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Scientists from Columbia, Cornell, and the Netherlands may have developed a useful tool against COVID-19. The nasal spray uses a lipoprotein to prevent the COVID-19 virus from fusing with the cell. So far, the study has found that ferrets are protected. The spray could be useful since it is cheaper…

Most vaccines are temperature sensitive and cannot be distributed outside of the “cold-chain”. However, scientists in India are developing a heat-stable vaccine in order to improve distribution. If they succeed, the country will be able to distribute COVID vaccines to rural areas that could not be…

Danish authorities have found five cases of coronavirus in mink farms and several cases in humans. In response, the prime minister has concluded that the virus has mutated in minks and has spread to humans. Efforts to cull infected mink began in June, and one-million were culled in October. Now,…

An important advisory committee in the FDA is set to meet Friday. They will discuss an experimental intravenous treatment for Alzheimer's called aducanumab. If the treatment is well received by the committee it may become the first immunotherapy for Alzheimer’s and the first treatment to show that…

Setbacks caused by COVID-19 have slowed progress in prevention and treatment of tuberculosis in several countries. For example, tuberculosis case notifications have dropped 25-30% in India, Indonesia, and the Philippines. The UN Secretary General has issued 10 priority actions to close the gap in…

Uninsured COVID-19 patients can often worry about the cost of medical care. Policies like the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act provide reimbursement for these individuals. But patients may still miss out on benefits if they do not ask enough questions. Click here to read…

The standard for COVID testing so far has been qPCR, but a new development at UCLA Health offers a method with a faster turnaround time of 12-24 hours. It builds upon current PCR technology with the use of a synthetic RNA standard that mimics COVID and a set of primer adaptors that act as molecular…

The second presidential debate was scheduled to be held virtually following news that President Trump had tested positive for COVID 19. After Biden said they “shouldn’t debate next week if Trump is still infected”, and Trump’s criticism that a virtual debate would be a “waste of time”, the debate…

After quickly revoking publishing advice on airborne COVID transmission on September 21st, the CDC has put forth a revision on Monday to acknowledge that airborne transmission is possible. Aerosols (less than 5 microns) are smaller than respiratory droplets, and can “linger in the air for minutes…

On Sunday morning 9/27, the major hospital operating company Universal Health Services (UHS) became the victim of a large scale cyber attack. Hailed as one of the largest medical cyberattacks in United States history, the purported ransomware forcibly shut down computer systems across the UHS…