Vaccinations among kindergarteners declined for the second year in a row, leaving hundreds of thousands of young children vulnerable to dangerous infectious diseases, U.S. health officials reported Thursday. About 93% of kindergarteners had their required vaccinations during the 2021-2022 school year, including the measles/mumps/rubella (MMR), diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis, polio and chickenpox vaccines, according to a new study… read on > read on >
Infants too young to be vaccinated for COVID-19 get some protection from their mothers’ breast milk, researchers say. The new study follows up on findings published in 2021 that showed the breast milk of vaccinated people contained antibodies against the COVID-19 virus. For the study, researchers analyzed infants’ stool. “Our first study showed there were… read on > read on >
When teenagers feel good about themselves and their lives, it may also do their hearts good in the long run, a new study suggests. Researchers found that teenagers who generally felt happy, optimistic and loved went on to show better cardiovascular health in their 20s and 30s, versus kids who lacked that level of mental… read on > read on >
Mood swings. Hot flashes. Night sweats. Bad sleep. These are all debilitating symptoms of menopause, but now new research suggests they can start long before a woman stops having periods. “Women in the late-reproductive stage who are menstruating regularly but noting changes in cycle length or duration may experience many symptoms typically associated with the… read on > read on >
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 11, 2023 (HealthDay News) – If you ordered COVID-19 tests through the federal government recently, you might want to check the expiration dates. Although the actual expiration had already been extended by six months for the iHealth COVID tests, some will still expire soon, CBS News reported. Nora Boydston, of Douglas County, Colo.,… read on > read on >
While U.S. policymakers have attempted to lower lead exposure among children since the 1970s, new research finds that kids living near airports are still being exposed to dangerous levels of the heavy metal. “Across an ensemble of tests, we find consistent evidence that the blood lead levels of children residing near the airport are pushed… read on > read on >
While the origins of smallpox has remained a mystery for centuries, researchers now believe that it dates back 2,000 years earlier than previously thought. Until recently, the earliest genetic evidence of smallpox, the variola virus, was from the 1600s. And in 2020, researchers found evidence of it in the dental remains of Viking skeletons, pushing… read on > read on >
Despite routine use of a childhood vaccine, the United States still sees outbreaks of mumps. Now, a new study reinforces the belief that it’s due to waning immunity post-vaccination. Mumps is a viral infection best known for causing puffy cheeks, a swollen jaw, fever and general misery. While it’s usually relatively mild, mumps occasionally causes… read on > read on >
An experimental blood test could one day provide early warning for a life-threatening complication of pregnancy, a new study reports. Placenta accreta occurs when the placenta — the food and oxygen source for a fetus — grows too deeply into the wall of a woman’s uterus. The condition can cause a woman to bleed to… read on > read on >
Continuing a decades-long trend, the percentage of American women who’ve ever had a child declined again in the latest figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “A lower percentage of women aged 15 to 44 in 2015–2019 had ever had a biological child (52.1%) compared with women aged 15 to 44 in… read on > read on >
