Analysis of ancient DNA shows that a genetic variant that increases susceptibility to tuberculosis has drastically decreased in Europe since the Bronze Age Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2270136-people-of-european-descent-evolved-resistance-to-tb-over-10000-years/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Tag: Tuberculosis
Woman’s foul-smelling ‘turkey ear’ caused by decades-long infection
The condition was caused by a tuberculosis infection of the skin. Source: https://www.livescience.com/turkey-ear-for-decades-tuberculosis.html
India’s coronavirus pandemic is leading to many more deaths from TB
The coronavirus pandemic has made it harder for people in India to access healthcare for tuberculosis and 87,000 additional deaths due to TB are expected this year Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2257675-indias-coronavirus-pandemic-is-leading-to-many-more-deaths-from-tb/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Previous Vaccines and Masks Could Reduce Covid-19 Severity, Some Researchers Say
Applehu Akbar shared CNN’s article about why some people experience Covid-19 differently: “When we looked in the setting of Covid disease, we found that people who had prior vaccinations with a variety of vaccines — for pneumococcus, influenza, hepatitis and others — appeared to have a lower risk of getting Covid disease,” Dr. Andrew Badley, an infectious disease specialist at Mayo…
How the covid-19 pandemic is making malaria and HIV more deadly
The coronavirus pandemic’s knock-on impact on healthcare for tuberculosis, malaria and HIV could lead to deaths on a similar level to those from covid-19 itself in some parts of the world, a new analysis finds Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2248423-how-the-covid-19-pandemic-is-making-malaria-and-hiv-more-deadly/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
BCG vaccine helps fight infections by boosting immune cell production
The BCG tuberculosis vaccine boosts the production of immune cells and this may explain how it protects newborns from dying of sepsis Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2242866-bcg-vaccine-helps-fight-infections-by-boosting-immune-cell-production/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Could a 100-year-old vaccine protect against COVID-19?
Several clinical trials around the world are now examining whether this vaccine could protect against this new foe. Source: https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-protection-using-tuberculosis-vaccine.html
A Coronavirus Vaccine ‘May Be Six Months Away’
The New York Post reports that a COVID-19 vaccine “may be six months away, according to a researcher leading a team of scientists in England.” “I think there’s a high chance that it will work based on other things that we have done with this type of vaccine,” Sarah Gilbert, a professor of virology at Oxford told The Times of London….
How to model a pandemic
Behind every government announcement, there is an army of epidemiologists predicting how the virus will spread, and how to beat it. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/how-to-model-a-pandemic…
One Woman Can Smell Parkinson’s Disease Before Symptoms Manifest
“For most of her life, Joy Milne had a superpower that she was totally oblivious to,” reports NPR. Long-time Slashdot reader doug141 explains what happened next:
Milne’s husband’s natural odor changed when he was 31. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at 45. When Joy walked into a Parkinson’s support group, she smelled the same odor on everybody. A Parkinson’s researcher tested her…