Respiratory Infections News

I first became interested in the medical field while dissecting a frog in my junior high biology class.

After requesting emergency use authorization for their omicron-adapted COVID-19 vaccine in people aged 12 years and older, Pfizer and BioNTech said Tuesday they are also working with the FDA on bringing a booster to younger children.

The CDC on Monday recommended Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine for use in adolescents aged 12 to 17 years.

Anthony S. Fauci, MD, announced Monday that he will step down as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in December after 38 years in the position.

Invasive mechanical ventilation improved 30-day survival in patients with advanced dementia hospitalized with pneumonia compared with noninvasive ventilation, despite lack of 1-year survival benefit and higher health care costs.

Patients with normal oxygenation levels who were treated for possible pneumonia experienced similar outcomes with an “ultrashort” course of antibiotics compared with a longer course, researchers reported recently.

About 7% of children hospitalized with COVID-19 at major pediatric hospitals in the United States experienced a neurologic complication of some kind, even if they were otherwise healthy, a study in Pediatrics reported.

The CDC’s updated COVID-19 guidelines relax previous strategies and no longer require unvaccinated individuals to quarantine after an exposure.

First Lady Jill Biden, EdD, has tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms, the White House said Tuesday. She has been prescribed Paxlovid.

Healio spoke with Sonja C. O’Leary, MD, medical director of school-based health centers at Denver Health and chair of the AAP’s Council on School Health, about updated CDC guidance and other challenges facing K-12 systems this year.