The dangers of school traffic is a major worry for many parents, a new poll finds. In fact, a third of more than 900 parents surveyed last spring said speeding and distracted parent drivers are their main concern, and drivers who don’t follow the rules should be banned from school parking areas. According to the…  read on >  read on >

The most popular COVID-19 vaccines are safe to use in pregnancy, a large, new Canadian study has concluded. About 4% of pregnant women given an mRNA vaccine had a significant health event within a week of their first dose, and about 7% did after dose two, according to data gathered from more than 191,000 Canadian…  read on >  read on >

Inflatable bounce houses are big, colorful, cheap to rent and practically scream “childhood fun.” So, what could possibly go wrong? It turns out plenty. For one thing, the air-filled party staples are vulnerable to being blown aloft and even flipped over if left unmoored, a new study warns. But even when staked firmly in place,…  read on >  read on >

More than a quarter of kids hospitalized with COVID-19 or a complication called multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) continue to have health problems more than two months later, a new study finds. A follow-up of COVID cases from 25 hospitals found that 27% of children and teens hospitalized with acute infection and 30% of those with…  read on >  read on >

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday it has loosened its COVID-19 social distancing recommendations as the American public learns to live with the virus in its midst. “We’re in a stronger place today as a nation, with more tools — like vaccination, boosters, and treatments — to protect ourselves, and our…  read on >  read on >

Pregnancy significantly increases the odds of devastating outcomes from COVID-19, a new study confirms. Complications from the virus to pregnant women can include heart attack, arrhythmias, heart failure and long-haul symptoms, which may be hard to tell from other heart complications during pregnancy. Heart attacks are estimated to occur in up to 12% of patients.…  read on >  read on >