Aggressive measures are needed in the world’s tropical regions to prevent the inevitable next global pandemic, an international coalition of researchers has concluded. Epidemics around the world have largely been driven by viruses that spill over from wild animals into humans, mainly in tropical hot spots where a diverse number of animals come into frequent… read on > read on >
Indications are that this year’s flu season is going to be particularly nasty, making the annual influenza vaccine even more important than usual, infectious disease experts say. People already are landing in the hospital with severe cases of influenza, about a month ahead of when flu season usually begins, said Dr. William Schaffner, medical director… read on > read on >
New trial data shows that Pfizer’s updated COVID booster shot is more powerful against Omicron subvariants than the original shot, the company announced Thursday. The findings are reassuring, since human data on the tweaked vaccine was not available when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the reformulated booster shots in September. “These early data… read on > read on >
Some people believe in the idea of “depressive realism” — that depressed people are just more realistic than others about how much they control their lives. But a new study upends that theory. The idea has been around for about four decades, ever since a 1979 study of college students that seemed to support the… read on > read on >
Over time, men and women under chronic stress face a significantly higher risk that they will die as a result of cancer, a new study warns. The finding comes from an analysis of more than three decades of U.S. data from a federal health and nutrition survey. After adjusting for a number of influential factors… read on > read on >
School-age children are increasingly dying after being injured with guns, with firearms now the United States’ second-leading cause of death in 5- to 18-year-olds. After 19 children and two teachers were killed and 17 others were wounded in May at a school in Uvalde, Texas, researchers set out to investigate firearm deaths of school-age children… read on > read on >
Teddi Mellencamp, a former star of TV’s “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” announced Tuesday that she has a repeat case of melanoma on part of her back where she previously had the skin cancer. Mellencamp, 41, said doctors advised her the current cancer is stage 2, TODAY reported. “Despite my anxiety, I listened to… read on > read on >
Children aged 8 and up should be screened for anxiety, the influential U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended on Tuesday. Kids aged 12 and up should also be screened for depression, the task force advised. This is the first time the task force has recommended anxiety screening for young children. The depression recommendation is… read on > read on >
As some workplaces have added robots to the crew, workers in the United States and parts of Asia are feeling uneasy. Concerns about robots also happen even in industries where they’re not used yet, according to new research. “Some economists theorize that robots are more likely to take over blue-collar jobs faster than white-collar jobs,”… read on > read on >
Two new studies paint a bleak picture of emergency departments across the United States. There are not enough beds to go around and pronounced staffing shortages. As a result, folks may languish in emergency room hallways for hours and leave without seeing a doctor as the skeleton staff tends to patients who are waiting to… read on > read on >
