As the pandemic eases and children flock to playgrounds this summer, parents need to make sure their kids are safe, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) says. “After a challenging school year and months of being socially distanced and kept apart from their friends, children are eager to get outside and play,” said AAOS…  read on >  read on >

Early symptoms of multiple sclerosis may commonly be missed for years before the right diagnosis is made, a new study suggests. Researchers found that patients with MS had a higher-than-average number of medical appointments, with doctors of various specialties, for up to five years before their diagnosis. And for the most part, those visits were…  read on >  read on >

Hawaii will drop COVID-19 testing and quarantine rules for fully vaccinated travelers from the U.S. mainland in two weeks, Gov. David Ige announced Thursday. When the restrictions are lifted on July 8, visitors using the quarantine exemption will have to upload their vaccination cards to a state website and bring a hard copy of their…  read on >  read on >

Unvaccinated people now account for nearly all COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths in the United States, federal government figures show. An Associated Press analysis of May data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that infections in fully vaccinated people accounted for fewer than 1,200 (0.1%) of the more than 853,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations,…  read on >  read on >

India, already hit hard by the Delta variant of COVID-19, has labeled a closely related new variant — dubbed “Delta Plus” — as a “variant of concern.” But some epidemiologists in India and abroad say there’s just not enough data yet to warrant broader cautions about the variant, CBS News reported. Delta Plus cases are…  read on >  read on >

(Healthday News) — Fresh on the heels of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the controversial Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm, the maker of a second medicine that works in similar fashion said Thursday it hopes to apply for approval of its medication later this year. Eli Lilly said findings from a mid-stage clinical trial…  read on >  read on >

Infectious disease expert Ravina Kullar’s husband has a cold. So does her sister-in-law. Meanwhile, the Cleveland Clinic’s waiting rooms are becoming much more frequented by folks with coughs, sneezes and sniffles, said family medicine physician Dr. Neha Vyas. These folks are part of a nationwide trend occurring as COVID-19 vaccinations rise, masks drop, protective restrictions…  read on >  read on >

The first case of COVID-19 may have occurred in China weeks earlier than previously thought, a new study claims. The first officially identified case occurred in early December 2019, but increasing evidence suggests the original case may have emerged earlier. In this study, British researchers conducted a new analysis and concluded that the first case…  read on >  read on >