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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 3 hours ago

Hantavirus crisis: WHO recommendations
WHO recommends six-week quarantine and active monitoring for all high-risk contacts from the cruise ship outbreak, corresponding to the Andes virus's maximum incubation period. Countries are urged to strengthen contact tracing, surveillance, and transparent communication. No vaccine or treatment exists; early supportive care and strict infection control in healthcare settings are advised.
Why 42 days? That corresponded to the longest likely incubation period of Andes virus—the only hantavirus strain known to spread between humans—at the heart of the outbreak.
There is as of now no licensed treatment for hantavirus, which can have a fatality rate up to 50%.

But the WHO said "early supportive care and immediate referral to a facility with a complete ICU can improve survival".
Source: WHO

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 3 hours ago

Why hantavirus is not the new COVID, according to experts
Hantavirus is an established pathogen primarily transmitted from rodents to humans, with human-to-human transmission being rare and requiring close contact. Unlike COVID-19, hantavirus outbreaks are limited by high lethality and rapid symptom onset, which restrict widespread transmission. No specific treatments or broadly effective vaccines exist for hantavirus, but its pandemic potential remains low compared to COVID-19.
The Andes hantavirus may be too rapidly fatal to spark a pandemic.
The Andes hantavirus is thought to have a mortality rate of around 40%.
COVID, on the other hand, "infects thousands of people and only later do deaths start to accumulate
"Everything happens much faster: One person transmits it, 10 people become infected, and they die if they do not receive proper treatment.
"That is why there is not as much chance of a hantavirus pandemic.
There are currently no treatments or vaccines specifically targeting hantavirus, so doctors treat the symptoms it causes, such as breathing problems.

"The faster people receive treatment, the better their prognosis

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 3 hours ago

Hantavirus scare revives COVID-era conspiracy theories

An outbreak of the deadly hantavirus on a Dutch-flagged cruise ship is reviving conspiracy theories about vaccines, alleged depopulation campaigns and miracle cures that flourished during the COVID pandemic.

The recent hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship has triggered a resurgence of COVID-era conspiracy theories, including claims of intentional virus release, forced vaccination, and unproven cures such as ivermectin. There is no evidence linking hantavirus to COVID-19 vaccines or bioweapons, and no approved vaccines or cures exist for hantavirus. Misinformation is spreading rapidly online, fueled by political and financial motives.

The multilingual misinformation, which dominated online discourse and disrupted public health responses to the coronavirus, resurged even as the World Health Organization insisted that there remained minimal risk to the general public from passengers of the MV Hondius.
posts declared the outbreak a "plandemic"—borrowing from the title of a widely discredited pseudo-documentary from 2020 that pushed falsehoods about COVID.

A passenger is believed to have contracted the rare respiratory disease before boarding the ship in Argentina and infecting others on board.

Yet, expert analysis found widespread claims alleging a sinister plot to force vaccines on the masses, coerce people into lockdown, or sway America's November elections by justifying expanded use of mail-in ballots—a voting method that election deniers have insisted without evidence is rife with fraud.

The almost-immediate resurrection of COVID-19-era conspiracy theories is a reminder that misinformation doesn't simply disappear once the crisis that yielded them is over.
Posts pointed to past coverage of potential vaccines for hantavirus, COVID-era comments from billionaire Bill Gates and a fictional 1990s television show as evidence the hantavirus was intentionally released to reduce the population or make money for vaccine manufacturers.

Some further claimed the hantavirus was a side effect of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccines, misrepresenting a document that showed only that it was one of many "adverse events of special interest" subjected to monitoring, not something caused by the shot.
There are no approved vaccines or known cures for the hantavirus, which is usually spread from infected rodents and can cause respiratory and cardiac distress as well as hemorrhagic fever.

But online, anti-establishment physicians and some politicians immediately touted the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin and other medications as cures.
Some are saying that the virus is a "bioweapon" unleashed so pharmaceutical companies could profit off "poison" vaccines.
There is extreme misinformation about ivermectin. Outside of laboratory tests, ivermectin has not proven effective in treating infections.
Amid anxiety and confusion over the outbreak, "online influencers, social media groups, or AI-operated users, may seize the chance to make some money."
Remember, we have warned you!
Source: Expert warnings and news agencies

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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 3 hours ago

Meet the mosquito terminator—a spider that likes us and eats our enemies

Evarcha culicivora, a jumping spider species native to East Africa, preferentially preys on blood-fed mosquitoes, particularly those that have fed on humans. These spiders are attracted to human odors, such as worn socks, and can identify blood-carrying mosquitoes by sight or smell, indicating an innate prey preference. While not harmful to humans or effective for malaria eradication, they contribute to natural mosquito population control.

original article.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 4 hours ago

Contagious yawning begins in the womb

Yawning is incredibly contagious, and more often than not, seeing someone yawn right in front of us makes us instinctively do the same. It is often tied to social and emotional connection and brain mirroring, where we automatically align and simulate the emotions and actions of the people around us. A recent study published in Current Biology has found that this behaviour begins even before birth.

Researchers recorded the facial expressions of pregnant women while an ultrasound machine captured real-time images of their fetuses' faces. By comparing the two recordings, the researchers observed that fetuses were more likely to yawn after their mothers yawned, with a delay of about 90 seconds.

Yawning in humans begins far earlier than most people realize. Fetuses start yawning in the womb at around 11 weeks of development. Since there is no air for the foetus to draw in, during a yawn, they slowly open their mouths, perform movements that resemble breathing in and out, and then gently close their mouths again. For a long time, scientists thought that foetal yawning was thought to be driven purely by internal biological processes, but there wasn't enough evidence to prove it either right or wrong.

In this study, the researchers wanted to see if fetuses in the womb would catch a yawn from their mothers. For this, they recruited 38 pregnant women who were between 28 and 32 weeks along, all with healthy, uncomplicated pregnancies.

The experiments involved the mothers watching three different types of video in a quiet room: a yawning video, a mouth-movement video, and a still-face video. While a video camera monitored the mother's face, the researchers used a 2D ultrasound machine to provide a real-time view of the foetus's nose and lips.

Three experts, who didn't know what the mother was watching, reviewed the collected footage and verified the yawns. The researchers used an AI tool called DeepLabCut to precisely track subtle lip and nose movements, then trained a neural network to see whether a mother's yawn mirrored the movement pattern of her foetus's.

The researchers found that foetal yawning increased significantly only when the mother yawned, not when she simply opened and closed her mouth or kept her face still. They called this phenomenon prenatal behavioural contagion. The foetal yawns were not random either; they typically appeared about 90 seconds after the mother yawned, which is similar to the response time seen in contagious yawning among adults.

These findings suggest that foetal yawning may be part of an early mother-baby connection, where a mother's behaviour can influence how the foetus responds. 

Giulia D'Adamo et al, Prenatal behavioral contagion through maternal yawning and fetal resonance, Current Biology (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2026.04.025

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on Sunday

Almost all plant-based meat alternatives contain mycotoxins, new research finds

New research into plant-based food and drinks has found a prevalence of mycotoxins—naturally occurring poisonous compounds produced by fungi—in hundreds of vegetarian and vegan products. A total of 212 plant-based meat alternatives (PMBAs) and plant-based beverages (PBBs) from UK shelves were tested—and all of them contained at least one of 19 mycotoxins, with multiple products containing more than one.
The study tested a broad spectrum of products readily available to UK consumers, such as burgers, vegetarian chicken pieces, vegan sausages, oat-, almond- and soy-based milks.

The study, "Mycotoxin contamination in plant-based beverages and meat alternatives: A survey of the UK market," is published in Food Control.

Mycotoxins are particularly prevalent in plant-based foods because the raw materials those foods are made from—such as grains, legumes and seeds—can be exposed to mold during cultivation and storage.

The research team found that mycotoxin levels in the UK foods that they tested were lower than the recommended EU guideline levels, reflecting the high quality standards of the UK food industry.

However, previous research studies have shown that even low levels, if consumed often, can build up exposure and lead to potential health concerns. So, while consuming these products in isolation is unlikely to pose issues, a diet solely based on plant-based foods could lead to a cumulative build-up of mycotoxins, potentially resulting in health problems if not managed properly.

Raquel Torrijos et al, Mycotoxin contamination in plant-based beverages and meat alternatives: A survey of the UK market, Food Control (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2025.111910

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on Sunday

Omega-3 supplements may be linked to faster cognitive decline in seniors, study finds
Omega-3 supplementation in older adults was associated with a more rapid decline in cognitive function over five years compared to non-users, independent of APOE ε4 genetic risk. Brain imaging indicated this decline was linked to reduced cerebral glucose metabolism rather than typical Alzheimer's pathology. The findings suggest potential adverse effects of omega-3 on synaptic function in aging brains.

Zheng-Bin Liao et al, The association between omega-3 supplementation and cognitive decline in older adults, The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.tjpad.2026.100569

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on Saturday

Nearly 3,000 peer-reviewed medical papers have fake citations, AI-assisted audit finds
An AI-assisted audit of 2.5 million biomedical papers identified 4,046 fake citations across 2,810 papers, with the rate of fake references increasing over 12-fold since 2023, particularly after mid-2024. Most affected papers had not received publisher action. Recommendations include mandatory reference verification, enhanced metadata, systematic tracking, and retroactive screening to maintain research integrity.
A new Columbia University School of Nursing AI-assisted audit reveals nearly 3,000 peer-reviewed medical papers have fake citations that do not exist in scientific databases. The results highlight an alarming trend in academic publishing as the use of AI grows.
The research letter, "Fabricated citations: an audit across 2·5 million biomedical papers," is published in The Lancet. (Research letters published in the Correspondence section include research findings and are externally peer-reviewed. Unlike Articles containing original data, research letters are shorter and the research they contain is usually preliminary, exploratory, or reporting on early findings.)

To conduct their analysis, the research team developed an automated verification system using AI that scanned 2.5 million papers published from January 1, 2023, to February 18, 2026, in PubMed Central's Open Access.

Among 97.1 million verified references, they identified 4,046 fake citations across 2,810 papers. The rate has grown more than 12-fold since 2023, with the sharpest increase beginning mid-2024, coinciding with the rise of AI writing tools.

This discovery directly impacts patients as medical professionals make treatment decisions based on clinical guidelines.
A medical professional or clinical guideline developer has no way of knowing that the evidence they are relying on does not exist. For example, one paper we reviewed had 18 out of 30 fake references. Some of those citations are already being cited by other papers and appear in systematic reviews that inform clinical care.
Based on their findings, the authors recommend publishers verify references with each paper submission. They also recommend that indexing services add metadata to records so that users can assess the accuracy of references.

Lastly, the research team urges major research integrity databases to establish a dedicated category for fake references to enable systematic tracking and accountability. They call on publishers to retroactively screen existing publications and issue corrections or retractions where fake references compromise a paper's conclusions. Notably, at the time of the audit, 98.4% of affected papers had not received any publisher action.

Maxim Topaz et al, Fabricated citations: an audit across 2·5 million biomedical papers, The Lancet (2026). DOI: 10.1016/s0140-6736(26)00603-3

Howard Bauchner et al, Fabricated references: a new threat to editorial integrity, The Lancet (2026). DOI: 10.1016/s0140-6736(26)00798-1

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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on Saturday

This everyday plant protein may be quietly reshaping blood pressure risk in ways doctors cannot ignore
Higher intake of legumes (up to 170 g/day) and soy foods (60–80 g/day) is associated with a 16–19% lower risk of developing high blood pressure, with risk reduction plateauing beyond these amounts. The evidence suggests a probable causal relationship, potentially due to the potassium, magnesium, fiber, and isoflavones in these foods. Variability in study methods and definitions limits certainty, but findings support dietary recommendations to increase legume and soy consumption for blood pressure management.
And the optimal daily amount may be around 170 g of legumes, which include peas, lentils, chickpeas and beans, and 60 to 80 g of soy foods, examples of which include tofu, soy milk, edamame, tempeh, and miso, the findings indicate.

Legume and soy consumption and the risk of hypertension: a systematic review and dose–response meta-analysis of prospective studies, BMJ Nutrition Prevention & Health (2026). DOI: 10.1136/bmjnph-2025-001449

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on Saturday

Multiple man-made 'forever chemicals' found in 98.5% of people tested
PFAS, a group of persistent man-made chemicals, were detected in 98.8% of over 10,500 blood samples, with most individuals carrying multiple types. The most common combination included five PFAS, such as PFOS and PFOA, found in 26.1% of samples. These findings underscore widespread, combined PFAS exposure and highlight the need for mixture-based risk assessment.
One of the PFAS most commonly detected in this new study (in 97.9% of samples) was perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (linear PFOA), which is already recognized as being linked to adverse health conditions—including potential impacts on the immune system, liver, and thyroid—prompting action, internationally, for its restriction.

Laura M. Labay et al, PFAS co-positivities identified in more than 10,000 serum/plasma samples, Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene (2026). DOI: 10.1080/15459624.2025.2601605

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