New York health officials said Thursday that the first U.S. case of polio in nearly a decade has been confirmed in a young unvaccinated adult in Rockland County. “Based on what we know about this case, and polio in general, the [New York] Department of Health strongly recommends that unvaccinated individuals get vaccinated or boosted…  read on >  read on >

President Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID-19, the White House announced Thursday. “This morning, President Biden tested positive for COVID-19. He is fully vaccinated and twice boosted and experiencing very mild symptoms,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement. “He has begun taking Paxlovid. Consistent with CDC [U.S. Centers for Disease…  read on >  read on >

Better have some savings stored up before you rush to the delivery room: A new analysis shows the average out-of-pocket expense for delivering a child in the United States is nearly $3,000, even if you’re insured. Other studies have looked at the costs for specific services, such as Cesarean sections versus vaginal deliveries, but those…  read on >  read on >

Feeding raw meat to your dog may spread antibiotic-resistant bacteria, according to researchers who studied the poop of dogs fed these diets. What did the British scientists find? Dogs who were fed raw meat were more likely to shed antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli in their feces. Meanwhile, past research has found that daily interactions between dogs…  read on >  read on >

While humans typically use their sight to orient themselves, dogs navigate the world by combining their sense of smell with their vision. So claims a new study that found dogs’ sense of smell is integrated with their vision and other unique parts of their brain. “We’ve never seen this connection between the nose and the…  read on >  read on >

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday gave its blessing for the emergency use of Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine, the fourth coronavirus shot to be approved in the United States. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signed off on the recommendation from the agency vaccine advisory panel that unanimously endorsed the vaccine on Tuesday…  read on >  read on >

U.S. hospitals became much safer places for patients over the past decade, with medical errors and adverse events declining significantly across the nation, federal government data show. Between 2010 and 2019, patient safety dramatically improved among the four types of conditions for which people are most often hospitalized: heart attacks, heart failure, pneumonia and major…  read on >  read on >