CDC director says benefits of COVID-19 vaccination ‘far outweigh’ risks of rare heart issues
June 22, 2021 at 22:20
Ahead of an anticipated CDC advisory panel meeting Wednesday relating to heart inflammation in a small fraction of vaccinated teens and young adults, the head of the agency, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, suspects the data will reveal the benefits of vaccination fa...
Delta coronavirus variant doubling biweekly, now 20% of samples, Fauci says
June 22, 2021 at 18:25
Dr. Anthony Fauci warned Tuesday that the highly transmissible Delta variant has climbed to now account for over 20% of sequenced samples. The variant, first detected in India and now found in over 80 countries, is becoming the dominant strain worldwide, ac...
Children’s birthdays may have fueled COVID-19 spread, study claims
June 22, 2021 at 17:21
Before the national vaccine rollout, health officials spent months urging Americans to limit social gatherings and keep celebrations to within members of their household. Now, a study assessing the association between informal social gatherings and SARS-CoV...
Younger adults claim lowest COVID-19 vaccination uptake: CDC
June 22, 2021 at 16:54
Weekly COVID-19 vaccination uptake lagged among younger adults by late May, with those aged 18-29 claiming the lowest coverage compared to older age groups, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The findings re...
Colorado says Delta variant accounts for 40% of state's cases
June 22, 2021 at 16:49
Health officials in Colorado have predicted that the Delta coronavirus variant is likely to become the dominant strain circulating in the state after seeing a steady increase in recent weeks. In a briefing held Monday, the state’s epidemiologist said the st...
Screen all kids for heart problems, pediatricians say
June 22, 2021 at 14:20
All children, regardless of their athletic status, should be screened for risk of cardiac arrest, the American Academy of Pediatrics said in a policy statement Monday. The group included four questions to incorporate into the screenings, including two perta...
Eating disorders surged among adolescents in pandemic
June 22, 2021 at 11:51
Before the pandemic, Basma O’Neill’s 15-year-old daughter was lean but healthy, with a robust appetite. But after the coronavirus pandemic hit and schools closed in Graham, Wash., her daughter spent most of her time alone in her room. She wore pajamas and s...
US hits encouraging milestones on virus deaths and shots
June 22, 2021 at 11:38
COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. have dipped below 300 a day for the first time since the early days of the disaster in March 2020, while the drive to put shots in arms hit another encouraging milestone Monday: 150 million Americans fully vaccinated. But now, as...
Nursing home deaths up 32% in 2020 amid pandemic, watchdog says
June 22, 2021 at 11:11
Deaths among Medicare patients in nursing homes soared by 32% last year, with two devastating spikes eight months apart, a government watchdog reported Tuesday in the most comprehensive look yet at the ravages of COVID-19 among its most vulnerable victims....
Almost 4,000 fully vaccinated people in Massachusetts have tested positive for COVID-19
June 22, 2021 at 06:23
Nearly 4,000 fully vaccinated people in Massachusetts have tested positive for COVID-19, according to recent data from the state Department of Public Health. The number of breakthrough cases in the state has been infrequent so far -- accounting for approxim...
Daszak ‘recused’ from Lancet’s COVID-19 commission
June 22, 2021 at 06:10
The Lancet, a respected British medical journal, updated the profiles of members on its COVID-19 Commission and said Peter Daszak, the president of EcoHealth Alliance, has been "recused" from working on the origins of the pandemic. The letter read, in part:...
CDC panel criticized for postponed meeting on COVID-19 vaccines, rare heart issues
June 21, 2021 at 21:14
An advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention drew criticism after it postponed a discussion on heart inflammation among a small fraction of COVID-19 vaccine recipients in observance of the Juneteenth National Independence Day holiday....
'Black fungus' infections on the rise in India: report
June 21, 2021 at 18:21
Cases of mucormycosis or "black fungus," a rare but serious fungal infection, are climbing in India among some coronavirus patients, per news reports. Infections have risen to over 30,000 in three weeks, with at least 2,100 deaths, the New York Times report...
FDA adviser who resigned over Alzheimer's drug says 'no good evidence' it works
June 21, 2021 at 15:40
One of the FDA advisory panel members who resigned after the agency granted Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug Accelerated Approval has said "the drug showed no good evidence that it worked." Dr. Aaron Kesselheim, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and...
Rare COVID-19-linked syndrome in kids possible in adults too, case report notes
June 21, 2021 at 11:45
While research into the specific cause of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is ongoing, a new case report suggests that it may also appear in adults who have a history of COVID-19 diagnosis or exposure. In a case report involving a 60-ye...
COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy puts India’s gains against virus at risk
June 21, 2021 at 11:06
So when a team of health workers recently approached Manju Kol to get vaccinated, she locked up her house, gathered her children and ran to the nearby forest. But the relief could be fleeting as a significant amount of the population is still reluctant to g...
Blood shortage forces New England surgery delay
June 21, 2021 at 10:53
Some New England hospitals are delaying or rescheduling surgeries because of a shortage of blood donations during the pandemic. "We haven’t seen anything like this in about 30 or 40 years at least," Dr. Vishesh Chhibber, director of transfusion medicine at...
Fauci doubles down on claim that attacking him is an attack on science
June 21, 2021 at 03:50
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top disease expert in the U.S., appeared to double down on recent comments he made that attacks on him are essentially attacks on science. Axios, citing New York Times writer Kara Swisher’s podcast, "Sway," quoted Fauci defending his...
CDC, FDA investigating rare tuberculosis outbreak potentially linked to contaminated bone repair product
June 21, 2021 at 01:40
The agency is recommending that surgeons should work with their respective health department's TB programs to immediately contact patients who underwent surgery using the recalled product. Patients should immediately begin drug treatment for TB disease, eve...
Delta variant cases rising in U.S., Midwest showing higher rate than national average
June 20, 2021 at 15:45
The Delta variant of COVID-19 continues to spread through the U.S., with Missouri and Kansas seeing high transmission as vaccination efforts remain sluggish in some parts of the country. Data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) shows that the variant...