The American Red Cross is pleading for donors as it grapples with its worst blood shortage in more than a decade. The shortage poses a risk to patient care because doctors are forced to make decisions about which patients receive blood transfusions and which ones must wait until more blood becomes available, the Red Cross…  read on >  read on >

You have almost certainly seen the pleas while scrolling through social media: Called crowdfunding, folks try to raise money to pay for their sick loved one’s mounting medical bills. But new research shows these grassroots campaigns rarely raise enough money to make a difference. According to GoFundMe, which corners over 90% of the U.S. crowdfunding…  read on >  read on >

If the pandemic taught the world nothing else, it’s that viruses can mutate, potentially giving rise to new and more harmful variants. Now, new research reveals that’s exactly what has happened with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Called VB (for virulent subtype B), the “new” HIV variant actually seems to have emerged more than…  read on >  read on >

Following a bout of severe COVID-19, some children suffer lasting neurological complications, part of a rare condition called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), a new study finds. The neurological symptoms are wide-ranging, and can include headaches, difficulty falling and staying asleep, daytime sleepiness, brain fog, attention difficulties, social problems, anxiety and depression, all of…  read on >  read on >

Those hard-to-find COVID-19 home tests are becoming more available, particularly with the U.S. government offering four free tests for every household. So far, roughly 60 million American households have ordered the free tests, according to the White House. But many folks still have a lot of basic questions about them, said Krist Azizian, chief pharmacy…  read on >  read on >