Search results

A researcher whose work was supported by the Federal government, among others, has agreed to retract two of her papers published in 2009 in the pages of Environmental Health Perspectives and the Journal of Biological Chemistry, respectively.

At the beginning of the year, the CDC and FDA noted “a preliminary safety signal for ischemic stroke among persons aged ≥65 years” who had received the COVID bi-valent vaccine, as well as a similar but "higher" signal in individuals receiving the influenza vaccine at the same time. Now, a study has confirmed that safety signal.

Around 7,000 individuals are bitten by snakes annually in the US, with only the tiniest fractions (0.02%) dying – others suffer amputations or continuing disability. [1] Snake anti-venom is largely responsible for saving these individuals. But as with many problems, snake bites are a “neglected” disease elsewhere in our world.

It takes up a third of our life; why do we sleep? Jimming the lock of the lock and key model of biology. How to escape a volcano, like the one on La Palma. The Work Ethic revisited.

How many of us have had COVID-19 or received vaccinations? The numbers of those inoculated are a bit easier to come by, but to count all those infected we’d have to test everybody. (That hasn’t happened – and won’t be happening.) Knowing the number of asymptomatic transmitters is helpful in both understanding who’s most impacted by COVID-19 and achieving the nirvana of herd immunity. A new study looks at a different population among us: blood donors.

A South Korean company named Seoul Semiconductor claims to have developed an ultraviolet light-emitting diode (UV LED) that can kill 99.9% of SARS-CoV-2 in 30 seconds.

Dr. Fauci, speaking on vaccinations: “Past unsuccessful attempts to elicit solid protection against mucosal respiratory viruses [COVID-19] and to control the deadly outbreaks and pandemics they cause," he said, "have been a scientific and public health failure that must be urgently addressed.” That's a lot to unpack.

My conversation with Lars Larson covered some new medical breakthroughs, from desperately-needed new antibiotics to the rapidly expanding applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in medicine.

Alarmed by the spread of the supposed “superbugs” — bacteria that resist modern antibiotics — politicians from both parties are considering policies to encourage the pharmaceutical industry to develop new antibiotics. Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.), a physician, recently introduced the Generating Antibiotic Incentives Now bill, which would extend patent protections for antibiotics for five additional years and speed reviews by the FDA. Rep.

The Zika virus is getting a lot of media attention so the Centers for Disease Control has issued an update.

It is an understatement to say that antibiotic resistance is a major problem facing our healthcare system. Every year 2 million Americans are infected with resistant bacteria, and at least 23,000 people die each year from these infections. Each year MRSA kills about as many people as HIV. Compounding this problem is the fact that companies (factory farms?) are actively contributing to this problem (

In the U.S., drug-resistant infections, including MRSA and C. difficile, are reaching crisis proportions, and the inappropriate use of antibiotics is at least partly to blame. In an effort to contain the problem, public health officials are encouraging doctors more strongly than ever to prescribe antibiotics with greater caution.

Hospital employees — including doctors, nurses and others — who wear their scrubs or gowns outside of work may unknowingly pose a public health threat, Dr. Betsy McCaughey told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Monday. Founder of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths (RID) and Chairperson of ACSH, Dr.

This is another retrospective observational study, this one from England looking at the transmission of COVID-19 in both its alpha and delta variants to other adults. It helped me refine how I think about vaccines, let me share the findings and my thoughts.

A new study suggests that the antiviral Molnupiravir may “paradoxically” be driving COVID-19 mutations, creating variants of concern. What is going on? It is all about molnupiravir’s mode of action and evolution.

Ah yes, the age-old medical mantra: "The solution to pollution is dilution." Apparently, a few squirts of hypertonic saline in your kid’s nose can cut down cold symptoms and keep you from catching their next snot-filled surprise.

Catchy phrase, but let me ask you this: does it have a different meaning to you when spoken at a Women’s Day rally as opposed to an anti-vaccine mandate confab? It does for me; I wonder why.

China’s Zero-COVID policy goes against the central idea of the hygiene hypothesis: that to be the fittest to survive you must be exposed to germs. Could China’s current dilemma be sufficient proof of the need for a sweet spot between filth and sterility?

The question of the protection afforded by COVID infection vs. the immunity conferred by the mRNA vaccines is still unsettled. A new study may put our concerns to rest. Spoiler alert: each form of immunity has its strengths.

Some vaccines are one-and-done, like measles. Others are annual events, like the seasonal flu. There's new data as to where on that spectrum the COVID-19 vaccine lies.

A Superior Court judge ruled that a large nurses union must adhere to the vaccination policy set forth by Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. If not for this decision forcing the Massachusetts Nurses Association to comply, the nurses avoiding a flu shot would have posed a potential threat to patients they tend to each day. 

A colder temperature slows down a viral-infected cell's ability to commit suicide.

A new urine test may detect prostate cancer better than current prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood tests and rectal exams, according to research presented Tuesday at the American Urological Association in San Francisco.

Despite early optimism, recent research suggests that increasing ventilation, in places like schools, might not be the silver bullet we imagined it to be in limiting airborne virus transmission. While mechanical ventilation and open windows became staples of post-COVID safety protocols, a new study shows that even high ventilation rates have little impact on preventing the spread of infections, like influenza.

Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the FDA is the exception, not the rule. Except for COVID therapies. Three vaccines and one drug have EUA in the US. Merck is now seeking EUA for its antiviral drug molnupiravir. Should it be granted?