health
ABC NewsCDC recommends dramatic expansion of HIV prevention medication
While a cure for HIV has remained elusive, in recent years there have been great strides made in the prevention and management of HIV and AIDS, the disease the virus causes if left untreated. Now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wants to dramatically expand access to HIV prevention medication. Released on Wednesday, the CDC's newest guidelines encourage more-frequent conversations about HIV prevention medications among health care providers and patients.
The New York TimesAmid Push to Vaccinate Children, Other Challenges Deluge Pediatricians
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Near the end of one of the first days that 5- to 11-year-olds could get a coronavirus shot last month, Dr. Anne Steptoe, a pediatrician, sat hunched in her cramped office between packages of diapers, onesies and children’s books, cataloging the week’s patients on her laptop. One teenage girl had been sleepless and suicidal; another was anemic. Several young boys had gained weight during the pandemic. A 10-year-old had been plagued by asthma attacks and was using her inhalers in
USA TODAYMore young children are killing themselves: The COVID-19 pandemic is making the problem worse
Pre-teen suicide, while still rare, has increased in recent years, with the rate of growth among Black children especially worrisome.
CBS NewsOmicron can evade vaccines, but Pfizer says booster jabs do the trick
While it appears that Omicron has a "very large" advantage over previous strains, it doesn't appear to be making people sicker, and Pfizer says a booster shot "neutralized" it in the lab.
AxiosExperts fear a bad flu season on top of COVID
Public health officials are warning that the U.S. may be on the verge of a dangerous double whammy: COVID and flu, spreading simultaneously.The big picture: The Delta variant is still circulating across the U.S., and the Omicron variant isn't far behind. On top of that, experts see potential warning signs of a bad flu season, which could leave millions of Americans vulnerable and strain health care resources.Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.What they're
Associated Press'Pharma Bro' firm reaches $40M settlement in gouging case
A company once owned by “Pharma Bro" Martin Shkreli will pay up to $40 million to settle allegations that it jacked up the price of a life-saving medication by roughly 4,000% after obtaining exclusive rights to the drug, the Federal Trade Commission announced Tuesday. The FTC said Vyera Pharmaceuticals LLC and its parent company, Phoenixus AG, agreed to settle allegations that it gouged buyers and monopolized sales of Daraprim. Vyera raised the price of the decades-old drug from $17.50 to $750 per pill after obtaining exclusive rights to it in 2015.
ReutersAustralia's central bank sceptical on digital A$, but that could change
The head of Australia's central bank still sees no strong case for a retail digital currency in the country, though he conceded one could emerge as technology and public preferences are changing rapidly. In a speech on the payments system on Thursday, Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Philip Lowe also said regulators were reviewing the treatment of crypto-assets, and cautioned investors to be wary of the risks when buying. This comes as the government is launching the biggest overhaul of Australia's A$650 billion-a-day ($466 billion) payments industry in a quarter of a century.
Associated PressNew COVID-19 antibody drug OK'd to protect most vulnerable
Federal health officials on Wednesday authorized a new COVID-19 antibody drug for people with serious health problems or allergies who can’t get adequate protection from vaccination. Antibody drugs have been a standard treatment for treating COVID-19 infections for over a year. “These people still have to shelter in place because they’re at really high risk of severe disease and death,” said Dr. David Boulware of the University of Minnesota, ahead of the announcement.
Business InsiderFinland's prime minister was out clubbing until 3 a.m., hours after an adviser tested positive for COVID-19, local reports say
Finland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin apologized for going out and said she was initially instructed not to quarantine because she is vaccinated.
Associated PressThe AP Interview: CDC chief says omicron mostly mild so far
More than 40 people in the U.S. have been found to be infected with the omicron variant so far, and more than three-quarters of them had been vaccinated, the chief of the CDC said Wednesday. In an interview with the Associated Press, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the data is very limited and the agency is working on a more detailed analysis of what the new mutant form of the coronavirus might hold for the U.S. One person was hospitalized, but no deaths have been reported, CDC officials said.
ReutersMixing vaccines boosts immune response; experimental saliva test nearly as accurate as PCR
A mix-and-match approach to COVID-19 vaccines is safe and effective, and some combinations even improve upon immune responses, UK researchers found. They studied 1,079 volunteers whose first shot was either the adenoviral vector vaccine from AstraZeneca or the mRNA vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech. Participants were then randomly assigned to receive either the same vaccine or a shot of Moderna's higher-dose mRNA vaccine or the experimental Novavax vaccine, which uses a different technology than the others.
USA TODAYDelta drives surge in US cases before omicron gains foothold; Pfizer says booster protects against new variant: Latest COVID-19 updates
Even before omicron establishes a firm foothold, infections are soaring, including in highly vaccinated regions like New England. Latest COVID news.
USA TODAY'Our best defense': Pfizer says third dose of its COVID vaccine protects against omicron
A third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine appears to be as effective against omicron as two doses were against the original variant.
ReutersU.S. FDA authorizes use of AstraZeneca COVID-19 antibody cocktail
The antibody cocktail, Evusheld, is only authorized for adults and adolescents who are not currently infected with the novel coronavirus and have not recently been exposed to an infected individual, the regulator said. The authorization for the therapy, made up of two monoclonal antibodies tixagevimab and cilgavimab, marks a significant step for AstraZeneca, whose widely used COVID-19 vaccine is yet to be approved by U.S. authorities.
ReutersU.S. administers 475.7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines - CDC
Those figures are up from the 473,243,228 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by Tuesday out of 582,057,445 doses delivered. The CDC tally includes two-dose vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech, as well as Johnson & Johnson's one-shot vaccine.
NBC NewsPfizer says vaccine booster dose protects against omicron variant
Omicron variant vaccine research from Pfizer-BioNTech appears to show the Pfizer Covid vaccine booster dose can provide strong protection against omicron.
Yahoo LifeWhen it comes to Santa, parents say representation matters: 'The idea of a non-white hero is no longer so rare'
To some, Christmas may be another commercialized holiday full of frivolity and fantasy. To families hoping to see more diverse options for Santa, it's much more.
Associated PressWHO: Omicron could spread faster but it's still not certain
The World Health Organization says early evidence suggests the omicron variant may be spreading faster than the highly transmissible delta variant but brings with it less severe coronavirus disease -– though it’s too early to make firm conclusions. Dr. Michael Ryan, WHO’s chief of emergencies, told reporters Wednesday that data about the omicron variant so far is “pointing to a virus that’s efficiently transmitting and probably more efficiently transmitting than even the delta variant,” which is by far the most widespread and deadly version. Maria Van Kerkhove, the technical lead for COVID-19 at the U.N. health agency, cautioned that it was too early to determine the severity of disease caused by omicron, saying there’s only “anecdotal information” about that for now.
Yahoo LifeYou have to try this genius holiday lighting hack from Carter Oosterhouse and Amy Smart
Carter Oosterhouse, co-host of ABC's Christmas Light Fight, and his wife, actress Amy Smart, reveal their top tricks and hacks for holiday lights this year.
Yahoo LifeHe has cooked for Oprah, now this top chef reveals his must-have Thanksgiving recipe
Celebrity Chef Art Smith reveals his secret Thanksgiving recipe that he prepares every year.
Yahoo LifeTrisha Yearwood reveals the one Thanksgiving tradition she'll never change: it's 'just unbelievable'
Country music icon Trisha Yearwood takes us into her home to share her family's holiday traditions and the one dessert she can't celebrate Thanksgiving without in the first installment of the Yahoo Life Holiday Home and Tell series.
USA TODAYIs it a cold? The flu? Or COVID? How to tell sniffles and chills apart this holiday season
Many cold, flu and COVID-19 symptoms overlap: fever, runny nose, sore throat, coughing, and general fatigue.
NBC NewsWhy scientists think our immune systems will be primed to fight the omicron variant
Even as antibody levels wane against the variant, the immune system may still be primed by vaccines or from previous infections to “remember” the virus.
Good Morning America4 things to know about omicron and holiday travel, gatherings
Just as hope rose that this year's holiday season would inch back to pre-pandemic normalcy, the omicron variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 entered the picture , raising questions for many people. Cases of the omicron variant have been confirmed in more than a dozen states across the country. Here are four things to know to help plan ahead for holiday gatherings and travel.
ReutersSouth Africa reports nearly 20,000 COVID-19 cases, an Omicron-wave record
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South Africa reported nearly 20,000 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, a record since the Omicron variant was detected, and 36 new COVID-related deaths. It was not immediately clear how many of the infections were caused by Omicron, given only a fraction of samples are sequenced, but experts believe it is driving South Africa's fourth wave of infections. The statistics from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) brought the confirmed number of cases in the country to 3.071 million, with more than 90,000 COVID-linked deaths since the pandemic started.
“I know it doesn’t feel like it, but inflation is both a feature and a bug of a normalizing economy.”
“What is not going to work, and hasn’t worked, is trying to talk people out of the lived reality of higher prices.”
“When inflation expectations rise, actual inflation tends to follow.”
“The Fed must acknowledge that its monetary policy has been a source of inflation, and that it will need to raise interest rates.”
“The supply chain logjams are the core of the problem right now, and that should work itself out over time.”