PRIYA RANJAN SAHU IN BHUBANESWAR, ODISHA
SANSKRITA BHARADWAJ IN GUWAHATI, ASSAM
MEGHA PRAKASH IN DEHRADUN, UTTARAKHAND
G RAM MOHAN IN TIRUPATI, ANDHRA PRADESH
MOHD IMRAN KHAN IN PATNA, BIHAR
GAJANAN KHERGAMKER IN MUMBAI, MAHARASHTRA
KA SHAJI IN THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, KERALA
Back in 2009, Anthony S Fauci, immunologist and chief medical advisor to the US president, wrote in The New England Journal of Medicine: “We are living in a pandemic era that began around 1918 [the 1918-20 influenza pandemic].” The paper Fauci co-authored with two other influenza experts analysed all the pandemics—in 1957, 1968 and 2009—and seasonal epidemics caused by the influenza virus since then. It shows that the 1918 virus has persisted in humans for nearly a century and has been evolving, with its descendants and lineages inflicting huge economic and health costs on millions.
The world fears a repeat of the past. Will the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 also linger on?
This story is from the January 01, 2022 edition of Down To Earth.
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This story is from the January 01, 2022 edition of Down To Earth.
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INVISIBLE THREAT
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Feeding off each other
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India's unhealthy patent amendments
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URBAN DISCOMFORT
Poorly planned, heat-trapping infrastructure, along with dwindling natural spaces, turn up the temperatures in major Indian cities
BLAZING SUN IS ON
Rising temperatures are testing the limits of human tolerance to heat. With their predominantly built-up landscape, urban areas offer no respite. A study by the Centre for Science and Environment on the morphology and heat patterns of nine Indian cities over the past decade shows how these urban centres are turning into heat islands with a potentially serious impact on human health. An analysis by Rajneesh Sareen, Mitashi Singh and Nimish Gupta, with Shagun in Haryana and Kiran Pandey
"H5N1 may be more severe than COVID-19"
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A PSYCHEDELIC HIGH
Driven by surge in global trials and low success rate of current medications in treating mental health problems, researchers call for home-grown clinical trials of psychedelic drugs
Locked out
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'Protection from climate change part of right to life'
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Weaving dreams
Tribal communities in West Bengal slowly embrace traditional weaving to ensure sustainable livelihood