Health, features and articles | Educational Science

Jul 31, 2021

What happens if a far more lethal coronavirus emerges in pets?

The recent suggestion that British ministers may have to consider culling or vaccinating animals to prevent the coronavirus from picking up another dangerous mutation and jumping back to humans may sound like sudden panic, but it's just part of a long debate among scientists. Evidence that cats could be infected...

Jul 31, 2021

Immunodeficiency: Definition and examples

Immunodeficiency, immunocompromised and autoimmune disorder are all terms that describe the body's immune system and its reduced ability or inability to fight off infection or disease. But the terms aren't always interchangeable. Here's what each one means. What are immunodeficiency disorders? Immunodeficiency disorders are immune system malfunctions that may prevent...

Jul 31, 2021

FDA to authorize 3rd COVID-19 vaccine dose for immunocompromised people

On Thursday (Aug. 12), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is planning to authorize a third vaccine dose for people with weakened immune systems, according to recent news reports. The FDA will update the emergency use authorizations for the two mRNA vaccines — Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna —to include a...

Jul 31, 2021

Why do you sometimes gain weight after exercising?

If you've ever started an especially vigorous workout regime with good faith and enthusiasm, only to be met with disappointment as the scale goes past the weight you started with, you may have had a lingering question: Why does exercise make me gain weight? Is there a biological explanation, or...

Jul 31, 2021

Ivermectin won't treat COVID-19, but it might kill you, CDC warns

Thousands of Americans may be taking potentially dangerous doses of an anti-parasitic drug because of misinformation that it will prevent or treat COVID-19, according to a new warning from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). On Thursday (Aug. 26), the CDC alerted doctors that there's been a surge...

Jun 30, 2021

Respiratory virus spreads in the southern US

Parts of the southern U.S. are seeing off-season spikes in a respiratory virus called RSV after the lifting of public health measures put into place to slow COVID-19 spread, public health experts warn. RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, is typically more active in the fall and winter. This summer spike...

Jun 30, 2021

Delta variant now makes up 83% of new COVID-19 cases in US

The SARS-CoV-2 delta variant now makes up 83% of new U.S. cases, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said on Tuesday (July 20) at a Senate hearing. This is a dramatic increase up from 50% the week of July 3, Walensky said. In...

Jun 30, 2021

Nerve damage in cornea could be sign of 'long COVID,' study hints

Nerve damage and a buildup of immune cells in the cornea may be a sign of long COVID, a long-term syndrome that emerges in some people after COVID-19 infection, a new study suggests. These preliminary results will need to be verified in a larger group of people with long COVID,...

Jun 30, 2021

How 350 vaccinated people caught COVID-19 in huge Cape Cod outbreak

A large COVID-19 outbreak in a Cape Cod town has changed health officials' understanding of the coronavirus delta variant, and played a key role in the decision to recommend masks indoors even for people fully vaccinated against the virus. The outbreak occurred in Provincetown, Massachusetts, after July 4 celebrations, and...

Jun 30, 2021

What's happening inside Simone Biles' brain when the 'twisties' set in?

American gymnast Simone Biles withdrew from several Olympic events this week, including the latest withdrawal from the vault and uneven bars finals, after experiencing a case of the twisties — what gymnasts describe as losing control of their body mid-trick and losing sense of where they are in the air....

May 31, 2021

Is the COVID-19 vaccine causing rare myocarditis cases?

Researchers in Israel say they've found a possible link between the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and cases of heart inflammation in young men ages 16 to 30, according to a report submitted this week to the country's Ministry of Health. The report concluded that around 1 in 5,000 men who receive...

May 31, 2021

Boy gets burned by wet cement in rare case

A 7-year-old boy who accidentally got wet cement all over his head and torso ended up in the emergency room after the cement mixture burned his skin, according to a new report. A family member had been mixing and pouring cement when the boy, who was playing nearby, walked under...

May 31, 2021

COVID-19 was spreading in the US by December 2019, mounting evidence suggests

The novel coronavirus may have already arrived in the U.S. by late December 2019, adding to the evidence that the virus was already lurking here at least a month before the country's first reported case, according to a new study. The study researchers analyzed more than 24,000 blood samples collected...

May 31, 2021

Scientist recovers coronavirus gene sequences secretly deleted last year in Wuhan

Finding the origin story for SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus responsible for nearly 3.9 million deaths worldwide, has been largely hampered by lack of access to information from China where cases first popped up. Now, a researcher in Seattle has dug up deleted files from Google Cloud that reveal 13 partial genetic...

Apr 30, 2021

First genetically modified mosquitoes released in US

The biotech firm Oxitec has released its genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys, with the goal of suppressing wild, disease-carrying mosquito populations in the region. This is the first time genetically modified mosquitoes have been released in the U.S. Oxitec previously released its modified Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in Brazil,...