In March, someone in Seattle became the first person in the United States to take an experimental dose of a potential vaccine for the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. Doctors injected 45 healthy people as part of a clinical trial they hope will protect people from a virus that has killed tens of thousands and upended normalcy […]
Aspirin linked to reduction in risk of several cancers of the digestive tract
Aspirin is associated with a reduction in the risk of developing several cancers of the digestive tract, including some that are almost invariably fatal, such as pancreatic and liver cancers. The largest and most comprehensive analysis to date of the link between aspirin and digestive tract cancers, published in the leading cancer journal Annals of […]
Predicting possible outcomes to coronavirus and other pandemics with models and simulations
Lately, our daily lives include reading complex news items with analysis of curves, simulations and models of COVID-19. Municipal governments present predictions of possible outcomes from modelling, while provincial and national governments have press conferences discussing policies to respond to the pot … pread of the disease. But what does all this data mean? How […]
COVID-19: What to do if you develop symptoms while away from home
In many areas of the U.S. and around the world, people are being told to stay home and avoid travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, travel restrictions may not apply to employees of critical industries, such as trucking, public health professionals, financial services, and food supply. So what should someone do if they develop […]
Should pharmaceutical companies give up their patent protections to find a vaccine for COVID-19?
The race for a COVID-19 vaccine is on, and as the disease continues to upend societies around the world, public health officials are calling upon pharmaceutical companies to share their intellectual property—a move that could speed up research and make any eventual treatment more widely (and easily) accessible, says Northeastern law professor Brook Baker. Sharing […]
What does it mean to be immunocompromised? And why does this increase your risk of coronavirus?
Immunocompromised is a broad term reflecting the fact someone’s immune system isn’t as strong and balanced as it should be. Because immunocompromised people’s immune systems are defective or ineffective, they’re unable to stop invasion and colonisation by foreign intruders, including the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19. An under-performing immune response leaves people susceptible to infection, […]
Manipulating cell death signaling after radiation could offer a new way to treat cancers
Cancer cells avoid an immune system attack after radiation by commandeering a cell signaling pathway that helps dying cells avoid triggering an immune response, a new study led by UTSW scientists suggests. The findings, published in a recent issue of Nature Immunology, could eventually lead to new ways to augment existing treatments to fight this […]
Smoking increases your coronavirus risk. There’s never been a better time to quit
If you’re a smoker, there’s really never been a better time to quit. Coronavirus affects your lungs, causing flu-like symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat and fatigue. In the most serious cases, sufferers struggle to breathe at all and can die of respiratory failure. The World Health Organisation recommends people quit […]
Shut down ‘wet markets’ to prevent next viral plague, animal advocates say
(HealthDay)—Sometime in the late fall of 2019, probably in a live-animal “wet market” in Wuhan, China, a strain of coronavirus previously harbored only by animals made the leap to humans. There are various theories on the intermediary species involved—snakes, bats or even an armadillo-like creature called the pangolin have been implicated. A few months later, […]
Antibody testing may reveal when it’s safe to go back to work
As Americans wonder when COVID-19 infections may ease and when people can return to work, USC and Los Angeles County are conducting a study that could hold the answers. Today and Saturday, researchers from USC and the county are testing the blood of 1,000 randomly selected individuals for COVID-19 antibodies for a study that could […]