Month: May 2022

There hasn't been enough research on how much protection a fourth dose can offer, medical professionals told CNBC. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images Countries are beginning to offer a fourth dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to vulnerable groups, but medical professionals are undecided on whether it would benefit the wider population. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has so far authorized a fourth shot only for those aged 50 and above, as well as those who are immunocompromised. And the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was skeptical of the need for a fourth dose for healthy adults in the absence of a clearer public health strategy. Those decisions came as a study from Israel found that although a fourth dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine offers ...

All poultry exhibition, public sales and swap meets have been banned statewide, effective immediately, after an avian flu case was confirmed in Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service confirmed the positive case Sunday. Officials said the virus, known as the highly pathogenic avian influenza, was found in a Sequoyah County poultry flock. They hope the ban halts any potential spread of the virus. The ban is set to end July 30, unless more evidence proves the ban should be extended. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the recent virus detections in birds aren't a public health concern at this time. Officials stressed that it remains safe to consume poultr...

By recording close-up images of eyes through an app, researchers at the University of California San Diego are making it possible for people to screen for Alzheimer’s disease, ADHD and other neurological diseases and disorders from the comfort of their own homes. The app uses a near-infrared camera, which is built into newer smartphones for facial recognition, along with a regular selfie camera to track how a person’s pupil changes in size. These pupil measurements can be used to assess a person’s cognitive condition, researchers said in a press release published on April 29. Read more: Alzheimer’s research at University of Lethbridge gets huge funding boost “While there is still a lot of work to be done, I am excited about the potential for using this technol...