August 04, 2022
Africa: Should We Be Worried About Our Pet Cats and Dogs Getting Covid?
The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID, originated from bats and then, probably after passing through an intermediary host, gained the ability to infect humans. Read more »
Africa: Long Covid-19 and Other Chronic Respiratory Conditions May Stem From an Overactive Immune Response in the Lungs
Viruses that cause respiratory diseases like the flu and COVID-19 can lead to mild to severe symptoms within the first few weeks of infection. These symptoms typically resolve… Read more »
August 01, 2022
Africa: The Tongue - How One of the Body's Most Sensitive Organs Is Helping Blind People 'See'
Ever wondered why kissing feels better than holding hands? The tongue is a pretty incredible piece of kit, though notoriously difficult to study, due to its position inside the… Read more »
July 21, 2022
Africa: Long Covid - With No Treatment Options, It's Little Wonder People Are Seeking Unproven Therapies Like 'Blood Washing'
A recent investigation published by the British Medical Journal revealed that long COVID patients are travelling abroad to seek expensive "blood washing" treatment. Read more »
July 28, 2022
Africa: Food and Drinks Are Getting Sweeter. Even If It's Not All Sugar, It's Bad for Our Health
Humans have an evolutionary preference for sweetness. Sweet foods, like fruit and honey, were an important energy source for our ancestors. Read more »
July 19, 2022
Africa: Covid - Risk of Diabetes and Heart Disease Is Higher After Infection - but Maybe Only Temporarily
Since the pandemic began, we've learned a great deal about the disease behind it. We now regard COVID-19 as not just a respiratory disease, but a multi-system condition. Read more »
July 26, 2022
Africa: How the Omicron Subvariant BA.5 Became a Master of Disguise
The omicron subvariant known as BA.5 was first detected in South Africa in February 2022 and spread rapidly throughout the world. As of the second week of July 2022, BA.5… Read more »
July 24, 2022
Africa: Monkeypox - World Health Organization Declares It a Global Health Emergency - Here's What That Means
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the current monkeypox epidemic a global health emergency. Read more »
July 15, 2022
Africa: Is Monkeypox a Pandemic? An Epidemiologist Explains Why It Isn't Likely to Become As Widespread As Covid-19, But Is Worth Watching
Monkeypox is the latest global public health threat to make headlines. Most people who contract the monkeypox virus experience flu-like symptoms and a blistery rash that lasts two… Read more »
July 20, 2022
Africa: Losing a Grandmother Can Have Long-Lasting Mental Health Effects for Kids and Adolescents, a New Study Finds
The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. Read more »
July 27, 2022
Africa: Nature Is the World's Original Pharmacy - Returning to Medicine's Roots Could Help Fill Drug Discovery Gaps
While humans evolved over a period of approximately 6 million years, breakthroughs in modern medicine as we know it today got going only in the 19th and 20th centuries. So how did… Read more »
July 26, 2022
Africa: Why Declaring Monkeypox a Global Health Emergency Is a Preventative Step - Not a Reason for Panic
Countries that are members of the United Nations are obligated to report cases of unusual diseases that have the potential to become global health threats. In May 2022, more than a… Read more »
July 27, 2022
Africa: New Covid Variants May Be More Transmissible but That Doesn't Mean the Basic Reproduction Number Has Increased
During the pandemic we have all become familiar with a lot of epidemiological concepts. Read more »
July 24, 2022
Nigeria: Lifesaving Maternal Health Services Are So Close, Yet So Far For Pregnant Women Living In Sub-Saharan Africa's Largest Metropolis
Every year around the world, 295,000 women die due to complications of pregnancy and childbirth. Seven in 10 of these maternal deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa. These deaths are… Read more »
July 23, 2022
Ghana: The Marburg Virus - Urgent Need to Contain This Close Cousin of Ebola
In July 2022 Ghana confirmed its first two cases of the deadly Marburg virus, a highly infectious disease in the same family as the virus that causes Ebola. The Conversation… Read more »
July 21, 2022
South Africa: Schools Can Be a Great Resource for Mental Health in South Africa
In the face of deep inequality, unemployment, high rates of crime and violence, and the social and economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, the mental health trajectory for… Read more »
July 20, 2022
Africa: It's a Myth That Sunscreen Prevents Melanoma in People of Colour - A Dermatologist Explains
Melanoma is a potentially deadly form of skin cancer that effects people of every racial and ethnic group. The risk factor most closely linked to developing melanoma is exposure to… Read more »
Africa: Depression Is Probably Not Caused By a Chemical Imbalance in the Brain - New Study
For three decades, people have been deluged with information suggesting that depression is caused by a "chemical imbalance" in the brain - namely an imbalance of a brain chemical… Read more »
July 18, 2022
Africa: Covid Vaccines Are Linked to Heavier Periods for Many - New Findings From Large Study
COVID has affected countless aspects of our lives. For many people who menstruate, one of the pandemic's effects has been on periods. People have reported changes to their… Read more »
July 19, 2022
East Africa: Why Sexual and Reproductive Law for East African Countries Is Being Resisted
Six of the countries of the East African Community - Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania - recently concluded public hearings on a new sexual and reproductive… Read more »
July 18, 2022
Africa: Citing Blogs in Academic Publications - Lessons From Urban Planning in Covid
Blogs are a double-edged sword. These online essays can be produced by anyone with access to a computer and the internet. The writers could be well-informed experts with valuable… Read more »
July 17, 2022
South Africa: Technology and Home Visits Can Help South Africans With Diabetes Cope With Insulin
Approximately 4.5 million South Africans have type 2 diabetes - a condition characterised by high levels of sugar in the blood. It can be treated with drugs and managed through… Read more »
July 13, 2022
Africa: You Really Can Die of Sadness - and Also Happiness
Dying of a broken heart was just a figure of speech until 2002 when Dr Hikaru Sato and colleagues at Hiroshima City Hospital described it in a study. Sato named the condition… Read more »
Zimbabwe: Six Ways to Improve HIV Prevention Pill Uptake Among Young Women
Adolescent girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa have a very high risk of acquiring HIV. The latest global AIDS update report suggests that a staggering six out of seven new… Read more »
July 11, 2022
Africa: Human Catches Covid From a Cat - Here's Why This New Evidence Is Not Cause for Panic
Since the pandemic began, there have been several documented cases of humans transmitting SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to their pets. But the reverse has been rarer… Read more »