Health News

DC to drop most indoor mask requirements next week

The District of Columbia will lift its indoor mask requirement starting next week, as local COVID-19 infection cases continue to trend downward. Starting Monday, Nov. 22, masks will no longer be required in many indoor spaces. A statement from the city Health Department announced that masks will still be required in certain settings, including schools, […]

Health News

Drop seen in physician work hours during COVID-19 pandemic

Physicians’ working hours and full-time status declined significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published online June 23 in JAMA Network Open. Xiaochu Hu, Ph.D., and Michael J. Dill, both from the Association of American Medical Colleges in Washington, D.C., analyzed the Current Population Survey basic monthly data from January 2019 to December […]

Health News

US drop in vaccine demand has some places turning down doses

Louisiana has stopped asking the federal government for its full allotment of COVID-19 vaccine. About three-quarters of Kansas counties have turned down new shipments of the vaccine at least once over the past month. And in Mississippi, officials asked the federal government to ship vials in smaller packages so they don’t go to waste. As […]

Health News

Germany sees drop in virus cases flatten as variant surges

The head of Germany’s disease control agency warned Friday that a decline in new coronavirus cases the country saw has leveled off while the share of cases involving more contagious variants is rising. Robert Koch Institute President Lothar Wieler said Germany may be heading toward another “turning point” in the pandemic after weeks of falling […]

Kids Health

2003 to 2017 saw drop in infant mortality due to birth defects

From 2003 to 2017, there was a decrease in infant mortality attributable to birth defects (IMBD) overall, although considerable differences were seen in the decreases by maternal and infant characteristics, according to research published in the Jan. 17 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Lynn M. […]

Health Problems

New assay detects patients’ resistance to antimalarial drugs from a drop of blood

Antimalarial drugs appear to follow a typical pattern, with early effectiveness eventually limited by the emergence of drug resistance. A report in the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics describes a new assay using whole blood that simplifies the genetic analysis of malarial parasites by completely eliminating processing steps. This provides rapid access to critical information associated […]

Health News

U.S. birth rates continue to drop as age of new moms rises

(HealthDay)—American women are having fewer children, and they’re having them later in life, a new government report shows. “Overall, we saw continuing decreasing trends in total fertility,” said report author Danielle Ely, a health statistician at the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), which is part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. […]