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Looking at coronavirus variants

Photo of scientist holding virus models
The SARS-CoV-2 virus is mutating. Aitor Diago/Moment via Getty Images

Coronavirus variants, viral mutation and COVID-19 vaccines: The science you need to understand

Richard Kuhn, Purdue University

The SARS-CoV-2 virus mutates fast. That’s a concern because these more transmissible variants of SARS-CoV-2 are now present in the U.S., U.K. and South Africa and other countries, and many people are wondering whether the current vaccines will protect the recipients from the virus. Furthermore, many question whether we will we be able to keep ahead of future variants of SARS-CoV-2, which will certainly arise.

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healthy microbiome – strong immune system

The microbes living in the gut are key to good health. Dr_Microbe/iStock/Getty Images Plus

A healthy microbiome builds a strong immune system that could help defeat COVID-19

Ana Maldonado-Contreras, University of Massachusetts Medical School

Takeaways

  • Your gut is home to trillions of bacteria that are vital for keeping you healthy.
  • Some of these microbes help to regulate the immune system.
  • New research, which has not yet been peer reviewed, shows the presence of certain bacteria in the gut may reveal which people are more vulnerable to a more severe case of COVID-19.

You may not know it, but you have an army of microbes living inside of you that are essential for fighting off threats, including the virus that causes COVID-19.

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Looking at anti-nutrients

Photo of various grains and beans
These compounds occur naturally in a number of healthy foods, including legumes and whole grains. foodism360/Unsplash, CC BY

Anti-nutrients – they’re part of a normal diet and not as scary as they sound

Jill Joyce, Oklahoma State University

Maybe you’re trying to eat healthier these days, aiming to get enough of the good stuff and limit the less-good stuff. You’re paying attention to things like fiber and fat and vitamins… and anti-nutrients?

What the heck are anti-nutrients and are they something you need to be concerned about in your diet?

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Mild vaccine side effects expected

Photo of person receiving a vaccine injeciton
A little bit of post-injection soreness is completely normal. Jose Luis Pelaez Inc/DigitalVision via Getty Images

Vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 will have side effects – that’s a good thing

Matthew Woodruff, Emory University

Takeaways

  • Temporary side effects from vaccines are a normal sign of a developing immune response.
  • Vaccines work by training your immune system to recognize and remember a pathogen in a safe way.
  • Expected side effects from a COVID-19 vaccine include redness and swelling at the injection site and stiffness and soreness in the muscle.
  • A potent vaccine may even cause fever. It does not mean that the vaccine gave you COVID-19.

In 2021 hundreds of millions of people will be vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2. The success of that COVID-19 vaccination campaign will heavily depend on public trust that the vaccines are not only effective, but also safe. To build that trust, the medical and scientific communities have a responsibility to engage in difficult discussions with the public about the significant fraction of people who will experience temporary side effects from these vaccines.

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Assessing the massive Sunburst hack

Photo of the whitehouse
Federal government agencies, from the Treasury Department to the National Nuclear Security Administration, have been compromised by the attack.

The Sunburst hack was massive and devastating – 5 observations from a cybersecurity expert

Paulo Shakarian, Arizona State University

So much remains unknown about what is now being called the Sunburst hack, the cyberattack against U.S. government agencies and corporations. U.S. officials widely believe that Russian state-sponsored hackers are responsible.

The attack gave the perpetrators access to numerous key American business and government organizations. The immediate effects will be difficult to judge, and a complete accounting of the damage is unlikely. However, the nature of the affected organizations alone makes it clear that this is perhaps the most consequential cyberattack against the U.S. to date.

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Wealthy nations drive the global wildlife trade

Phooto of protestors
Protesters hold signs outside women’s fashion designer Eudon Choi in London during Fashion Week in 2017. Elena Rostenova/www.shutterstock.com

Python skin jackets and elephant leather boots: How wealthy Western nations drive the global wildlife trade

Maria Ivanova, University of Massachusetts Boston and Candace Famiglietti, University of Massachusetts Boston

Three-quarters of new and emerging infectious diseases in humans originate in wildlife. COVID-19, SARS and Ebola all started this way. The COVID-19 global pandemic has drawn new attention to how people think about wild animals, consume them and interact with them, and how those interactions can affect public health.

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Exercise leads to immune system boost

Photo of man exercising
Working out strengthens more than just your muscles – it strengthens your immune system, too. SelectStock/E+ via Getty Images

These at-home exercises can help older people boost their immune system and overall health in the age of COVID-19

Mark A. Gluck, Rutgers University – Newark ; Bernadette A. Fausto, Rutgers University – Newark , and Lisa Charles, Rutgers University – Newark

Older adults, especially those over 65, have five times the risk of hospitalization and 90 times the risk of death from COVID-19 compared with younger adults.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 78% of the more than 114,000 COVID-19 related deaths between May and August 2020 were people age 65 and older. Many of those individuals had compromised immune systems due, in part, to a variety of other health conditions including obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, respiratory disease and hypertension. The CDC suggests these additional health problems could lead to increased severity of COVID-19.

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Virus evolution could undermine a COVID-19 vaccine

drawing depicting virus under attack
Jose A. Bernat Bacete/Moment collection/Getty Images

Viruses evolve defenses, this allows them to adapt and could undermine a COVID-19 vaccine – but this can be stopped

Andrew Read, Penn State and David Kennedy, Penn State

The first drug against HIV brought dying patients back from the brink. But as excited doctors raced to get the miracle drug to new patients, the miracle melted away. In each and every patient, the drug only worked for a while.

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Americans missing out on robust health benefits of fish

Photo of sardines
Sardines are rich in oils and protein. Photo by Ahmed Nadar for Unsplash, CC BY-ND

Americans don’t eat enough fish and miss out on robust health benefits

Michael Tlusty, University of Massachusetts Boston

26 lbs. - Recommended annual amount of seafood that Americans should eat
CC BY-NC-ND

Eating fish can provide powerful advantages for the heart and brain, yet Americans eat less than half of the 26 pounds per year that experts recommend. By contrast, Americans buy seven times more chicken and beef annually than fish.

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COVID-19 and obesity

Photo of patient with IV
Oceanside, N.Y.: A COVID-19 patient, in a medically induced coma, is connected to life-sustaining devices providing blood pressure medication, antibiotics, sedation, feeding and assistance breathing at Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital in Oceanside, New York on April 14, 2020. (Photo by Jeffrey Basinger/Newsday via Getty Images)

COVID-19 reveals how obesity harms the body in real time, not just over a lifetime

A COVID-19 patient is connected to life-sustaining devices at Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital in Oceanside, New York on April 14, 2020.

Cate Varney, University of Virginia

The COVID-19 pandemic has thrust the obesity epidemic once again into the spotlight, revealing that obesity is no longer a disease that harms just in the long run but one that can have acutely devastating effects. New studies and information confirm doctors’ suspicion that this virus takes advantage of a disease that our current U.S. health care system is unable to get under control.

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