For almost three years, scientists have raced to understand the immune responses in patients who develop severe COVID-19, with an enormous effort aimed at defining where healthy immunity ends and destructive immunity…
Month: August 2022
Low vaccine booster rates are now a key factor in COVID-19 deaths – and racial disparities in booster rates persist
More than 450 people are dying of COVID-19 in the U.S. each day as of late August 2022. When COVID-19 vaccines first became available, public officials, community organizations and policymakers mobilized to…
Misinformation is a common thread between the COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS pandemics – with deadly consequences
Since health officials confirmed the first COVID-19 cases, misinformation has spread just as quickly as the virus. Social media may have made the amount, variety and speed of misinformation seem unprecedented, but…
How African countries coordinated the response to COVID-19: lessons for public health
The COVID-19 pandemic spread much slower on the African continent than in the rest of the world, contrary to predictions. As of 20 July 2022, a total of 562,672,324 COVID-19 confirmed cases…
When COVID-19 or flu viruses kill, they often have an accomplice – bacterial infections
The 1918 influenza pandemic resulted in the loss of over 3% of the world’s population – at least 50 million people. But it wasn’t the flu virus that caused the majority of…
Long COVID-19 and other chronic respiratory conditions after viral infections may stem from an overactive immune response in the lungs
Viruses that cause respiratory diseases like the flu and COVID-19 can lead to mild to severe symptoms within the first few weeks of infection. These symptoms typically resolve within a few more…