Epidemiology
Long COVID Risk Falls Only Slightly after Vaccination
Results from a large study suggest that vaccines offer less protection against lingering symptoms than expected
Public Health3480 articles archived since 1845
Public Health
What We Know about Mass School Shootings—and Shooters—in the U.S.
Criminologists explain what the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Tex., and other deadly assaults have in common
Epidemiology
Guns Now Kill More Children and Young Adults Than Car Crashes
Firearms now exceed motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of injury-related death for people ages one to 24, a new analysis shows
Public Health
New Antiobesity Drugs Help People Shed Dozens of Pounds, but They Must Be Taken for a Lifetime
Injectable weight-loss medicines reduce appetite but raise questions of long-term safety and affordability
Epidemiology
What We Know about the Rise in Monkeypox Cases Worldwide
It is unclear how some people recently diagnosed with the disease became infected with the monkeypox virus or how it is likely to spread
Public Health
‘When Will Kids under Five Get COVID Vaccines?’ and Other Questions
Experts address when the youngest children could be eligible for the shots, why that has taken so long, and more
Public Health
The U.S. Needs Its Local Public Health Officials Back, Stat
COVID misinformation has led to many top scientists leaving their public positions, putting health policy in the hands of people with limited expertise
Public Health
HIV Care Has Improved Dramatically—But Not for Everyone
The HIV/AIDS crisis has lessons for the COVID pandemic and other health inequities
Inequality
People Who Are Making Health Care More Fair
Four innovators are finding new solutions for the problem of injustice
Public Health
Tuberculosis Is the Oldest Pandemic, and Poverty Makes It Continue
Tuberculosis is preventable and curable, yet it afflicts one quarter of the world’s population—mostly because of poverty
Public Health
What Does ‘Protection’ against COVID Really Mean?
To answer that question, expanded testing is needed that can determine levels of T immune cells
Public Health
How Accurate Are Rapid COVID Tests?
Two testing experts explain the latest data on how well the assays perform
Health Care
What Genetics Can—and Cannot—Reveal about an Individual’s COVID Risk
Genome-wide association studies can sleuth out genetic markers that raise or lower COVID risk, but they miss social factors
Public Health
The Urgent Need to Improve Health Equity
A special package highlights problems and solutions
Public Health
How to Care for COVID at Home, and Is That Sniffle Allergies or the Virus? COVID Quickly, Episode 30
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...
Public Health
Is It COVID, or Is It Allergies?
Patient history, context and a few symptoms may help distinguish between the conditions
Climate Change
Air-Conditioning Should Be a Human Right in the Climate Crisis
We need to protect vulnerable people from killer heat without destroying the environment
Reproduction
The Harmful Effects of Overturning Roe v. Wade
A landmark study of women who were turned away from getting the procedure found that being forced to have a child worsened their health and economic status.
Public Health
Safer Indoor Air, and People Want Masks on Planes and Trains: COVID Quickly, Episode 29
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...
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?
