In the years following the COVID-19 pandemic, an ideal vision of family life would have shown that parents are continuing to share in caregiving responsibilities and spending quality time with their children — dads, in particular. Many people hoped that the behavioral changes caused by lockdowns would persist, allowing dads more time and flexibility in the long term and ultimately reshaping how we view fatherhood in general. However, according to new research from University of Notre Dame anthropologist and fatherhood expert Lee Gettler, those fathering benefits have not outlasted the pandemic itself.

Scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) have discovered that the influenza vaccine FluMist can stimulate immunity in the upper airways of adults. This is the first time researchers have tracked how immune cells in the upper airways respond to an intranasal vaccine (given via a spray in the nose). The new study gives scientists a guide for measuring the effectiveness of new intranasal vaccines against RSV, COVID-19, and other respiratory diseases.

An international team led by Dr. Adolfo Poma (IPPT PAN, Poland) shows that antibody effectiveness depends not only on binding strength but also on their stability under mechanical forces. The findings provide a new framework for designing more robust antiviral therapeutics.

As the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc and lives were at stake, the advice experts gave to decision-makers became indispensable. At the same time, heated debates arose when researchers’ calculations led to differing conclusions on everything from face masks to school closures. A new handbook on mathematical models has now been produced jointly by Chalmers University of Technology and the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and several Swedish government agencies. The handbook is intended to pave the way for better decision-making and greater preparedness for the next pandemic.

MONTREAL – April 24, 2026 – Findings from the North American COVID-19 Myocardial Infarction (NACMI) registry demonstrate significantly higher one-year mortality rates in patients with COVID-19 and ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) compared to patients with STEMI alone. This registry is the first study to describe long-term outcomes in patients with STEMI and COVID-19. Researchers presented the late-breaking data today at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions (SCAI) 2026 Scientific Sessions & Canadian Association of Interventional Cardiology/Association Canadienne de cardiologie d’intervention (CAIC-ACCI) Summit in Montreal.

Infection researchers at the German Primate Center – Leibniz Institute for Primate Research in Göttingen have found that the most recently dominant variants are not being replaced by a new variant that spreads rapidly worldwide. Instead, an unusual variant, BA.3.2, is spreading relatively slowly. This variant is not successful in all countries, but it frequently infects children. These observations suggest that a complex immunity may have developed through vaccination and infections, making it difficult for new variants to break through.