Good Health and Well-Being, Pandemics – COVID-19 Science Projects (15 results)

Over time, viruses evolve. Their evolution is influenced by both neutral drift, the natural mutation rate of the virus, and selective pressure from the hosts' immune systems. Scientists study a virus's genomic evolution—the changes at the nucleotide and amino acid level—to better understand how the virus is spreading and the clinical implications. You can use public databases and tools to do the same type of tracking and analysis of COVID-19 that scientists around the world do. … Read more

The word rabid often makes people think of an animal that is extremely violent, crazy, and maybe even foaming at the mouth. But not all animals infected with the rabies disease fit that description. Nevertheless, it is important to avoid animals that have rabies so that you don't get infected. So which wild animals are likely to carry rabies? This science fair project will help you discover the answer! Read more

Stopping a viral outbreak like COVID-19 takes more than luck, it takes public health tools. Vaccines are considered to be one of the best public health tools, which is why there is often a rush to develop good vaccines for newly discovered viruses, particularly those that have the potential to infect lots of people. Recent examples include COVID-19, Zika virus, and Ebola. If enough people are vaccinated, an effective vaccine can help stop outbreaks or even eradicate (completely get rid of) a… Read more

Measles is one of the most contagious viruses in the world, but there are differences in how the virus can spread within communities. Some communities may be able to prevent the disease from spreading, whereas others could experience a rapidly spreading, overwhelming outbreak. How does immunity and vaccination in a population of people affect how measles spreads? To answer this, this science project can be completed using the Measles: Defeating a Debilitating Virus Notebook with… Read more

One strategy you may have heard suggested for dealing with the COVID-19 epidemic is to let nature take its course and let COVID-19 infect enough of the population for us to reach the herd immunity threshold. Does this make sense as a public health strategy? You can explore this question scientifically using SimPandemic, a free online tool for modeling infectious disease outbreaks. Before you begin, you will need to know a bit about herd immunity. Herd immunity, sometimes called community… Read more