Polio virus particle, computer illustration. Kateryna Kon | Science Photo Library | Getty Images New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has extended the state of emergency declared in response to the spread of poliovirus after sewage tested positive in Brooklyn and Queens. Hochul said the state disaster emergency will remain in place at least through Nov. … Read more
LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Because so many residents in Los Angeles County have dealt with COVID-19 infections, many now view the virus like a common cold or flu. New research suggests that’s far from the truth. With concern over COVID waning, a parallel pandemic is emerging. “We’re still learning about the long term health effects … Read more
Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. As the United States enters a third fall with COVID-19, the virus for many is seemingly gone — or at least out of mind. But for those keeping watch, it is far from forgotten as deaths and infections continue to mount at a lower … Read more
Signage is seen outside of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) headquarters in White Oak, Maryland, August 29, 2020. Andrew Kelly | Reuters The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved a vaccine for use in the third trimester of pregnancy to prevent whooping cough in newborn infants. The vaccine, called Boostrix, is made by … Read more
A new Covid-19 wave appears to be brewing in Europe as cooler weather arrives, with public health experts warning that vaccine fatigue and confusion over types of shots available will likely limit booster uptake. Omicron subvariants BA.4/5 that dominated this summer are still behind the majority of infections, but newer Omicron subvariants are gaining ground. … Read more
A 35-year-old acquaintance drops dead from a hemorrhagic stroke. A friend in her 40s, and another in his 70s, experience recurrent spells of extreme dizziness, their hearts pounding in their chests when they stand. A 21-year-old student with no prior medical history is admitted to the ICU with heart failure, while a 48-year-old avid tennis … Read more
A research assistant prepares a PCR reaction for polio at a lab at Queens College on August 25, 2022, in New York City. Angela Weiss | AFP | Getty Images When a young adult in a New York City suburb visited an emergency department in June after experiencing weakness in their lower legs, the shocking … Read more
A neurologist at a prestigious U.S. research institute has developed an experimental COVID treatment he calls “true revenge” that weaponizes the virus against itself. The treatment, dubbed NMT5, was created by Scripps Research Institute’s Neurodegeneration New Medicines Center founding director Dr. Stuart Lipton and a team of scientists. It’s a derivative of memantine, an Alzheimer’s … Read more
This image shows the SARS-CoV-2 virus’s main protease, Mpro, and two strands of a human protein, called NEMO. One NEMO strand (blue) has been cut by Mpro, and the other NEMO strand (red) is in the process of being cut by Mpro. Without NEMO, an immune system is slower to respond to increasing viral loads … Read more
Ringo Starr, 82, and his All-Starr band forced to cancel show in New Buffalo hours before taking to the stage after the famed drummer fell ill The Beatles legend, 82, pulled out of the gig at the Four Winds Casino just hours before taking to the stage He realised he couldn’t perform due to an … Read more
CNN — Imagine waking up one morning after recovering from Covid-19 to find that your coffee smells like unwashed socks, your eggs reek of feces and your orange juice tastes metallic. Oddly, that’s a good thing: It’s a sign you still have a working sense of smell – even if it’s miswired in your brain. … Read more
A new study published this week found that the second COVID-19 booster that was made available to U.S. adults older than 50 this year was highly effective at protecting nursing home residents from hospitalizations and deaths, though its ability to prevent infections was not as potent. The analysis, published in the Centers for Disease Control … Read more
Both Covid and flu could surge this winter causing a dreaded ‘twindemic’, experts fear — with some southern states already feeling the early stages of an influenza resurgence. The flu was largely wiped out over the past two years of the pandemic when lockdowns, working from home and the far more transmissible coronavirus limited its … Read more
An interesting and also annoying aspect about the human immune system is that it is not a neat, centralized system where you input an antigen pattern in one spot and suddenly every T and B lymphocyte in the body knows how to target an intruder. Generally, immunity stays confined to specific areas, such as the … Read more
CNN — Many people postponed routine medical care because of disruptions related to the Covid-19 pandemic. That includes a decline in cancer screenings, such as mammograms and colonoscopies. In the meantime, cancer remains one of the major causes of death in the United States, second only to heart disease. Why is cancer screening so important, … Read more
CNN — People who got the Covid-19 vaccine reported slightly longer menstrual cycles, but the change was temporary, according to a new study published Tuesday in the journal BMJ Medicine. “Compared with the unvaccinated group, vaccinated individuals had an adjusted increase in menstrual cycle length of less than one day with both first and second … Read more
Virologist Dave O’Connor admits that he was getting desperate when he started asking dog owners for poo samples. For much of 2022, O’Connor, at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and his colleagues have been tracking a heavily mutated variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Early this year, they discovered the variant in Wisconsin waste … Read more
Since the time when COVID first hit us in 2020, the virus has evolved significantly. During the second coronavirus wave, the delta variant claimed several lives and left a large population in distress. But following vaccination new emerging variants like the Omicron are causing less severe infections and more manageable symptoms. And many are of … Read more
A top vaccine expert and pediatric doctor is cautioning parents of healthy young people to hold off getting the new COVID booster shot, saying it can carry risks and its efficacy hasn’t yet been proven. Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of the … Read more
Health officials say the flu and COVID-19 could be making a comeback in the U.S, creating what’s called a twindemic. It’s already been seen in the Southern Hemisphere, which is an indication of what we can expect in the fall and winter months. Doctors say for the last two years flu cases decreased because of … Read more