It’s sort of like the Goldilocks principle — a room that’s either too dry or too humid can influence transmission of COVID-19 and cause more illness or death, Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers say. Maintaining an indoor relative humidity between 40% and 60% is associated with lower rates of COVID-19 infections and deaths, they reported… read on > read on >
Millions of parents drop their toddlers off at day care centers so they can go to work, but some are racked with guilt about it. One of their main concerns? Time spent in group day care could encourage their toddler to start acting out. Now, a large, new study suggests that parents can breathe a… read on > read on >
More than 1 in every 10 births in the United States now occur prematurely, and the number of these more dangerous deliveries jumped by 4% during 2021, a new report from the March of Dimes shows. The premature birth rate has now reached 10.5% of all births — the highest level since 2007, according to… read on > read on >
More pregnant women in the United States are choosing to deliver their babies at home rather than in hospitals, a trend that may have been influenced by the pandemic. A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report published Thursday showed that 52,000 women gave birth at home in 2021, an increase of 12% over… read on > read on >
A rare parasitic disease that has long been documented in Europe seems to have taken root in the United States. Researchers in Vermont are reporting on two human cases of the disease, called alveolar echinococcosis (AE), which were caused by a European strain of the parasite E. multilocularis. They also found evidence of the strain… read on > read on >
Children’s health is jeopardized when they have a parent in prison, new research finds. In the United States, 5 million kids have an incarcerated parent. Those children have worse access to primary, dental and mental health care than their peers, the investigators found. And that puts the kids at risk of worse mental and physical… read on > read on >
Ever wonder why kids seem to pick up new knowledge and skills faster than adults? A new study attributes the kids’ mental prowess to differences in a brain messenger called GABA. “Our results show that children of elementary school age can learn more items within a given period of time than adults, making learning more… read on > read on >
More than a billion young people are at risk for hearing loss because of listening to loud music at concerts and using earbuds and other personal listening devices, a new study suggests. “There is an urgent need for governments, industry, and civil society to prioritize global hearing loss prevention by promoting safe listening practices,” the… read on > read on >
Babies born via cesarean section may not mount as strong an immune response after some childhood vaccines compared to babies delivered vaginally, researchers suggest. Antibody levels can be checked in blood or saliva, and babies born vaginally had higher levels of antibodies in their saliva to pneumonia shots at one year and meningococcal shots at… read on > read on >
Uterine fibroids can cause uncontrolled bleeding and infertility in women, and now a new study finds an unexpected culprit: Toxic chemicals called phthalates that are present in everything from fast-food packaging to plastic water bottles. “We detected the phthalate DEHP and its breakdown products in much higher quantities in the urine of women who also… read on > read on >
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