Some people who have never had COVID-19 have the antibodies to fight it – possibly from an earlier infection with a different coronavirus.
Brazilian scientist working on a vaccine at the Immunology laboratory of the Heart Institute (Incor) of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Sao Paulo.
Sebastiao Moreira/EPA
Patients who later test positive for COVID-19 are reporting early loss of smell and taste. Researchers are now trying to understand if this could be an early sign of the disease.
Antibiotics are wrongly being prescribed for infections where they won’t work and cutting this down could help combat resistance. But change isn’t as easy as just providing the means.
Antibiotics provide no benefit for the common cold and other respiratory illnesses caused by viruses.
Estrada Anton/Shutterstock
The “common cold” is common, most of us will have at least one or two per year. Despite this, there’s a lack of good research looking into it, and ways to prevent and treat it.
‘Clinically proven’ to shorten your cold? Not quite.
Screen shot from http://www.easeacold.com.au/
There’s no doubt chronic alcohol abuse changes the body’s infection-defence system. But here’s what the research says on whether a binge-drinking weekend can make people more susceptible to illness.
The more we take antibiotics, the more likely we are to have superbugs down the line.
Brandice Schnabel/Flickr
Antibiotics can prevent serious harm and stop infections becoming fatal. But they won’t kill common cold and flu viruses, and careless overprescribing by doctors can do more harm than good.
People aren’t productive at work when they’re ill and they risk infecting others.
William Brawley/Flickr
You wake up and feel under the weather. If you’re vomiting or have a fever, the decision to stay at home is probably clear cut. But what if you generally feel unwell but are torn about missing work?
If your symptoms are above the neck, you’ll still be able to manage a lighter-than-normal workout.
mimohe/Shutterstock
As we move into winter, the cold mornings, dark evenings and rain tend to bring out the best excuses to miss a session at the gym or run around the park.
Cold and flu tablets won’t cure a cold.
Flood G./Flickr
If you’ve never heard of coronaviruses before, you may know about some of the illnesses different types of they can cause, like SARS, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and the common cold.
People know that antibiotics won’t help viruses. So why ask doctors for antibiotics?
Subbotina Anna/Shuttstock
Antibiotic resistance is a major threat to public health. Resistance makes it harder for physicians to treat infections and can increase the chance patients will die from an infection. What is more, the…
Influenza symptoms include high fevers and chills, as well as pains and aches in muscles and joints.
Davide Taviani
When people say they have “the flu”, what they’re experiencing most of the time is the common cold, which is not caused by the influenza virus at all. But the term “flu season”, which Australia is in the…
Consultant Microbiologist, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland and Professor and Head of Department, Clinical Microbiology, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences