Dog Contracts Monkeypox From Owners, Prompting Change to CDC Guidance

Adding yet another wrinkle to the monkeypox outbreak, a new case study suggests that people can pass the virus on to their pet dogs.

Therefore, people who are infected with the virus should avoid close contact with their pets, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control now advises in an updated guidance.

The change reflects the first docum...

U.S. Nursing Homes Are Understaffed, But Minority Communities Have It Worst

MONDAY, Aug. 15, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Staffing shortages at nursing homes across the United States are severe in disadvantaged areas where needs may be greatest, researchers say.

The study — recently published in the — looked at staffing before the COVID-19 pandemic. It found that skilled clinical workers such a...

How Worried Should You Be About New Reports on Polio?

Poliovirus detected in New York City wastewater last week put public health officials on high alert, as it indicates the potentially paralyzing virus is circulating widely in the area.

But infectious disease experts say there's no need for families of fully vaccinated children to panic.

"The inactivated polio vaccine is part of the s...

Nerve Block Plus Lidocaine Clears Psoriasis in Small Study

MONDAY, Aug. 15, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Spinal injections of a common anesthetic may help clear the inflammatory skin condition psoriasis, a small pilot study suggests.

The study involved four patients with severe psoriasis, and researchers are describing it as a "proof-of-concept" — specifically, the idea that targe...

Scotland Becomes 1st Country to Provide Free Period Products

On Monday Scotland became the world's first country to help its residents with what activists supporting the move call "period poverty."

The country now offers free period products for anyone who needs them, a decision first made in November 2020 by unanimous approval in Scottish Parliament, according to CBS News.

Making the...

U.K. Is First Country to Approve Moderna's Omicron-Targeted COVID Vaccine

A COVID-19 booster that's targeted to the Omicron variant will be available soon — and it's already been approved in Britain.

The U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency was the first to give the go-ahead for the vaccine that was designed to fight both the original COVID virus from 2020 and the omicron BA.1 variant, whic...

Monkeypox May Get New Name to Curb Stigma

MONDAY, Aug. 15, 2022 (HealthDay News) – Monkeypox could soon get a new name.

The World Health Organization announced Friday that it plans to rename the condition to eliminate any derogatory or racist connotations, a decision in alignment with current best practices for naming diseases.

"The naming of virus species is the...

Unpaid Time Off Work Rose 50% During Pandemic

U.S. workers without paid leave lost out on an estimated $28 billion in wages during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report.

The analysis showed that the greatest increases in unpaid absences were among low-income workers who were self-employed, Black or Hispanic, female, or raising families with children. ...

Heat, Smoke & the Heart: Wildfires Cause Cardiac Crises

While most people know that breathing in wildfire smoke isn’t good for respiratory health, they may not know that unclean air is also problematic for the heart.

Individuals with underlying cardiovascular disease risk factors may also be at risk from the smoky air impacting their heart conditions, according to the American Heart Associat...

One Back-to-School Worry for Parents: Traffic Dangers

The dangers of school traffic is a major worry for many parents, a new poll finds.

In fact, a third of more than 900 parents surveyed last spring said speeding and distracted parent drivers are their main concern, and drivers who don't follow the rules should be banned from school parking areas.

According to the C.S. Mott Children's...

Playing Football, Hockey in High School Ups Odds for Stimulant Abuse

Taking part in certain sports in high school may lead to misuse of prescription stimulants in the years after graduation, a new study finds.

It reported that high school seniors who play contact sports are 50% more likely to abuse prescription stimulants in their 20s. Seniors who take part in any sport are more likely than those who don't ...

COVID Vaccine Safe for Pregnant Women: Study

The most popular COVID-19 vaccines are safe to use in pregnancy, a large, new Canadian study has concluded.

About 4% of pregnant women given an mRNA vaccine had a significant health event within a week of their first dose, and about 7% did after dose two, according to data gathered from more than 191,000 Canadian women.

By comparison...

Watch Out for the Warning Signs of Heart Failure

Heart failure can develop at any age, but it can be prevented or treated, one cardiologist says.

Heart failure happens when the heart becomes too stiff or weak, no longer able to keep up with the body's demands for pumping blood. The primary cause is heart disease, but the heart muscle can also stiffen because of poorly controlled high blo...

Up Your Skin Care Routine During Hot Summer Months

Sweating can affect your skin, so learning how to handle it should be an important part of your skin care regime, a Baylor College of Medicine aesthetician says.

"Sweating is an important bodily function that cools you down, expels toxins through your skin and provides that famous post-workout glow," said Kim Chang, from Baylor's Departmen...

Poliovirus Discovered in NYC Wastewater

State and local health officials have detected the poliovirus in New York City's wastewater, a finding that indicates the virus has spread widely since first being discovered in the wastewater of a neighboring county last month.

The New York State Department of Health and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene both advis...

Your Brain Gets Tired, and Scientists Now Know Why

Preparing your taxes is a purely mental activity, but one that leaves many exhausted by the end of the effort.

The same goes for reading a dense report, picking apart reams of spreadsheet data, or writing a fact-laden paper.

That feeling of exhaustion following a bout of intense thinking isn’t all in your head, a new study argues.<...

Here's How New Federal Legislation Might Cut Your Drug Costs

The Inflation Reduction Act is expected to bring out-of-pocket drug costs down for many U.S. seniors, but most of its benefits aren't immediate.

Under the law, Medicare will now be allowed to negotiate the cost of some drugs. That should eventually bring down out-of-pocket costs for seniors with Medicare Part D prescription drug plans, acc...

Everyday Activities That Can Cut Your Odds for Dementia

Reading, doing yoga and spending time with family and friends might help lower your risk of dementia, a new study suggests.

"Previous studies have shown that leisure activities were associated with various health benefits, such as a lower cancer risk, a reduction of atrial fibrillation, and a person’s perception of their own well-being,"...

AHA News: Obstacles Didn't Stop This Heart Defect Survivor From Competing on 'American Ninja Warrior'

At 21, Chris O'Connell learned his pediatric cardiologist had retired. He was assigned a new doctor for the annual checkups he'd had all his life.

"I know you've been told to not exercise hard or strain your heart, but that's the old way of thinking," the cardiologist told him. "Think of your heart as a muscle that needs to be worked out."...

Wind Can Uproot Kids' Bouncy Castles, With Tragic Results

FRIDAY, Aug. 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Inflatable bounce houses are big, colorful, cheap to rent and practically scream "childhood fun." So, what could possibly go wrong?

It turns out plenty. For one thing, the air-filled party staples are vulnerable to being blown aloft and even flipped over if left unmoored, a new s...