Exposure Visuals/Shutterstock People who have had the COVID swab test say that it feels like their brain is being pierced by an oversized cotton bud. Recent lurid headlines will not put people at ease. “Woman’s nose ‘starts leaking brain and spinal fluid’ after she took a Covid swab test”, saidContinue Reading
There are high hopes that one or, with any luck, several of the COVID-19 vaccines in development will bring an end to the pandemic. The most promising are often invoked in government briefings and by the media, with their progress closely followed. Optimism is tempered by uncertainties regarding how effectiveContinue Reading
The UK is under a new coronavirus regime – one in which pubs close at 10pm and businesses not deemed “COVID-secure” can be forced to close. That also means there is a new set of fines for those who break the rules, for example, by not wearing a mask inContinue Reading
azadjain1/Shutterstock Viruses jumping from animals to humans have been the starting point of numerous outbreaks, from Ebola to Zika. Given the similarity of SARS-CoV-2 to coronaviruses found in bats, this probably marked the beginning of COVID-19 too. We know that viruses have passed from animals to humans throughout history, andContinue Reading
Students have returned to UK universities, and the timing couldn’t be worse. Some in the medical community have argued that the key to safe reopening is to do so at a time when community transmission is minimal. With coronavirus infections currently doubling every week and the government introducing new measuresContinue Reading
Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock At the start of the pandemic, there was concern that certain drugs for high blood pressure might be linked with worse outcomes for COVID-19 patients. Because of how the drugs work, it was feared they would make it easier for the coronavirus to get inside the body’s cells. Nevertheless,Continue Reading
According to the National Statistics Service, every fifth British resident experienced symptoms of depression during COVID-19. This figure is twice as high as the statistics of 2019, which is an alarming signal of the mental health state in the UK. Particularly troubling are the statistics among young people between theContinue Reading
siam.pukkato/Shutterstock Some researchers conducting clinical trials on a COVID-19 vaccine have not revealed to the public what the placebo contains, but they should. This is because the placebo ingredients influence how effective or harmful the active treatment, with which the placebo is compared, appears. Our new guideline published in PLOSContinue Reading
Wikimedia Commons The coronavirus pandemic has been compared with many previous contagions, including the great plague and the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. However, there has been little consideration of probably the most significant historical episode of disease. The modern world as we know it would not have existed without theContinue Reading
paulaphoto/Shutterstock Researchers in China have found that people who wear glasses appear to be at lower risk of catching COVID-19. The authors of the study, published in JAMA Ophthalmology, noticed that since the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan in December 2019, few patients with spectacles were admitted to hospital suffering fromContinue Reading
