Month: June 2021

I've been keeping a secret. I've decided to tell it. I have metastatic breast cancer, MBC, stage 4. That means the breast cancer has spread to my lungs, bones and brain. There is no cure. Eventually, it kills you. Actually, I've had it for two years. Keeping it secret served me well. I didn't have to explain myself to friends and strangers while I was still in the hysterical stage. Because, faced with an incurable cancer diagnosis, I did what any normal person would do: I stopped sleeping. I stopped eating. I sobbed a lot. I was grieving for my own life. But I had to tell someone, so I told 50 of my closest friends. Also, since I'm a correspondent for NPR, I told my three editors. They've kept my secret. That's not easy to d...

Researchers stress that the study shouldn't deter people from getting the vaccine Israeli researchers on Monday said that they discovered a link between Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine and a rare blood disease called thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). Scientists with the Institute of Hematology at Shamir Medical Center said they began researching the possible link after reports of a sudden increase in TTP across Israel. The team said they discovered a “chronological connection” between when the Pfizer shot was administered to the patient and the onset of symptoms of the blood disease. They said that four cases were detected. “Physicians and patients need to be alert to the clinical symptoms: weakness fatigue, neurological disorders, hemorrhage and chest pain,” the Institu...

Before the national vaccine rollout, health officials spent months urging Americans to limit social gatherings and keep celebrations to within members of their household. Now, a study assessing the association between informal social gatherings and SARS-CoV-2 transmission suggests that birthday parties, especially those involving children taking place in counties with the prevalence of virus, resulted in increased rates of diagnosed COVID-19.  The study, published in JAMA, analyzed the potential increased risk of COVID-19 around small social gatherings by studying changes in COVID-19 rates after birthday parties. The study, which specifically looked at the changes in household COVID-19 infection rates after the presence of a birthday in the household, included data from January through...

Cox, a senior systems analyst with Manatee County, was known in the area as a youth football coach with the Manatee Mustang Sports Academy for 20 years, reported the Bradenton Herald. The organization said on Facebook that Cox “personified dedication and selflessness,” and was “a father to the fatherless, a mentor to all, a hero in every aspect of the meaning, and a legend no less.” Reggie Bellamy, the organization’s commissioner, told the Herald that Cox impacted generations of young athletes.

Adult deaths from COVID-19 are "at this point entirely preventable" thanks to vaccines, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said during a White House coronavirus briefing on Tuesday. Why it matters: Deaths from the virus have dramatically decreased since their peak in early 2021, but the U.S. is still currently reporting an average of more than 200 deaths every day, though the numbers could increase as the B.1.617.2 (or Delta) variant of the virus becomes the dominant strain in the country. Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free The big picture: NIAID Director Anthony Fauci said the Delta variant, which was first detected in India, is currently the greatest threat to the elimination of the cor...