If you're a fan of raw milk, keep it chilled. Leaving raw milk at room temperature can release antimicrobial-resistant genes, a new study suggests.

Also, bacteria that have antimicrobial-resistant genes can transfer them to other bacteria, spreading resistance, the researchers said.

"We don't want to scare people, we want to educate them," said researcher Jinxin Liu. "If y...

Kids should be able to safely return to reopened schools this fall, resuming their studies with little risk that they will contribute to the COVID-19 pandemic, some infectious disease experts argue.

The scientific evidence so far indicates that children do not tend to spread the novel coronavirus between themselves, nor do they appear to regularly infect adults, a new editorial in the...

Aerosol boxes meant to protect health care workers when they intubate COVID-19 patients may actually increase their exposure to airborne virus particles, an Australian study warns.

Intubation is done when patients are placed on a ventilator.

Aerosol boxes have been touted as a quick, simple way to protect workers, but their effectiveness and safety were never clinically test...

Safe injection sites for users of illicit drugs such as heroin: They've been tried and legalized in countries such as Canada and the Netherlands, and a new study suggests they might save American lives, too.

In the study, published online July 8 in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers analyzed five years of data (2014 to 2019) from an unsanctioned safe drug consumpt...

Penicillin allergy is often unconfirmed in hospital patients, meaning many unnecessarily receive other antibiotics that may be less effective and even harmful, a new study finds.

The researchers analyzed records of nearly 11,000 patients at 106 U.S. hospitals and found that 16% of those with a self-reported penicillin allergy were twice as likely to be prescribed alternative antib...

Falling off a ladder can cause long-lasting mental and physical health problems, researchers say.

The new study included 134 people who fell off ladders and were seen at the emergency departments of two hospitals in Queensland, Australia, between October 2015 and October 2016.

More than half of the patients were men over 55 and most were injured while doing chores around the...

Three major medical groups are urging Americans to wear face masks, wash their hands and practice social distancing as coronavirus cases continue to surge in the United States.

In an open letter to the public released Monday, the groups noted that stay-at-home orders and other social distancing policies curbed the spread of COVID-19 in the spring.

"But in the weeks since st...

Stressed from home-schooling your kids? Lonely from lockdown? Worried about a sick loved one isolated in a nursing home? Worried you might lose your job?

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is affecting everyone's mental health in ways small and large, and experts are concerned that for many, today's anxiety will become a tidal wave of mental health problems in the years ahead.

Th...

West Virginia loosened fireworks sales rules in 2016. And since then, the state has seen a 40% boom in fireworks-related injuries, researchers say.

The regulation change made it easier for people to buy Class C fireworks such as Roman candles, bottle rockets and fountains.

"Since there has been a trend among states to liberalize these laws, I think it is wise for states ...

New York City's COVID-19 death rate was more than double that of some countries, and the city's oldest people had the highest risk of death, researchers report.

They used a computer model to analyze over 191,000 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases along with more than 20,000 confirmed and probable COVID-19 deaths in New York City from March 1 to May 16.

During that time, the city's...

With communities across the United States canceling Fourth of July celebrations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, backyard fireworks are likely to be more popular than ever.

And that has many health experts worried. They fear injuries will soar among amateurs who don't know how to use fireworks safely. Even before the holiday, explosives are being set off in America's backyards and on c...

Americans began to travel less before states started to issue stay-at-home orders, and that may have curbed coronavirus case numbers, a new study suggests.

"Our results strongly support the conclusion that social distancing played a crucial role in the reduction of case growth rates in multiple U.S. counties during March and April, and is therefore an effective mitigation policy for ...

Kids who have a fever-related seizure after getting a vaccine won't have developmental and behavioral problems as a result, according to a new study.

These so-called febrile seizures do not affect children's development whether they occur after a vaccination or not, the researchers said.

"A febrile seizure can occur following vaccination and understandably can be quite dis...

Almost overnight, the pandemic has turned cotton masks into an American wardrobe staple. But a coughing simulation shows that not all cotton masks are equal as a defense against COVID-19.

"We focused primarily on nonmedical-grade masks that are recommended for use by the wider public," said lead author Siddhartha Verma. He's an assistant professor at Florida Atlantic University's Depa...

A blood test may predict which COVID-19 patients are likely to need a ventilator.

This finding could lead to a scoring system that would flag at-risk patients for closer monitoring and to personalized treatments. It may also help explain how diabetes makes outcomes worse, according to researchers from the University of Virginia School of Medicine.

The study focused on 57 C...

If you plan to celebrate Independence Day, you might want to reconsider setting off fireworks, Prevent Blindness suggests.

There are other, safer ways to mark the United States of America's birthday, according to the nonprofit eye health and safety group. It noted that thousands of Americans are injured by fireworks each year, especially around July 4th.

"There are so many w...

The number of coronavirus cases around the world may actually be 12 times higher than reported, a new study suggests in a finding that likely reflects asymptomatic transmission and not enough testing.

The difference is less dramatic when it comes to death tallies, with the researchers estimating that actual deaths are probably 1.5 times higher than reported deaths.

To arrive...

Reports of serious, even deadly, vaping-linked lung injuries dominated the headlines late last year, then COVID-19 took over the news.

But those lung injuries haven't gone away, and signs of e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury (EVALI) can look a lot like a COVID-19 infection, federal and state health officials warn.

Eight cases of EVALI were reported i...

Fake or unapproved COVID-19 antibody tests are being sold by scammers, the Federal Bureau of Investigation warns.

The FBI said fraudsters are also trying to get people's personal information (such as names, birthdates and Social Security numbers) as well as personal health information (including Medicare and/or private health insurance info). This information can be used in insurance ...

Even as the United States reopens, it's crucial that people wear face masks when they can't maintain proper social distancing, experts emphasize.

"While it's tempting to view [things] as being back to normal, that's simply not the case," said Dr. Patrick Gavigan, a pediatric infectious disease physician at Penn State Children's Hospital.

"The virus is still out there. We st...

Long-term exposure to fine particle air pollution is a major risk factor for heart disease and death, but even small reductions in pollution levels can reduce the threat, a new study shows.

Researchers analyzed data from more than 157,000 adults, aged 35 to 70, in 21 countries.

Between 2003 and 2018, more than 9,100 people had heart disease events, including more than 4,000 ...

Sports fans are itching to watch their favorite teams return to play, but are jam-packed arenas even remotely safe in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic?

For Glenn Rall, chief academic officer and a virologist at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, the answer isn't simple.

"There are inherent dangers," he said. "And the rational decision may simply be that, no, w...

COVID-19 is being diagnosed in Hispanic communities at a disproportionately high rate, a new study of the Baltimore-Washington, D.C., area shows.

Researchers found that among nearly 38,000 patients tested for SARS-CoV-2 at Johns Hopkins Health System, 16% were positive for the virus that causes COVID-19.

That figure was much higher -- almost 43% -- among Hispanic pat...

Working at home during a pandemic isn't an option for about three-quarters of U.S. workers, putting them at increased risk of infection, a new study finds.

Those 108 million workers tend to be among the lowest paid and are more likely to face pandemic-related job disruptions, including layoffs, furloughs or reduced hours.

"This pandemic has really exacerbated existing vulner...

Canadian provinces that allow retail displays promoting e-cigarettes had nearly three times the teen vaping rate, a new study found.

Until May 2018, e-cigarettes weren't widely available in Canada and it was illegal to advertise those containing nicotine. When the law changed, Quebec and Manitoba adopted their own restrictions, including bans on retail displays and ads for e-cigarett...

Large-scale "pooled" testing of Americans could curb the spread of the new coronavirus and allow most people to return to their normal lives within several weeks, a new report suggests.

The findings come as the White House coronavirus task force eyes the strategy as a potential solution to expand testing quickly across the country as cases surge in the South and Midwest.

Dr....

More and more U.S. states are allowing marijuana to be taken as medicine, and a new study suggests that users do indeed feel better.

In a survey of nearly 1,300 people with chronic health conditions, researchers found that those using "medicinal cannabis" reported less pain, better sleep and reduced anxiety.

They also tended to use fewer prescription medications and were les...

Here's some truly sunny news out of the coronavirus pandemic.

Lower levels of air pollution resulting from people staying at home have enabled more sunlight to reach solar panels and increased their output of clean energy.

For the study, researchers analyzed data from Delhi, India, one of the world's most polluted cities, and published their findings June 19 in the journal ...

From the start of the coronavirus pandemic, it's been clear that older adults are especially vulnerable to serious illness.

Now, experts are concerned that older Americans are falling victim to ageism and messages that they are "expendable" amid the crisis.

The pandemic has seen "horror stories" from around the world on the toll exacted on older people, said Gordon Flett, a ...

College students who partied on the beach at Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, over spring break paid a price for their frivolity: Their fun in the sand led to 64 cases of COVID-19 back in Texas, U.S. health officials report.

Little did the University of Texas at Austin students know that as they tanned and knocked back shots of tequila in mid-March they were also transmitting the coronavirus. ...

Blood plasma transfusions from people who have developed antibodies to the new coronavirus appear to be safe for many COVID-19 patients, a large study suggests.

The experimental treatment -- called convalescent plasma therapy -- is popular because no drug has been approved specifically to treat coronavirus infection.

A week after 20,000 COVID-19 patients deemed at risk for ...

Densely populated areas of the United States don't have higher rates of COVID-19 infection and death than less-congested areas, according to a new study.

The findings counter the conventional wisdom that the new coronavirus spreads more easily in cities and other densely populated areas.

"The fact that density is unrelated to confirmed virus infection rates and inversely r...

If you're working from home because of the coronavirus pandemic and expect to keep doing so, you need to be sure your work station is set up properly, an orthopedic specialist says.

You also need to take regular breaks to move around, according to Terrence McGee, a physical therapist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.

In an office, many people have ...

Months into a global pandemic, some groups of Americans simply don't know enough about COVID-19 to protect themselves and others against the highly infectious respiratory virus, a new study reports.

Most folks have a pretty good grasp about how COVID-19 spreads and the three main symptoms (fever, cough, difficulty breathing) that should prompt you to get tested for the virus, said lea...

COVID-19 spreads easily among people who live together and other family members, even before an infected person shows any symptoms, new research shows.

The study -- published June 17 in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal -- also said that the new coronavirus spreads among household members more easily than severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) or Middle East respiratory ...

Dr. Teresa Murray Amato rode the subway into Manhattan from Queens the other day and found that summertime and face masks aren't an easy fit.

"It was a warm day. I definitely felt it was a little hot," said Amato, director of emergency medicine at Long Island Jewish Forest Hills in Queens, N.Y.

Despite her discomfort, Amato resisted the urge to remove her mask -- and she recomme...

When patients are pushed out of the hospital after hip surgery to make room for others, the odds of dying increase, according to a recent study from Norway.

When beds are in short supply, patients are forced out, researchers say. Fridays, the day before holidays and times when hospitals are overbooked are prime times for patients to be discharged, they report.

"Patients wh...

Tick monitoring and control is lacking in much of the United States despite a steady increase in tick-borne illnesses, such as Lyme disease, a new study finds.

In the United States, tick-borne illnesses more than doubled between 2004 and 2018, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For the new study, the researchers surveyed tick management progra...

If a loved one is dealing with COVID-19 at home, there are several steps you can take to aid in their recovery.

First and foremost: Limit your direct exposure to them. Stay 6 feet away whenever you can.

"If possible, sleep in different rooms, use different bathrooms, and have your family member isolate him- or herself in certain rooms of the home," said Dr. Turner Overton, an...

A large cloud of virus-laden droplets can be released high into the air when you flush a toilet -- and it can hang around long enough to be inhaled by others, a new study says.

The new coronavirus that causes COVID-19 can be found in the feces of infected people, and this finding suggests it could be transmitted through the use of toilets, according to the authors. The study was publi...

Dental offices responded to COVID-19 lockdowns in much the same way as other medical professions, halting routine visits and only providing emergency care to patients in dire need.

But now that stay-at-home orders are lifting, many dentists are reopening, but with new protocols to limit infection.

Your dental appointment will not be the same, with changes from the waiting room t...

One Chicago jail is linked with nearly 16% of COVID-19 cases in the city and in Illinois, a new study finds.

The researchers said their findings show that U.S. arrest and jailing practices pose a major public health risk during the pandemic and need to change, especially during anti-racism protests across the country.

The study authors noted that the new coronavirus has...

About 1 in 5 people worldwide has a least one underlying health condition that puts them at increased risk of severe COVID-19 illness, researchers say.

While the analysis of data from 188 countries suggests that 22% of the world's population, or 1.7 billion people, might need additional protective measures, not all people with underlying conditions will develop severe COVID-19 ill...

The American Red Cross will test all blood, platelet and plasma donations for COVID-19 antibodies so donors can learn whether they've been exposed to the new coronavirus.

"We recognize that individuals and public health organizations desire more information about COVID-19, and as an organization dedicated to helping others, the Red Cross is fortunate to be able to help during this pan...

As Americans take to the streets to protest police brutality, they may face ear-blasting "sound cannons" that can harm their hearing.

Sound cannons, or long-range acoustic devices (LRADs), were developed for the military, and now some police departments use them as weapons in crowd control. The sound they emit is greater than that of a jet engine and surpasses the average threshold fo...

Americans need to stay on their guard against COVID-19 even as their communities reopen, health officials warned Friday.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released two documents posing considerations that people should take into account when deciding whether to go out to eat, hit the gym or attend a friend's barbecue.

"I know people are eager to return to n...

The boisterous bustle of students jostling down crowded hallways to reach lockers and classrooms has long served as one of the most powerful memories of high school life for many.

Those loud, happy throngs might now belong to a bygone era, thanks to COVID-19.

Schools planning to reopen in the fall are weighing what's called the "pod" approach, in which middle and high school...

Social restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic can be especially hard for people who can't visit loved ones with Alzheimer's disease who are in nursing homes.

Despite an easing of restrictions, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says nursing homes shouldn't allow outside visitors until the last phase of its reopening guidelines.

"One of the hardest part...

Scientists studying the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus -- which causes COVID-19 -- believe they've discovered why face masks might help limit transmission of the virus.

The virus tends to first infect the nasal cavity, replicating less well in the lower respiratory tract, University of North Carolina (UNC) researchers found. However, sometimes it's sucked into the lungs, where it can cause s...

The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching effects, and a new study points to yet another: It may be keeping people from seeking emergency care for suicidal thoughts.

The study, at one large Ohio health system, found that ER visits for suicidal ideation dropped by over 60% in the month after the state instituted its stay-at-home order.

And that's concerning, researchers ...