Pandemics are nothing new: every few centuries a disease or virus emerges that irrevocably changes the world. That means the remnants of ancient societies can show us how people long ago coped with pandemics. Shadreck Chirikure explores some examples from the African continent.
There are now more than 100 candidate vaccines under development, eight of which have made it into clinical trials in humans. Lots of money and effort is being piled into these studies, but finding a vaccine that works is only half the battle. Making enough of it to immunise hundreds of millions – if not billions – of people is the other half. Qasim Rafiq and Martina Micheletti explain how that might be done.
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Studying ancient African societies, like Great Zimbabwe, can reveal how communities dealt with disease and pandemics.
Werner Forman/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
Shadreck Chirikure, University of Cape Town
Archaeologists have long studied diseases in past populations. They've explored the evolution of pathogens and how they interacted with humans.
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RGtimeline/Shutterstock
Qasim Rafiq, UCL; Martina Micheletti, UCL
The UK is investing heavily in preparation for mass manufacturing of a working COVID-19 vaccine.
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COVID-19
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Narveen Jandu, University of Waterloo
Bats have been the reservoir for recent disease outbreaks, including SARS and the current COVID-19 pandemic. But it's human activity that allows the virus to cross over.
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Simon Horobin, University of Oxford
The etymology of an epidemic.
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Zoe McLaren, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
The only way to know if a medical treatment actually works is with a randomized-controlled trial.
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Carly Fletcher, Manchester Metropolitan University
Used PPE needs to be incinerated for safety reasons, but once this pandemic is over we should consider more sustainable options.
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Politics + Society
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Sylvie Namwase, University of Copenhagen
The relationship between the country's security forces and the civilian population has always been uneasy.
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Nathaniel K Powell, King's College London
It's been 60 years since most of France's former colonies in Africa gained independence. But France still maintains a significant military presence on the continent.
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