Tag: COVID-19 pandemic

The bacteria that write new genes to cope with infections

June 5, 2024 admin

A researcher holds up a plate showing a growth of Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteria from a positive blood culture, December 14, 2019. | Photo Credit: Chiara Marraccini Amid the unprecedented challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, a once obscure enzyme found itself in the spotlight: reverse transcriptase. As laboratories worldwide rushed to develop reliable diagnostic tests,…

Science

Talks On Landmark Global Agreement On Future Pandemics End Without Deal

May 25, 2024 admin

Representational Image Geneva: Negotiations on a landmark global agreement on handling future pandemics ended Friday without a deal — though countries said they wanted to keep pushing for an accord. Scarred by the devastation caused by Covid-19 — which killed millions of people, shredded economies and crippled health systems — countries have spent two years…

World

Global Life Expectancy Dropped By 2 Years Due To Covid: WHO

May 24, 2024 admin

The report said that the Western Pacific was the least hit, with life expectancy falling just 0.1 year. Geneva: Covid-19 cut global life expectancy by almost two years when it raged from 2019 to 2021, wiping out a decade of progress, the World Health Organization said Friday. “The Covid-19 pandemic reversed the trend of steady…

World

Does frequently updating COVID-19 vaccines have any benefits? | Explained

February 14, 2024 admin

Researchers update the composition of influenza vaccines every six months to match the strains of the virus that are circulating in the wild, so that the shots may provide protective immunity against the flu. But despite their best efforts, researchers rarely perfectly match the strains loaded in the vaccine with the strains circulating by the time…

Science

The trouble with a Nobel for mRNA COVID vaccines

October 3, 2023 admin

At the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm | Photo Credit: AFP The 2023 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for developing the mRNA vaccine technology that became the foundation for history’s fastest vaccine development programme during the COVID-19 pandemic. The prizes acknowledge work that has created benefits…

Science

COVID-infected Indian-origin Singaporean jailed for coughing at colleagues

September 19, 2023 admin

A man wearing a face mask passes a sign put up to encourage social distancing during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, at Marina Bay in Singapore. File photo | Photo Credit: REUTERS A 64-year-old Singaporean of Indian origin was sentenced to two weeks’ jail on Monday, September 15, 2023, on pleading guilty to one count…

World

The growth deceleration problem cannot be skipped

February 1, 2023 admin

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at a press conference in Delhi, after the Budget | Photo Credit: ANI The much-anticipated Budget for 2023-24 has been presented. The Budget speech began with a self-congratulatory note: that India has successfully overcome the troubles that came with the COVID-19 pandemic, to a large extent, by ensuring the free food…

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