Epidemiology
What We Know about Omicron’s BA.2 Variant So Far
Does the new strain sweeping the globe mean COVID will become ever more contagious?
Epidemiology125 articles archived since 1845
Epidemiology
How the War in Ukraine Is Causing Indirect Deaths
Crowded shelters and destroyed health care facilities will likely exacerbate COVID, TB and other diseases
Epidemiology
Are ‘COVID Toes’ Actually Caused by the Coronavirus?
A study adds to evidence suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 infection doesn’t cause an inflamed-toe condition called chilblains, but it doesn’t close the door
Epidemiology
Even Mild COVID Can Increase the Risk of Heart Problems
Scientists are just starting to unravel the disease’s long-term cardiac effects
Epidemiology
People, Not Science, Decide When a Pandemic Is Over
Historians of the 1918 influenza pandemic discuss lessons for what the future of COVID might look like
Epidemiology
Wastewater Monitoring Offers Powerful Tool for Tracking COVID and Other Diseases
A CDC database of sewage data from communities around the nation could provide earlier warning of outbreaks and new viral variants
Epidemiology
When Should COVID School Restrictions Lift? Intense Debates Persist
Opinion among physicians and scientists still ranges widely on how quickly to proceed
Epidemiology
New Studies Support Wuhan Market as Pandemic’s Origin Point
The reports’ authors say that the novel coronavirus, or SARS-CoV-2, jumped from animals sold at the market to people twice in late 2019—but some scientists want more definitive evidence...
Epidemiology
What Is a Vaccinated Person’s Risk of Dying from COVID?
Vaccination definitely lowers the odds, but the exact answer is hard to find
Public Health
Discovery of New HIV Variant Sends Warning for COVID Pandemic
Infectious disease expert William A. Haseltine cautions that a coronavirus variant could emerge with the transmissibility of Omicron and the deadliness of the original SARS
Epidemiology
How Sneezing Hamsters Sparked a COVID Outbreak in Hong Kong
Hamsters are only the second species known to have spread SARS-CoV-2 to humans
Health Care
When Should You Get a COVID Test?
It depends, but vaccinated people should generally wait five days after exposure before taking an antigen test. Here’s why
Epidemiology
Dangerous Flu Comeback Expected atop COVID This Winter
COVID shutdowns limited the spread of influenza in 2019–2020. Several factors could mean this season will be more severe
Public Health
Why Racism, Not Race, Is a Risk Factor for Dying of COVID-19
Public health specialist and physician Camara Phyllis Jones talks about ways that jobs, communities and health care leave Black Americans more exposed and less protected
Epidemiology
Omicron’s Effect Won’t Be as Mild as Hoped
It’s too soon to know if the variant causes milder COVID, but its transmissibility and ability to evade vaccines are still cause for concern
Epidemiology
Why Is Omicron So Contagious?
The new coronavirus variant may be better than other versions at avoiding human immune defenses—but that ability may change in different countries
Public Health
COVID Variants Hint at How the Virus Will Evolve
The rapid spread of new variants such as Omicron offers clues to how SARS-CoV-2 is adapting and how the pandemic will play out over the next several months
Epidemiology
COVID Quickly, Episode 20: The Omicron Scare, and Anti-COVID Pills Are Coming
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American ’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between...
Epidemiology
How the Omicron Variant Got So Many Scary Mutations So Quickly
The numerous changes in the coronavirus’s spike protein could have arisen in an isolated population or an immunocompromised person—or animals
Epidemiology
Heavily Mutated Omicron Variant Puts Scientists on Alert
Researchers are racing to determine whether a fast-spreading coronavirus variant poses a threat to COVID vaccines’ effectiveness
