Saline intravenous (IV) fluids are as effective as more costly solutions in treating intensive care patients and keeping them alive, Australian researchers report. “Just about every patient admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) will receive intravenous fluids for resuscitation or as part of standard treatment,” noted the study’s lead author Dr. Simon Finfer. He’s…  read on >  read on >

Living through the pandemic has not been easy for kids, but it has really thrown off children who have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), new research warns. Though they were not more likely to catch COVID-19, they were more likely to experience symptoms if they were infected. But the damage did not stop there: These children were…  read on >  read on >

Pfizer Inc. announced Tuesday that it has launched a trial that will compare its existing COVID-19 vaccine against a new version tailored to beat back the highly contagious Omicron variant. “While current research and real-world data show that boosters continue to provide a high level of protection against severe disease and hospitalization with Omicron, we…  read on >  read on >

It has begun to feel like a pandemic that will never end, but public health experts now say the Omicron variant may be ushering in a “new normal,” where COVID-19 becomes an endemic, but manageable, disease. “I do feel that we are moving into a transition phase in the pandemic, and I do think Omicron…  read on >  read on >

Coronavirus infections before or after vaccination provide equal levels of increased immunity, and the key to this so-called “super immunity” is to be vaccinated, researchers report. “It makes no difference whether you get infected-and-then-vaccinated, or if you get vaccinated-and-then-a-breakthrough infection,” said study co-senior author Fikadu Tafesse. He is an assistant professor of molecular microbiology and…  read on >  read on >

Support from family and friends, along with exercise and sufficient sleep, have helped protect teens’ mental health during the pandemic, new research shows. The study also found that teen girls have been more likely than boys to suffer mental distress during the pandemic. For the study, researchers analyzed data gathered from more than 3,000 participants,…  read on >  read on >

If you’re wondering whether to intentionally expose yourself to the Omicron variant with the goal of developing immunity, the answer is absolutely not, experts say. “It sounds like playing with fire to me,” said Dr. Nicole Van Groningen, a hospitalist who has treated hundreds of COVID-19 patients at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. First of all,…  read on >  read on >