Diseases & conditions

A collection of 30 posts

Pfizer CEO: We Need Omicron Boosters

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla stated that 2-dose vaccines 'are not enough' protection from the Omicron variant and even boosters may wane....

Medicine & healthcare

Biden Proposes Tighter Privacy Rules Around Abortions

The US Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) has proposed new privacy protections to prevent women's health information from being used to take legal action or investigate individuals who have had or have helped the occurrence of an abortion....

Abortion

Syphilis Cases Hit 70-Year High During Pandemic

According to a report released Tuesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), sexually transmitted infections rose in 2021, after a slight drop during the first year of the COVID pandemic....

Medicine & healthcare

China Reports First Human Bird Flu Death

A 56-year-old woman from the southern Chinese province of Guangdong is the first person known to have died from a type of bird flu that is rare in humans, H3N8, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement Tuesday....

Medicine & healthcare

CDC Issues Marburg Virus Advisory After Outbreaks In 2 African Nations

The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Thursday issued a health advisory about the Marburg virus outbreak in Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania, stating that healthcare providers must be on the lookout for any suspected imported cases....

Medicine & healthcare

WHO: One in Six People Affected by Infertility

According to a new report by the World Health Organization (WHO), one in six people globally will experience infertility at some point in their lifetime. The report describes the organization's first estimates of how widespread infertility is in more than ten years....

World

Idaho Passes Law Restricting Travel For Out-of-State Abortions

Idaho has become the first US state to limit interstate travel for abortion, passing a law banning adults from transporting minors for an abortion without parental consent. The legislation was signed by GOP Gov. Brad Little....

Abortion

US Pres. Biden to Roll Out 'National Cancer Plan'

According to US Health and Human Services officials (HHS), federal health administrators are rolling out a new 'National Cancer Plan' as part of the framework for Pres. Joe Biden's Cancer Moonshot initiative, with the goal of cutting the cancer death rate in the US by 50% within 25 years....

Diseases & conditions

Report: Meta Considering Europe Political Ads Ban

Amid concerns about complying with new EU regulations targeting online campaigns, Meta — Facebook and Instagram's parent company — is reportedly exploring changes to its policies surrounding political advertising for its users in Europe....

Greece

FDA Advisers Back Full Approval of Paxlovid

Independent advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday voted 16-1 in support of full approval of Paxlovid — Pfizer’s oral treatment for COVID — for high-risk adults....

Diseases & conditions

US: Maternal Mortality Hits Highest Level Since 1965

The maternal mortality rate in the US rose 40% to 1,205 deaths in 2021, compared with 861 deaths in 2020 and 754 deaths in 2019, according to a report released Thursday by the National Center for Health Statistics....

World

Whistleblower Doctor Who Alleged China's SARS Cover-up Dies

Jiang Yanyong, a former PRC military surgeon who blew the whistle on Chinese authorities' alleged cover-up of the 2003 SARS [SARS-CoV-1] epidemic, died of pneumonia on Saturday at the age of 91....

Diseases & conditions

China to Re-Open Borders to Tourists for First Time in Three Years

China has fully reopened its borders to foreign tourists for the first time since the outbreak of COVID three years ago. Its embassy in the US released a statement saying Beijing would resume issuing all categories of visas....

COVID-19

China Reports 60K COVID Deaths in December

On Saturday, following intense scrutiny, China reported 60K deaths attributed to COVID since Dec. 8. The World Health Organization showed extreme concern that the country was underreporting after official reports only showed 36 deaths between Dec. 7 and Jan. 8....

COVID-19

Virginia Judge Rules Frozen Embryos Are Property

A Virginia judge has ruled that frozen human embryos can legally be considered property, basing his decision on a 19th-century slavery law....

Research

Former Italian PM Conte Investigated Over COVID Response

Italian prosecutors from Bergamo, a city in the Lombardy province worst hit during the first wave of COVID, are investigating former PM Giuseppe Conte, former health minister Roberto Speranza, and 17 others under suspicion of 'aggravated culpable epidemic' and manslaughter related to their pandem...

COVID-19

CDC Issues Alert for Drug-Resistant Stomach Bug

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says it's tracking a rise in stomach illnesses caused by infections with 'extensively drug-resistant' Shigella bacteria. Shigella is resistant to multiple antibiotics including azithromycin, ciprofloxacin, and ceftriaxone....

Medicine & healthcare

Fifth Person Confirmed to be Cured of HIV

A man in Dusseldorf, Germany, has been announced by researchers to be cured of HIV through a stem cell transplant. The patient is only the third person to be cured of the condition using the treatment and the fifth individual in history....

Metaculus

Report: US Prison Deaths Up 50% During 1st Year of COVID

On Sunday, the New York Times (NYT) — citing data collected by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) — reported that state and federal prison deaths in the US nearly doubled during the first year of the COVID pandemic, with six states seeing prison deaths rise more t...

COVID-19

Idaho State Lawmakers Propose Ban on mRNA Vaccines

Last Wednesday, two Idaho state Republican lawmakers, Sen. Tammy Nichols and Rep. Judy Boyle, introduced legislation that would make it a misdemeanor to administer mRNA vaccines....

Medicine & healthcare

More Women with Breast Cancer Could Skip Harsh Radiation, Study Says

According to a study published on Wednesday by the New England Journal of Medicine, more older women with low-risk breast cancer may not need to undergo radiation after breast-conserving surgery to increase their survival chances....

Metaculus

Fetterman Checks into Hospital for Depression

Freshman Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Wednesday “to receive treatment for clinical depression,” his Chief of Staff Adam Jentleson announced on Thursday....

Medicine & healthcare

WHO Calls Urgent Meeting Over Marburg Virus Outbreak

On Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) convened an urgent meeting to discuss vaccine and therapeutic candidates for a newly-identified Marburg outbreak in Equatorial Guinea....

Equatorial Guinea

House GOP Launches Probe into COVID Origins

Republicans on the US House Oversight Committee and Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, fulfilling a promise they made before taking the majority in the 2022 midterm elections, have begun an investigation into the origins of COVID....

COVID-19

WHO: Avian Flu Spreads to Mammals, Threat to Humans is 'Low'

The World Health Organization (WHO) is warning that avian flu has infected a record number of birds in the US and even spread to some mammals, with 17 non-bird species reported to have been infected in 20 states....

Birds