Alcohol use declined, but use of nicotine and misuse of prescription drugs rose By: Scott LaFee | UC San Diego | August 24, 2021 The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, which began in earnest in the United States in early 2020, affected different demographic groups in different ways. According to a new study, among adolescents ages 10 to 14 in the U.S., the overall rate of ... Continue Reading »
COVID
It’s Not Just SARS-CoV-2: Most Respiratory Viruses Spread by Aerosols
By: Robert Monroe | UC San Diego | September 8, 2021 Conventional wisdom on viral disease transmission needs revision, international science team finds SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind today’s global coronavirus pandemic, spreads primarily by inhalation of virus-laden aerosols at both short and long ranges—and a comprehensive new assessment of respiratory viruses finds that ... Continue Reading »
Rethinking Remdesivir
Researchers modify current drug, creating oral version that can be taken earlier in COVID-19 diagnoses; in cell and animal studies, revised drug proved effective and safe By: Scott LaFee | UC San Diego | August 2, 2021 Remdesivir is an antiviral drug originally discovered as part of a program to develop antiviral agents with activity against novel emerging viruses. In the ... Continue Reading »
Three-layered masks most effective against large respiratory droplets
Katherine Connor, UC San Diego | March 5, 2021 If you are going to buy a face mask to protect yourself and others from COVID-19, make sure it’s a three-layered mask. You might have already heard this recommendation, but researchers have now found an additional reason why three-layered masks are safer than single or double-layered alternatives. While this advice was ... Continue Reading »
COVID-19 isolation linked to increased domestic violence
By Karen Nikos-Rose, UC Davis | February 24, 2021 While COVID-19-related lockdowns may have decreased the spread of a deadly virus, they appear to have created an ideal environment for increased domestic violence. Extra stress in the COVID-19 pandemic caused by income loss, and lack of ability to pay for housing and food has exacerbated the often silent epidemic of intimate ... Continue Reading »
Understanding the evolution of SARS and COVID-19 type viruses
By Andy Fell, UC Davis | February 24, 2021 As COVID-19 sweeps the world, related viruses quietly circulate among wild animals. A new study shows how SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and SARS-CoV-1, which caused the 2003 SARS outbreak, are related to each other. The work, published recently in the journal Virus Evolution, helps scientists better understand the ... Continue Reading »
A mass exodus from California? Not exactly
By Sean Coffey, UC Berkeley | March 4, 2021 New research released today by the UC Berkeley California Policy Lab finds that, contrary to some news media reports suggesting a mass exodus from California, most moves in 2020 happened within the state. Exits from California in 2020 largely mirrored historical patterns, while the biggest change was a decrease in people ... Continue Reading »
Prioritizing oldest for COVID-19 vaccines saves more lives, years of life
By Yasmin Anwar, UC Berkeley | February 25, 2021 Challenging the idea that older people with shorter life expectancies should rank lower in coronavirus immunization efforts, new UC Berkeley research shows that giving vaccine priority to those most at risk of dying from COVID-19 will save the maximum number of lives, and their potential or future years of life. The ... Continue Reading »
Sewage-handling robots help predict COVID-19 outbreaks
By Heather Buschman, UC San Diego | March 3, 2021 In earlier days of the COVID-19 pandemic, before diagnostic testing was widely available, it was difficult for public health officials to keep track of the infection’s spread, or predict where outbreaks were likely to occur. Attempts to get ahead of the virus are still complicated by the fact that people can be infected and ... Continue Reading »
Latinx, Native Americans carry heavier pandemic burden, new poll reports
By Edward Lempinen, UC Berkeley | February 23, 2021 Voters of color in California — especially Latinx and Native American people — face disproportionate risks during the coronavirus pandemic and are far more worried than white voters about job and income loss and access to medical care, according to a new poll by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies ... Continue Reading »