The United States has had about 140 million COVID infections since the start of the pandemic, new data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show. That number is far higher than the 74.3 million confirmed COVID-19 cases nationwide as of Jan. 31. The new findings are from the CDC’s national antibody seroprevalence…  read on >  read on >

It looks like coronavirus variants can hide out in the human body much like some of their viral cousins do, making it hard for infected people to get rid of the virus entirely, researchers report. Successive variants have appeared since the original version of SARS-CoV-2 triggered the global pandemic, and vaccines and antibody treatments have…  read on >  read on >

If you’re a parent using Similac, Alimentum or EleCare infant formulas, here’s updated facts on the ongoing product recall. As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration investigates, Abbott Nutrition has recalled certain powdered formulas made at its Sturgis, Mich., facility. The products have been linked to bacterial infections in five babies. All had to be…  read on >  read on >

If you’re counting on a cloth mask to protect you from COVID-19, you may need to re-think that strategy, a new study shows. Researchers found that cloth face masks do little to fend off tiny airborne particles, while concluding that specialized N95 and similar masks do a much better job. “Masks are air filters, and…  read on >  read on >

Fresh data shows that Pfizer’s COVID vaccine is far less powerful at preventing infection among children ages 5 to 11 than teens, a finding that could leave some parents of younger children worried. The vaccine — the only one authorized for that age group in the United States — does prevent severe illness in young…  read on >  read on >