Health
Omicron brings COVID-19 vaccine inequity 'home to roost'
The emergence of the new Omicron variant and the world's desperate and likely futile attempts to keep it at bay are reminders of what scientists have warned for months: The coronavirus will thrive as long as vast parts of the world lack vaccines. The hoarding of limited COVID-19 shots by… Read
AIDS: Decades of research but still no vaccine
COVID vaccines began to show promise just months after the novel coronavirus started spreading across the globe. So why have decades of HIV/AIDS research yielded so little progress on a jab to prevent a disease that claimed some 680,000 lives in 2020? As the globe marks World AIDS Day on… Read
WHO calls for treaty to shield against next pandemic
The world must study the wreckage of COVID-19 and say "never again" by striking a pandemic preparedness treaty, the WHO said Monday as countries gathered to build the foundations of a new accord. World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said another disastrous pandemic was bound to happen unless countries… Read
PCRs detect Omicron; studies under way for other tests: WHO
While PCR tests can detect infection with Omicron, studies are looking to whether the COVID-19 variant of concern has any impact on other test types, the WHO said Sunday. "The widely-used PCR tests continue to detect infection, including infection with Omicron, as we have seen with other variants," the World… Read
How the pandemic helped spread fentanyl across U.S. and drive opioid OD deaths to grim new high
For the past 20 years, I have been engaged in efforts to end the opioid epidemic, as a public health official, researcher and clinician. And for every one of those years I have looked on as the number of deaths from drug overdoses has set a new record high. Yet… Read
U.S. health panel says Merck pill can prevent grave COVID infections
An anti-COVID pill developed by Merck has proved effective in treating the disease, the US Food and Drug Administration said Friday in a much-awaited preliminary report. But the report, from an FDA advisory panel, cautioned that pregnant women should not use the drug, known as molnupiravir, saying the potential benefits… Read
Foods high in added fats and refined carbs are like cigarettes – addictive and unhealthy
Every year millions of Americans try to cut down on ultra-processed foods – industrial formulations that are typically high in added fat, refined carbohydrates or both. Think cookies, cakes, potato chips and pizza. For many, the desire to change what they eat is triggered by concerns about potentially life-threatening health… Read
Mapping how 100 billion cells in the brain all fit together is the brave new world of neuroscience
The brain plays an essential role in how people navigate the world by generating both thought and behavior. Despite being one of the most vital organs of life, it takes up only 2% of human body volume. How can something so small perform such complex tasks? Luckily, modern tools like… Read
Vaccine targeting ticks may offer protection against Lyme and other tick-borne diseases
A new laboratory-stage mRNA vaccine that teaches the immune system to recognize the saliva from tick bites could prevent these bugs from feeding on and transmitting tick-borne diseases to people, according to a recent study my colleagues and I conducted in the Fikrig Lab at the Yale School of Medicine.… Read
Diet-related illness increases with availability of red meat: study
As global trade in red and processed meats has increased, so have chronic diseases associated with meat consumption, a study looking at data from 154 countries has found. Researchers focused on illness and death rates from three diseases strongly linked to red and processed meat consumption: colorectal cancer, type-2 diabetes… Read
