science alumna Martha Nelson, reflecting on her past two years of work as a staff scientist at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She discussed how the same variants of the […]
Jun 6, 2023
Covid Is Coming Back in China; Lockdowns Are Not
NYT In December, China abruptly abandoned its draconian “Zero Covid” policies, battered by a surge of infections and rising public anger against lockdowns. Half a year on, Covid cases again are on the rise, but this time the nation appears to be determined to press on with normal life as the government focuses on reigniting […]
Jun 6, 2023
F.D.A. Approves Pfizer’s R.S.V. Vaccine for Older Adults
NYT The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved Pfizer’s vaccine against the respiratory syncytial virus, or R.S.V., for adults age 60 and older, the second approval granted for shots offering protection from the virus this month. GSK was the first drugmaker to get the F.D.A.’s permission to market an R.S.V. vaccine on May 3. The vaccines are expected […]
Jun 6, 2023
An Inside Look at Covid’s Lasting Damage to the Lungs
More than three years after the start of the pandemic, many Covid survivors continue to struggle. Some, especially those who became so severely ill that they were hospitalized and unable to breathe on their own, face lasting lung damage. To better understand the long-term impact of Covid’s assault on the lungs, The New York Times […]
Jun 6, 2023
For These Bird Flu Researchers, Work Is a Day at the Very ‘Icky’ Beach
NYT The H5N1 virus poses “a great unknown threat” to birds and humans alike. Understanding and thwarting it begins with excrement collection. It was a glorious day for field work on the shores of the Delaware Bay. The late afternoon sun cast a warm glow over the gently sloping beach. The receding tide revealed a […]
Jun 6, 2023
