Pandemic News and Research

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A pandemic is a global disease outbreak. During a pandemic, transmission can be anticipated in the workplace, not only from patient to workers in health care settings, but also among co-workers in general work settings. A pandemic would cause high levels of illness, death, social disruption, and economic loss. Everyday life would be disrupted because so many people in so many places become seriously ill at the same time. Impacts could range from school and business closings to the interruption of basic services such as public transportation and food delivery.

Biden administration advances plan to remove medical debt from credit scores

Americans would no longer have to worry about medical debts dragging down their credit scores under federal regulations proposed Tuesday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

11 Jun 2024

Bird flu tests are hard to get. So how will we know when to sound the pandemic alarm?

Stanford University infectious disease doctor Abraar Karan has seen a lot of patients with runny noses, fevers, and irritated eyes lately.

11 Jun 2024

Patient perspectives highlight urgent need for research on smell and taste disorders

Researchers and patient advocates from the Monell Chemical Senses Center, Smell and Taste Association of North America (STANA), and Thomas Jefferson University came together during the COVID-19 pandemic to incorporate patient voices in efforts to prioritize research areas focused on improving care for people with smell and taste disorders.

10 Jun 2024

Substituting registered nurses with lower-wage staff in hospital care linked to poor outcomes

A new study published in Medical Care today showed that substituting registered nurses (RN) with lower-wage staff (e.g. licensed practical nurses, unlicensed assistive personnel) in hospital care is linked with more deaths, readmissions, longer hospital stays, poorer patient satisfaction, and higher costs of care.

10 Jun 2024

Western diet linked to higher wheezing rates in children

A recent study in Scientific Reports found a significant link between Western-style diets and increased wheezing in children, particularly among boys, but no connection to current asthma or medication use.

10 Jun 2024

Heat rules for California workers would also help keep schoolchildren cool

Proposed rules to protect California workers from extreme heat would extend to schoolchildren, requiring school districts to find ways to keep classrooms cool.

10 Jun 2024

How COVID-19 disrupts social and temporal perception

Researchers examine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic by using the concept of disorientation to explore its temporal and social dimensions.

10 Jun 2024

Fear of stigma and rejection can lead to non-disclosure of STI status

The existing literature on sexually transmitted infection (STI) disclosure.

10 Jun 2024

Sperm counts may not be declining globally, study suggests

The widely held view that sperm counts in men are dropping around the world may be wrong, according to a new study by University of Manchester, Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada and Cryos International, Denmark.

8 Jun 2024

Study highlights rising rates of food and water insecurity among U.S. children

Between 2005 and 2020, the number of children facing simultaneous water and food insecurity in the United States more than doubled.

7 Jun 2024

New 5-minute cognitive test boosts dementia care in diverse elderly populations

The 5-Cog tool significantly enhances dementia diagnosis and care for older adults in primary care, especially among Black and Hispanic communities, by being culturally sensitive and quick to administer.

6 Jun 2024

Innovative nanotechnology offers new hope for fibrosis treatment

Researchers at The University of Texas at El Paso are developing a new therapeutic approach that uses nanoparticles for the treatment of skin and lung fibrosis, conditions that can result in severe damage to the body's tissues.

6 Jun 2024

Study highlights mental health challenges faced by home health aides

Home health aides (HHAs) are vulnerable to stress, isolation and depressive symptoms, which impact their own health as well as their patients' desire to age in place, according to Weill Cornell Medicine researchers.

6 Jun 2024

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Nursing home staffing rules prompt pushback

It's not surprising that the nursing home industry is filing lawsuits to block new Biden administration rules requiring minimum staffing at facilities that accept federal dollars.

6 Jun 2024

Low-dose direct oral anticoagulants linked to increased bleeding risk in Afib patients

Patients with atrial fibrillation (Afib) who took low doses of blood-thinning medications known as direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) experienced more bleeding episodes during the first three months of treatment and about one in five had high blood levels of the medications, compared with similar patients who took standard doses of the same medications, according to a study published in Blood Advances.

6 Jun 2024

Three-year analysis of COVID-19's impact reveals persistent excess mortality in the Western world

Excess death rates have remained high in the West for three years running since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, finds a data analysis of 47 countries published in the open access journal BMJ Public Health.

5 Jun 2024

End of pandemic internet subsidies threatens a health care lifeline for rural America

Myrna Broncho realized just how necessary an internet connection can be after she broke her leg.

5 Jun 2024

California becomes latest state to try capping health care spending

California's Office of Health Care Affordability faces a herculean task in its plan to slow runaway health care spending.

5 Jun 2024

Fertility warning: SARS-CoV-2 can linger in sperm for months after infection

Researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil have shown for the first time that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can remain in the sperm of patients for up to 90 days after hospital discharge and up to 110 days after the initial infection, reducing semen quality.

4 Jun 2024

New program aims to reduce the strain on caregivers of children with ADHD

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by elevated levels of inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity that can impair academic and social functioning.

4 Jun 2024