FRIDAY, Oct. 21, 2022 (HealthDay News) – In an unanimous vote on Thursday, a panel of U.S. vaccine experts recommended that COVID shots be added to the list of recommended vaccinations for children and adults. Now it’s up to the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention to decide whether to follow the advice of…  read on >  read on >

“Location, location, location” works in real estate, and a new study argues that the location of your hospital room could save your life after surgery. Patients are more likely to die after surgery if they are placed in certain types of rooms to recover, researchers from the University of Michigan School of Medicine found. Specifically,…  read on >  read on >

THURSDAY, Oct. 20, 2022 (HealthDay News) – Americans will now have another choice if they want a COVID booster shot. On Wednesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Novavax Inc.’s protein-based vaccine as a first booster dose. Until now, it had only been approved as a two-dose primary series. “The U.S. now has access…  read on >  read on >

Alligators along North Carolina’s Cape Fear River have high blood levels of 14 toxic chemicals, along with signs of immune system damage, new research shows. The study of levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyls (PFAS) in the reptiles’ blood adds to concerns that the chemicals may cause genetic and immune system harm. Alligators are a sentinel…  read on >  read on >

It’s a troubling equation: Many Americans with the highest rates of hospitalization for influenza have the lowest uptake of the annual flu vaccine. That’s why the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is stepping up outreach to minority communities, including Black, Hispanic and American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) groups, and working to reduce barriers to…  read on >  read on >