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Scientists' research could spark next pandemic, new report warns
Scientists are urging better regulation of experiments that could spark pandemics, arguing that a “research-related incident” may have caused the Covid-19 pandemic.
Dr Filippa Lentzos,...
Health department flags ‘charcoal’ social media posts
Fake social media posts and a voice note urging South Africans to use an unregistered activated charcoal product to prevent apparent Covid-19 vaccine deaths...
Covid jab study of 99m people links shots to rare risk of disorders
Covid vaccines have been linked to small increases in heart, blood and neurological disorders, according to the largest global study of its kind, in...
Global experts back Covid-19 natural origins theory
Opinion polls have never resolved scientific disputes, but recently, a group of risk experts found a new angle on a hotly debated issue –...
Covid-19’s tragic impact on maternal care in SA
In 2021, pregnant South African women died at a rate not seen for almost a decade, shows a new government report that exposes the...
Missed Covid jabs led to 7 000 UK deaths and hospital emissions
Experts say that the UK could have avoided 7 180 hospital admissions and deaths last summer if people had received all their Covid jabs,...
New Covid variant – should we be concerned?
Cases of the latest JN.1 Covid-19 variant are continuing to rise, with new infections increasing by 52% during the 28 days leading up to...
Covid symptoms linger two years later in 33% of cases
Two years after infection, Covid symptoms – the most common being fatigue, cognitive issues, and pain – were still found in at least a...
The quest for pills to thwart long Covid – is it worth it?
Up to one in five people can get long Covid, but a drug called Paxlovid can lower the chance of developing the long-haul version...
Covid jabs saved 2.4m lives in first eight months – US study
Researchers in the US have estimated that the Covid-19 vaccination campaign in 141 countries averted 2.4m excess deaths by August 2021, and would have saved another...
Brain health of over-50s slumped during pandemic – UK study
Cognitive function and working memory declined in people aged 50 and older during the pandemic, even if they were not infected with the virus,...
New Covid variant dominates in US
A new Covid variant called HV.1 has replaced the EG.5 strain in the US, becoming the country’s most prevalent last week, according to data released by...
US scientists link serotonin levels to long Covid
A team of scientists is proposing a new explanation for some cases of long Covid, based on their findings that serotonin levels were lower...
Growing evidence of ties between long Covid and menopause
Since the pandemic, a number of women have reported period disturbances after SARS-CoV-2 infection or the vaccine, but research has often minimised the relevance...
The danger of dropping the Covid guard
Covid is evolving but are we doing enough to evolve with it. Writing in The Guardian, Professor Sheena Cruickshank says the vaccine-only strategy is...
Long Covid proven by biological markers – Yale study
A groundbreaking US study found clear differences in immune and hormone function between individuals with long COVID and those without, enabling researchers to diagnose...
New variants may be driven by Covid drug – Crick Institute study
Molnupiravir, a drug used to treat Covid-19, appears to be driving the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, according to an analysis of the 15m...
Lung damage 14 times worse for discharged Covid patients: UK study
British researchers have found that nearly a third of patients admitted to hospital with Covid-19 had abnormalities in multiple organs five months after infection,...
US Covid hospital admissions and deaths rising
The number of Americans being admitted to hospital with Covid are climbing, sitting at 20 538 per week, according to US Centres for Disease...
CDC advises all Americans to get new Covid jab
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended that all Americans six months and older receive at least one dose of...
Green light for updated coronavirus jabs effective against BA.2.86
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved two updated Covid vaccines this week – one from Moderna, and the other from Pfizer-BioNTech.
A third...
SA 'bullied, held to ransom' and paid double for Covid vaccines
To procure Covid-19 vaccines for South Africans, government was bullied and forced to pay exorbitant amounts – in some cases double the price –...
Post-Covid brain fog linked to blood clots – UK study
A recent British study has suggested that blood clots in the brain or the lungs might explain some common symptoms of “long Covid”, including...
Scientists keep close eye on highly mutated coronavirus variant
Virologists and health officials worldwide are keeping an eye on a highly mutated form of the coronavirus that may be the most adept yet...
US study looks at how Covid alters the immune system
Scientists have reported that innate immune cells – a critical part of the immune system activated to battle Covid-19 – remain unchanged for at...
UK scientists ID unusual new long Covid symptom
British scientists have found unusual symptoms they have linked to long Covid, and urged more awareness of the previously unidentified association so that clinicians...
UK spike in new Covid variant cases
Covid-19 infections are steadily on the rise in Britain, with a new variant – the Eris strain, technically called EG.5.1 – now making up...
US agency launches ‘overdue’ long Covid clinical trials
The US National Institutes of Health is launching four clinical trials to test the safety and effectiveness of potential long Covid treatments, with seven...
Why some people don’t get sick from Covid-19 – US study
There’s a good reason why some people who contract Covid-19 never develop symptoms, according to a recent study, which suggests these so-called “super dodgers”...
Deer linked to coronavirus spread in US, says agency
Recent research led by the US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service revealed that humans transmitted the coronavirus to white-tailed deer...
Even mild Covid reduces sperm counts – Spanish study
Men recently infected with Covid-19 have decreased sperm counts for more than three months after even mild infections, and the sperm they that do produce is...
Diabetes drug almost halves long Covid risk in US study
Researchers have found that metformin, commonly used to control blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes, was more effective than placebo at...
Long Covid's impact on life quality worse than some cancers – UK study
A recent study found people with long Covid often have a lower health-related quality of life and worse fatigue than those with some advanced...
Most household Covid spread from a child – Boston study
A team of researchers has suggested that 70.4% of nearly 850 000 US household Covid-19 transmissions originated with a child, with younger kids most...
Higher mortality in heart transplants from Covid donors, analysis finds
Adult heart transplant recipients from donors with active Covid-19 infection had higher mortality at six and 12 months than those with transplants from donors...
Covid vaccine immunity drops after a month, analysis finds
Whether you get it from a vaccine or an infection, Covid-19 immunity does not last forever, say researchers who, after examining 40 studies, found...
Sickness claims hint at long-term impact of Covid
The large number of sickness claims related to Covid-19 in the past financial year indicates that the long-term effects of the coronavirus, in the...
Type 2 diabetes risk rises after Covid – Canadian study
Canadian researchers have found that people infected with Covid-19 were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes within a year after...
AstraZeneca vaccine risk to women higher than previously thought
A recent analysis that examined deaths in Britain, where AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine was restricted in 2021 because of safety concerns, has found that young...
UK analysis confirms risk factors for long Covid
A new analysis of research conducted during the first two years of the pandemic helps crystallise some answers that have been emerging, finding that...