By Elizabeth Cooney Since long Covid emerged, how best to define it, predict it, and treat it has been up for debate, but perhaps the most urgent question for patients and providers alike has been how long it lasts. A new study analyzing nearly 2 million patient...
Death certificate records of long Covid are a ‘floor of an estimate,’ experts say
By Elizabeth Cooney Long Covid has begun appearing on death certificates for a small percentage of people who have died during the pandemic, but that tiny fraction of records only hints at the whole story, two experts told STAT, while another has doubts about drawing...
BU lab wasn’t required to clear potentially controversial study with NIH, director says
By Helen Branswell he director of a Boston University laboratory that conducted potentially controversial research on the viruses that cause Covid-19 said his institution didn’t clear the work with the National Institutes of Health because it wasn’t funded...
Boston University researchers’ testing of lab-made version of Covid virus draws government scrutiny
By Helen Branswell Research at Boston University that involved testing a lab-made hybrid version of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is garnering heated headlines alleging the scientists involved could have unleashed a new pathogen. There is no evidence the work, performed under...
Risk of ‘brain fog’ and other conditions persists up to two years after Covid infection
By Elizabeth Cooney Among the many worrying consequences of Covid-19, neuropsychiatric conditions rank high. A year ago researchers from Oxford University reported that 1 in 3 patients experienced mood disorders, strokes, or dementia six months after Covid...
More uniformly infectious, more treatable, more genetically predictable: How coronavirus is getting closer to flu
By Megan Molteni Hours after a federal judge struck down the federal mask mandate covering air travel and other public transportation last month, Delta Airlines celebrated the move in a statement saying that Covid-19 “has transitioned to an ordinary seasonal...
How climate change could drive animal movements — and threaten more viral spillovers
By Andrew Joseph A horseshoe bat.MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES Climate change will force animals to migrate, and in turn, some species — and the pathogens they harbor — will come into contact for the first time. In a new modeling study, scientists forecast that...
‘Without a word for what we know’: The unfathomable loss of a million U.S. Covid deaths
The U.S. is approaching a million deaths due to Covid-19. It isn’t just the staggering number of them that makes them unknowable. By Eric Boodman In the first piece of science journalism I ever wrote, I compared deciphering the effects of climate change to baking a...
Tracking an FDA advisory panel meeting on Covid-19 vaccines and boosters
By Andrew Joseph and Matthew Herper hen the Food and Drug Administration last month announced it would be holding another meeting of its panel of outside vaccine experts, it seemed like it would be a general discussion about a second set of Covid-19 boosters:...
Public health experts sketch a roadmap to get from the Covid pandemic to the ‘next normal’
By Helen Branswell A new report released Monday charts a path for the transition out of the Covid-19 pandemic, one that outlines both how the country can deal with the challenge of endemic Covid disease and how to prepare for future biosecurity threats....
Medical misinformation often isn’t outright lies. It’s more subtle than that
By Faye Flam The most powerful forms of deception rely more on emotional manipulation and misdirection than outright lies. That’s what I’ve observed in nearly a year of research into the murky world of medical misinformation. Take the episode of “The Joe...
Pfizer and FDA pull back from plan to expedite review of Covid-19 vaccine in young children
By Matthew Herper , Nicholas Florko and Helen Branswell Plans to attempt to authorize the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine for children under 5 before full data are available appear to have run aground. The Food and Drug Administration on Friday canceled a key meeting...
Some Americans are hesitant about Covid vaccines. But they’re all-in on unproven treatments
By Lev Facher Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida has refused to say whether he’s received a booster shot. He’s suggested, misleadingly, that Covid-19 vaccines cause infertility. He hired a surgeon general who has questioned the data surrounding vaccines and called those who...
Will we always need Covid-19 boosters? Experts have theories
By Helen Branswell With the world facing the latest in a seemingly endless stream of coronavirus variants — and with bullish talk from manufacturers about a need for even more vaccine shots — you wouldn’t be alone if you were wondering: Are Covid boosters...
8 lingering questions about the new Covid pills from Merck and Pfizer
The past two months have brought extremely good news in the fight against Covid-19. Two different oral treatments have proved effective at both preventing people newly diagnosed with Covid-19 from entering the hospital and from dying. “We’re accelerating our path out...