Tocilizumab, a repurposed rheumatoid arthritis drug once considered a promising treatment for hospitalized patients with Covid-19, generally did not increase patients’ chances of survival or help them get better faster, according to three trials published this week. However, a fourth trial did find the drug increased the chances of survival, but because it was an…… MORE
Dr. Joseph Varon hasn’t taken a day off in 214 days. “It’s not that I don’t want to. But the patients keep on coming,” said Varon, a critical care doctor and chief of staff at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston. It used to be worse. After Covid-19 crushed the hospital earlier this year, his…… MORE
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its definition of a close contact with a Covid-19 patient to include multiple, brief exposures, after a Vermont prison worker appears to have been infected that way, CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said Wednesday. The new definition includes exposures adding up to a total of…… MORE
A volunteer in Brazil’s trial of AstraZeneca’s experimental coronavirus vaccine has died, the Brazilian health agency Anvisa announced on Wednesday, but organizers said there was no reason to stop the trial — an indication that the death is not linked to the vaccine. Anvisa said that it was notified of the death on Monday but…… MORE
The US Food and Drug Administration has added extra time to a daylong meeting Thursday of its vaccine advisers, who are gathering to discuss a potential coronavirus vaccine. The meeting will now include at least an hour and a half for public input, according to an agenda posted online. The agency has been working to…… MORE
It’s hard to imagine there is a part of the human body that’s gone unnoticed by doctors after centuries of medical research. But that’s exactly what a group of scientists from the Netherlands believe. They said they have discovered a pair of previously overlooked glands that are hidden away in our skulls where the nasal…… MORE
Older people, women and those with a wide range of symptoms in the first week of their illness appear to be most likely to develop “long Covid,” according to a preprint paper posted online by researchers at King’s College London on Wednesday. The paper defines “long Covid” as having symptoms persist for more than four…… MORE
People who consume a diet rich in flavanol-heavy food — such as berries, tea and apples — tend to have lower blood pressure, according to a new study. Researchers in the United Kingdom studied the diets of more than 25,000 people in the UK and compared what they ate with their blood pressure, which is…… MORE
We all know how much better we feel after a good night’s sleep. It turns out that sleep may be vital to arm us in the fight against influenza and Covid-19. Medical professionals are recommending that people make sure to get their flu shots this year, in part because some Covid-19 and flu symptoms are…… MORE
With the number of people with Covid-19 being admitted to hospitals rising, several states are looking at their supply of beds. On Wednesday, an overflow medical facility set up at the Wisconsin State Fair Park in the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis received its first patient. “We are thankful to have this facility available to…… MORE
