Research favors testing and voluntary isolation over closures in disease outbreaks

Net benefits (as a fraction of GDP, y-axis) of the random testing with self-isolation policy for τ = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.0 over the range of Tτ from…

WHO chief hopes for ‘historic’ pandemic accord

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A new pandemic accord under negotiation must be a “historic agreement” marking a dramatic shift in the approach to global health security after the COVID crisis,…

Cholera outbreak kills 10 in S.Africa

Scanning electron microscope image of Vibrio cholerae. Credit: Wikipedia An outbreak of cholera has killed at least 10 people near South Africa’s capital of Pretoria, health authorities said Sunday, urging…

Research in mice offers clues for vaccinating against deadly bacteria

Characterization of K. pneumoniae O1-EPA and K2-EPA bioconjugates. A) Diagram of genes encoding EPA and PglS (colored arrows) on the pEXT20-derived expression plasmid. EPA was engineered to contain two internal…

Scientists better understand how people with Cantu syndrome develop lymphedema

Graphical abstract. Credit: Function (2023). DOI: 10.1093/function/zqad017 Ion channels in people with Cantu syndrome produce varying degrees of contractile dysfunction (when muscles and tendons function ineffectively) in the lymphatic system,…

13 dead from Congo haemorrhagic fever in Iraq this year

At least 13 people have died in Iraq since the start of the year from a viral tick-borne disease transmitted to humans from livestock, the health ministry said on Saturday.…

Is that the right call?

Credit: CC0/Unsplash The COVID-19 emergency is over. After three years, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said that the virus “no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.”…

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria contaminates whole ICU, shows study

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) was brought into the ICU, in Hangzhou, on multiple occasions as patients were admitted, creating a large ‘reservoir’ of the bacteria which…

Metabolic syndrome with heavy alcohol use contributes to recent surge in alcoholic liver disease-related mortality

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A brief research report evaluating the relationship between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and a recent increase in alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) deaths has found that heavy alcohol…

First RSV vaccine caps 60-year search to stem pervasive lung illness

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain For 60 years, doctors and scientists searched for a vaccine against a common virus that, while sometimes deadly, is little known to the public. The hunt…