Author: Claudinne Miller
More free COVID-19 tests from the government are available for home delivery through the mail
AP News Americans can order more free COVID-19 tests online for home delivery. The U.S. government is offering to send another round of four at-home virus tests ahead of the typical surge in cases during the winter holiday season. Anyone who did not order a batch of four COVID-19 tests in September can secure up to eight […]
Nov 21, 2023
Why does Paxlovid make things taste bitter?
Science The COVID-19 remedy’s unpleasant side effect—known as “Paxlovid mouth”—comes from its effects on the tongue’s taste receptors. Paxlovid can prevent severe illness from COVID-19, but it comes with a price: In many users, the antiviral drug leaves a weird, metallic aftertaste that can last for days—a condition nicknamed “Paxlovid mouth.” Now, researchers say they’ve figured […]
Nov 21, 2023
Most Parents Intend to Vaccinate Children Against Respiratory Viruses This Winter
Precision Vaccinations The journal Vaccines recently published the findings from a Texas A&M University survey that assessed parental intention to vaccinate children against respiratory viruses. Published on November 17, 2023, these researchers found that about 40% of parents intended to vaccinate their children against COVID-19, 63% against influenza, and 71% against RSV. Women showed lower intentions for COVID-19 and influenza. For COVID-19 […]
Nov 21, 2023
Northern lights create dazzling spectacle in the sky worldwide
CNN The northern lights were spotted worldwide in countries including the UK, Ukraine and Slovakia. Seeing the Northern lights was high on my bucket list for years, we had the opportunity to travel to Svalbard, Norway in late February (the darkest time of year there) a couple of years ago. It was amazing! We snowmobiled […]
Nov 15, 2023
Tropical diseases move north
Nature As Earth warms, the creatures that spread neglected tropical diseases are gaining a foothold in Europe. Wealthy countries must prepare themselves for more cases. Europe long thought itself safe from neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Those old certainties have now evaporated. A warmer and wetter climate has made the continent more welcoming to vectors of […]
Nov 15, 2023
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) from Wild Birds, Poultry, and Mammals, Peru
CDC We identified highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) virus clade 2.3.4.4b in wild birds, poultry, and a lion in Peru during November 2022–February 2023 and markers associated with transmission adaptation and antiviral drug resistance. Continuous genomic surveillance is needed to inform public health measures and avoid mass animal deaths. Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5 […]
Nov 15, 2023
What to Know About the Flu Virus
NYT What’s the difference between influenza A and influenza B, and does it matter which you catch? Each fall, the flu emerges as a formidable force, spreading through the droplets produced when people cough, sneeze or talk, and sometimes hitching a ride to our noses by way of the infected surfaces that we touch. Influenza […]
Nov 15, 2023
What Tony Fauci Says about Long COVID and Other Postviral Illnesses
Scientific American The first person I met with long COVID was Kenton Kaplan, a student I was mentoring at Georgetown University. Without much warning, he had called me in January 2022 to drop out of our departmental honors program. As we talked over the next year and a half, he told me about debilitating fatigue, dizziness […]
Nov 14, 2023
An Invisible Killer
Washington Post A flesh-eating fungus is expanding its range in the American West – and Scientists suspect climate change is driving the spread. At some point, Erik McIntyre inhaled the fungal spores. He couldn’t see them, or feel them, and it was weeks before he began to lose energy, to drop weight, to cough up […]
Nov 14, 2023
About 36M American adults have received the updated COVID vaccine: CDC
ABC News An estimated 36 million adults in the United States have received the updated COVID-19 vaccine as of Monday, according to new data from the federal government. Additionally, about 3.5 million children have also gotten the updated shot, according to the survey, which is a sample size of the U.S. population, from the Centers for Disease Control […]
Nov 14, 2023