Epidemiology
Omicron’s Effect Won’t Be as Mild as Hoped
It’s too soon to know if the variant causes milder COVID, but its transmissibility and ability to evade vaccines are still cause for concern
Stories by Tanya Lewis
Epidemiology
COVID Quickly, Episode 20: The Omicron Scare, and Anti-COVID Pills Are Coming
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American ’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between...
Vaccines
The Benefits of Vaccinating Kids against COVID Far Outweigh the Risks of Myocarditis
Vaccination is likely to prevent many more COVID cases than it is to cause a rare and nonfatal heart side effect in five- to 11-year-olds
Vaccines
COVID Quickly, Episode 19: Mandate Roadblocks, Boosters for All and Sickness in the Zoo
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American ’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between...
Vaccines
How Immunocompromised People without Strong Vaccine Protection Are Coping with COVID
People with diseases or treatments that suppress their immune system cannot count on the same protection most vaccinated people have
Vaccines
COVID Quickly, Episode 18: Vaccines for Kids and the Limits of Natural Immunity
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American ’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between...
Vaccines
COVID Quickly, Episode 17: Vaccine Lies and Protecting Immunocompromised People
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American ’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between...
Medicine
The Quest to Overcome Gene Therapy’s Failures
Tragic side effects plagued the field’s early years, but researchers are finding ways to minimize the risks
Vaccines
Who Needs a COVID Booster Shot? Experts Answer Common Questions
Now that the FDA has authorized the shots for a broad range of Americans, many people want to know if they need a booster dose. Here’s what we have learned so far
Public Health
COVID Quickly, Episode 16: Vaccines Protect Pregnancies and a New Antiviral Pill
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American ’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between...
Physiology
2021 Medicine Nobel Prize Winner Explains the Importance of Sensing Touch
Ardem Patapoutian shared the physiology or medicine prize for work on mechanisms crucial to everything from bladder control to knowing where our limbs are
Neuroscience
What Chili Peppers Can Teach Us about Pain
U.C. San Francisco researcher and Breakthrough Prize–winner David Julius talks about capsaicin, opioids and snake vision
Physiology
2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Awarded for Discoveries in Sensing Temperature and Touch
David Julius’s and Ardem Patapoutian’s research revealed the molecular basis of these basic senses
Public Health
Why We Need to Upgrade Our Face Masks—and Where to Get Them
High-quality respirators such as N95s and KN95s are now widely available and provide the best protection against COVID, according to experts. Why aren’t more people wearing them?
Public Health
The Pandemic’s Hidden Toll Is Revealed in Excess Death Counts
Many of the unexpected deaths in rural U.S. counties last year were not recorded as caused by COVID
Public Health
COVID, Quickly, Episode 15: Booster Shot Approvals—plus Vaccines for Kids?
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American ’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between...
Vaccines
An mRNA Pioneer Discusses How Her Work Led to the COVID Vaccines
Biochemist Katalin Karikó and her colleague Drew Weissman were recently awarded a $3-million Breakthrough Prize for their work
Public Health
COVID, Quickly, Episode 14: Best Masks, Explaining Mask Anger, Biden’s New Plan
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American ’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between...
Sociology
The Pandemic Caused a Baby Bust, Not a Boom
Birth rates in many high-income countries declined in the months following the first wave, possibly because of economic uncertainty
Public Health
COVID, Quickly, Episode 13: Vaccine Approval, Breakthrough Infections, Boosters
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American ’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between...
