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Rapid responses to health questions for fact-checkers and journalists.
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Rapid responses to health questions for fact-checkers and journalists.
In a study of hospital records of over 230,000 people who had been diagnosed with COVID-19, 33.62% of the patients developed a neurological or psychiatric diagnosis within 180 days of their viral infection. The most common diagnoses were anxiety and mood disorders but researchers are unsure of what causes these impacts in the brains of COVID-19 survivors.
There is no evidence to support the idea that the virus has lost its potency. This question likely stems from comments made by an Italian doctor claiming that COVID-19 is losing its potency by mutating into a less harmful version of itself. However, this has been refuted by the World Health Organization and other respected health and medical bodies. Viral mutations are a common aspect of a virus' lifespan and do not necessarily mean that they will become more deadly, contagious, or inherently different. Mutations that might change how the virus is transmitted, or how it infects people, does not mean that the mutated virus will spread more or be more harmful. Nor does it mean it will spread less or be less harmful. So far, researchers have stated that while the virus is mutating (like all viruses do) these changes do not translate to significant adjustments in transmission or harm to patients.
Alum (also called potassium alum or aluminum potassium sulfate) has been widely used in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, food, and even textiles, but it has not been tested against viruses. While alum has some antimicrobial and anti fungal properties, it has not been shown to be an effective alternative for sanitizer or disinfectants. It is possible that there might be research, in the future, regarding the use of alum as an anti-viral disinfectant and cleaner, but the current literature does not support its use as an alternative to those on the EPA List N disinfectants with claims against Emerging Viral Pathogens.
The COVID-19 arm rash is a side effect from the vaccine that can cause an itchy or painful rash on the arms of people who have received a vaccine. The rash is harmless and tends to go away within a few days but can be treated with histamine medication or some pain medication if symptoms persist.
Tear gas and other chemical irritants can cause people to cough, sneeze, and take off their face masks, which can increase the spread of COVID-19. This is the case both for people who have symptoms of the virus and those who might not have any symptoms and don't know they are sick. The virus that causes COVID-19 spreads primarily through droplets that are emitted when people exhale, cough, or spit. Tear gas can cause people to cough or scream loudly, which could carry the virus particles much farther than 6 feet (2m) and infect others around them. In addition to inducing coughing, tear gas has also been linked to increased susceptibility to infection in the respiratory tract as well as increased pain and inflammation. A 2014 study found that exposure to tear gas contributed to a significantly higher risk of acute respiratory illnesses (sudden and serious respiratory illnesses). More than 1200 infectious disease and public health professionals have signed a petition opposing the use of tear gas and other respiratory irritants during this pandemic.
Patients who have been infected with COVID-19 can sometimes develop severe symptoms. Some of these symptoms include things like blood clots, heart problems, and "COVID toes." One thing all of these issues have in common is their link to blood vessels, which are the tubes that deliver blood and oxygen throughout the body. When these tubes, and the cells that line the insides of the tubes (endothelial cells), have challenges carrying and spreading blood to organs and tissues, issues like blood clots, kidney damage, inflammation of the heart and swelling of the brain (encephalitis) can occur in patients. This is why some doctors are calling the virus a "vasculotropic" virus (virus that affects blood vessels). More research is needed to present such findings conclusively. Though COVID-19 was originally thought to be a respiratory illness, some researchers believe that the virus may be able to move from the lungs into the blood vessels (pulmonary system), often causing additional symptoms such as the ones mentioned above. While some patients have been impacted by blood vessel-related symptoms, more research is still needed to determine its exact impacts on the body and its organs. At this point in time, blood clots due appear to be a major cause of negative health outcomes in patients with severe cases of COVID-19, bringing heightened awareness to the potential involvement of blood vessels and blood flow as an effect of the virus.
Glandular fever or Infectious Mononucleosis is a viral infection generally caused by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). It can be transmitted by close contact with an infected individual. There have been recent news articles that patients with long term symptoms of COVID-19 may have reactivated EBV in their bodies. Some have reported ‘reactivated’ EBV in their blood tests, leading scientists to look at the relation between COVID-19 and EBV, which have similar symptoms. Research is underway to understand more, and as more information becomes available, scientists will be able to find conclusive evidence.
Most people get infected with a coronavirus at some point in their lives, meaning that it is highly likely that coronaviruses will continue impacting us. The likelihood of another novel coronavirus emerging is less clear, but science suggests that the risks are high.
The University of Oxford vaccine is being developed and produced by AstraZeneca plc, Inc. and is an adenovirus vaccine (ChAdOx1/AZD1222) currently in Phase 2 and 3 trials in the United Kingdom and India, and in Phase 3 trials in Brazil, South Africa, and the United States. As of December 30, 2020, the vaccine has been authorized for emergency use in adults over 18 years of age in the United Kingdom. Here's a breakdown of everything you need to know so far about this vaccine's development.
Data from around the world has demonstrated the fact that men are impacted more greatly than women by COVID-19. For example, men are more likely to be hospitalized with severe symptoms of the virus and have higher mortality rates than women; and this finding is consistent across age groups and geographies. Researchers have been trying to understand the causes of this and are developing hypotheses to explain the differences between the immune systems' response to COVID-19 in men and women. At this stage, they are exploring these disparities using biological, social, and behavioral lenses. Based on previous studies with similar viruses, data has illustrated that sex differences in immunity are caused by both genetic as well as hormonal differences between women and men. For example, in females, hormones such as estrogen and progesterone may be protective against the virus, yet it is possible testosterone does the opposite for men. In terms of underlying illnesses, the data also illustrates that men are more likely to suffer from hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes than women. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have learned that these types of underlying conditions have been associated with a higher risk of complications from COVID-19. Behavioral factors may also explain this difference. For instance, females may be more likely to be frontline workers than men, which could create more risks for exposure. In terms of lifestyle, men tend to be more likely to be smokers, which is a risk factor for COVID-19 since it is a respiratory illness. From past studies, we also know that men are less likely to seek out medical care when there's a problem in comparison to women, which means they may interact with the health system at a later stage in the disease when symptoms are more severe. Similarly, in the case of COVID-19, men are less likely to engage in behaviors like mask-wearing and hand-washing, which may increase their risk of contracting the disease. Source: Dr. Sabra Klein (Johns Hopkins University)
The virus that causes COVID-19 can potentially be spread through money. However, it's unlikely to cause the COVID-19 illness in humans. A recent study has shown that the virus that causes COVID-19 can survive on solid surfaces like coins for up to four days and on paper like cash for up to three hours, but the virus was no longer infectious (viable) after that point. There has been no rigorous research to conclude or disprove that COVID-19 can be easily spread through coins and paper money otherwise. Therefore, the risk of catching COVID-19 from the virus sticking to money is very low. However, it is best practice in general to wash your hands and avoid touching your face after touching money. The virus that causes COVID-19 is primarily spread through person-to-person contact, especially if you are in close contact with another person (within about 6 feet or 2 meters). Since we do not yet fully understand all the ways the virus could spread, it would be a good practice to be vigilant with money just as any other potential contaminated surface, and wash your hands with soap after touching it.
Disinfectant wipes should never be reused. Reusing wipes will move germs from one surface to another, which is potentially harmful in the current pandemic. In order for any surface to be properly disinfected, the U.S. CDC recommends following the instructions on each product carefully and leaving the disinfectant on the surface for 3-5 minutes. This means the surface needs to be wet for this period of time, and you may need to use more than one disinfectant wipe depending on the size of the surface. However, you should never reuse the same disinfectant wipe.
People who have been infected with COVID-19 but don't have symptoms are considered "asymptomatic." People infected with COVID-19 whose symptoms have not yet developed are called "pre-symptomatic." Even as people who are asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic don't display symptoms, they are still infected with the virus, and have the potential to shed the virus. This means that people without symptoms can still spread the virus to others, even if they don't feel sick.
Having a fever means that your body temperature has temporarily increased and it is a signal that your body may be fighting off an infection. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control define a fever as a measured temperature of at least 100.4°F (38°C), slightly higher than the average human temperature of 98.6°F (37°C). Fevers are one of the immune system's first reactions to a pathogen - such as a virus or bacteria entering the body. Fevers can also be caused by environmental factors like heat stroke or biological responses like alcohol withdrawal. Your body senses these potential threats and forces itself to raise its temperature (by creating a fever, through chemicals in your blood called 'pyrogens') to make it difficult for the pathogen to use your body as a host and reproduce viruses or bacteria. Normal body temperatures change every day and usually vary between 97.6°F (36.4°C) and 99.6 °F (37.5°C) with lower body temperatures generally occurring in the morning and higher temperatures occurring at night. For most adults, short-term fevers shouldn't be alarming unless it reaches 103°F (39.4°C) or higher. For infants younger than 3 months, a rectal temperature of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher signals a fever and in that case a doctor should be contacted. For infants between 3 - 24 months, a rectal temperature of 102°F (38.9°C) signals a fever that should also be discussed with a doctor. For other young children, even slight fevers can signal infections, so a doctor should be consulted if a fever appears.
No. Personal protective equipment that cannot be disinfected, like a cloth or surgical mask, should not be shared between people. Over time, these masks become dirty and have wear and tear. Since masks come into contact with our mouth and nose, they easily become contaminated and should not be shared.
Health Desk provides on-demand and on-deadline science information to users seeking to quickly communicate complex topics to audiences.
In-house scientists provide custom explainers for critical science questions from journalists, fact-checkers and others in need of accessible breakdowns on scientific information. Topics range from reproductive health, infectious disease, climate science, vaccinology or other health areas.
Meedan's Health-Desk.org makes every effort to provide health- and science-related information that is accurate and reflects the best evidence available at the time of publication. To submit an error or correction request, please email our editorial team at health@meedan.com. All error or correction requests will be reviewed by the Health Desk Editorial and Science Teams. Where there is evidence of a factual error or typo, we will update the explainer with a correction or clarification and follow up with the reader on the status of the request.
Our scientists, writers, journalists, and experts do not engage in, advocate for, or publicize their personal views on policy issues that might lead a reasonable member of the public to see our team’s work as biased. If you have concerns or comments about potential bias in our work, please contact our editorial team at health@meedan.com.
Health Desk provides on-demand and on-deadline science information to users seeking to quickly communicate complex topics to audiences.
In-house scientists provide custom explainers for critical science questions from journalists, fact-checkers and others in need of accessible breakdowns on scientific information. Topics range from reproductive health, infectious disease, climate science, vaccinology or other health areas.
Meedan's Health-Desk.org makes every effort to provide health- and science-related information that is accurate and reflects the best evidence available at the time of publication. To submit an error or correction request, please email our editorial team at health@meedan.com. All error or correction requests will be reviewed by the Health Desk Editorial and Science Teams. Where there is evidence of a factual error or typo, we will update the explainer with a correction or clarification and follow up with the reader on the status of the request.
Our scientists, writers, journalists, and experts do not engage in, advocate for, or publicize their personal views on policy issues that might lead a reasonable member of the public to see our team’s work as biased. If you have concerns or comments about potential bias in our work, please contact our editorial team at health@meedan.com.
Nat Gyenes, MPH, leads Meedan’s Digital Health Lab, an initiative dedicated to addressing health information equity challenges, with a focus on the role that technology plays in mediating access to health through access to information. She received her masters in public health from the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, with a focus on equitable access to health information and human rights. As a research affiliate at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, she studies the ways in which health information sources and outputs can impact health outcomes. She lectures at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health on Health, Media and Human Rights. Before joining Meedan, Nat worked at the MIT Media Lab as a health misinformation researcher.
Megan Marrelli is a Peabody award-winning journalist and the News Lead of Health Desk. She focuses on news innovation in today’s complex information environment. Megan has worked on the digital breaking news desk of the Globe and Mail, Canada’s national newspaper, and on the news production team of the Netflix series Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj. She was a Canadian Association of Journalists finalist for a team Chronicle Herald investigation into house fires in Halifax, Nova Scotia. On top of her role at Meedan Megan works with the investigative journalism incubator Type Investigations, where she is reporting a data-driven story on fatal patient safety failures in U.S. hospitals. She holds a Master of Science from the Columbia Journalism School and lives in New York.
Anshu holds a Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and a Humanitarian Studies, Ethics, and Human Rights concentrator at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative. She is a Harvard Voices in Leadership writing fellow and student moderator, Prajna Fellow, and the John C. and Katherine Vogelheim Hansen Fund for Africa Awardee. Anshu’s interests include: systemic issues of emergency management, crisis leadership, intersectoral approaches to climate risk resilience, inclusion and human rights, international development, access and sustainability of global health systems, and socio-economic equity. Anshu has worked at the United Nations, UNDP, UNICEF, Gates Foundation, and the Institute of Healthcare Improvement.
Dr. Christin Gilmer is a Global Health Scientist with a background in infectious diseases, international health systems, and population health and technology. In the last 15 years, Christin has worked for the WHO, University of Oxford, World Health Partners, USAID, UNFPA, the FXB Center for Health & Human Rights and more, including volunteering for Special Olympics International’s health programs and running health- and technology-based nonprofits across the country. She obtained her Doctor of Public Health Degree at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, her MPH at Columbia, and spent time studying at M.I.T., Harvard Kennedy School, and Harvard Business School. Christin has worked in dozens of countries across five continents and loves running programs and research internationally, but she is currently based in Seattle.
Dr. Jessica Huang is currently a COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fellow with the Harvard Kennedy School’s Bloomberg City Leadership Initiative. Previously, she worked and taught with D-Lab at MIT, leading poverty reduction and humanitarian innovation projects with UNICEF, UNHCR, Oxfam, USAID, foreign government ministries and community-based organizations across dozens of countries. She also co-founded a social enterprise that has provided access to safe drinking water to thousands in India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Formerly trained as an environmental engineer, she earned a Doctorate of Public Health from Harvard and a Master’s in Learning, Design and Technology (LDT) from Stanford. Her projects have won multiple awards, including the top prize in A Grand Challenge for Development: Technology to Support Education in Crisis & Conflict Settings, and led to her being recognized for Learning 30 Under 30. She enjoys being an active volunteer, supporting several non-profits in health, education, environmental sustainability and social justice.
Jenna Sherman, MPH, is a Program Manager for Meedan’s Digital Health Lab, an initiative focused on addressing the urgent challenges around health information equity. She has her MPH from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Social and Behavioral Sciences, with a concentration in Maternal and Child Health. Prior to her graduate studies, Jenna served as a Senior Project Coordinator at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, where she worked on tech ethics with an emphasis on mitigating bias and discrimination in AI and health misinformation online. Previous experiences include helping to develop accessible drug pricing policies, researching access to quality information during epidemics, and studying the impact of maternal incarceration on infant health.
Nour is a Global Health Strategy consultant based in Dakar (Senegal) and specialized in health system strengthening. Most recently, she worked with Dalberg Advisors focusing on Epidemic Preparedness & Response and Vaccination Coverage and Equity across 15 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Her previous work experiences include researching the clinical needs in point-of-care technology in cancer care at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston; and coordinating the implementation of a colonoscopy quality assurance initiative for a colorectal cancer screening program at McGill University in Montreal. Nour has a Master of Public Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, a Master of Arts in Medical Ethics and Law from King’s College London, and a Bachelor of Science from McGill University. She is fluent in French and English.
Shalini Joshi is a Program Lead at Meedan and formerly the Executive Editor and co-founder of Khabar Lahariya - India’s only independent, digital news network available to viewers in remote rural areas and small towns. Shalini transformed Khabar Lahariya from one edition of a printed newspaper to an award-winning digital news agency available to over ten million viewers. She has a sophisticated understanding of local media and gender, and the ways in which they can inhibit women from participating in the public sphere in South Asia. Shalini was a TruthBuzz Partner & Fellow with the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ). She is a trainer in journalism, verification and fact-checking. She has designed, implemented and strengthened news reporting & editorial policies and practices in newsrooms and fact-checking organisations. Shalini set up and managed the tipline used to collect WhatsApp-based rumors for Checkpoint, a research project to study misinformation at scale during the 2019 Indian general elections.
Mohit Nair currently serves as Partnerships Director at FairVote Washington, a non-profit organisation based in Seattle, WA. Previously, he worked with the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) Vienna Evaluation Unit and with MSF Operational Centre Barcelona in India. He has conducted research studies on diverse topics, including the drivers of antibiotic resistance in West Bengal and perceptions of palliative care in Bihar. Mohit has also worked as a research consultant with Save the Children in Laos to identify gaps in the primary health system and develop a district-wide action plan for children with disabilities. He holds a Master of Public Health from the Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University.
Seema Yasmin is an Emmy Award-winning medical journalist, poet, physican and author. Yasmin served as an officer in the Epidemic Intelligence Service at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention where she investigated disease outbreaks. She trained in journalism at the University of Toronto and in medicine at the University of Cambridge. Yasmin was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in breaking news in 2017 with a team from The Dallas Morning News and received an Emmy Award for her reporting on neglected diseases. She received two grants from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and was selected as a John S. Knight Fellow in Journalism at Stanford University iin 2017 where she investigated the spread of health misinformation and disinformation during epidemics.
Dr. Saskia Popescu is an infectious disease epidemiologist and infection preventionist with a focus on hospital biopreparedness and the role of infection prevention in health security efforts. She is an expert in healthcare biopreparedness and is nationally recognized for her work in infection prevention and enhancing hospital response to infectious diseases events. Currently, Dr. Popescu is an Adjunct Professor with the University of Arizona, and an Affiliate Faculty with George Mason University, while serving on the Coronavirus Task Force within the Federation of American Scientists, and on a data collection subcommittee for SARS-CoV-2 response with the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. She holds a PhD in Biodefense from George Mason University, a Masters in Public Health with a focus on infectious diseases, and a Masters of Arts in International Security Studies, from the University of Arizona. Dr. Popescu is an Alumni Fellow of the Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Initiative (ELBI) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for Health Security. She is also an external expert for the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC), and a recipient of the Presidential Scholarship at George Mason University. In 2010, she was a recipient of the Frontier Interdisciplinary eXperience (FIX) HS-STEM Career Development Grant in Food Defense through the National Center for Food Protection and Defense. During her work as an infection preventionist, she managed Ebola response, a 300+ measles exposure resulting in an MMWR article, and bioterrorism preparedness in the hospital system. More recently, she created and disseminated a gap analysis for a 6-hospital system to establish vulnerabilities for high-consequence diseases, helping to guide the creation of a high-consequence disease initiative to enhance readiness at the healthcare level.
Ben Kertman is a behavior change scientist and public health specialist who became a user research consultant to help organizations design experiences that change behaviors and improve human well-being. Impatient with the tendency of behavior change companies to use a single discipline approach (e.g. behavioral economics) and guard their methods behind paywalls, Ben spent the last 7 years developing an open-source, multi-discipline, behavior change framework for researchers and designers to apply to UX. Ben is an in-house SME at Fidelity Investments and consults for non-profits on the side. Ben holds a masters in Social and Behavior Science and Public Health from Harvard.
Emily LaRose is a Registered Dietitian and Nutrition and Global Health Consultant who, in addition to her work with Meedan, currently works as a Technical Advisor for Nutrition for Operation Smile. She has been a dietitian for more than 18 years and, over the past 10 years, she has worked for the World Bank, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), PATH, Johnson & Wales University, and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. In her work, she has conducted analytical research and written specialty reports on infant and young child malnutrition, health misinformation, global human milk banking practices, and innovative food system programs; developed tools and protocols for clinical nutrition care delivery in humanitarian hospitals; taught university-level nutrition courses; and provided nutritional care for critically ill hospitalized patients. Emily earned her Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) degree with a Nutrition and Global Health Concentration at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, her Master of Science in Dietetics at Kansas State University, and her Bachelor of Science in Culinary Arts Nutrition at Johnson & Wales University.
Bhargav Krishna is a Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research in Delhi, and adjunct faculty at the Public Health Foundation of India and Azim Premji University. He previously managed the Centre for Environmental Health at the Public Health Foundation of India, leading research and teaching on environmental health at the Foundation. He has been a member of Government of India expert committees on air pollution and biomedical waste, and has led work with Union and State governments on air pollution, climate change, and health systems. His work has been funded by the World Health Organization, Rockefeller Foundation, Packard Foundation, Environmental Defense Fund, and others. He holds bachelors and masters degrees in Biotechnology and Environmental Science respectively, and graduated recently from the Doctor of Public Health program at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. Bhargav also co-founded Care for Air, a non-profit working on raising awareness related to air pollution with school children in Delhi.
Dr. Christine Mutaganzwa is a medical doctor pursuing a Ph.D. program at the Université de Montréal in Biomedical Sciences. She holds a Master of Medical Sciences in Global Health Delivery (MMSc-GHD) from Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, and a Master of Sciences (MSc) in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. She graduated from the University of Rwanda with a degree in General Medicine and Surgery. Christine has worked with referral hospitals in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda, during her medical training and after graduation. In addition, she has extensive experience working with rural communities in the Eastern province of Rwanda, where she organized clinical and research activities in active collaboration with colleagues within and outside Rwanda. Her research portfolio cuts across maternal and child health to infectious and chronic diseases. Christine is an advocate for children's healthcare services, especially for underserved populations. She is part of a community of scientists translating scientific findings into understandable and accessible information for the general population. Christine is an avid reader and a lover of classical/contemporary music.
Ahmad is an experienced physician, who earned his medical degree from Cairo University, Faculty of Medicine, in Egypt. He practiced medicine between 2012 and 2017 as a general practitioner where he was involved in primary care, health quarantine services, and radiology. He then taught medicine in Cairo for two years prior to starting his MPH program, at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where he supplemented his experience with knowledge on epidemiology, health systems and global health issues. Additionally, Ahmad has an interest in nutrition, which started as a personal curiosity to how he can improve his own health, then quickly saw the potential for public health nutrition in the prevention and management of multiple, lifelong diseases. His enrollment at Harvard started his transition towards learning about food, and public health nutrition. Ahmad now combines the knowledge and experience of his medical career, with the learnings of his degree to navigate public health topics in his writing and his career. He is a life-long learner and continues to gather knowledge and experience, and works towards maximizing his impact through combatting misinformation through his work with Meedan.
Dr. Uzma Alam is a global health professional working at the intersection of infectious diseases and healthcare delivery in the international development and humanitarian contexts. She focuses on the use of evidence and innovation to inform strategies and policies. Her work has appeared globally across print and media outlets.She has international experience with roles of increasing responsibility across the science value chain having served with academic, non-profit, corporate, and governmental agencies, including advisory commissions and corporate counsel. Uzma is the former secretary of the Association of Women in Science and editor of the Yale Journal of Health Policy, Law, and Ethics. Currently she serves on the Board of the Geneva Foundation. She also leads the Biomedical and Health Sciences Portfolio of the Developing Excellence, Leadership and Training in Science in Africa program (DELTAS-Africa). A US$100 million programme supporting development of world-class scientific leaders on the continent. Plus heading the African Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) Priorities Programme. A programme that engages Africa’s science and political leaders to identify the top STI priorities for the continent that if addressed, offer the highest return on investment for Africa’s sustainable development.
