This weekly column by our team of international health editors highlights more of the recently published articles from The Conversation’s global network.
South Africans practise social distancing while they queue outside a supermarket in Hillbrow, Johannesburg during the country’s lockdown.
Photo by Marco Longari/AFP via Getty Images
After your body fights off an infection, antibodies remain in your blood. Two researchers explain how tests identify these antibodies and what the data can be used for.
Homemade masks will not filter the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but may prevent transmission of droplets and spray between individuals.
Nikola Stojadinovic/Getty Images
Winter is flu season – could it be coronavirus season as well? The research is mixed, but other factors besides temperature and humidity have more to do with the spread of SARS-CoV-2.
Two phrases you hear a lot these days are viral load and infectious dose. What do they mean? Do they reflect the severity of disease or whether someone will get severely ill? Two experts explain.
Some people’s immune systems aren’t able to stop foreign invaders, such as COVID-19, as well as the rest of the population. There are many reasons for this, including illness, medications and age.
Somali women on a coronavirus awareness campaign.
Abdirazak Hussein/GettyImages
When a new virus emerges and triggers a pandemic, it is important to trace its origins. Knowing more about how the virus jumped species in the first place can help curb future zoonotic diseases.
Scientists are better equipped to do ground-breaking research.
GettyImages
Australia is making good progress in flattening the curve, which will save our hospitals from being overwhelmed. But we still have to work out what comes next and how restrictions can be safely eased.
Try to get outside during daylight to set your circadian rhythms.
LordRunar /Getty Images
To boost your immune defenses against corona and other viruses, one of the most effective things you can do is maintain your natural circadian rhythms. Here’s how to do that.
Cooped up with a partner and nowhere to go to break it up? Coronavirus social distancing… or another day in retirement? Research on older couples holds tips for everyone else on how to deal.
The head lice drug Ivermectin has stopped SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, from replicating in lab tests. But we don’t know if it will work as a treatment for people with coronavirus.
One of Nairobi’s low-income areas.
Alex Pix/Shutterstock
The president promoted the combination of hydroxychloroquine and an antibiotic for treating COVID-19. But a new study suggests it provides no benefits.
Dean Faculty of Health Sciences and Professor of Vaccinology at University of the Witwatersrand; and Director of the SAMRC Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand