Category: Health Updates

Drinking two or three cups of coffee every day may benefit the heart, according to studies being presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 71st Annual Scientific Session.  The American College of Cardiology said Thursday that consumption of the caffeinated beverage is associated with a lower risk of heart disease and dangerous heart rhythms, as well as a…

Moderna asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday to authorize a fourth shot of its COVID-19 vaccine. The biotech company wrote in a release that it had requested the agency amend the emergency use authorization (EUA) to allow for the additional booster in adults ages 18 years and older who have received an initial booster…

China’s health authorities reported two COVID-19 deaths on Saturday, the first since January 2021, as the country battles its worst outbreak in two years driven by a surge in the highly transmissible omicron variant. The deaths, both in northeastern Jilin province, bring the country’s coronavirus death toll to 4,638. Both fatalities occurred in elderly patients and were the result…

Health officials have continued to monitor a hybrid strain of the delta and omicron coronavirus known as “deltacron.” In a Wednesday media briefing, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) COVID-19 technical lead, said that there are currently “very low levels” of detection of the potential variant.  Deltacron has been reported in France, the Netherlands and Denmark and Reuters reported that researchers…

Israeli health officials have identified the country’s first case of polio in decades, according to reports.  An unvaccinated child, 4, from Jerusalem, contracted the highly transmissible virus, making it the first polio case in Israel since 1988, the Israeli Health Ministry said Sunday. The Jerusalem District Health Bureau launched an epidemiological investigation and will be reaching…

Pregnancy-related deaths for U.S. mothers climbed higher in the pandemic’s first year, continuing a decades-long trend that disproportionately affects Black people, according to a government report released Wednesday. Overall in 2020, there were almost 24 deaths per 100,000 births, or 861 deaths total — numbers that reflect mothers dying during pregnancy, childbirth or the year after. The rate was 20 per…

The rise in deaths tied to the deadly opioid fentanyl is prompting concern from the border, where it’s crossing into the United States in record amounts, to research institutions across the country. The drug, which according to the Drug Enforcement Agency mostly originates in China in its illicit form and precursors, is about 50 times stronger than heroin.  Health professionals…

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) have published a new guide on developing and implementing stronger occupational health and safety programs for health workers.  In a news release, the WHO said the agencies recommended programs at the national, sub-national and health facility levels – with all programs covering infectious, ergonomic, physical, chemical and psycho-social…

An increase in daily physical activity of 10 minutes could help to save more than 100,000 lives, researchers say.  In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine (JAMA Network), a team from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) used activity monitor…