Public Health
How a Warming Climate Could Affect the Spread of Diseases Similar to COVID-19
A hotter planet could change the relationship among infectious agents, their hosts and the human body’s defense mechanisms
Public Health3604 articles archived since 1845
Public Health
Widely Used Surgical Masks Are Putting Health Care Workers at Serious Risk
Because high-end N95 masks are scarce, hospitals and other medical centers are using less protective surgical masks
Public Health
Summer Presents Dangerous Choice: Swelter in Quarantine or Risk Contagion
Extreme heat is deadly to many of the same populations that are most vulnerable to COVID-19
Medicine
Chloroquine Hype Is Derailing the Search for Coronavirus Treatments
With politicians touting the potential benefits of malaria drugs to fight COVID-19, some people are turning away from clinical trials of other therapies
Public Health
‘Spider-Man’ Immune Response May Promote Severe COVID-19
Clinical trials have begun to test drugs that counter toxic molecular webs linked to lung distress
Public Health
Comparing COVID-19 Deaths to Flu Deaths Is like Comparing Apples to Oranges
The former are actual numbers; the latter are inflated statistical estimates
Public Health
How China’s ‘Bat Woman’ Hunted Down Viruses from SARS to the New Coronavirus
Wuhan-based virologist Shi Zhengli has identified dozens of deadly SARS-like viruses in bat caves, and she warns there are more out there
Public Health
Will COVID-19 Make Us More Socialist?
Pundits hope the pandemic will lead to more humane government policies but fear darker outcomes...
Public Health
Coronavirus Roundup for April 18–24
Here are pandemic news highlights for the week
Public Health
At-Home Coronavirus-Sample-Collection Kits Aren’t Perfect but Could Help Fill Testing Gap
LabCorp’s Pixel kits rely on self-swabbing and mailing samples, and they have yet to be scaled up for widespread use
Medicine
Shortcuts in COVID-19 Drug Research Could Do Long-Term Harm, Bioethicists Worry
Compassionate use of experimental medicine needs to coexist with scientific rigor to help patients, researchers write in the journal Science
Public Health
Why COVID-19 Is a Special Danger to Otolaryngologists
Anosmia, or loss of smell, can be an early symptom—and that puts these ear, nose and throat physicians at risk
Public Health
The Science behind How Coronavirus Tests Work
Technologies such as PCR, serological assays and rapid diagnostics help us understand the spread of COVID-19. But how do they do so?
Public Health
How Blood Sugar Can Trigger a Deadly Immune Response in the Flu and Possibly COVID-19
Glucose metabolism plays a key role in the cytokine storm seen in influenza, and the link could have potential implications for novel coronavirus infections
Public Health
COVID-19: What the Autopsies Reveal
Pathologists are starting to get a closer look at the damage that COVID-19 does to the body by carefully examining the internal organs of people who have died from the novel coronavirus...
Biotech
CRISPR Gene Editing May Help Scale Up Coronavirus Testing
An inexpensive assay based on the technique can provide yes or no answers in under an hour—perhaps even in the home soon
Public Health
Diseases Can Jump to Humans from Plants, Not Just from Animals
The deadly fungal pathogen Candida auris may have developed drug resistance on farms
Medicine
Hundreds of People Volunteer to Be Infected with Coronavirus
Support grows for a controversial ‘human challenge’ vaccine study—but no trial is yet planned
Tiniest Murderer Devastates Africa’s Residents
Originally published in August 1913
Biotech
Snorkeling Mask Apparatus Might Help COVID-19 Patients Avoid Intubation
The jury-rigged breathing aid, invented to deal with ventilator shortages, is now being tested as a kinder, gentler alternative to a tube in the trachea
