Unvaccinated students exposed to COVID-19 can remain in the classroom as long as they’re regularly tested for the virus at school, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. The CDC pointed to two new studies from California and Illinois as evidence that school districts can employ a “test-to-stay” policy to keep kids… read on > read on >
Two doses of a pediatric Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine failed to spur an adequate immune response in children aged 2 to 5, the companies announced Friday. That’s a setback for parents hoping to get their youngest children immunized against the new coronavirus as soon as possible. The pediatric trials used a 3 microgram (mcg) dose of… read on > read on >
Pregnant women who use hair dyes or straighteners may have relatively lower levels of pregnancy-supporting hormones, a recent study suggests. Researchers found that among more than 1,000 pregnant women they followed, those who used certain hair products — dyes, bleaches, relaxers or mousse — had lower levels of several hormones, including estrogen and progesterone. That’s… read on > read on >
Breakthrough infections in people who’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19 may trigger “super immunity” against coronavirus variants, including Omicron, according to a new study. “The key is to get vaccinated. You’ve got to have a foundation of protection,” said co-author Dr. Marcel Curlin, an associate professor of medicine at Oregon Health & Sciences University (OHSU) in… read on > read on >
In an effort to further lower lead levels in drinking water, the Biden administration on Thursday announced $2.9 billion in infrastructure bill funds for lead pipe removal and tighter lead limits. The new, tougher limits to be imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are expected to be finalized by 2024 and would require the… read on > read on >
By this time, roughly 21 months into the pandemic, everyone should have masks and know how to wear them. Yet, go into a grocery store, a church or a holiday event where masks are required and you’re likely to see people wearing masks that are falling off their nose or have gaps at the sides.… read on > read on >
FRIDAY, Dec. 17 2021A new study confirms what many older women already know: Bladder problems in women worsen with age. The researchers found that postmenopausal women between 45 and 54 years of age are more likely to have overactive bladder syndrome, and that obesity and multiple births increase their risk for stress incontinence (urine leakage).… read on > read on >
Mask mandates work, according to a large international study that linked the laws with a reduction in COVID-19 deaths. The study included 44 countries with a combined population of nearly 1 billion. Over time, researchers found, the increase in COVID-related deaths was significantly slower in countries with mask laws than in countries without them. “While… read on > read on >
There may be a silver lining to the COVID-19 pandemic, with U.S. health officials reporting an “unprecedented” decline in teens’ use of alcohol, marijuana, other illegal drugs and vaping. “We have never seen such dramatic decreases in drug use among teens in just a one-year period,” said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the U.S. National… read on > read on >
Along with being contaminated, there was also a basic design flaw in COVID-19 testing kits created by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention early in the pandemic, a new agency review shows. It was already known that the PCR kits were contaminated, but the CDC’s findings published Wednesday in the journal PLOS ONE… read on > read on >
