Five cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant have been detected in New York state, one in Minnesota and one in Hawaii, officials in those states announced Thursday. That brings the known total in the United States to nine, with California and Colorado previously announcing one case each. One of the New York cases is a… read on > read on >
Lab studies show that the mutations found in COVID-19’s Delta variant make the virus more resistant to existing vaccines, a potentially ominous development as the new Omicron variant starts to wend its way around the world. Full vaccination with the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines still produces enough antibodies to neutralize Delta, British researchers found. But… read on > read on >
Most vaccinated American adults have every intention of getting booster shots, a new poll finds. Only about one in five say they won’t get it, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) survey conducted with 1,820 U.S. adults between Nov. 8 and Nov. 22. About 23% of vaccinated adults have already received a booster shot… read on > read on >
Nearly 13 million U.S. adults a year skip or delay filling needed prescriptions due to high price tags, new research shows. This figure includes more than 2.3 million Medicare beneficiaries and 3.8 million privately insured working-age adults who didn’t get needed medications each year in 2018 and 2019 because of cost, according to a nationally… read on > read on >
COVID-19 lockdowns brought surprising news to scientists studying pollution: Cars spew much more ammonia into the air than previously thought. Ammonia is a common air pollutant that’s a major cause of lung and heart disease, especially in cities. “The tricky question has always been: How do we separate out ammonia concentrations owing to traffic from… read on > read on >
If you’re getting together with others outdoors, a windy day might be best, researchers say. The investigators found that when people socialize outside, the risk of coronavirus infection is as much as 45% greater when there’s hardly any breeze than when there are stronger winds. “The issue is really about an increased danger of infection… read on > read on >
Just one day after the first Omicron case was reported in the United States, federal officials announced a second case on Thursday, this time in a Minnesota man who had traveled to an Anime convention in New York City in November. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it is working on the… read on > read on >
Children and teenagers vaccinated against the mumps virus have accounted for one-third of infections in recent years, a new U.S. government study finds. The reasons are unclear, and experts stressed that routine childhood vaccination remains the best weapon against mumps — a contagious infection that is usually mild, but can cause serious complications. After the… read on > read on >
College students are not bouncing back from the changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, a troubling new study finds. Researchers were surprised to find that one year after the start of the pandemic, college students were still less active and more at risk for depression even as social restrictions were lifted and many were… read on > read on >
People who recovered from a severe case of COVID-19 may have more to worry about: New research finds that patients hospitalized with COVID are 2.5 times more likely to die within the year than people who never contracted the coronavirus. They also are nearly twice as likely to die as people who had a mild… read on > read on >
