Month: January 2022

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Houston city officials announced on Wednesday that the death of a little girl this past October is the city's youngest confirmed pediatric COVID-19 death on record. According to the city, the child was under the age of 10, Black, and had underlying health conditions. Genomic sequencing did not identify the variant of the virus that infected her. Other information about the child was not made available due to privacy laws, the city said. However, with identifying the distinction of the girl's death, the city said it is trying to drive home that the coronavirus, especially amid the highly-contagious omicron variant, can lead to serious illnesses among children. "While most children who get COVID-19 recover, this tragedy is an example of how our youngest can get ...

Cannabis compounds can stop the virus that causes COVID-19 from entering human cells by binding to the spike protein and blocking it from infecting people, study finds The compounds are found in hemp and can be taken orally or combine with the coronavirus vaccine The compounds, a pair of cannabinoid acids, bind to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein This blocks the virus from infecting human cells, thus stopping COVID-19  By Stacy Liberatore For Dailymail.com Published: 14:46 EST, 12 January 2022 | Updated: 14:47 EST, 12 January 2022 <!-- <!-- <!-- <!-- <!-- (function (src, d, tag){ var s = d.createElement(tag), prev = d.getElementsByTagName(tag)[0]; s.src = src; prev.parentNode.insertBefore(s, prev); }("https://w...

Some cannabis compounds can prevent the virus that causes COVID-19 from entering human cells — but smoking marijuana offers no protection against the illness, according to a study by Oregon State University. The researchers found that a pair of hemp compounds — cannabigerolic acid, or CBGA, and cannabidiolic acid, CBDA — bind to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, blocking a vital step in the deadly bug’s path to infect people. “These cannabinoid acids are abundant in hemp and in many hemp extracts,” said lead researcher Richard van Breemen at Oregon State’s Global Hemp Innovation Center in the College of Pharmacy and Linus Pauling Institute, KTVZ reported. “They are not controlled substances like THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, and have a good safety ...

Suspicion, misinformation, complacency and delays because of the holidays and bad weather have combined to produce alarmingly low COVID-19 vaccination rates in U.S. children ages 5 to 11, authorities say. As of Tuesday, just over 17% were fully vaccinated, more than two months after shots for the age group became available. While Vermont is at 48%, California is just shy of 19% and Mississippi is only at 5%. Vaccinations among the elementary school set surged after the shots were introduced in the fall, but the numbers have crept up slowly since then, and omicron’s explosive spread appears to have had little effect. The low rates are “very disturbing,” said Dr. Robert Murphy, executive director for the Institute for Global Health at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. “...

If you've been exposed to someone with COVID and are watching for symptoms, what are some of the first signs you might be infected? It's a question many are asking as omicron cases surge across the country and as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention update their quarantine and isolation guidelines, which now differ depending on whether or not you have a symptomatic infection. Here's what we know so far: Sore throat continues to be a symptom reported, particularly in mild breakthrough infections, health officials say. Those with any flu- or cold-like symptoms should assume they have COVID until proven otherwise. What are the other symptoms to watch for after COVID exposure? With some omicron cases, particularly breakthrough infections in those who ...