August 05
Africa: Love for Cats Lures Students Into This Course, Which Uses Feline Research to Teach Science
Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching. Read more »
August 08
Africa: From Science Fiction to Telemedicine - the Surprising 150-Year History of Long-Range Medical Treatment
In 1874, a surgeon in South Australia telegraphed wound care instructions for a patient 2,000 kilometres away. A few years later, in 1879, a letter in The Lancet medical journal… Read more »
August 15
Africa: What Is Mpox? a Microbiologist Explains What's Known About This Smallpox Cousin
On Aug. 14, 2024, the World Health Organization declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern. There have been over 15,600 cases and over 530 deaths reported in… Read more »
Africa: Mpox Outbreak in Africa Was Neglected - It Could Now Turn Into the Next Global Pandemic
The mpox outbreak in Africa is yet another example of how infectious diseases perceived to be "someone else's problem", and affecting mainly poor, developing countries, may… Read more »
Africa: Mpox Now a Global Health Emergency - What Happens Next?
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern, after rising cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the… Read more »
August 14
South Africa: Air Pollution in South Africa - Affordable New Devices Use AI to Monitor Hotspots in Real Time
Air quality has become one of the most important public health issues in Africa. Poor air quality kills more people globally every year than HIV, TB and malaria combined. And… Read more »
August 13
Africa: Mpox Cases Are Soaring in Africa - What Must Be Done to Prevent a Global Pandemic
Alarmed by the surge in mpox cases, the Africa Centres for Disease Control has taken the unprecedented step of declaring the outbreak sweeping through African countries a… Read more »
August 06
Africa: Would You Trust an Ant to Amputate Your Limb? Science Is Showing They Are Skilled Surgeons
An insect bites off another insect's leg. Is this predatory behaviour, aggression, defence, competition or something else? In the case of carpenter ants, it's for the good of the… Read more »
August 09
Africa: Infectious Diseases Spike When Kids Return to School - Here's What You Can Do About It
Ready or not, back-to-school season is here, and kids will be bringing home more than homework. They'll be carrying germs, too. Read more »
August 07
Africa: Fewer Car Journeys and More Flights - How Covid-19 Has Changed the Way We Travel
Four years after the outbreak of Covid-19, the pandemic seems like a distant memory for many. Yet its impacts on our lifestyle today are often profound and long-lasting, with many… Read more »
August 06
Africa: Teenage Girls in Africa Face Shocking Rates of Physical and Sexual Abuse in Intimate Relationships - New Global Report
Nearly a quarter of adolescent girls between the ages of 15 and 19 who have been in a relationship will have suffered intimate partner violence by the time they turn 20. This is… Read more »
August 05
Nigeria: Babies in Nigeria Are Being Born With Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria
Sepsis occurs when one's immune system has an extreme response to an infection. It's a life-threatening condition: globally, it accounts for about 11 million deaths - 20% of all… Read more »
Africa: Ethnicity, Race and Health Equity - 3 Lessons From the Covid-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the critical need for robust and equitable public health systems in Canada that address the population's diverse needs. One of the most… Read more »
July 29
Africa: Even If They Aren't Sporty, All Kids Need to Throw and Catch. How Can You Help If Your Child Is Struggling?
Apart from literacy and numeracy, some of the most important skills children learn in their primary school years are throwing and catching. These are considered "fundamental… Read more »
Africa: Moms Think More About Household Chores - and This Cognitive Burden Hurts Their Mental Health
When you think about housework, you likely think of actions: scrubbing the dishes, running errands, chopping vegetables for dinner. And it's not news to say that mothers often… Read more »
July 30
Africa: I Feel Sick. How Do I Know If I Have the Flu, Covid, RSV or Something Else?
You wake with a sore throat and realise you are sick. Is this going to be a two-day or a two-week illness? Should you go to a doctor or just go to bed? Read more »
July 25
South Africa: South African Teens Are Struggling - Western Cape Study Shows 33 Percent Have Symptoms of Depression
In South Africa, little research has been done on depression and anxiety among younger adolescents, those between the ages of 10 and 14. Existing studies have primarily targeted… Read more »
Africa: The Human Virome - Why Viruses Could Be As Important for Good Health As Gut Bacteria
We often hear about the importance of the human microbiome - the vast collection of bacteria and fungi that live on and inside us - when it comes to our health. But there's… Read more »
July 23
Africa: Pandemic Effects Linger, and Art Invites Us to Pause and Behold Distance, Time and Trauma
When I finished the manuscript for my book The Pause, which looked at the COVID-19 pandemic through the idea of "pausing," a notion frequently invoked in pandemic discussions of… Read more »
Nigeria: 11 Million Nigerian Children Are Going Hungry - How This Hurts Their Health and What Needs to Be Done
Unicef, the UN agency for children, reported in June 2024 that around 11 million Nigerian children were experiencing severe child food poverty. Read more »
Africa: Lb.1, or D-Flirt, Is the Newest Covid Subvariant. What Do We Know About It? Where Has It Come From?
Headlines are again warning of a new COVID variant in Australia. This time it's LB.1, or as some experts have dubbed it, "D-FLiRT". Read more »
Africa: What's the Difference Between 'Strep Throat' and a Sore Throat? We're Developing a Vaccine for One of Them
What's the difference? is a new editorial product that explains the similarities and differences between commonly confused health and medical terms, and why they matter. Read more »
July 22
Africa: TB - Gene Editing Could Add New Power to a 100-Year-Old Vaccine
Tuberculosis dates back more than 9,000 years. It is the most infectious bacterial disease and in 2022 10.6 million people fell ill with it. Of these 23% occurred in Africa. Read more »
July 18
Africa: The HIV Epidemic 40 Years On - 5 Essential Reads On Breakthroughs, Blind Spots and New Challenges
In June 1981 The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a rare form of pneumonia in young gay men in California. Although they didn't know it at the time, these… Read more »
Egypt: Is Your Desk Job Killing Your Back? Ancient Egyptian Scribes Had the Same Aches and Pains, Say Researchers
Tens of thousands of years ago, during a period of Egyptian history known as the Old Kingdom (around 2649-2130 BC), it was rare for people to be able to read and write. From an… Read more »