Author: Claudinne Miller
Accelerated brain ageing during the COVID-19 pandemic
Nature The impact of SARS-CoV-2 and the COVID-19 pandemic on brain health is recognised, yet specific effects remain understudied. We investigate the pandemic’s impact on brain ageing using longitudinal neuroimaging data from the UK Biobank. Brain age prediction models are trained from hundreds of multi-modal imaging features using a cohort of 15,334 healthy participants. These […]
Jul 30, 2025
The Pandemic Appears to Have Accelerated Brain Aging, Even in People Who Never Got Covid
Wired More than five years after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, we are still discovering the after-effects of not only the virus but also the prolonged period of stress, isolation, loss, and uncertainty that the pandemic caused. A new scientific study, published this month in Nature Communications, has revealed that the pandemic may have accelerated brain aging […]
Jul 30, 2025
Is Bird Flu Gone for Good?
Johns Hopkins U.S. bird flu infections have declined in both birds and mammals, prompting CDC to shift from weekly to monthly reporting. But is the outbreak really over? It’s not unusual for wild birds to be infected by influenza viruses. But the strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza that began causing outbreaks in the U.S. in […]
Jul 23, 2025
New study advances theory on why most U.S. bird flu cases have so far been mild
STAT Researchers believe immunity to an earlier virus may play a role, but not everyone agrees. The H5N1 bird flu virus has historically extracted a heavy toll when it infects humans, with nearly half of confirmed cases ending in death over the past three decades. But of the 70 cases reported in the United States over the […]
Jul 23, 2025
Cambodia reports 13th human case of H5N1 bird flu this year
BNO Cambodia has confirmed a new human case of H5N1 bird flu in a 6-year-old boy who is currently in intensive care, according to health officials. It is the country’s 13th confirmed human case in 2025. The child, from Bos Russey village in Tbong Khmum province, tested positive for H5N1 avian influenza on Monday. He […]
Jul 23, 2025
A genetic tweak could prevent mosquitoes from transmitting malaria
NPR Each year, 263 million people get malaria. But from the parasite’s perspective, infecting humans is harder than you might think, and requires completing an epic journey within the tiny body of a mosquito. First, the mosquito must suck the blood of an individual infected with malaria — bringing the Plasmodium parasite into the insect’s gut. Then […]
Jul 23, 2025
Kennedy Rescinds Endorsements for Some Flu Vaccines
NYT Federal guidelines no longer recommend flu vaccines containing a preservative, used in a small percentage of vaccines, that has been falsely linked to autism. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Tuesday formally rescinded federal recommendations for all flu vaccines containing thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative that the anti-vaccine movement has falsely linked to autism. […]
Jul 23, 2025
Patient dies of brain-eating amoeba in South Carolina, hospital confirms
CBS News A patient in a South Carolina children’s hospital has died of a brain-eating amoeba, according to the facility. In a news briefing Tuesday, Prisma Health Children’s Hospital-Midlands confirmed the patient died of primary amebic meningoencephalitis, also known as PAM, a rare but often fatal brain infection caused by the Naegleria fowleri organism. The hospital […]
Jul 23, 2025
Man Catches Plague From His Cat
MedPageToday Case occurred outside the typical season, suggesting the influence of a changing climate. In a rare, off-season occurrence, a man in Oregon contracted plague from his infected cat, researchers reported. The case occurred in January 2024, earlier in the year than all of the other 18 cases of plague reported in Oregon in the […]
Jul 23, 2025