Barbara Goff, University of Washington
Ovarian cancer is the most deadly of gynecologic tumors. Fewer than 40% of those diagnosed with ovarian cancer are cured, and approximately 12,810 people in the U.S. die from the disease every year.
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
CDC today issued a nationwide health alert to notify clinicians and public health authorities about a cluster of children identified with hepatitis and adenovirus infection – and to ask all physicians to be on the lookout for symptoms and to report any suspected cases of hepatitis of unknown origin to their local and state health departments.
US Food and Drug Administration
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the first COVID-19 diagnostic test that detects chemical compounds in breath samples associated with a SARS-CoV-2 infection. The test can be performed in environments where the patient specimen is both collected and analyzed, such as doctor’s offices, hospitals and mobile testing sites, using an instrument about the size of a piece of carry-on luggage. The test is performed by a qualified, trained operator under the supervision of a health care provider licensed or authorized by state law to prescribe tests and can provide results in less than three minutes.
David Donovan, University of Tennessee and Livia Casali, University of Tennessee
Scientists at a laboratory in England have shattered the record for the amount of energy produced during a controlled, sustained fusion reaction. The production of 59 megajoules of energy over five seconds at the Joint European Torus – or JET – experiment in England has been called “a breakthrough” by some news outlets and caused quite a lot of excitement among physicists. But a common line regarding fusion electricity production is that it is “always 20 years away.”
Yuko Sato, Iowa State University
An outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in chicken and turkey flocks has spread across 24 U.S. states since it was first detected in Indiana on Feb. 8, 2022. Better known as bird flu, avian influenza is a family of highly contagious viruses that are not harmful to wild birds that transmit it, but are deadly to domesticated birds. As of early April, the outbreak had caused the culling of some 23 million birds from Maine to Wyoming. Yuko Sato, an associate professor of veterinary medicine who works with poultry producers, explains why so many birds are getting sick and whether the outbreak threatens human health.
U.S. National Institutes of Health
Adults treated with medication for high blood pressure present before or during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy, defined as chronic hypertension in pregnancy, had fewer adverse pregnancy outcomes compared to adults who did not receive antihypertensive treatment, according to a study supported by the National Institutes of Health.
by Lisa Song
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Series: Sacrifice Jones – Mapping Cancer-Causing Industrial Air Pollution
After learning from a ProPublica analysis that his Missouri city is a hot spot of toxic air pollution, Verona Mayor Joseph Heck demanded that government officials look into the local cancer rate.
Prakash Nagarkatti, University of South Carolina and Mitzi Nagarkatti, University of South Carolina
A new omicron subvariant of the virus that causes COVID-19, BA.2, is quickly becoming the predominant source of infections amid rising cases around the world. Immunologists Prakash Nagarkatti and Mitzi Nagarkatti of the University of South Carolina explain what makes it different from previous variants, whether there will be another surge in the U.S. and how best to protect yourself.
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Sarah J. Morath, Wake Forest University
Plastic pollution is accumulating worldwide, on land and in the oceans. According to one widely cited estimate, by 2025, 100 million to 250 million metric tons of plastic waste could enter the ocean each year. Another study commissioned by the World Economic Forum projects that without changes to current practices, there may be more plastic by weight than fish in the ocean by 2050.
