Australian scientists have created the first lab-grown recreation of the coronavirus outside of China, which could prove crucial in developing a vaccine and testing patients who don’t show symptoms, Reuters reports.
January 28, 2020
The coronavirus outbreak is putting China’s chronically overloaded health care system under enormous strain, The New York Times reports. 8 hospitals in Hubei province (which includes Wuhan) issued urgent appeals last week for medical equipment. Some medical staff “have…
January 21, 2020
After 3 decades of research, Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi are piloting the first malaria vaccine in babies. The vaccine is only about 40% effective, but Mosquirix is being given a shot anyway amid rising resistance to treatment and stalling progress against the disease. …
January 13, 2020
This season’s flu vaccine isn't a good match for the severe strain hitting children across the US, the CDC reported. For the first time in nearly 3 decades, influenza B—which hits kids harder than the elderly—is the dominant strain as opposed to influenza A. 21 of the 32…
January 8, 2020
The DRC’s measles outbreak death toll has passed 6,000, spurring the WHO to call on countries to step up assistance. It is the world’s worst measles epidemic, with more 310,000 suspected cases reported since early 2019. Complicating the response: The country's…
December 20, 2019
“God, why? Why my baby?” Nuu Lameko’s baby girl, Lemina, lit up the world with her smile. Then the 10-month-old was one of 5,400 people in Samoa infected with measles. And 1 of 77 who died. The island nation of 200,000 was unprepared for the 300% increase in measles…
December 19, 2019
Global cholera cases plummeted 60% in 2018, according to the WHO’s latest numbers. The progress is a credit to great strides in endemic countries like Zambia, Bangladesh, and Somalia. Many countries developed national action plans under aglobal roadmap designed in 2017 to…
December 18, 2019
Nigeria is battling a spike in yellow fever, with 2019 cases triple last year’s numbers, according to a WHO update. So far this year, nearly 4,200 suspected cases have been recorded across the country’s 36 states. The country has been battling outbreaks of the disease…
December 11, 2019
One common argument some parents make for declining vaccines for their children is that vaccines are not necessary—that their children are unlikely to get sick even if they are not vaccinated. Perversely, this argument relies in part on parents’ confidence that many other…