Public health

X's Crowdsourced Tool to Counter COVID Untruths mainly accurate, credible: Researchers
Community Notes, a crowdsourced COVID-19 vaccine misinformation countermeasure on X (formerly Twitter), generally corrected false posts accurately and pointed readers to more credible sources, according to researchers who evaluated the posts.
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COVID May Have Eroded Doctors' Belief That They Are Obligated to Treat Infectious Patients
Broadly disseminated misinformation about the disease — e.g., how the virus spreads, effective treatments, vaccine efficacy and safety, and more – contributed to the erosion of doctors’ commitment to treat infectious disease patients because of doctors’ fear that they would contract the disease.
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Oregon Data: COVID Vaccines Not Tied to Sudden Cardiac Death in Young People
A review of death certificates of previously healthy Oregon residents aged 16 to 30 years who died of cardiac or undetermined causes from June 2021 to December 2022 found no link between mRNA COVID-19 vaccination and sudden cardiac death.
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H5N1 Continues to Spread in the U.S. Amid Growing Concern About Threat to Public
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5) viruses continue to spread across the United States, with nearly 86 million birds affected in 1,118 reported outbreaks across 48 states as of April 10. CDCconfirmed case of H5N1 in a human patient in Texas.
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Action Needed to Improve U.S. Smallpox Readiness and Diagnostics, Vaccines, and Therapeutics: Report
A new report says that action is needed to enhance U.S. readiness for smallpox and related diseases, as well as to improve diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics that could be used in case of an outbreak. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed weaknesses in the ability of U.S. public health and health care systems to adapt and respond to an unfamiliar pathogen, as did challenges during the recent mpox outbreak to rapidly making diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics available at scale.
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U.S. Drugs with Noted Supply-Chain Risks 5 Times More Likely to Go into Shortage in Early COVID
In the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, US prescription drugs flagged for potential supply-chain disruptions were nearly five times more likely to go into shortage than those without such warnings, finds a new study.
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Canada’s Biosecurity Scandal: The Risks of Foreign Interference in Life Sciences
In July 2019, world-renowned biological researchers Xiangguo Qiu and Keding Cheng were quietly walked out of the Canadian government’s National Microbiology Lab (NML). The original allegation against them was that Qiu had authorized a shipment to China of some of the deadliest viruses on the planet, including Ebola and Nipah. Then the story seemed to go away—until now.
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Avian Flu Infects Person Exposed to Sick Cows in Texas
Federal and state health officials yesterday reported that a person connected to a dairy farm in Texas has tested positive for H5N1 avian flu, the first known case linked to sick dairy cows and the nation’s second since the virus began circulating in wild bird and poultry in 2022.
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Cocaine Vaccine: Could It Help Drug Addicts?
Researchers in Brazil are testing cocaine vaccines to stop users getting high and prevent addiction. Experts warn a vaccine should be combined with therapy.
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Safeguarding U.S. Agriculture and Food Supply
DHS S&T conducts research aiming to ensure that U.S. domestic agriculture systems are resilient against disturbances that could cause food shortages, sickness or injuries, and economic crises.
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New International Biosecurity Organization Launched to Safeguard Bioscience
Amid rapid advances in bioscience and biotechnology that could pose significant global security risks without effective guardrails, the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) last month launched the International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science (IBBIS), a first-of-its-kind organization to strengthen international biosecurity governance. IBBIS, an independent organization to be headquartered in Geneva, provides tools that will allow technological innovation to flourish, safely and responsibly.
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Developing Safety Tools for Synthetic Biology to Defend Against Potential Misuse of AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to help develop biotechnologies that can improve human health or that may increase harm. Organizations performing nucleic acid synthesis must be aware of AI-related risks and need guidance in identifying and mitigating those risks.
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Ransomware Attacks: Death Threats, Endangered Patients and Millions of Dollars in Damages
A ransomware attack on Change Healthcare, a company that processes 15 billion health care transactions annually and deals with 1 in 3 patient records in the United States, is continuing to cause massive disruptions nearly three weeks later. The incident, which started on February 21, has been called the “most significant cyberattack on the U.S. health care system” by the American Hospital Association. It is just the latest example of an increasing trend.
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Leprosy Cases Are Rising in the U.S. – What Is the Ancient Disease and Why Is It Spreading Now?
The word “leprosy” conjures images of biblical plagues, but the disease is still with us today. In the United States, leprosy has been entrenched for more than a century in parts of the South where people came into contact with armadillos, the principle proven linkage from animal to humans. However, the more recent outbreaks in the Southeast, especially Florida, have not been associated with animal exposure.
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Anti-Vaccine Conspiracies Fuel Divisive Political Discourse
Heightened use of social media during the coronavirus pandemic brought with it an unprecedented surge in the spread of misinformation. Of particular significance were conspiracy theories surrounding the virus and vaccines made to combat it. New analysis shows conspiracy theories gain political weight due to social media.
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