Month: July 2021

Moderna vaccines are prepared for application at a United States military vaccination center at Camp Foster on April 28, 2021 in Ginowan, JapanPhoto: Carl Court (Getty Images) Vaccines based on mRNA, first used for covid-19, may soon protect people from the influenza virus as well. This week, Moderna announced the start of a phase I/II trial testing out its vaccine candidate for the seasonal flu. Ultimately, the company hopes to develop a combination vaccine that can offer protection against the flu, covid-19, and other common respiratory viruses at the same time. According to the Massachusetts-based company, the first volunteers were dosed Wednesday with the experimental flu vaccine, dubbed mRNA-1010. Like other seasonal flu shots, it’s intended to prevent illness from four types of ...

Doctors who reported nearly double the number of hospital admissions for teens with eating disorders are warning it may be the tip of the iceberg as the data only reflects those with severe cases. The study, which appears in a pre-publication of Pediatrics, saw 125 hospitalizations among patients ages 10-23 at Michigan Medicine over the first 12 months of the pandemic.  On average, the hospital sees about 56 per year. Over the course of the pandemic, admissions increased each month with the most recorded between nine and 12 months into the pandemic.  "These findings emphasize how profoundly the pandemic has affected young people, who experienced school closures, canceled extracurricular activities, and social isolation," Alana Otto, M.D., M.P.H., an adolescent medicine physician at Uni...

Thousands gathered for a three-day country music festival in western Colorado in late June. Cases of the delta variant of the coronavirus are spreading quickly in the area, but the public health department said that, by the time the risk had become clear, it was too late to cancel Country Jam. Rae Ellen Bichell/KHN hide caption toggle caption Rae Ellen Bichell/KHN Thousands gathered for a three-day country music festival in western Colorado in la...

Good oral health habits like brushing and flossing may prevent cognitive impairment and dementia, according to a new analysis led by researchers at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing. "Given the staggering number of people diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and dementia each year, and the opportunity to improve oral health across the life span, it's important to gain a deeper understanding of the connection between poor oral health and cognitive decline," said Bei Wu, a professor in global health at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing and the senior study author, in a statement. Researchers analyzed 14 studies on tooth loss and cognitive impairment conducted over an extended period of time, which involved a total of 34,074 adults and 4,689 cases of people with diminished cognitive fun...