Author: Shannon Becker
Fungal Pathogens Flourish in the Pandemic’s Shadow
(The Scientist) The World Health Organization’s first ever fungal priority pathogens list highlights the growing threat of fungal diseases and antifungal resistance. In a new list of fungal “priority pathogens,” the World Health Organization identifies 19 of these often-overlooked microbes that pose the greatest threat to human health. The report, released today (October 25), highlights the […]
Oct 25, 2022
Cardiovascular disease and mortality sequelae of COVID-19 in the UK Biobank
(BMJ) Objective To examine association of COVID-19 with incident cardiovascular events in 17 871 UK Biobank cases between March 2020 and 2021. Methods COVID-19 cases were defined using health record linkage. Each case was propensity score-matched to two uninfected controls on age, sex, deprivation, body mass index, ethnicity, diabetes, prevalent ischaemic heart disease (IHD), smoking, hypertension and high […]
Oct 25, 2022
People who caught mild Covid had increased risk of blood clots, British study finds
(NBC) Patients with mild Covid, defined as those not hospitalized, were 2.7 times more likely to develop blood clots, according to the study published in the British Medical Journal on Monday. Patients hospitalized with Covid were 27 times more likely to develop blood clots, 21 times more likely to suffer heart failure and 17 times […]
Oct 25, 2022
Merck to donate Ebola vaccine candidate for research program in Uganda
(Reuters) Merck said on Tuesday it was planning to produce and donate investigational Sudan ebolavirus vaccine to a global non-profit organization’s research program in Uganda, which is facing an outbreak of the disease. The investigational vaccine that will be donated to IAVI is similar to Merck’s Ervebo vaccine, which is approved against the Zaire ebolavirus […]
Oct 25, 2022
Anti-Inflammatory Agents May Have Role in COVID-19 Pneumonia
(MedPageToday) Infliximab and abatacept showed trends for improved outcomes in ACTIV-1 IM trial. Use of the anti-inflammatory agents infliximab (Remicade) and abatacept (Orencia) added to standard of care showed a hint of improvement in outcomes for patients hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia, according to results from the ACTIV-1 IM trial. Compared with a median time to […]
Oct 25, 2022
Wait, why are there so few dead bugs on my windshield these days?
(Washington Post) After a long drive, the only thing that makes our stomachs churn faster than a windshield smeared with bug guts is a windshield bearing no evidence of insect life whatsoever. It feels like a fundamental pillar of the planet’s ecology has snapped. You’ve probably noticed it, too. On long summer road trips, tiny […]
Oct 25, 2022
During the first year of the pandemic, men died from COVID at a much higher rate than women
(CDC) Death rates in the United States are higher in rural than urban areas, andthe difference has grown over the last 2 decades (1). Death rates for all ofthe 10 leading causes of death in 2019 were higher in rural than urban areas(1). In 2020, deaths due to COVID-19 became the third leading cause ofdeath […]
Oct 25, 2022
Got questions about the timing of flu and Covid vaccines? Here’s what experts say
(STAT) Over the past few weeks, cases of flu have begun to creep up across the U.S., with spikes in the southeast and south central part of the country. Flu hospitalizations are also on the rise. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s influenza tracking team, all signs point to an earlier than usual […]
Oct 25, 2022
Omicron keeps finding new evolutionary tricks to outsmart our immunity
(NPR) Throughout the pandemic, the virus that causes COVID-19 has been evolving fast, blindsiding the world with one variant after another. But the World Health Organization hasn’t given a SARS-CoV-2 variant a Greek name in almost a year, a move that’s reserved for new variants that do or could have significant public health impacts, such […]
Oct 25, 2022
We May Have Only a Few Months to Prevent the Next Pandemic
(NYT) Dr. Spencer is an emergency doctor and professor at Brown. He survived Ebola in 2014 after treating patients in Guinea and recently treated Covid-19 patients in New York City. I’m often asked what it felt like to have Ebola. Eight years later, I still struggle to respond. But the truth is that having Ebola […]
Oct 25, 2022
