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Humanity 'not ready' for potentially 'serious' Covid variant, warn concerned scientists - dailystar.co.uk - state California - county Berkeley
dailystar.co.uk
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Humanity 'not ready' for potentially 'serious' Covid variant, warn concerned scientists
Scientists are warning over a potential new Covid variant that they believe could be a "serious problem" due to us not being prepared.Although the virus seems to be here to stay, vaccines and milder variants mean hospitalisation and death rates have plummeted and many countries have dropped most or all restrictions that kept the virus at bay.But scientists keeping an eye on the disease expect there to be more variants in future, and some will almost certainly be more dangerous than the likes of Omicron and its BA.5 subvariant. READ MORE: Long Covid causes erectile dysfunction and hair loss, new research shows John Swartzberg, a professor emeritus of infectious diseases and vaccinology at the University of California-Berkeley's School of Public Health, said: "The virus always figured out a way to survive. I see nothing that suggests it’s not going to continue to do that."Researchers believe more Covid waves are inevitable as different genetic mutations of the virus battle it out in a bid for dominance.Which one comes out on top will determine the course of the next wave.The best-case scenario is if a milder mutation of the virus wins out next time, giving boffins time to prepare for a worse form of the virus that will eventually follow.Worst case is that a stronger mutation of Covid comes sooner and we're left unprepared to deal with it.So far two possible new variants have been identified.
More mosquitoes? Why Canadians could be seeing an uptick this summer and beyond - globalnews.ca - Canada - city Ottawa - region African
globalnews.ca
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More mosquitoes? Why Canadians could be seeing an uptick this summer and beyond
mosquitoes bugging you this summer? You’re not alone.Canada is buzzing with the pesky insects as parts of the country are seeing higher numbers than usual due to damp, hot weather, raising concerns for related diseases, particularly the West Nile virus in humans.“It certainly seems … anecdotally that it’s a big year for mosquitoes,” said Manisha Kulkarni, a medical entomologist and associate professor at the University of Ottawa.“We had a warm, wet spring, which seems to help the proliferation of mosquitoes in the early season and with the humidity that we’ve been having and the high temperatures, that’s likely to persist into the summer months.” Are dragonflies going extinct? Expert says unlikely Warmer weather amid climate change means Canada could be in for longer mosquito seasons, which typically run from May to October each year, experts say.And if mosquitoes are active for a larger portion of the year, that poses a “bigger risk” to human, wildlife and animals susceptible to mosquito-borne diseases, said Kulkarni.“With climate change, the models and projections are just that we’re going to see a more and more northward expansion of these mosquito populations into more and more regions.”A study published in the Lancet last year predicted that rising global mean temperature will increase the climatic suitability of malaria and dengue, particularly in already endemic areas in the African region, the Americas and the Eastern Mediterranean.The population at risk of both diseases might increase by up to 4.7 billion people by 2070, the 2021 study showed.

A virus is a small infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses can infect all types of life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea.

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