U.S. Coronavirus Hospitalizations Spiking in South, West

FRIDAY, July 3, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- As the daily toll of new coronavirus cases broke yet another record and topped 55,000 on Thursday, COVID-19 hospitalizations were also climbing across the South and West.

Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas, Nevada and Arizona all set records for hospitalizations on Thursday, a sobering harbinger of ...

HIV May Not Worsen COVID-19 Outlook

People with HIV who were hospitalized with COVID-19 didn't have worse results than COVID-19 patients without HIV, new research shows.

"Throughout the pandemic, we've suspected that immunocompromised patients, such as those with HIV, could be at a higher risk for infection and suffer more severe outcomes, but without data on how COVID-1...

Injuries Shoot Up After Fireworks Laws Loosened in West Virginia

West Virginia loosened fireworks sales rules in 2016. And since then, the state has seen a 40% boom in fireworks-related injuries, researchers say.

The regulation change made it easier for people to buy Class C fireworks such as Roman candles, bottle rockets and fountains.

"Since there has been a trend among states to lib...

Definition of 'Dog Years' Not as Simple as Multiplying by 7

Mapping changes in the genome over time, researchers have developed a new formula to compare dog age with human age -- and it's not as clear-cut as every dog year equals seven human years.

The formula is based on chemical changes in what's known as methyl groups in the genes of dogs and humans. From that, researchers can better calcula...

COVID-19 Death Risk Twice as High in New York City as Some Countries

New York City's COVID-19 death rate was more than double that of some countries, and the city's oldest people had the highest risk of death, researchers report.

They used a computer model to analyze over 191,000 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases along with more than 20,000 confirmed and probable COVID-19 deaths in New York City from March 1...

Stroke Appears 8 Times More Likely With COVID Than With Flu

Both flu and COVID-19 can raise your risk for a stroke, but the odds appear to be eight times higher with the coronavirus, a new study finds.

Among more than 1,900 patients with COVID-19, 1.6% suffered a stroke, versus 0.2% of nearly 1,500 patients seriously ill with flu, researchers found.

"Doctors and practitioners...

Asthma, Allergies Plus Pandemic May Pose 4th of July Challenges

The coronavirus pandemic makes planning for July 4th a challenge this year, especially if someone in the family has allergies or asthma, an allergy expert says.

"This summer will see modifications in how people celebrate Independence Day," said Dr. J. Allen Meadows, president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.

Animal Tests Point to Possible Path to Ultrafast Insulin

An experimental ultrafast-acting insulin could work four times quicker than current fast-acting formulas, researchers say.

For the study, the researchers focused on a form of insulin called monomeric insulin. Though its structure should, in theory, allow it to act faster, monomeric insulin is too unstable for practical use, so the Stan...

New U.S. Coronavirus Cases Top 50,000 as More States Slow Reopening Plans

The daily tally of new U.S. coronavirus cases passed 50,000 on Wednesday, as more reopening plans across the country were slowed amid fears of spiking infections.

A glimmer of hope emerged on the economic front when unemployment numbers were released by the U.S. Labor Department Thursday morning: 4.8 million jobs were added to the nati...

Could Threshold for COVID-19 Herd Immunity Be Lower Than Thought?

Could young people going out and partying be the key to limiting the spread of COVID-19?

Possibly, as a new mathematical model argues that herd immunity might be achieved with fewer people becoming immune through infection than was believed, if you take into account how the virus would spread among younger, more socially active folks.<...

Pandemic Means More Backyard Fireworks This Year -- And More Danger

With communities across the United States canceling Fourth of July celebrations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, backyard fireworks are likely to be more popular than ever.

And that has many health experts worried. They fear injuries will soar among amateurs who don't know how to use fireworks safely. Even before the holiday, explosives...

Fireworks Are Bad News for Your Lungs

A new threat has been added to the risks posed by fireworks -- they can release toxic metals that can damage your lungs.

These metals give fireworks their colors, according to researchers who found harmful levels of lead in two of 12 types of commercially available fireworks they tested.

"While many are careful to protect the...

Scientists Find Source of COVID Clots

COVID-19 is linked to potentially fatal blood clots. Researchers now believe they've found out how they occur, which potentially could lead to better treatment.

"While many forms of illness can generate blood clots, the endothelial cells that line the inside of blood vessels play a surprisingly large role in COVID-19 clotting," said r...

MS Patients Turn to Marijuana, Other Alternative Treatments

Despite the existence of conventional medications to manage multiple sclerosis (MS) symptoms, a majority of patients also rely on alternative therapies, including vitamins, exercise and marijuana, a new survey suggests.

For the study, researchers at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland asked MS patients if they used "compl...

Biases Mean Men Dubbed 'Brilliant' More Often Than Women

When it comes to intelligence, men are more likely to be bestowed with the lofty attribute than women, a new study finds.

These stereotyped views are a result of implicit bias that people don't admit when asked directly, the researchers noted.

"Stereotypes that portray brilliance as a male trait are likely to hold women bac...

No Good Evidence on Accuracy of Coronavirus Antibody Tests: Study

Do you wonder if you've been exposed to the new coronavirus in the recent past?

Good luck finding out for sure: A new review finds there's little good evidence of the accuracy of blood antibody tests for COVID-19, especially those performed outside a lab.

The new findings "indicate important weaknesses in the evidence on COV...

Americans Started Staying Put Early in the Pandemic, and That May Have Saved Lives

Americans began to travel less before states started to issue stay-at-home orders, and that may have curbed coronavirus case numbers, a new study suggests.

"Our results strongly support the conclusion that social distancing played a crucial role in the reduction of case growth rates in multiple U.S. countie...

Numbers of Non-COVID-19 Deaths Up During Pandemic

Nearly one-third of excess deaths in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States were linked to causes other than COVID-19, but that doesn't mean that the virus didn't play a role in those deaths, a new study claims.

The researchers found there were just over 87,000 excess deaths in the United States between March...

Seizures After Vaccination Don't Affect Kids' Development: Study

Kids who have a fever-related seizure after getting a vaccine won't have developmental and behavioral problems as a result, according to a new study.

These so-called febrile seizures do not affect children's development whether they occur after a vaccination or not, the researchers said.

"A febrile seizure can occur followi...

New Leash on Life: How Dog-Walking Is Helping Veterans Battered by PTSD

Many soldiers experience traumas on the battlefield that leave them emotionally wounded, but something as simple as walking a dog might bring these veterans desperately needed psychic relief.

So suggests a new study where researchers compared how four weeks of walking with a shelter dog or with another person affected three biomarkers ...