The New York Times – The health agency will license much of its material to the online encyclopedia, allowing the information to be reposted widely into almost 200 languages. “As part of efforts to stop the spread of false information about the coronavirus pandemic, Wikipedia and the World Health Organization announced a collaboration on Thursday: The health agency will grant the online encyclopedia free use of its published information, graphics and videos. The collaboration is the first between Wikipedia and a health agency. “We all consult just a few apps in our daily life, and this puts W.H.O. content right there in your language, in your town, in a way that relates to your geography,” said Andrew Pattison, a digital content manager for the health agency who helped negotiate the contract. “Getting good content out quickly disarms the misinformation.” Since its start in 2001, Wikipedia has become one of the world’s 10 most consulted sites; it is frequently viewed for health information. The agreement puts much of the W.H.O.’s material into the Wikimedia “commons,” meaning it can be reproduced or retranslated anywhere, without the need to seek permission — as long as the material is identified as coming from the W.H.O. and a link to the original is included…”
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Category Archives: Medicine
State of the Facts 2020: 37% of Americans say it’s harder to find facts since the pandemic began
AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. (October, 2020). “State of the Facts 2020: COVID-19.” Topline Results Report “Eight months into the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans are still paying close attention, but few have trusted sources for factual information. Over half of Americans are paying close attention to information related to the virus these days. But 43%… Continue Reading
Mouthwashes, oral rinses might be useful for reducing the viral load n the mouth after infection
Penn State. “Mouthwashes, oral rinses may inactivate human coronaviruses, study finds.” ScienceDaily, 19 October 2020. “Certain oral antiseptics and mouthwashes may have the ability to inactivate human coronaviruses, according to a new study. The results indicate that some of these products might be useful for reducing the viral load, or amount of virus, in the… Continue Reading
Until a coronavirus vaccine is ready, pneumonia vaccines may reduce deaths from COVID-19
Via LLRX – Until a coronavirus vaccine is ready, pneumonia vaccines may reduce deaths from COVID-19 – Prof. Robert Root-Bernstein is an immunologist and physiologist interested in the effects of combined infections on immunity vaccines. Two vaccines – pneumococcal vaccine and the Hib vaccine – protect against bacterial pneumonias. These bacteria complicate both influenza and… Continue Reading
Eight Persistent COVID-19 Myths and Why People Believe Them
Scientific American – From a human-made virus to vaccine conspiracy theories, we rounded up the most insidious false claims about the pandemic. Because the pathogen first emerged in Wuhan, China, President Donald Trump and others have claimed, without evidence, that it started in a lab there, and some conspiracy theorists believe it was engineered as… Continue Reading
What A Summer Of COVID-19 Taught Scientists About Indoor vs. Outdoor Transmission
FiveThirtyEight: “Here we are, almost eight months into this pandemic, and it’s like you can’t even invite more than 150 people to sit next to each other unmasked in your rose garden without it turning into a major superspreader event. The White House outbreak is now linked to at least 40 cases, including some that… Continue Reading
Mapping the Coronavirus Outbreak Across the World
Bloomberg – “The world is bracing for a new wave of Covid-19 infections, as the coronavirus pandemic has infected more than 40.0 million people and killed more than 1,110,000 globally since late January. Efforts many countries took to stamp out the pneumonia-like illness led to entire nations enforcing lockdowns, widespread halts of international travel, mass… Continue Reading
U.S. Virus Cases Climb Toward a Third Peak
The New York Times – “The number of new coronavirus cases in the United States is surging once again after growth slowed in late summer. While the geography of the pandemic is now shifting to the Midwest and to more rural areas, cases are trending upward in most states, many of which are setting weekly… Continue Reading
The death toll from COVID-19 has been devastating. And it’s just the beginning
Fast Company – This new data visualization shows the tremendous impact on mental health over the next decade. “More than 200,000 Americans have died due to COVID-19, and even that doesn’t paint a full picture of the tragedy. The data visualization firm Periscopic has created a heartbreaking new series of interactive graphics called “Lifelines” that… Continue Reading
The coronavirus is surging again
Axios: “Coronavirus infections jumped by almost 17% over the past week as the number of new cases increased in 38 states and Washington, D.C. Why it matters: The U.S. is headed solidly in the wrong direction — and at a dangerous time, as experts say the fall and winter will likely make the pandemic worse.… Continue Reading
A man caught coronavirus twice and it was worse the second time
MIT Technology Review – “The news: A man in the US caught covid-19 for a second time in the space of just two months, according to a study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. That makes him the fifth person to have officially caught the coronavirus twice, after cases recorded in Hong Kong, Belgium, Ecuador,… Continue Reading
Internet Freedom Has Taken a Hit During the Covid-19 Pandemic
Freedom on the Net 2020: The Pandemic’s Digital Shadow – “The coronavirus pandemic is accelerating a dramatic decline in global internet freedom. For the 10th consecutive year, users have experienced an overall deterioration in their rights, and the phenomenon is contributing to a broader crisis for democracy worldwide. In the COVID-19 era, connectivity is not… Continue Reading
