Author: Carla K. Johnson
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Study raises questions about plastic pollution’s effect on heart health
A study raises more questions than it answers about how tiny specks of plastic might affect the heart
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As cancer treatment advances, patients and doctors push back against drugs’ harsh side effects
Cancer patients and doctors have ignited a movement to radically change how new cancer drugs are tested to make them more tolerable
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U.S. will require COVID-19 testing for travelers from China
WASHINGTON • The U.S. announced new COVID-19 testing requirements Wednesday for all travelers from China, joining other nations imposing restrictions because of a surge of infections. The increase in cases across China follows the rollback of the nation’s strict anti-virus controls. China’s “zero COVID” policies had kept China’s infection rate low but fueled public frustration…
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COVID vaccines saved 20M lives in 1st year, scientists say
NEW YORK • Nearly 20 million lives were saved by COVID-19 vaccines during their first year, but even more deaths could have been prevented if international targets for the shots had been reached, researchers reported Thursday. On Dec. 8, 2020, a retired shop clerk in England received the first shot in what would become a…
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Estimated 73% of US now immune to omicron: Is that enough?
WASHINGTON • The omicron wave that assaulted the United States this winter also bolstered its defenses, leaving enough protection against the coronavirus that future spikes will likely require much less — if any — dramatic disruption to society. Millions of individual Americans’ immune systems now recognize the virus and are primed to fight it off…
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U.S. death toll from coronavirus hits 200,000
WASHINGTON • The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus topped 200,000 Tuesday, by far the highest in the world, hitting the once-unimaginable threshold six weeks before an election that is certain to be a referendum in part on President Donald Trump’s handling of the crisis. “It is completely unfathomable that we’ve reached this point,” said…
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Report: New virus cases decline in U.S.
NEW YORK • The number of Americans newly diagnosed with the coronavirus is falling — a development experts credit at least partly to increased wearing of masks — even as the outbreak continues to claim nearly 1,000 lives in the U.S. each day. About 43,000 new cases are being reported daily across the country, down…
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Mumps sickens hundreds of detained migrants in 19 states
WASHINGTON • Mumps has swept through 57 immigration detention facilities in 19 states since September, according to the first U.S. government report on the outbreaks in the overloaded immigration system. The virus sickened 898 adult migrants and 33 detention center staffers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in its report Thursday. New cases…
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London man seems to be free of HIV in second such case
SEATTLE • A London man appears to be free of the virus that causes AIDS after a stem cell transplant, the second success including the “Berlin patient,” doctors reported. The therapy had an early success with Timothy Ray Brown, a U.S. man treated in Germany who is 12 years post-transplant and still free of HIV.…
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New era in virtual reality therapy for common phobias
Dick Tracey didn’t have to visit a tall building to get over his fear of heights. He put on a virtual reality headset. Through VR, he rode an elevator to a high-rise atrium that looked so real he fell to his knees. “I needed to search with my hand for something solid around me,” he…