Author: Claudinne Miller
COVID-19 is waning but these viruses are still hanging around as we head into early spring
USA Today As the country begins to thaw out in preparation for spring, COVID-19 cases are finally waning although other viruses are on the rise. Data from Wastewater SCAN, a network run by Stanford and Emory University that monitors sewage for signs of disease, shows concentrations of the virus have ranged from low to medium […]
Mar 19, 2024
How Often Should Immunocompromised People Get a COVID Booster?
MedPageToday Preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection in immunocompromised people hasn’t gotten any easier as the pandemic trundles on into its fifth year. The monoclonal antibody tixagevimab-cilgavimab (Evusheld) has long gone by the wayside for pre-exposure prophylaxis and no replacements are on the horizon. Other prevention strategies among the general population, such as mask-wearing, have all but disappeared. […]
Mar 19, 2024
Nearly 7% of Americans struggle with Long COVID as infections surge
Gavi Around 17.6 million American adults are grappling with Long COVID, according to a recent survey conducted by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The uptick comes as the CDC eases COVID-19 isolation guidelines, a decision that has divided experts. The percentage of Americans with Long COVID now stands at 6.8% and has risen […]
Mar 19, 2024
CDC issues alert over rising measles cases in the U.S.
NBC News As of Thursday, there had been 58 measles cases in the U.S. this year, the same number as in all of 2023, the CDC said in an advisory. The country’s health agency warned doctors Monday about an increase in measles cases that in a little more than three months has equaled all of […]
Mar 19, 2024
Early Stroke Scare With Bivalent COVID Vaccines Unsupported by Large Study
Medical News Today Investigation of an early signal for stroke associated with COVID-19 bivalent vaccines turned into suspicion of high-dose or adjuvanted flu shots instead, based on a large U.S. population-based study. When researchers inspected a large Medicare database, they found no evidence of a significantly elevated risk for stroke at 1-21 days or 22-42 […]
Mar 19, 2024
In a pandemic milestone, the NIH ends guidance on COVID treatment
NPR These days, if you’re sick with COVID-19 and you’re at risk of getting worse, you could take pills like Paxlovid or get an antiviral infusion. By now, these drugs have a track record of doing pretty well at keeping people with mild to moderate COVID-19 out of the hospital. The availability of COVID-19 treatments […]
Mar 19, 2024
Photo Essay: Under COVID lockdown: How we lived four years ago
Reuters Four years ago our lives changed forever as much of the world locked down to curb the spread of the COVID pandemic. Click here to see photo essay
Mar 19, 2024
The improbable victory over smallpox holds lessons for health threats in 2024
NPR Smallpox was certified eradicated in 1980, but I first learned about the disease’s twisty, storied history in 1996 while interning at the World Health Organization. I was a college student fascinated by the sheer magnitude of what it took to wipe a human disease from the earth for the first time. Over the years, […]
Mar 19, 2024
Four years after the pandemic began, a mental health crisis continues across the country
Pittsburgh Post Empty roadways. Empty restaurants. Empty movie theaters and shopping malls and schools. On March 19, 2020, the world was grappling with the newly emerging Sars-CoV-2 virus. A day earlier, the state had seen its first COVID-related death. Then-Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto announced the city was further restricting “face-to-face interactions” between city employees and […]
Mar 19, 2024
COVID vaccines can cut post-infection heart failure, blood clot risk
The Hill The COVID-19 vaccine can cut the risk of heart failure and blood clots after a COVID-19 infection, a new study in the British Medical Journal found. Previous studies found that a SARS-CoV-2 infection can trigger cardiac and thromboembolic complications, and the risk for a person infected remains high for a year after becoming […]
Mar 19, 2024