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COVID Health
Latinos, Blacks More Likely to Have Long COVID Symptoms
Latino and Black patients diagnosed with COVID-19 developed a wider array of lasting symptoms and conditions compared with white patients, according to a new study by Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian researchers. Published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, the study supports previous evidence that racial and ethnic disparities...
Telehealth Helps People With Cancer Save Time and Money
Using telehealth is a cost-effective alternative to in-person visits for people with cancer, according to study results published in JAMA Network Open. These findings suggest that by saving money and time, expanding telehealth services could reduce the financial burden of cancer care. People with cancer often face financial hardship and...
Links Found Between Viruses and Neurodegenerative Diseases
Neurodegenerative diseases can damage different parts of the nervous system, including the brain. This may lead to problems with thinking, memory, and/or movement. Examples include Alzheimer’s disease (AD), multiple sclerosis (MS), and Parkinson’s disease (PD). These diseases tend to happen late in life. There are few effective treatments.
RECOVER Research Identifies Potential Long COVID Disparities
Black and Hispanic Americans appear to experience more symptoms and health problems related to long COVID, a lay term that captures an array of symptoms and health problems, than white people, but are not as likely to be diagnosed with the condition, according to new research funded by the National Institutes of Health.
CU Researchers Identify Potential Cause of Long COVID
Even though the COVID-19 public health emergency classification will expire this spring, the lingering effects of the pandemic remain. A constant puzzle to solve since the first year of the pandemic has been “long COVID,” a condition in which those infected with the virus have symptoms that linger months or even years after they have cleared the initial infection.
Era of ‘Free’ COVID Vaccines, Test Kits, and Treatments Is Ending. Who Will Pay the Tab Now?
Time is running out for free-to-consumer COVID vaccines, at-home test kits, and even some treatments. The White House announced this month that the national public health emergency, first declared in early 2020 in response to the pandemic, is set to expire May 11. When it ends, so will many of the policies designed to combat the virus’s spread.
Lingering Symptoms Common After COVID Hospitalization
About half of adults treated at hospitals for COVID-19 have experienced lingering symptoms, financial difficulties, or physical limitations months after being discharged, according to a National Institutes of Health-supported study published in JAMA Network Open. After six months, more than 7 in 10 adults surveyed in the study experienced cardiopulmonary...
Microbiome Changes May Be a Signature for ME/CFS
Researchers have found differences in the gut microbiomes of people with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) compared to healthy controls. Findings from two studies, published in Cell Host & Microbe and funded by the National Institutes of Health, add to growing evidence that connects disruptions in the gut microbiome, the complete collection of bacteria, viruses, and fungi that live in our gastrointestinal system, to ME/CFS.
What is body mass index (BMI)?
Body mass index is a commonly used method for assessing overweight and obesity, which have been linked to health problems including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, fatty liver disease and several types of cancer. BMI is calculated by dividing a person’s weight by the square of their height. Standard BMI categories are as follows:
Health Policies Were a Prominent Theme in Biden’s State of the Union Speech
President Joe Biden on Tuesday delivered his State of the Union address to a politically divided Congress for the first time, calling for permanent fixes on policy priorities like unaffordable health costs. In one marked difference from his earlier speeches, attendance in the House chamber was at capacity with no...
Bivalent Boosters Provide Better Protection Against Severe COVID-19
To date, more than 80% of people in the U.S. have received at least one dose of a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The original mRNA vaccines, developed by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech, targeted the initial strain of the virus. Since then, different variants of the virus have...
As Pandemic-Era Medicaid Provisions Lapse, Millions Approach a Coverage Cliff
States are preparing to remove millions of people from Medicaid as protections put in place early in the COVID-19 pandemic expire. The upheaval, which begins in April, will put millions of low-income Americans at risk of losing health coverage, threatening their access to care and potentially exposing them to large medical bills.
Latino Teens Are Deputized as Health Educators to Sway the Unvaccinated
Classmates often stop Alma Gallegos as she makes her way down the bustling hallways of Theodore Roosevelt High School in southeast Fresno, California. The 17-year-old senior is frequently asked by fellow students about COVID-19 testing, vaccine safety, and the value of booster shots. Alma earned her reputation as a trusted...
Evusheld Is No Longer Effective for COVID PrEP
Evusheld—one of the key tools for preventing COVID-19 illness in people who can’t receive or do not respond well to vaccines—is no longer effective against the predominant coronavirus Omicron variants, leading the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to withdraw its emergency authorization. Evusheld, from AstraZeneca, combines two...
Public Health Agencies Try to Restore Trust as They Fight Misinformation
By the summer of 2021, Phil Maytubby, deputy CEO of the health department [in Oklahoma City], was concerned to see the numbers of people getting vaccinated against COVID-19 slipping after an initially robust response. With doubt, fear, and misinformation running rampant nationwide — both online and offline — he knew the agency needed to rethink its messaging strategy.
FDA Experts Are Still Puzzled Over Who Should Get Which COVID Shots and When
At a meeting to simplify the nation’s COVID vaccination policy, the FDA’s panel of experts could agree on only one thing: Information is woefully lacking about how often different groups of Americans need to be vaccinated. That data gap has contributed to widespread skepticism, undervaccination, and ultimately unnecessary deaths from COVID-19. The committee voted unanimously Thursday [January 26] to support the FDA’s proposal for all vaccine-makers to adopt the same strain of the virus when making changes in their vaccines, and suggested they might meet in May or June to select a strain for the vaccines that would be rolled out this fall.
Will Your Smartphone Be the Next Doctor’s Office?
The same devices used to take selfies and type out tweets are being repurposed and commercialized for quick access to information needed for monitoring a patient’s health. A fingertip pressed against a phone’s camera lens can measure a heart rate. The microphone, kept by the bedside, can screen for sleep apnea. Even the speaker is being tapped, to monitor breathing using sonar technology.
Overdose Deaths Involving Buprenorphine Did Not Proportionally Increase With New Flexibilities in Prescribing
The proportion of opioid overdose deaths involving buprenorphine, a medication used to treat opioid use disorder, did not increase in the months after prescribing flexibilities were put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study. These data provide evidence that may help to inform buprenorphine prescribing policies. Published [January 20] in JAMA Network Open, this study was a collaborative effort between researchers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Are vaccines safe?
All vaccines authorized in the United States are tested for safety and efficacy. Testing starts with laboratory and animal studies, followed by human clinical trials. These trials first look for immune responses—for example, antibody production—then evaluate whether a vaccine prevents infection, illness or death. Vaccines have prevented countless...
COVID-19 at Any Time During Pregnancy Boosts Mother’s Risk of Death
COVID-19 infection at any time during pregnancy boosts the mother’s risk of death and is associated with serious illness in both mothers and their newborns, finds a pooled data analysis of international evidence, published in the open access journal BMJ Global Health. The findings reinforce the need for global...
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COVID Health is here to help people navigate the unknowns of a COVID-19 diagnosis and what lies beyond. The site is also designed to help people learn how to prevent transmission of the new coronavirus, which is called SARS-CoV-2.
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