When to get a flu vaccine? Later may be better.
It’s “probably best” for people to wait to later in the flu season to get a flu shot, according to Marc Lipsitch, professor of epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Lipsitch, who was quoted in…
Nonprescription antibiotic use a cause for concern
Some people in the U.S. are using antibiotics without a prescription, a trend that could increase the threat of drug resistance, according to new research. The study defined nonprescription antibiotic use as obtaining, storing, taking or intending to…
Is publishing unvetted clinical research a good idea?
A new website has been launched that enables clinicians to share their research results before peer review, with the goal of speeding up scientific discovery. According to a June 6, 2019 article in Nature, some experts are concerned…
Seeking the Path of Least Resistance
Rising antibiotic resistance is not just a medical crisis. It's a scientific, economic, political, and moral problem. Can we act before it's too late?
Transparency needed around potentially dangerous experiments on deadly viruses
In late 2017, the U.S. government lifted a three-year moratorium on funding risky research to genetically alter deadly viruses in ways that could make them even more lethal. Scientists including Marc Lipsitch, professor of epidemiology at Harvard T.H.…
Best time for a flu shot? Before Halloween.
Although flu season lasts for months, experts say it’s best to get a flu vaccine by the end of October. An October 8, 2018 article in FiveThirtyEight discussed how long immunity protection lasts after a flu shot and…
Spate of sick airline passengers a ‘warning shot’ about future disease outbreaks
Dozens of passengers on three recent international flights to the U.S. arrived with flu-like symptoms in New York and Philadelphia. Public health experts say it’s a lucky break that the incidents didn’t lead to an outbreak of a…
Off the Cuff: The 1918 Flu in 2018
If the 1918 flu virus—which killed between 50 million and 100 million people worldwide—were to appear in 2018 with all its lethality, would we be better or worse off than we were a century ago?
Ban on deadly pathogen research lifts, but controversy remains
January 8, 2018 – Last month, the U.S. government lifted a three-year moratorium on funding risky research to genetically alter deadly viruses in ways that could make them even more lethal. Epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch of Harvard Chan School…
Scientists recreate extinct virus, sparking concern
After scientists at the University of Alberta put together from scratch a relative of the smallpox virus—horsepox—some experts are concerned that the ability to create such deadly pathogens will wind up in the wrong hands. Marc Lipsitch, professor…