Richard Knox
Since he joined NPR in 2000, Knox has covered a broad range of issues and events in public health, medicine, and science. His reports can be heard on NPR's Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition, Talk of the Nation, and newscasts.
Among other things, Knox's NPR reports have examined the impact of HIV/AIDS in Africa, North America, and the Caribbean; anthrax terrorism; smallpox and other bioterrorism preparedness issues; the rising cost of medical care; early detection of lung cancer; community caregiving; music and the brain; and the SARS epidemic.
Before joining NPR, Knox covered medicine and health for The Boston Globe. His award-winning 1995 articles on medical errors are considered landmarks in the national movement to prevent medical mistakes. Knox is a graduate of the University of Illinois and Columbia University. He has held yearlong fellowships at Stanford and Harvard Universities, and is the author of a 1993 book on Germany's health care system.
He and his wife Jean, an editor, live in Boston. They have two daughters.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends smallpox vaccinations for people exposed to monkeypox, a similar disease transmitted from some animals to humans. And officials ban sales of prairie dogs and imports of six species of African rodents tied to the spread of the disease. Hear NPR's Richard Knox.
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Toronto health officials investigate five possible new cases of sudden acute respiratory syndrome, and have quarantined about 20 health workers as a result. But there's also promising news about the possible source of SARS. A similar virus has been found in several types of animals in southern China. NPR's Richard Knox reports.
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Two new studies in the New England Journal of Medicine suggest people who follow the low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet advocated by Dr. Robert Atkins can indeed lose more weight than those on conventional low-fat diets. But some researchers say the results do not account for the long-term health effects of a high-fat diet. NPR's Richard Knox reports.
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NPR's Richard Knox looks at human diseases that are thought to originate in animals. SARS is one such disease. So is a bird flu now affecting Europe. Crucial to finding the original cause is finding the first few human cases of the disease. In southern China, investigators say the trail to the first SARS cases is growing cold because of initial government resistance to outside help.
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A new study finds the overall death rate among people hospitalized for SARS in Hong Kong may be as high as 20 percent, nearly triple the previous estimates. The findings, published in the British medical journal Lancet, suggest death rates for patients age 60 and over are as high as 55 percent. NPR's Richard Knox reports.
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The SARS death toll in Toronto reaches 21, but Canadian officials say the outbreak of the deadly respiratory disease is under control. They cite a decline in the number of people in quarantine, a decrease in new cases. But hospitals fear the spread of SARS among employees. Hear NPR's Richard Knox.
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The World Health Organization lifts an advisory against traveling to Toronto, Canada, because of SARS infections. Toronto hasn't seen a new case of the respiratory illness in 20 days, and the epidemic appears to be contained to hospital workers there. NPR's Robert Siegel talks to NPR's Richard Knox.
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The World Health Organization cautions travelers to avoid China's Shanxi province, Beijing and Toronto, saying the regions are high-risk areas for the deadly respiratory disease called SARS. But Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman and other officials call the warning an overreaction. Hear NPR's Richard Knox.
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The primary impediment to slowing the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome is the lack of a quick, effective test for the virus believed to cause the illness. Efforts to develop such a test are underway, and it's proving to be a big challenge. NPR's Richard Knox explains.
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Health officials in Canada close some hospitals to all patients but those with a new, contagious form of pneumonia, called Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). So far, the new disease has struck more than 130 people in Greater Toronto and killed seven. NPR's Richard Knox reports.