Getting ready to ditch your mask as the percentage of the U.S. population vaccinated against COVID-19 steadily rises? Not so fast, warns Dr. Donald Milton, professor of applied environmental health at the University of Maryland and a leading expert on how viruses spread through the air.

Climate change affects the timing of spring and is leading to an increase in asthma hospitalizations , according to a new study led by Amir Sapkota of the University of Maryland School of Public Health. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), is the first to provide quantitative data on the connection between climate change, changes in plant phenology and asthma hospitalizations.

Plant phenology is the study of periodic plant cycles and how seasonal and yearly variations in climate influence them.

A new publication in PLoS Pathogens by an international team of investigators shows that flu virus might spread via air rather than through contact and large droplet spray, as commonly thought. A large part of the evidence about how respiratory illnesses like COVID-19 are transmitted comes from research on influenza. These new data provide more support for the recommendation by scientists that we include precautions against airborne spread of Covid-19 to have an impact on slowing infection rates.

Don Milton co-authored a study to understand the patterns of contamination of SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19. Researchers say it's essential for prevention policies and effective interventions.

This story appears in Maryland Today, April 3 and was written by Chris Carroll.

Surgical masks may help prevent infected people from making others sick with seasonal viruses, including coronaviruses, according to new research that could help settle a fierce debate spanning clinical and cultural norms.

On intensely hot days, people suffering from advanced kidney disease face higher rates of hospitalization and death, according to new findings by University of Maryland, School of Public Health researchers.

It is easier to spread the influenza virus (flu) than previously thought, according to a new University of Maryland-led study released today. People commonly believe that they can catch the flu by exposure to droplets from an infected person’s coughs or sneezes or by touching contaminated surfaces. But, new information about flu transmission reveals that we may pass the flu to others just by breathing.

Extreme heat and heavy rainfall are related to increased risk of hospitalization for asthma in Maryland, according to a study by the University of Maryland School of Public Health researchers. Based on over a decade of asthma hospitalization data (115,923 cases from 2000-2012), researchers observed a higher risk of asthma hospitalization after extreme heat or extreme precipitation events. The increases in risk were particularly high during the summer months. Their findings are published in the journal Environmental Health.