Search the following resources for articles, research reports, research summaries, medical journal articles and health news. Most of these resources provide access to full text online, however, some give you article summaries only. In this case, you may need to come to the library to read the full article, or ask us to interloan it for you. Other of our general, news and research sources may also have useful articles.

Health-specific magazine, news and research sources

Health and Wellness Resource Center
Magazines, journals, newspapers, encyclopedias, definitions, directories, and information on health and health issues. Material contained in this Resource Center is intended for informational purposes only. Use at a library or enter your library card and password / PIN.

Consumer Health Complete
Collection of general health, nutrition and professional health care publications. Contains a mixture of articles, news and research reports. Includes the Clinical Pharmacology database. Mostly full text. Use at a library or enter your library card and password / PIN.

PubMed
A comprehensive medical journal index. Especially useful for locating research articles. Mostly article summaries and some full text.

Cochrane Library
A collection of regularly updated evidence-based healthcare databases that can help clinicians and consumers make decisions about appropriate and effective health care.

Ministry of Health: News & media
Latest media releases and reports from the Government on health news and issues that it is dealing with. Also contains archives.

General newspaper and magazine sources of health information

Health news and issues can often be found in general newspaper and magazine sources. Most of these websites provide access to full text online, however, some give you article summaries only. In this case, you may need to come to the library to read the full article, or ask us to interloan it for you. Other of our general, news and research sources may also have useful articles.

EbscoMegasearch
Search for health related articles across a wide range of international magazines. Mostly full text. Use at a library or enter your library card and password / PIN.

General Onefile
Search for health news and issues in a wide range of international (including some New Zealand) magazines and newspapers. Lots of full text. Use at a library or enter your library card and password / PIN.

Index New Zealand
Many of New Zealand’s health-related magazines and newspapers are indexed in this database, e.g. The New Zealand Medical Journal. NOT full text, article summaries only.
Access this at any of our libraries.

Pandemic resources

An epidemic affects an atypically larger than usual number of individuals within a population, community, or region at the same time. A pandemic occurs over a wide geographic area and affects an exceptionally high proportion of the population.

Pandemic Planning and Resources - Ministry of Health
Framework for action that can readily be adopted and applied to any pandemic, irrespective of the nature of the virus and its severity.

NZ Influenza Pandemic Action Plan - Ministry of Civil Defence
Community Pandemic Planning Guide for Community Civil Defence and Emergency Management groups. It is designed to help communities to plan to be able to meet their own needs during a pandemic.

Covid-19

Covid-19 is the disease caused by a new coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. Coronaviruses got their name because their outer proteins look like a crown (corona means crown in Latin). The World Health Organisation (WHO) first learned of the SARS-CoV-2 virus on 31 December 2019, following a report of a cluster of cases of ‘viral pneumonia’ in Wuhan, in the People’s Republic of China.

Covid-19 is infectious and sometimes fatal, especially to the elderly and those with underlying health conditions, leading many countries to restrict international travel and impose lockdowns to prevent the spread of the disease. Health Info Canterbury, Healthify | He Puna Waiora and the Ministry of Health have pages dedicated to Covid-19 as does the New Zealand Government. Christchurch City Libraries' databases Consumer Health Complete and Gale Health and Wellness provide news reports, academic articles and videos on Covid-19.

Influenza

The flu is often confused with the common cold, but is a more severe disease. Epidemics of influenza have been recorded several times over the past centuries, most devastatingly in 1918.

Search the libraries’ Consumer Health Complete and Gale Health and Wellness for articles on Influenza. Use at a library or enter your library card & password/PIN.

Measles

The measles virus is a highly contagious disease that affects children in particular, although adults are also susceptible. Vaccination can prevent the spread of measles, however New Zealand has had outbreaks of this disease including one in 2011.

Measles
Information from the New Zealand Ministry of Health. Includes symptoms, treatment and prevention. Videos summarising the information are also available.

Measles Topic overview
Information from the World Health Organisation. Includes fact sheet and data about the disease.