Author: Claudinne Miller
Why your mood could affect your flu shot
Washington Post Silly cat videos could be good for your health — at least if you are about to get one of the seasonal vaccines. For instance, when people who were in a positive mood got a flu shot that day, they produced higher levels of antibodies to help them fight the disease, according to […]
Dec 5, 2023
Get Your Updated COVID Vaccine!
by James Lawler, MD, MPH, FIDSA According to CDC survey data, over 80% of US adults have not received an updated (XBB) COVID-19 vaccine this year. While I believe the proportion of abstainers is likely much smaller in our highly intelligent and educated population of Transmission consumers, I would be willing to bet that many […]
Dec 5, 2023
New Jersey’s funny traffic signs are back this holiday season
Fox 29 If you ever drive in New Jersey, you might’ve seen a few signs that have been popping up along major roadways featuring a play on words to remind drivers to obey the rules of the road. Similar signs were taken down by the Federal Highway Administration this time last year after it said […]
Nov 29, 2023
What To Know About Rapidly Spreading ‘Pirola’ Covid Variant BA.2.86—And If Vaccines Offer Protection
Forbes Pirola, or BA.2.86, is the third most prevalent Covid strain in the U.S., and although there may be concerns the new monovalent vaccines—which protect against the XBB lineage that Pirola isn’t a part of—don’t offer protection against Pirola and its subvariants, drugmakers and the CDC are sure the vaccines offer defense. Pirola made up 8.8% of […]
Nov 29, 2023
New CDC life expectancy data shows painfully slow rebound from covid
Washington Post Newly published data on life expectancy in the United States shows a partial rebound from the worst phase of the coronavirus pandemic, but drug overdoses, homicides and chronic illnesses such as heart disease continue to drive a long-term mortality crisis that has made this country an outlier in longevity among wealthy nations. Life […]
Nov 29, 2023
A Golden Age of Vaccines Is Here. What It Means for You.
Barrons Pharmaceutical companies are currently developing vaccines for a range of purposes, from preventing disease to treating cancers. Roll up your sleeves. Effective new vaccines have hit the market for everything from pneumonia to shingles to RSV to, of course, Covid-19. And that’s just the beginning. There were 258 vaccines in development as of 2020, according […]
Nov 29, 2023
Why You Are More Likely to Get Sick This Winter, in Charts
WSJ With Covid-19 here to stay alongside flu and RSV, wintertime illnesses have become harder to dodge. Covid-19 is settling in as a wintertime fixture, and infections are expected to rise again as the weather cools and holiday gatherings pile up. The virus is on a collision course with the seasonal scourges of flu and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, […]
Nov 29, 2023
This Blood Type Could Help You Dodge Covid
Bloomberg Several studies have now shown that people with blood type O are less susceptible to contracting Covid, and those with blood type A are more likely to get it. In the early days of the pandemic, those findings were hotly debated. But one study this summer described the mechanism by which Covid interacts with blood cells. It […]
Nov 29, 2023
China says a surge in respiratory illnesses is caused by flu and other known pathogens
AP A surge in respiratory illnesses across China that has drawn the attention of the World Health Organization is caused by the flu and other known pathogens and not by a novel virus, the country’s health ministry said Sunday. Recent clusters of respiratory infections are caused by an overlap of common viruses such as the […]
Nov 28, 2023
‘Long Covid triggered our MCAS, but doctors didn’t believe us’
BBC People with long Covid feel “forgotten, unheard, disbelieved, isolated”, barrister Anthony Metzer KC told the Covid-19 Inquiry last month on behalf of advocacy groups for people with the condition. A growing number of people who have secondary illnesses thought to be triggered by long Covid – including an immune disorder called mast cell activation syndrome […]
Nov 28, 2023