Category: COVID
New COVID variant JN.1 surges to 44% of cases, CDC estimates — even higher in New York, New Jersey
CBS News The new COVID-19 variant that scientists call JN.1 now makes up about 44.1% of COVID-19 cases across the country, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated Friday, marking another week of the fast-spreading variant’s steep rise in the U.S. The increase is more than two times larger than the 21.3% that the CDC now […]
Dec 26, 2023
Utah clinic offers new treatment for patients dealing with Long COVID
KSL.com While the COVID-19 pandemic may seem like it’s in the rearview mirror, many people are still struggling with long-term effects of the disease. At one point in 2022, the CDC reported that 1 in 5 adults who contracted the virus were still experiencing long COVID. The numbers have decreased since then, but the effects of long […]
Dec 26, 2023
‘Long Flu’ Is Real — But Long COVID Is Worse, Study Shows
MedPage Today Long-term effects from influenza affect the respiratory system, long COVID is multisystemic. In patients hospitalized for either COVID-19 or seasonal influenza, rates of death, negative effects on long-term health, and hospital readmissions were high, but less so for the flu patients, a comparative analysis showed. Over 18 months of follow-up, patients hospitalized with […]
Dec 19, 2023
4 Big COVID Predictions for 2024
AARP It’s been about four years since COVID-19 was first identified, and in that time, much has changed, including the virus itself. We now have pills that can treat it and at-home tests that can identify an infection. We also have vaccines that have been updated to better match versions of the virus that are currently circulating. Despite […]
Dec 19, 2023
What to Know About the New Covid Variants
NYT HV.1 has overtaken EG.5 as the leading variant in the U.S. Scientists are also watching two other variants, BA.2.86 and JN.1. Two closely related variants, EG.5 and HV.1, currently comprise nearly 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 […]
Dec 19, 2023
How long are you contagious with COVID? Here’s what to know if you test positive
NBC News/Chicago With COVID cases and other respiratory viruses on the rise, you might know someone who has recently tested positive or wondered how long a person is contagious. The answer depends on several factors. As of Friday, 44 counties in Illinois were at an elevated level for COVID-19 hospitalizations, according to the state’s Department of […]
Dec 12, 2023
What Does A Faint Line On A COVID-19 Rapid Test Mean? Here’s What Experts Say
Women’s Health Nothing puts a damper on your holiday plans like a positive COVID-19 test, am I right? But what if that line is, like, super faint? Do you still have COVID—or can you go ahead and attend your office party like you planned? Well, unfortunately, infectious disease experts stress that a faint line is definitely worth paying […]
Dec 12, 2023
We’re Living the Reality of the Pandemic’s Simplest Math
The Atlantic Sick season will be worse from now on. Last fall, when RSV and flu came roaring back from a prolonged and erratic hiatus, and COVID was still killing thousands of Americans each week, many of the United States’ leading infectious-disease experts offered the nation a glimmer of hope. The overwhelm, they predicted, was probably temporary—viruses making […]
Dec 5, 2023
True prevalence of long-COVID in a nationwide, population cohort study
Nature Long-COVID prevalence estimates vary widely and should take account of symptoms that would have occurred anyway. Here we determine the prevalence of symptoms attributable to SARS-CoV-2 infection, taking account of background rates and confounding, in a nationwide population cohort study of 198,096 Scottish adults. 98,666 (49.8%) had symptomatic laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections and 99,430 (50.2%) […]
Dec 5, 2023
Anthony Fauci to testify before Congress about pandemic mandates, COVID-19 origins
USA Today Dr. Anthony Fauci, former chief White House medical advisor, will testify before Congress early next year on the origins of COVID-19 and other preventative steps officials took in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Fauci’s testimony comes as the House’s Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus continues to investigate the pandemic. Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, […]
Dec 5, 2023