CoronaVirus

May 24th, 2022 - As we head into vacation season, Florida's theme parks are coming out of a fog. In the past two years, they've had shutdowns and reopenings. Face mask rules went up, then later came down. They weathered criticism for reopening just as Florida became a hotbed for new coronavirus cases. Two years ago this month, all of Florida's theme parks were shuttered by the pandemic. The Magic Kingdom became the closed kingdom. It would be five months before they reopened with strict new rules for ... [Read More]

May 24th, 2022 - An international team led by a University of Toronto researcher has found that an antibody detectable in blood predicts severe Crohn's disease and is detectable up to seven years prior to disease diagnosis. Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory condition of the intestine, for which simple and effective biomarkers prior to diagnosis are lacking. A blood test could provide a quick, cost-effective and non-invasive way to assess risk for complicated Crohn's, which may enable preventive ... [Read More]

May 24th, 2022 - How stress is transmitted from one animal to another is the study topic of behavioral ecologists and collective behavior researchers. "I am stressed!" We have all said this sentence many times. Stress is a widespread phenomenon among humans. It occurs when we feel threatened or overwhelmed, for example, have too much work or are in imminent danger. We communicate to others that we are stressed through our behaviour and physiological changes. Thus, stress can also convey information and even be ... [Read More]

May 24th, 2022 - GENEVA, May 24 (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday there have been 131 confirmed monkeypox cases and 106 further suspected cases since the first was reported on May 7 outside the countries where it usually spreads. While the outbreak is unusual, it remains "containable" and limited, the WHO said, and it is convening further meetings to support member states with more advice on how to tackle the situation. [nL2N2XF2I1] Monkeypox is a usually mild viral infection that ... [Read More]

May 24th, 2022 - Loss or alteration of taste (dysgeusia) is a common symptom of COVID. It's also a side effect of several illnesses and medications, including Paxlovid, the new antiviral medication to treat COVID infection.   Although it affects fewer than 6 percent of people who are given Paxlovid, some report a "horrible" taste that came on soon after they started taking the drug. Dysgeusia is described as a bitter, metallic, or sour taste in the mouth. But what exactly is it, and what's going on in the ... [Read More]

May 24th, 2022 - In a recent study published in the journal , researchers demonstrated that antibodies generated due to breakthrough infection (BTI) by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) new variant of concern (VOC) Omicron in vaccinated individuals could neutralize all VOCs. Study: The researchers isolated 27 cross-reactive and broadly potent monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) from vaccinated individuals who contracted an Omicron BTI. Upon structural and functional analysis, these mAbs were ... [Read More]

May 24th, 2022 - How retirees can travel safely this summer If you're a retiree considering summer travel either domestically or overseas, and you're wavering, it's not surprising — there is a lot to consider.  "When thinking about travel, take stock of risks," says Dr. Stuart Campbell Ray, professor of medicine with expertise in COVID-19, at Johns Hopkins Medicine. Nobody wants to get sick on vacation. Yet if you're traveling when COVID-19 variants are persisting into a third year, how much risk are ... [Read More]

May 24th, 2022 - The downside of taking a vacation? Missing your pets, of course. But Cristy Alfaro from San Francisco has it all figured out. Recently sharing a trip to El Salvador with her 2-year-old Yorkshire Terrier Kobe, Alfaro told us about the pair's adorable trip. Alfaro has family in El Salvador and tries to visit them every year. "It's a lovely place to visit and take you out from your routine," she told Newsweek : "I have Kobe as an emotional support for my stress. He's been trained since he was 2 ... [Read More]

May 24th, 2022 - The number of patients with Covid-19 in hospital beds in Wales has dropped by almost a third in the past week. There were only 29 people "actively" or primarily being treated for the virus in acute beds on Monday, Digital Health and Care Wales figures show. There has been a steady drop in patients testing positive for Covid since mid-April. The average of 238 hospital admissions in the past week is 32% down on last week, and 68% down on a month ago. However, acute hospitals remain under ... [Read More]

May 23rd, 2022 - The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has prompted expedited vaccine development. Vaccinations have proven to be a safe and effective modality in preventing the transmission and spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative pathogen for COVID-19, as well as for curtailing the disease severity. However, most approved vaccines were being tested on adults and the elderly, and only recently were messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) ... [Read More]

May 23rd, 2022 - FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A "presumptive" case of monkeypox is being investigated in South Florida, state health officials said Sunday. Health officials in Broward County and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating the case which appears to be related to international travel, the Florida Department of Health in Broward County said in a news release. The person is in isolation, and local Department of Health officials were notifying people who may have been ... [Read More]

May 23rd, 2022 - Health officials remain perplexed by mysterious cases of severe liver damage in hundreds of young children around the world. The best available evidence points to a fairly common stomach bug that isn't known to cause liver problems in otherwise healthy kids. That virus was detected in the the blood of stricken children but—oddly—it has not been found in their diseased livers. "There's a lot of things that don't make sense," said Eric Kremer, a virus researcher at the Institute of ... [Read More]

May 23rd, 2022 - In a recent study posted to the * pre-print server, researchers evaluated coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine-induced humoral immune response in five to 11-year-old children. The children had a delayed and reduced immune response as they received a 10 μg dose of the BNT162b2 vaccine; however, they mounted a robust neutralization at peak immunogenicity. Study: . Image Credit: Corona Borealis Studio / Shutterstock Highly infectious and transmissible severe acute respiratory ... [Read More]

May 23rd, 2022 - To revisit this article, select My Account, then  outside its borders altogether. The National Health Command Center, a special agency formed in 2004 after the SARS outbreak, first stopped travellers from Wuhan in January, 2020—two months before the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic. As an island with only twenty-three million inhabitants, Taiwan was able to close its borders to nonresidents in March, 2020. After that, international travellers were subjected to ... [Read More]

May 23rd, 2022 - T he world is experiencing a monkeypox outbreak, with cases seen in a number of countries and across several continents. The viral infection rarely shows up outside of Central and West Africa. Like other pox diseases, the telltale signs of monkeypox are painful lesions that can develop throughout the body. Although monkeypox can be fatal, the family of viruses responsible for the current outbreak causes a milder form of the disease. Watch the explainer above to learn more about monkeypox's ... [Read More]

May 23rd, 2022 - A promising new study discusses the ability of shark-derived antibodies to protect against multiple variants of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), as well as the closely related bat and pangolin coronaviruses, following intranasal infection. This offers a valuable preventive and therapeutic option, while also increasing current knowledge of the immune evasion capabilities of SARS-CoV-2. Since the second year of the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 ... [Read More]