A new theory asks: Could a mask be a crude ‘vaccine’?
The unproven idea, described in a commentary published Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, is inspired by the age-old concept of variolation, the deliberate exposure to a pathogen to generate a protective immune response. First tried against smallpox, the risky practice eventually fell out of favor, but paved the way for the rise of modern vaccines. (Source: The Economic Times)
Source: The Economic Times - September 7, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Nigeria: 40 Years After Smallpox, WHO Declares Nigeria Polio-Free
[This Day] The independent Africa Regional Certification Commission (ARCC) for polio eradication has officially declared Nigeria and the rest of Africa free of indigenous wild poliovirus yesterday. (Source: AllAfrica News: Polio)
Source: AllAfrica News: Polio - August 27, 2020 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
Approval of a Coronavirus Vaccine Would Be Just the Beginning – Huge Production Challenges Could Cause Long Delays
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
The post Approval of a Coronavirus Vaccine Would Be Just the Beginning – Huge Production Challenges Could Cause Long Delays appeared first on Inter Press Service. (Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health)
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - August 25, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: External Source Tags: Global Headlines Health TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news
The World Health Organization Declares Africa Polio-Free
Nobody will ever know the identity of the thousands of African children who were not killed or paralyzed by polio this year. They would have been hard to keep track of no matter what because in ordinary times, they would have followed thousands last year and thousands the year before and on back in a generations-long trail of suffering and death.
Instead, no African children were claimed by polio this year or last year or the year before. It was in 2016 that the last case of wild, circulating polio was reported in Nigeria—the final country on the 54-nation African continent where the disease was endemic. And with a r...
Source: TIME: Health - August 25, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Jeffrey Kluger Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: news
What to Know About COVID Contact Tracing and Scams
The concept of contact tracing isn't new with COVID-19. It's been used successfully for sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, and smallpox, among other conditions. (Source: WebMD Health)
Source: WebMD Health - August 24, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Coronavirus will be with us forever, Sage scientist warns
Sir Mark Walport says, unlike smallpox, coronavirus will not be eradicated by vaccination. (Source: BBC News | Health | UK Edition)
Source: BBC News | Health | UK Edition - August 22, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Bill Gates says other nations had better coronavirus responses than US
While the United States has historically led the way when it comes to dealing with diseases such as smallpox, polio and HIV, other countries were faster with a coronavirus response, Microsoft founder Bill Gates said Thursday. (Source: CNN.com - Health)
Source: CNN.com - Health - July 31, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Bill Gates on How the U.S. Can Course Correct Its COVID-19 Response: ‘You Wish Experts Were Taking Charge’
The U.S. domestic response to the COVID-19 pandemic thus far has been “weak,” Bill Gates believes. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation co-chair and Microsoft co-founder told TIME senior health correspondent Alice Park during a TIME100 Talks discussion on Thursday that he’d give the U.S.’s COVID-19 response, “on a relative and absolute basis, not a passing grade.”
But, he added, the U.S.’s funding for vaccine and therapeutic research “has been the best in the world,” so if it coordinates to share resources globally, the U.S. could “potentially score the highest&...
Source: TIME: Health - July 30, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Madeleine Carlisle Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 News Desk TIME100 Talks Source Type: news
Diverse smallpox strains were widespread in the Viking Age, new study reveals
Smallpox, the only human infectious disease to have been successfully eradicated, ailed people at least 1,000 years earlier than previously thought. (Source: CNN.com - Health)
Source: CNN.com - Health - July 24, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Skeletons May Put Blame on Vikings for Smallpox' Spread
FRIDAY, July 24, 2020 -- The Vikings had smallpox and may have spread it wherever they ventured, scientists report.
That conclusion stems from an examination of teeth from 1,400-year-old Viking skeletons that contained extinct strains of smallpox.... (Source: Drugs.com - Daily MedNews)
Source: Drugs.com - Daily MedNews - July 24, 2020 Category: General Medicine Source Type: news
Viking Age Smallpox Complicates Story of Viral Evolution
An extinct version of the smallpox virus dating to 1,400 years ago prompts speculation about viruses becoming more lethal over time. (Source: NYT Health)
Source: NYT Health - July 23, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: James Gorman Tags: Smallpox Viruses Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Evolution (Biology) Immune System DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) Cambridge University Science (Journal) Genetics and Heredity your-feed-science Source Type: news
Researchers find earliest confirmed case of smallpox
Variola virus DNA found in bones of people from Denmark to Russia around Viking eraThe Vikings are known for their intrepid seafaring, fearsome fighting and extensive trading, but it seems it may not only have been goods and weapons they carried on their travels – they could also have carried a deadly disease.Researchers say they have found the world ’s earliest confirmed case of smallpox, revealing the disease was widespread across northern Europe during the Viking age.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - July 23, 2020 Category: Science Authors: Nicola Davis Tags: Archaeology Health Europe Anthropology Science Society World news Source Type: news
Researchers find evidence of smallpox in the viking age
(University of Copenhagen The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences) The fatal disease smallpox is older and more widespread than scientists so far have proved. A new study by an international team of researchers from the University of Copenhagen and the University of Cambridge shows that the Vikings also suffered from smallpox. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - July 23, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news
Was smallpox a widespread mild disease?
(Source: ScienceNOW)
Source: ScienceNOW - July 22, 2020 Category: Science Authors: Alcami, A. Tags: perspective Source Type: news
Viking smallpox diversity
(Source: ScienceNOW)
Source: ScienceNOW - July 22, 2020 Category: Science Authors: Ash, C. Tags: Evolution, Microbiology twis Source Type: news
