Category: COVID
3 Things to Know About XEC, the Latest COVID Strain
Yale Medicine Experts think this new, highly transmissible variant could soon take hold in the U.S. A new highly transmissible coronavirus subvariant is starting to spread in the United States. Experts say it could become the dominant SARS-CoV-2 strain just in time for winter, when COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations tend to peak. The variant is called XEC. […]
Oct 2, 2024
When Nerve Pain and Numbness Are Linked to Long COVID
Yale Medicine Our nerves help us sense, react to, and change our surroundings. Simply put, our nerves are our connection to the world. This connection is disrupted, however, when peripheral neuropathy strikes. The peripheral nervous system starts when nerves leave the spinal cord and ends when the nerves reach our tissues. Peripheral neuropathy, defined as […]
Oct 2, 2024
COVID cases are on a downward trend. How long will this last?
USA Today COVID-19 cases continue to fall throughout the country after a large summer wave peaked in early August, surveillance data shows. The percentage of positive COVID-19 tests dropped from 17.8% the week of Aug. 10 to 14.9% the week of Sept. 7, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Walgreens’s national respiratory disease tracker showed […]
Sep 25, 2024
Remdesivir-Dexamethasone Tied to Fewer Deaths in Severe COVID
MedPage Treatment with the antiviral remdesivir (Veklury) plus dexamethasone was linked to fewer deaths among patients hospitalized for COVID-19 compared with dexamethasone monotherapy, a retrospective study suggested. Using propensity score matching, the drug duo was associated with an overall 26% reduction in mortality at 14 days (adjusted HR 0.74, 95% CI 0.69-0.78, P<0.0001) and an overall […]
Sep 24, 2024
New XEC Covid variant starting to spread
BBC People have started catching a new Covid variant that could soon take off and become the dominant type, according to scientists. Identified in Germany, in June, cases of the XEC variant have since emerged in the UK, US, Denmark and several other countries, say users on X, formerly known as Twitter. It has some new mutations […]
Sep 17, 2024
COVID more severe, longer-lasting than other respiratory diseases
CIDRAP Healthcare workers (HCWs) with COVID-19 had more severe symptoms that lasted longer than those with other respiratory diseases, and a higher proportion met the World Health Organization (WHO) or UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) definitions of long COVID, according to a report published in Viruses and Viral Diseases. A team led by Murdoch Children’s Research […]
Sep 11, 2024
Why has COVID been so much worse this summer? The health belief model has the answer
The Conversation If you think COVID-19 was suddenly in the news a lot over the summer, you’re probably right. Throughout August, outlets in both Canada and the United States ran headlines about high COVID levels, the summer surge of cases, timing of booster shots and reviving the use of face masks. As numerous athletes tested positive for COVID at the Olympics in Paris, […]
Sep 3, 2024
Back to school, COVID edition
The Hill Health experts are urging families and schools administers to take active steps in preventing the spread of COVID-19 amid potential fall and winter spikes in cases. Weekly COVID-19 deaths have been on the rise since June, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID Data Tracker. Rising COVID-19 cases seem to be […]
Aug 27, 2024
The Covid-19 Summer Wave Is So Big, the FDA Might Release New Vaccines Early
Wired With the US experiencing a relatively large summer wave of Covid-19, the Food and Drug Administration is considering signing off on this year’s strain-matched Covid-19 vaccines as soon as this week, according to a report by CNN that cited unnamed officials familiar with the matter. Last year, the FDA gave the green light for the 2023–24 […]
Aug 21, 2024
COVID-19 on the Upswing in the U.S.
MedPageToday COVID-19 hasn’t gone away, and data from the CDC suggest it’s on the upswing around the country. “We’ve seen these summer increases every summer that COVID-19 has been with us,” said Amesh Adalja, MD, a Johns Hopkins University infectious disease physician. “What’s different about these cases this summer versus prior summers is that they […]
Aug 20, 2024