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Bird flu virus isolated from hospitalized Canadian teen shows signs of human adaptation
The avian flu virus isolated from a hospitalized teenager in Vancouver has mutations in key areas that could help the virus spread more easily in humans, scientists say.
More health-care workers in contact with Missouri bird flu patient report respiratory symptoms
Four more health-care workers who tended to a person hospitalized with H5N1 bird flu have revealed that they had respiratory symptoms after their exposures, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Helene is here. Do these 14 things now to prepare
If you haven’t prepared already, the time is here. Hurricane Helene is expected to make landfall Thursday night along the Florida Gulf Coast near Tallahassee and then veer north, maintaining hurricane- and tropical storm-force winds and torrential rainfall into North Georgia and up to Tennessee. Up to 18 inches of rain is expected into the Carolinas, the National Weather Service said Thursday.
The NFL embraced soft-shell helmet covers to protect players from concussions. Here’s what the science says about them
Crack! The sound of football helmets colliding on the field is an audible sign that fall is just around the corner. But that sound also comes with a darker side. Mounting scientific evidence shows that repeated hits to the head — even if they don’t result in concussions — may cause lasting damage in the brain and perhaps progressive neurodegeneration called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.
An experimental pill cut hot flashes and improved sleep for women in menopause — without using hormones
An experimental once-a-day pill that works without hormones significantly reduced the number of hot flashes experienced by women going through menopause and improved their sleep compared to a placebo, according to two new trials from drugmaker Bayer.
Alcohol’s healthy halo dims as study finds drinking may be harmful for older adults, even at low levels
Americans, and especially those under age 35, are changing their tune on alcohol use, with a growing share endorsing the view that moderate drinking is bad for health — and a new study backs them up.
The US is experiencing its largest summer Covid wave in at least two years
It may be time to dust off the face masks and air purifiers. The US is in the midst of a significant Covid-19 wave, and when the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updates its wastewater dashboard on Friday, experts expect it to confirm that viral activity levels are the highest they’ve been during a summer surge since the CDC began publicly tracking such data in January 2022.
Long Covid risk has dropped over time but remains substantial, study shows
With a summer wave of Covid-19 infections sweeping the country, a timely new study has looked at the risk of getting long Covid and whether those odds have changed over time.
First-ever human case of H5N2 bird flu reported in Mexico, WHO says
Even as the United States grapples with an outbreak of H5N1 flu in dairy cattle, the World Health Organization has announced the first known human infection with a different strain, H5N2, in a person in Mexico who died of complications of their infection.
Continued FDA testing finds no active bird flu virus in variety of dairy products
Ongoing testing of milk and dairy products by the US Food and Drug Administration has not found any active H5N1 bird flu virus in 297 samples of products purchased in grocery stores, the agency said Wednesday.
USDA says it is testing beef for H5N1 bird flu virus
Food safety officials say they are testing beef, including ground beef from grocery stores, for the presence of the H5N1 bird flu virus that’s spreading in dairy cattle.
FDA finds traces of H5N1 bird flu viruses in grocery store milk but says pasteurized dairy products are still safe
The US Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that it had detected viral particles of H5N1 avian influenza in milk purchased at grocery stores, but the agency says it still believes that the milk is safe to drink.
Scientists say USDA is sharing too little data too slowly on H5N1 flu
When the US Department of Agriculture announced late Sunday that it had publicly posted new data from its investigation into a bird flu outbreak in cattle, scientists eagerly searched a well-known platform used globally to share the genetic sequences of viruses.
New EPA rules for about 200 US chemical manufacturers take aim at ‘cancer alleys’
The US Environmental Protection Agency issued new rules on Tuesday to protect neighborhoods near more than 200 manufacturing facilities that release airborne toxins such as ethylene oxide, chloroprene, benzene, vinyl chloride, 1,3 butadiene and ethylene dichloride.
CDC alerts doctors to watch for rare, serious bacterial infection with unusual symptoms
Health officials are alerting doctors to be on the lookout for certain types of rare, serious meningococcal infections that are on the rise in the United States.
FDA approves new drug; may help stop rare/fatal condition doctors call ‘ticking time bomb’
When doctors told Katrina Barry that she had a rare and serious condition called pulmonary arterial hypertension or PAH, they warned her not to Google it.
FDA approves lifesaving therapy for children with rare genetic disease; might become world’s most expensive drug
The US Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved the first therapy for a rare and devastating condition called metachromatic leukodystrophy, a condition that typically kills affected children before they turn 7.
Certain types of ‘forever chemicals’ will no longer be used in US food packaging, FDA says
Certain kinds of greaseproofing “forever” chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, will no longer be used in food packaging in the US, the US Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday.
CDC drops 5-day isolation guidance for Covid-19, moves away from key strategy to quell infections
People who test positive for Covid-19 no longer need to routinely stay away from others for at least five days, according to new guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued Friday. The change ends a strategy from earlier in the pandemic that experts said has been important to controlling the spread of the infection.
Washington Post: CDC eases Covid-19 isolation guidance
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to shift its Covid-19 isolation guidance this spring to say that people no longer need to isolate once they have been fever-free for 24 hours and their symptoms are mild or improving, according to the Washington Post.
New study finds more cancers linked to tainted water at Camp Lejeune,
Military and civilian personnel who lived and worked at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina in the mid-1970s and ’80s are more likely to be diagnosed with certain cancers compared with those stationed at a similar military base in California during the same period, a highly anticipated new government study shows.