The global burden of long covid has put a spotlight on the long neglected mystery of postviral syndromes. Brian Owens asks what’s changing Long covid really shouldn’t have been a surprise, says Vett Lloyd, a biologist at Mount Allison University in Sackville, Canada. “When the pandemic started, the general assumption was that there were two […]
covid-19
The Pandemic Changed How People Buy Fish—and Small Fishers Couldn’t Keep Up
Small-scale fishers, often overlooked by government aid, were less able to adapt to changing market conditions than large companies. As a result, many lost out to bigger players. The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the global fishing industry. Lockdowns, travel restrictions, and disruptions to supply chains all conspired to depress demand for fresh fish in […]
How microwaves could help fight COVID-19
When the COVID-19 pandemic started Khashayar Ghandi, a materials chemist at the University of Guelph, had already been experimenting with using microwaves to kill bacteria and other pathogens. So he decided to see if the technique could work on the virus as well, either as a treatment or a disinfectant. Read more in CICNews.
The rise of preprints
How COVID-19 has transformed the way we publish and report on scientific research. Peer review, despite its flaws, is one of the most important pillars of the scientific process. So preprint servers, which make scientific papers that have yet to be reviewed or published available online, have been slow to catch on in many fields. […]
Social-media platforms failing to tackle abuse of scientists
A report by activists found that half of debunked online disinformation targeting three prominent scientists remains live and unlabelled. Social-media sites such as Facebook and Twitter are not doing enough to tackle online abuse and disinformation targeted at scientists, suggests a study by international campaign group Avaaz. Read more in Nature.
Clues About Who Will Get Long COVID
A new study points to a particular antibody “signature” to predict the likelihood of lingering COVID-19 symptoms. A significant proportion of people who contract COVID-19 — around one-third, according to most estimates — will go on to experience symptoms that can linger for months. Little is known about this post-acute COVID-19 syndrome (PACS), more commonly […]
Kids Should Get the Flu Shot This Season
With the potential for a big outbreak of flu this winter, it is more important than ever to make sure that children get the flu vaccine as soon as possible, according to flu trackers. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends everyone over the age of 6 months get an annual flu shot, ideally by the […]
How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the transmission of flu?
Public health measures aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19 have also reduced transmission of flu — but this is not the year to blow off your annual flu shot A funny thing happened last year just as the COVID-19 pandemic began sweeping across the world — the flu disappeared. What had been a fairly […]
Flu Shot Highly Recommended This Year
With the Delta variant of COVID-19 still raging in the United States and intensive care units in parts of the country filled with patients with the coronavirus, experts are voicing concern about the added risk of a difficult flu season. Two mathematical models are predicting a big rebound in the number and severity of flu […]
Science Is Messy, Iterative and Amazing. And More Pandemic Lessons
What I learned from 18 months of “doing my own research”. My final column of pandemic science for The Tyee.