Author: Claudinne Miller
Everything I Thought I Knew About Nasal Congestion Is Wrong
The Atlantic Having caught a cold every month since my kid started day care, I’ve devoted a lot of time recently to the indignity of unclogging my nose. I’m blowing, always. I have also struck up an intimate acquaintance with neti pots and a great variety of decongestants. (Ask for the stuff that actually works, squirreled […]
Nov 1, 2023
Masks During Pandemics Caused by Respiratory Pathogens—Evidence and Implications for Action
JAMA More than 3 years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, the use of face masks in the community remains controversial. Vaccination, treatment, population immunity, and other developments have enabled a return to a semblance of prepandemic life, but disagreement about what the evidence shows about masks—and the implications for their use—persists. SARS-CoV-2 is still a […]
Oct 31, 2023
Long-term Prognosis at 1.5 years after Infection with Wild-type strain of SARS-CoV-2 and Alpha, Delta, as well as Omicron Variants
International Journal of Infectious Diseases Knowledge is limited on how changing SARS-CoV-2 variants may translate into different characteristics and affect prognosis of patients with long COVID, especially following Omicron variants. We compared long-term prognosis of patients in a Danish Post COVID Clinic infected with wild-type strain, Alpha, Delta, or Omicron variants as well as the […]
Oct 31, 2023
Is it true that you sometimes swallow spiders in your sleep?
Washington Post The claim: Humans sometimes swallow spiders (as many as eight per year) while we’re sleeping. Live well every day with tips and guidance on food, fitness and mental health, delivered to your inbox every Thursday. The science: The thought of an eight-legged critter crawling across your pillow, climbing your face and creeping into […]
Oct 31, 2023
FDA warns of infection risk from certain over-the-counter eye drops
FDA FDA is updating the list of over-the-counter eye drop products consumers should not purchase or use to include Equate Hydration PF Lubricant Eye Drop 10 mL sold by Walmart in stores and online. Walmart is removing the product from their store shelves and website. [10/27/2023] FDA is warning consumers not to purchase and to immediately stop using 26 […]
Oct 31, 2023
Researchers Show SARS-Cov-2 Infection Affects Energy Stores in the Body, Causing Organ Failure
UNC The lungs were once at the forefront of SARS-Cov-2 research, but as reports of organ failure and other serious complications poured in, scientists set out to discover how and why the respiratory virus was causing serious damage to the body’s major organs, including the lungs. An interdisciplinary COVID-19 International Research Team (COV-IRT), which includes […]
Oct 31, 2023
It’s Covid Season. What Are the New Rules for Staying Safe?
NYT A primer on how to minimize your risk and know when you’re in the clear after an exposure. We want to be done with Covid. But the virus isn’t done with us. While cases are not as high as they were at the end of this summer, newer variants are spreading, and experts predict that the patterns often […]
Oct 31, 2023
Sub-Antarctic and Antarctic Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 Monitoring Project
SCAR Avian Influenza is a highly contagious viral disease, that comprises the avian strains of the influenza A virus, which comprises both low pathogenicity (little to no disease) and high pathogenicity strains (causes high levels of morbidity and mortality in poultry and wild birds). Since 2021, a highly pathogenicity strain of avian influenza known as […]
Oct 31, 2023
What to Know About the New Covid Variants
New York Times HV.1 has overtaken EG.5 as the leading variant in the U.S. Two closely related variants, EG.5 and HV.1, now comprise roughly half of the Covid-19 cases in the United States. EG.5 became the dominant variant nationwide in August. At that time, the World Health Organization classified it as a “variant of interest,” meaning it […]
Oct 31, 2023
Effectiveness of Nirmatrelvir–Ritonavir Against the Development of Post–COVID-19 Conditions Among U.S. Veterans
Annals of Internal Medicine COVID-19 has been linked to the development of many post–COVID-19 conditions (PCCs) after acute infection. Limited information is available on the effectiveness of oral antivirals used to treat acute COVID-19 in preventing the development of PCCs. Eighty-six percent of the participants were male, with a median age of 66 years, and […]
Oct 31, 2023