Month: January 2022

Omicron could be even less deadly than flu, scientists believe in a boost to hopes that the worst of the pandemic is over. Some experts have always maintained that the coronavirus would eventually morph into a seasonal cold-like virus as the world develops immunity through vaccines and natural infection. But the emergence of the highly-mutated Omicron variant appears to have sped the process up. MailOnline analysis shows Covid killed one in 33 people who tested positive at the peak of the devastating second wave last January, compared to just one in 670 now. But experts believe the figure could be even lower because of Omicron.  The case fatality rate — the proportion of confirmed infections that end in death — for seasonal influenza is 0.1, the equivalent of one in 1,000.  One former Gov...

A record number of children were hospitalized with COVID-19 across the nation, according to a new report.  The Washington Post said Friday that its figures show more than 4,000 pediatric hospitalizations, including confirmed and suspected COVID-19 patients.  US CHILDREN HOSPITALIZED WITH COVID IN NEAR-RECORD NUMBERS The paper reported that fewer than 2,000 children were in hospitals with COVID-19 less than two weeks ago. "The seven-day average of pediatric hospitalizations was slightly lower at 3,713. Hospitalizations of adults are also rising rapidly," the Post said. The U.S. is urging that everyone ages 12 and older get a COVID-19 booster as soon as they are eligible as the omicron variant of the coronavirus spreads around the country. Courtney Martin, left, a nurse at ...

Clinical Course and Diagnostic Testing Figure 1. Figure 1. Pathophysiology and Timeline of Viremia, Antigenemia, and Immune Response during Acute SARS-CoV-2 Infection. In some persons, reverse-transcriptase–polymerase-chain-reaction (RT-PCR) tests can remain positive for weeks or months after initial infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), but this positivity rarely indicates replication-competent virus that can result in infection.The pathophysiology of acute SARS-CoV-2 infection, the clinical course of Covid-19, and the host immunologic response provide a basis for diagnostic testing strategies (Figure 1).10,11 SARS-CoV-2 is predominantly a respiratory airway pathogen, and transmission occurs largely through inhalation of small droplets and ae...

Approximately 28,356 pounds of ground beef products are being recalled due to a possible E. coli contamination, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced Thursday. The raw, ground beef items being recalled by Interstate Meat Dist. Inc. were produced on Dec. 20, 2021, and were sold by Albertsons, Kroger, Walmart and WinCo. These items were shipped to retail locations in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

U.S. health officials are urging people to take precautions and seek treatment when coming in contact with bats after five people died from rabies last year. Four people died last year after each person came in direct contact with rabid bats, according to a Thursday report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The fifth patient was bitten by a dog in the Philippines before returning to the U.S. The report noted that three of those deaths happened in just five weeks at the end of 2021 and that they did not receive life-saving treatment, which includes a rabies vaccine. Last year saw the most rabies cases in humans in a single year since 2011, CDC rabies experts Amber Kunkel and Ryan Wallace told USA TODAY. No cases in humans were reported in 2019 or 2020. The uptick in cases...