UPMC doctors recommend antibody treatment early for covid patients
UPMC officials on Friday came together to make a concerted push for monoclonal antibody treatment for covid-19, strongly encouraging covid-positive individuals who are most at risk for hospitalization and death to ask for the treatment. Dr. Erin McCreary, an infectious disease pharmacist, described monoclonal antibodies as “copies of antibodies that...
Some women have lymph node swelling under arm after covid vaccine
Lea Anne Ochs was dismayed when she received a call from UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital about a follow-up ultrasound from a mammogram. “My mammograms had always been normal,” said the 48-year-old from Economy Borough, Beaver County. “It was my routine mammogram. And there was no family history of breast cancer.” The...
AstraZeneca confirms strong vaccine protection after U.S. riftVideo
AstraZeneca insisted Wednesday that its covid-19 vaccine is strongly effective even after counting additional illnesses in its disputed U.S. study, the latest in an extraordinary public rift with American officials. In a late-night press release, AstraZeneca said it had recalculated data from that study and concluded the vaccine is 76%...
A first: U.S. Senate confirms transgender doctor, Rachel Levine, for key postVideo
Voting mostly along party lines, the U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed former Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine to be the nation’s assistant secretary of health. She is the first openly transgender federal official to win Senate confirmation. The final vote was 52-48. Levine had been serving as Pennsylvania’s top health...
Ticks present concern about Lyme disease as weather warms
As the weather warms and people once again take to the outdoors, state officials are reminding residents that in addition to health and safety protocols for covid-19, there is also one of the state’s most persistent pests to consider: the black-legged tick, the primary vector for Lyme disease in Pennsylvania....
Highmark boasts $490M operating gain in 2020 — better than pre-pandemic
When covid-19 struck Western Pennsylvania last March, Highmark Health CEO and President David Holmberg said he and fellow executives braced for the worst. They weren’t sure just how overwhelmed their providers might get, or how much money and other resources it would take to keep operations going as outbreaks proliferated....
AstraZeneca: U.S. data shows vaccine effective for all ages
LONDON — AstraZeneca’s covid-19 vaccine provided strong protection against sickness and eliminated hospitalizations and deaths from the disease across all age groups in a late-stage study in the United States, the company announced Monday. AstraZeneca said its experts did not identify any safety concerns related to the vaccine, including finding...
A huge spike in Medicaid enrollment in Pa. shows how devastating the coronavirus has been
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan 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 — There are many ways to measure the pain being felt by people in Cumberland County. More families in the...
Murrysville native recruits fellow MIT students, others to battle social isolation among seniorsVideo
Bhav Jain, 19, of Murrysville knows how he felt during the early stages of covid, forced to return home from his freshman year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to learn from home. But even now, back in Boston to finish up his sophomore year, Jain is still thinking the...
‘Poundemic’ pitfalls: Trade bad quarantine food habits for healthy choicesVideo
Have you heard the term “poundemic”? It describes the unhealthy eating habits and subsequent weight gain that have plagued many during the pandemic, said Dawn Davoli, a registered dietitian and nutritionist for Excela Health. “I’d say our eating habits tanked a little bit in the past year,” she said. “When...
CDC: Nearly everyone is returning for 2nd covid-19 shotVideo
More than 95% of the people who have received the first dose of the two-shot coronavirus vaccine regimen have returned on time for their second, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. The public health agency saw the statistics, which it compiled between Dec. 14 and Feb. 14,...
Moderna begins testing its covid-19 vaccine in children as young as 6 monthsVideo
Moderna Inc. said it has begun delivering experimental doses of its covid-19 vaccine to children as part of a study to determine whether it is safe and effective in those as young as 6 months. The trial aims to enroll about 6,750 volunteers in the United States and Canada. The...
Google gets into sleep surveillance with new Nest Hub screen
Google’s next internet-connected home device will test whether consumers trust the company enough to let it snoop on their sleep. New sleep-sensing technology will be a key feature on Google’s latest version of its Nest Hub, a 7-inch smart screen unveiled Tuesday. Like the previous generation, the $100 Nest Hub...
Still green and mean, Mr. Yuk turns 50Video
Mr. Yuk is still Mean. Mr. Yuk is still Green. Mr. Yuk still can be seen. He’s turning 50. That fluorescent green face inside the circle means: Stay away. Created by Dr. Richard Moriarty in Pittsburgh, Mr. Yuk’s menacing mug continues to be placed on the outside of bottles and...
Survivors struggle as scientists race to solve covid mystery
There was no reason to celebrate on Rachel Van Lear’s anniversary. The same day a global pandemic was declared, she developed symptoms of covid-19. A year later, she’s still waiting for them to disappear. And for experts to come up with some answers. The Texas woman is one of thousands...
UN says Ebola in Guinea may be linked to 2014 outbreak
A top official at the World Health Organization said that a genetic analysis of the ongoing Ebola outbreak in Guinea suggests it may have been sparked by a survivor of the devastating West Africa epidemic that ended five years ago. At a press briefing in Geneva, WHO emergencies chief Dr....
Covid or allergies? Here we go again as spring approaches in Western Pa.
While many are eager to welcome warmer temperatures, seasonal allergy sufferers in Western Pennsylvania are likely bracing for the onset of familiar symptoms like watery eyes, nasal congestion and sore throat. Some of those symptoms resemble covid-19, which may make it difficult for some people to determine whether they’re contending...
Global rise in childhood mental health issues amid pandemic
PARIS — By the time his parents rushed him to the hospital, 11-year-old Pablo was barely eating and had stopped drinking entirely. Weakened by months of self-privation, his heart had slowed to a crawl and his kidneys were faltering. Medics injected him with fluids and fed him through a tube...
EU regulator approves J&J’s one-shot covid vaccine
AMSTERDAM — The European Medicines Agency has authorized Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose coronavirus vaccine, giving the European Union’s 27 nations a fourth licensed vaccine to try to curb the pandemic amid a stalled vaccination drive in the bloc. In a decision issued Thursday, the EU medicines regulator said it was...
WQED, Western Pa. groups to host youth mental health virtual event
In addition to all the other problems it has caused, the covid-19 pandemic has given rise to mental health issues for 11- to- 17-year-olds. The disruption of in-person classes, as well as extracurricular and social activities, has left a significant number of young people depressed and worried about their futures....
Looking for a covid-19 vaccine? This site can help find spares — but you’ll need patienceVideo
In an attempt to rid Americans of the tedious task of refreshing websites for hours on end, a team of 21 medical advisers, technology experts and business people are running a site that matches covid-19 vaccine providers with leftover doses to people who want one. The free service, coined Dr....
California and Florida took vastly different approaches to covid. Here’s how it turned out.
A year into the pandemic, California and Florida have become common points of contrast as Americans grapple with the horrific human and economic tolls of trying to control covid-19. Though the states took wildly different approaches to the pandemic, their rates of death from covid-19 differ as much as one...
Pittsburgh-based Dr. Amesh Adalja cherishes role as voice of the pandemic
Nobody could blame Dr. Amesh Adalja if he feels somewhat reluctant to check his email or go to the mailbox on certain days. The Pittsburgh-based infectious disease expert, who is of Indian descent, has been on the receiving end of everything from overtly racist emails, including being called “dirt skin,”...
Western Pa. health experts cautious about CDC’s mask-shedding guidance
Western Pennsylvania health professionals say the newest public health guidelines about maskless gatherings are a “measured step toward normalcy” — but they also come with some concerns. “I worry a little bit, frankly, that people will maybe misinterpret this particular guidance, and think it gives more freedoms than it really...
Solid sign-ups for Biden’s new ‘Obamacare’ coverage offer
WASHINGTON — More than 200,000 people signed up for coverage in the first two weeks after President Joe Biden reopened HealthCare.gov as part of his coronavirus response, the government said Wednesday. The solid start to the three-month special enrollment period indicates a pent-up demand for health insurance as the covid-19...
