TUESDAY, Aug. 17, 2021 (HealthDay News) — There’s strong evidence that the steroid drug dexamethasone can significantly lower hospitalized patients’ risk of dying from COVID-19, but many who might benefit from it the most aren’t getting it. “Dexamethasone is a steroid that is used for the treatment of arthritis, inflammationContinue Reading

TUESDAY, Aug. 17, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Twenty seconds. That’s how long you need to wash your hands to remove germs, a new physics study confirms. Typical hand-washing guidelines — including those from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — advise scrubbing your hands for a minimum ofContinue Reading

TUESDAY, Aug. 17, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Avanti Frozen Foods has expanded its recall of various frozen cooked, peeled and deveined shrimp products that may be contaminated with salmonella. The more than two dozen products were sold under various brand names and distributed across the United States between November 2020Continue Reading

TUESDAY, Aug. 17, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Long stints on the night shift could set you up for the dangerous heart rhythm disorder known as atrial fibrillation (a-fib), new research suggests. For the study, the researchers analyzed data on more than 283,000 people in the UK Biobank database, and foundContinue Reading

TUESDAY, Aug. 17, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Five years after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention retooled a guideline for prescribing opioid painkillers, research suggests the change is paying off. With the United States in the grip of an opioid overdose epidemic, the CDC released an evidence-based guidelineContinue Reading

MONDAY, Aug. 16, 2021 (HealthDay News) — In just 24 hours, four teachers in Broward County, Fla., died from COVID-19. At least three of the teachers were unvaccinated, CBS News reported. “Within a 24-hour span, we had an assistant teacher pass away, a teacher at her school pass away, anContinue Reading

MONDAY, Aug. 16, 2021 (HealthDay News) — The wildfire smoke now smothering wide portions of the United States isn’t just stinging eyes and tightening chests — it also might be contributing to the current surge of severe COVID-19 cases. Data from three Western states subject to frequent wildfires shows thatContinue Reading

FRIDAY, Aug. 13, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Masks are making an unwanted comeback in many parts of the United States, after new data showing that fully vaccinated people with “breakthrough” coronavirus infections carry enough virus in their bodies to pose a potential risk to the unvaccinated. But these breakthrough infectionsContinue Reading

FRIDAY, Aug. 13, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for teachers now has the support of the United States’ largest teachers’ union. “It is clear that the vaccination of those eligible is one of the most effective ways to keep schools safe,” Becky Pringle, president of the National EducationContinue Reading

FRIDAY, Aug. 13, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Black American liver transplant recipients have a lower survival rate than Hispanic or white patients, and a new study suggests that alcohol-related liver disease and insurance coverage are key reasons. “Our findings are a huge wake-up call that physicians and other health careContinue Reading