Africa: Long Covid - Damaged Mitochondria in Muscles Might Be Linked to Some of the Symptoms

It's estimated around 3% of people in the UK experience long COVID - persistent, long-lasting symptoms after a COVID-19 infection. Read more »

Africa: Some Believe the 1889 Russian Flu Pandemic Was Actually Caused By a Coronavirus - Here's Why That's Unlikely

COVID-19 was the first coronavirus pandemic. The original Sars virus from 2003 and the Mers virus that created a health emergency in South Korea in 2015 were both coronaviruses,… Read more »

Africa: Wanting to 'Move On' Is Natural - but Women's Pandemic Experiences Can't Be Lost to 'Lockdown Amnesia'

The COVID-19 pandemic was - and continues to be - hugely disruptive and stressful for individuals, communities and countries. Yet many seem desperate to close the chapter entirely,… Read more »

Senegal: Senegal's Small Scale Gold Miners Still Use Poisonous Mercury - How to Reduce the Harm

"Do not fish in these waters." "Contains high levels of mercury." Read more »

South Africa: Taxes On e-Cigarettes - South Africa Must Strike a Balance Between Economic Arguments and Health Concerns

The 21st century has seen a massive expansion in the ways that people can consume tobacco and nicotine. Innovative new products include electronic nicotine delivery systems ("ENDS"… Read more »

Africa: Stressed Out? Why Mindfulness and Meditation Help Us Cope With the World

In a world fraught with anxiety, stress, and environmental and humanitarian disasters, people are looking for ways to cope. Many have turned to practices originating in ancient… Read more »

Africa: What Covid Diaries Have in Common With Samuel Pepys' 17th-Century Plague Diaries

People keep diaries for all sorts of reasons - to record events, work through difficult situations, or manage stress and trauma. The ongoing COVID inquiry shows diaries also have… Read more »

Africa: I Have Covid. How Likely Am I to Get Long Covid?

EG.5 or the Eris COVID variant is dominant in parts of Australia. Eris, along with other circulating strains, are descendants of Omicron. Read more »

Africa: For Many Who Are Suffering With Prolonged Grief, the Holidays Can Be a Time to Reflect and Find Meaning in Loss

The holiday season is meant to be filled with joy, connection and celebration of rituals. Many people, however, are starkly reminded of their grief this time of year and of whom -… Read more »

Africa: mRNA Covid Vaccines Make 'Unintended Proteins' - We've Discovered How to Fix This Problem

mRNA, a type of genetic material that provides the instructions your cells need in order to make proteins, used to be a term mainly used by scientists. But since COVID arrived many… Read more »

Africa: Loneliness Is a Major Public Health Problem - and Young People Are Bearing the Brunt of It

Writing in the Week, journalist Theara Coleman has declared 2023 "the year of the loneliness epidemic". In May, the US surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, said loneliness posed a public… Read more »

Africa: Dermatologist Speaks Sunscreen, Even If You're Rich in Melanin

Sunburn is a sign that skin has experienced significant levels of damage. Ultraviolet light can change a person's DNA structure, which can lead to cancer. At the same time,… Read more »

Africa: We Followed 14 'Long Haulers' for 3 Months. Here's What They Told Us About Living With Long Covid

At least 65 million people around the world are estimated to have long COVID, which describes the continuation or development of symptoms at least three months after an initial… Read more »

Africa: Climate Change Risks Triggering a Spike in Infectious Disease Outbreaks - Three Reasons Why

Climate change is our planet's most immediate existential threat, and will likely only worsen for the foreseeable future. Read more »

Africa: Could Antivirals Reduce Your Risk of Long Covid? Where the Research Is Up to On Prevention and Treatment

Evidence is continuing to accumulate on the burden and frequency of chronic effects after a COVID infection, which fall under the umbrella term "long COVID". Read more »

Africa: Umaru Shehu - Nigerian Public Health Giant Who Played a Major Role in Polio Eradication

Professor Emeritus Umaru Shehu, who died on 2 October 2023, was born in Yerwa (Maiduguri), Nigeria, in 1930. Widely regarded as one of the country's early leaders in public health… Read more »

Africa: Stem Cell Therapy Shows Promise for Treating Multiple Sclerosis - New Study

Over 2 million people globally have multiple sclerosis (MS), a disease that affects the nervous system and can lead to problems moving, seeing and thinking. Read more »

Africa: How Worried Should We Be About the Pneumonia Outbreak in China?

Reports of a surge in pneumonia-like illness primarily affecting children in northern China have captured our attention. The last time we heard about a mysterious respiratory… Read more »

Africa: Drug Resistance May Make Common Infections Like Thrush Untreatable

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the biggest global threats to health, food security and development. This month, The Conversation's experts explore how we got here and the… Read more »

Ghana: Patients' Beliefs About Illness Matter - The Case of Elephantiasis in Rural Ghana

Would you take medication for an illness you didn't believe you had? Or if you disagreed with healthcare workers about the cause of your condition? Read more »

Africa: No Compelling Evidence That Air Purifiers Prevent Respiratory Infections - New Study

The COVID pandemic led to many calls for improved indoor air quality with claims that doing so would reduce the risk of the virus spreading. But the real-world evidence to support… Read more »

Africa: How Do Viruses Get Into Cells? Their Infection Tactics Determine Whether They Can Jump Species or Set Off a Pandemic

COVID-19, flu, mpox, noroviral diarrhea: How do the viruses that cause these diseases actually infect you? Read more »

Africa: Groundbreaking Malaria Vaccines Developed, but Challenges Remain

The approval of two malaria vaccines - the RTS,S/AS01 vaccine in 2021 and the R21/Matrix-MTM vaccine in 2023 - will help control, and eventually help eradicate, a disease that… Read more »

Africa: Early Births - Between 34 and 37 Weeks - for Moms With Pre-Eclampsia Can Reduce Baby and Mother Deaths

About half a million babies die each year as a result of pre-eclampsia, an aggressive and potentially life-threatening problem in pregnancy. Approximately 46,000 women also die… Read more »

Africa: Antibiotic Resistance Causes More Deaths Than Malaria and HIV/Aids Combined

Each year antimicrobial resistance - the ability of microbes to survive agents designed to kill them - claims more lives than malaria and HIV/Aids combined. Africa bears the brunt… Read more »