Category: Infectious Disease
Time to ‘up your mask game,’ Seattle-King County public health officials say.
Because Omicron is so highly contagious, well-fitting and high-quality face masks are more important than ever. It’s one of the most important tools we have right now to limit the spread.
Answers from COVID experts: How do you talk to family members who aren’t vaccinated? How can the vaccines be safe if they were developed so quickly? Is natural immunity better than being vaccinated?
Why are there such strong reactions against vaccines? What is long COVID? Natural immunity vs. vaccine immunity.
King County health officials expect to see big jump in omicron COVID-19 cases
Officials project the number of King County cases by next week to be three-times higher than the highest peak seen previously in the pandemic.
Nearly half of healthcare workers have considered leaving their jobs due to their pandemic experience, UW survey finds
Fifty-nine percent of nurses said that their experiences working during the COVID-19 pandemic had somewhat or significantly reduced their likelihood of remaining in their current field.
Booster Mandates Are A Tough Call for States, Businesses
Many governments, employers and universities are struggling with whether to mandate boosters, leading to mixed messages to the public and a patchwork of policies across the country, even as COVID-19 cases see a winter surge.
Washington state COVID-19 outbreaks traced to high school wrestling tournaments
The number of cases linked to the events is estimated to be between 80 and 90, but as this investigation is ongoing, the total may change.
Omicron might evade antibodies – but that doesn’t mean you don’t have immunity
The bad news isn’t as bad as it could be, but the good news also needs to be treated with caution. Here’s why.
Rapid tests play a crucial role in curbing COVID-19 infections – especially as people gather for the holidays
Covid antigen tests are easy to use and provide results quickly, typically within about 15 minutes.
Why I Still Believe Covid-19 Could Not Have Originated in a Lab – Viewpoint
Lab escape theories cannot clearly account for a virus that has evolved for human-to-human transmissibility.
Is COVID-19 here to stay? A team of biologists explains what it means for a virus to become endemic
Endemic viruses include those that cause the common cold and the seasonal flu that appear year after year. Much like these, the virus that causes COVID-19 likely won’t die out, and most experts now expect it, too, to become endemic.
Six popular beliefs about colds: experts explain the facts
A TikTok video has gone viral involving putting garlic up your nose as a cold cure, just one in a long line of claimed treatments or cures. We asked two experts to examine some commonly held beliefs around colds.
Babies Are Dying of Syphilis. It’s 100% Preventable.
There was a time when CDC officials thought they could eliminate syphilis among adults and babies. But the effort lost steam and cases have crept up again.
America’s Food Safety System Failed to Stop a Salmonella Epidemic. It’s Still Making People Sick.
A dangerous salmonella strain has sickened thousands and continues to spread through the chicken industry. The USDA and companies know about it. But contaminated meat continues to be sold.
Vaccination Offers Higher Protection than Previous COVID-19 Infection, CDC study finds
Study participants were over 5 times more likely to have COVID-19 if they were unvaccinated and had a prior infection
Your unvaccinated friend is roughly 20 times more likely to give you COVID
Vaccines reduce your probability of getting infected, which reduces the probability of you infecting someone else.