Efforts to create a COVID-19 vaccine are proceeding at an unprecedented pace, with eight different candidates now being tested in humans around the world. But to have a vaccine available for widespread use by early next year could entail bending some rules regarding safety and testing — actions that might put the health, and possibly… read on >
(HealthDay News) — As U.S. coronavirus cases topped 1.3 million and the death toll was set to pass 80,000 on Monday, three of the nation’s top health officials have started to quarantine themselves after being exposed to two White House aides who have been diagnosed with COVID-19. The officials include Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of… read on >
Asking your child to mow the lawn is a risky proposition, a new study suggests. About 9,400 American kids are injured by lawn mowers each year, and mowers cause 12% to 29% of all traumatic amputations among them, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Toe and foot amputations are the most common. “Lawn… read on >
As pandemic-related restrictions ease and people return to parks and other outdoor spaces, remember to protect yourself against another threat — ticks. “With our latest mild winter, ticks have been active in much of the region on warmer days all winter long,” said Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann, an entomologist at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., who said… read on >
They’re small spiny mammals that look like anteaters with scales. And pangolins — which some credit with playing a role in the emergence of the new coronavirus — might hold clues to fighting COVID-19. Genetic research into the new coronavirus has suggested that it originated in bats, found its way into pangolins sold at Chinese… read on >
You’re sick, perhaps very sick, so you head to the local emergency department fearing the onset of COVID-19. But what symptoms most clearly point to a need for urgent care? Based on a review of more than 1,000 patients who’ve already sought care for respiratory illnesses since the coronavirus was declared a pandemic in March,… read on >
COVID-19 has directly claimed tens of thousands of U.S. lives, but conditions stemming from the novel coronavirus — rampant unemployment, isolation and an uncertain future — could lead to 75,000 deaths from drug or alcohol abuse and suicide, new research suggests. Deaths from these causes are known as “deaths of despair.” And the COVID-19 pandemic… read on >
It’s happened before: Couples stuck at home during blizzards, hurricanes or other natural disasters enjoy some “alone time” — and a baby boom follows. But a new survey from researchers at the University of Florence in Italy suggests the same probably won’t unfold during the COVID-19 pandemic. Why? “What we found the main reasons that… read on >
With U.S. coronavirus cases topping 1.2 million and the death toll climbing to more than 75,000 on Friday, the federal government’s monthly jobs report showed a staggering 14.7 percent of Americans are now unemployed. A total of 20.5 million jobs were lost during the April lockdown, and not since the Great Depression has the unemployment… read on >
In the scramble to find medicines that beat back COVID-19, researchers from Italy report encouraging results from a small study on a rheumatoid arthritis drug already in use. The drug, anakinra, may help quiet the runaway immune response known as a “cytokine storm,” which imperils some patients with severe COVID-19. “Until a vaccine is available,… read on >
