‘Covid’s not done with us, and I’m not done with covid,’ Fauci says, as he prepares to step down from his post
WASHINGTON — Dr. Anthony Fauci knew he was being turned into a villain of the far-right early on in the coronavirus pandemic, when President Donald Trump’s administration stopped defending him. It was the result of a series of choices Fauci stands by to this day, despite all the grief it...
Thousands of experts hired to aid public health departments are losing their jobs
As covid-19 raged, roughly 4,000 highly skilled epidemiologists, communication specialists and public health nurses were hired by a nonprofit tied to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to plug the holes at battered public health departments on the front lines. But over the past few months, the majority of...
Laurel Highlands Workforce, Opportunity Center opens in Hempfield, looks to expand
When members of the Laurel Highlands Workforce and Opportunity Center board were looking for a model, they didn’t have to look far. “We’re a replication site for Manchester Bidwell in Pittsburgh, which has been around for 50 years,” CEO Greg Daigle said. “When it comes to adult training, you go...
1 dead, over a dozen sick from outbreak tied to deli meat
A food poisoning outbreak tied to deli meat and cheese has sickened 16 people, including one who died, U.S. health officials said Wednesday. Most were hospitalized and one illness resulted in the loss of a pregnancy, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many reported eating meat or...
People with long covid face barriers to government disability benefits
When Josephine Cabrera Taveras was infected with covid-19 in spring 2020, she didn’t anticipate that the virus would knock her out of work for two years and put her family at risk for eviction. Taveras, a mother of two in Brooklyn, New York, said her bout with long covid has...
5 mistakes you’re making with Medicare open enrollment
Millions of retirees are in the thick of Medicare open enrollment, which runs from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7, but many find the process challenging. Some don’t understand the difference between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage, many are overwhelmed by Medicare advertising, and only 4 in 10 people review their...
Researchers create molecule that kills hard-to-treat cancers
DALLAS — Researchers from two North Texas universities have created a molecule that kills a spectrum of hard-to-treat cancers, including an aggressive form of breast cancer. Their work was published in the journal Nature Cancer. The researchers tested the molecule in isolated cells, human cancer tissue and in mice, with...
As RSV surge continues, UPMC Children’s adds tent to deal with influx of patients
UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh has put up a tent outside its Lawrenceville hospital so it is prepared to deal with the influx of patients sick with RSV, the director of the hospital’s emergency department said in a video shared on social media Monday. “The tent is a space that...
Medicare enrollees warned about deceptive marketing schemes
WASHINGTON — Mailers designed to look like official government forms. Buses sporting scam pitches for Medicare websites. TV commercials featuring celebrities who encourage people to sign up for Medicare plans that do not always include their current doctors. With Medicare’s open enrollment underway through Dec. 7, health experts are warning...
U.S. flu season off to a fast start as other viruses spread
NEW YORK — The U.S. flu season is off to an unusually fast start, adding to an autumn mix of viruses that have been filling hospitals and doctor waiting rooms. Reports of flu are already high in 17 states, and the hospitalization rate hasn’t been this high this early since...
Psychedelic ‘magic mushroom’ drug may ease some depression
The psychedelic chemical in “magic mushrooms” may ease depression in some hard-to-treat patients, a preliminary study found. The effects were modest and waned over time but they occurred with a single experimental dose in people who previously had gotten little relief from standard antidepressants. The study is part of a...
Strong RSV vaccine data lifts hopes after years of futility
New research shows vaccinating pregnant women helped protect their newborns from the common but scary respiratory virus called RSV that fills hospitals with wheezing babies each fall. The preliminary results buoy hope that after decades of failure and frustration, vaccines against RSV may finally be getting close. Pfizer announced Tuesday...
Surge in RSV cases causing longer ER wait times at UPMC Children’s Hospital
A spike in the number of babies suffering from the respiratory illness RSV is increasing the emergency room wait times at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, according to officials. Dr. Raymond Pitetti, director of the emergency department at Children’s, said the surge in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) began about six...
WHO: Tuberculosis cases rise for the first time in years
GENEVA — The number of people infected with tuberculosis, including the kind resistant to drugs, rose globally for the first time in years, according to a report Thursday by the World Health Organization. The U.N. health agency said more than 10 million people worldwide were sickened by tuberculosis in 2021,...
Afraid of needles? China rolling out oral covid-19 vaccine
BEIJING — The Chinese city of Shanghai started administering an inhalable covid-19 vaccine on Wednesday in what appears to be a world first. The vaccine, a mist that is sucked in through the mouth, is being offered for free as a booster dose for previously vaccinated people, according to an...
Amid covid, heart attack deaths jump sharply among young adults
As the number of covid-19 infection surged during the pandemic, deaths from heart attacks rose sharply as well, with adults ages 25-44 experiencing the most significant increases, according to new research from scientists at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. “The dramatic rise in heart attacks during the pandemic has...
What’s behind worrying RSV surge in U.S. children’s hospitals?
Children’s hospitals in parts of the U.S. are seeing a surge in a common respiratory illness that can cause severe breathing problems for babies. RSV cases fell dramatically two years ago as the pandemic shut down schools, day cares and businesses. With restrictions easing in the summer of 2021, doctors...
Genes link bipolar, schizophrenia, once thought unrelated
ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. — When Chastity Murry had her first psychotic break, she went into her bathroom and downed a whole bottle of pills, hoping to die. Her teenage daughter had to perform CPR to save her life. Around that same time more than a decade ago, the man who would...
Covid-19 linked to increase in U.S. pregnancy-related deaths
WASHINGTON — Covid-19 drove a dramatic increase in the number of women who died from pregnancy or childbirth complications in the U.S. last year, a crisis that has disproportionately claimed Black and Hispanic women as victims, according to a report released Wednesday.. The report lays out grim trends across the...
Race gap seen in U.S. infant deaths after fertility treatment
Black-white disparities exist in fertility medicine, reflected in life-and-death outcomes for babies, according to a large study of U.S. births. The study, published Wednesday in the journal Pediatrics, is the broadest look yet at racial gaps for women who use in vitro fertilization, fertility drugs or other fertility treatments. Researchers...
Genetic twist: Medieval plague may have molded our immunity
Our Medieval ancestors left us with a biological legacy: Genes that may have helped them survive the Black Death make us more susceptible to certain diseases today. It’s a prime example of the way germs shape us over time, scientists say in a new study published Wednesday in the journal...
Abortion access looms over medical residency applications
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Students in obstetrics-gynecology and family medicine — two of the most popular medical residencies — face tough choices about where to advance their training in a landscape where legal access to abortion varies from state to state. Abortions are typically performed by OB-GYNs or family doctors, and...
Are you a mosquito magnet? It could be your smell
NEW YORK — A new study finds that some people really are “mosquito magnets” and it probably has to do with the way they smell. The researchers found that people who are most attractive to mosquitoes produce a lot of certain chemicals on their skin that are tied to smell....
FDA pushes to remove pregnancy drug, company pushes back
WASHINGTON — The maker of the only U.S. drug intended to prevent premature births is making a last-ditch effort this week to keep its medication on the market, even as health regulators insist that it doesn’t work. A Food and Drug Administration meeting that opened Monday comes more than two...
Abortion providers focus on expanding telehealth, medication access as they await outcome of Pa. governor’s race
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — When Melissa Reed became CEO of Planned Parenthood Keystone in 2016, she had one goal: to expand access to...
