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Latest News Releases

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 5-Nov-2025 21:11 ET (6-Nov-2025 02:11 GMT/UTC)

8-Sep-2025

Emergency department visits by uninsured children in Texas soar 45% after COVID-era federal funding ends

Texas A&M University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The “great unwinding” at the end of March 2023 meant that more than 25 million people — about 30 percent of all Medicaid recipients — were removed from the program. Now, in the first study of its kind, researchers have analyzed how the unwinding affected the payer mix for children’s emergency department visits in Texas. During the unwinding, about 1.2 million children in the state lost health insurance coverage.

Journal: Health Services Research

5-Sep-2025

New and recurring food insecurity during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

About The Study: In this survey study examining food insecurity in the U.S. during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, food insecurity declined among all subgroups between 2019 and 2021 but exceeded pre-pandemic levels by 2023; new food insecurity accounted for much of that increase. The increase in new food insecurity is concerning, as these households face elevated risk for adverse health outcomes.

Journal: JAMA Health Forum

4-Sep-2025

Researchers map key human proteins that power coronavirus replication, pointing to new treatment strategies

Scripps Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Despite vaccines and treatments, SARS-CoV-2—the virus that causes COVID-19—continues to pose a global health threat, driven by new variants and its ability to hijack human cells in ways that still aren’t fully understood. Now, scientists at Scripps Research have pinpointed dozens of human proteins that SARS-CoV-2 needs to complete its full life cycle, from entering a cell to replicating and releasing new viral particles.

Journal: PLOS Biology

4-Sep-2025

Penn research identifies best ways to debunk COVID vaccine misinformation

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

People hesitant about getting a COVID vaccine were more likely to consider getting the shot after hearing a myth explained and corrected with facts, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Science has continually proven the safety and efficacy of COVID vaccines, including the mRNA technology behind their development. However, vaccine hesitancy remains common.

Journal: Vaccine

3-Sep-2025

Protein discovery gives new hope for longer COVID protection

La Trobe University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A protein particle hidden within the SARS-CoV-2 virus could lead to longer-lasting, more protective vaccines for COVID-19.

Journal: Nature Communications

3-Sep-2025

Toddlers showed slightly fewer behavioral problems during COVID-19 pandemic, NIH study finds

Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Toddlers assessed during the COVID-19 pandemic had slightly fewer emotional and behavioral problems compared to children assessed before the pandemic, suggesting some toddlers may have shown resilience during this time. This finding comes from a study of over 3,000 children across the United States using data from the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort Consortium collected between September 2009 and July 2023.

Journal: JAMA Network Open

2-Sep-2025

Clinical study shows that nasal spray containing azelastine reduces risk of coronavirus infection by two-thirds

Saarland University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A research team at Saarland University has demonstrated in a clinical study that a widely used anti-allergy nasal spray containing the active ingredient azelastine can significantly reduce the risk of infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The results of the placebo-controlled trial involving 450 healthy participants have now been published in the leading U.S. medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

Journal: JAMA

1-Sep-2025

HKUMed develops innovative organoid-based platform for precise evaluation of antibody and vaccine efficacy, accelerating FDA application of organoid technology

The University of Hong Kong
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A research team from the Department of Microbiology under the School of Clinical Medicine in the LKS Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong (HKUMed), has successfully developed the world’s first ‘nasal organoid-based SARS-CoV-2 Neutralising Antibody Evaluation Platform’. The platform uses respiratory organoids that adequately model viral infection in the human respiratory tract, enabling accurate assessment of the effectiveness of antibodies and vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

1-Sep-2025

Differences in cesarean section numbers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan

University of Tsukuba
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at University of Tsukuba report that the percentage of births by cesarean section in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic (January 2020 to October 2022) increased to 21.19%, which is approximately 1 percentage point higher from the pre-pandemic rate of 20.27%. This finding indicates that cesarean sections were performed for infection control and other purposes during the COVID-19 pandemic, contributing to this increase.

Journal: Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Research

1-Sep-2025

Study Reveals Details of Overactive Immune System in Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)

Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Led by researchers at the Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health with a multicenter team of leading ME/CFS researchers, the new study reveals molecular-level details into the syndrome’s lasting effects on inflammation and immune response that could inform the development of targeted therapeutic interventions to reduce symptoms of ME/CFS and other postinfectious syndromes such as post-treatment Lyme disease and Long COVID.

Journal: npj Metabolic Health and Disease
Funder: Hutchins Family Foundation, NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

28-Aug-2025

Total-body PET imaging takes a look at long COVID

University of California - Davis
Grant and Award Announcement

A new project will use total-body PET imaging to get a better understanding of disease processes in people with long COVID syndromes.

Funder: NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

27-Aug-2025

WSU study suggests returning students didn’t drive COVID-19 outbreaks in town

Washington State University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Across the United States, the return of students to college campuses during the COVID-19 pandemic in the fall of 2020 sparked widespread fears that local communities would be overwhelmed by the virus. While some university towns experienced surges in caseloads linked to those returning students, a new study of Pullman, Washington — home to Washington State University — found that was not the case universally.

Journal: Epidemiology
Funder: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

26-Aug-2025

MSU study: What defines a life well-lived? Obituaries may have the answers.

Michigan State University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A Michigan State University-led study published in the journal PNAS analyzed 38 million U.S. obituaries over 30 years to explore what defines a life well-lived. Researchers from MSU, Boston College, and Arizona State University examined which values people are remembered for, how cultural events shape legacies, and how obituaries reflect societal expectations of a meaningful life across demographics.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

26-Aug-2025

Giving mRNA vaccines a technological shot in the arm

Yale University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Messenger RNA, or mRNA, vaccines entered the public consciousness when they were introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, and both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna used the technology in developing their highly effective vaccines to fight the virus.

Since then, scientists have been fine-tuning this vaccine delivery system to make it more effective. A Yale research team has now developed a technology that improves both the power of mRNA vaccines and their effectiveness against a host of diseases.

The new technology offers the promise of expanding the reach of these vaccines, including for the prevention of other diseases, including cancer and autoimmune diseases.

The results of their study are published in Nature Biomedical Engineering.

Journal: Nature Biomedical Engineering

26-Aug-2025

American College of Cardiology issues vaccine guidance for adults with heart disease

American College of Cardiology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The American College of Cardiology has issued Concise Clinical Guidance (CCG) recommending vaccines to protect adults with heart disease against respiratory illness, including influenza, COVID-19 and RSV, and other diseases where vaccination is shown to offer cardiovascular protective benefits. The guidance also provides detailed evidence for each vaccine recommendation and answers to frequently asked questions to guide conversations between clinicians and patients.

Journal: Journal of the American College of Cardiology