New COVID Variant Takes Hold in the United States

TUESDAY, Nov. 28, 2023 (Healthday News) -- The prevalence of a highly mutated COVID variant has tripled in the past two weeks, new government data shows.

Now, nearly 1 in 10 new COVID cases are fueled by the BA.2.86 variant, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Monday.

The variant is sprea...

Internet Poses No Threat to Mental Health, Major Study Finds

It might seem that surfing the web could cause a person’s mental health to suffer, but a landmark new study has concluded that internet use poses no major threat to people’s psychological well-being.

Researchers compared country-level internet and broadband use to the mental well-being of millions of people in dozens of countries, and ...

After Salmonella Cases Double in a Week, Cantaloupe Recall Expanded

MONDAY, Nov. 27, 2023 (Healthday News) -- Three more brands of cantaloupe have been recalled by U.S. health officials after salmonella infections linked to the fruit more than doubled in just a week.

The case count now includes nearly 100 people in 32 states, with Arizona, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio having the highest number o...

Long COVID Now Common in U.S. Nursing Homes

MONDAY, Nov. 27, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Repeated COVID-19 outbreaks in nursing homes have had a stark and lasting impact on vulnerable older residents, a new study reports.

Long COVID has left many residents of these facilities relying more and more on staff to help them months later with basic, everyday activities such as bathing and u...

In Michigan, 5 Women Contracted Syphilis Affecting the Eyes From the Same Asymptomatic Man

MONDAY, Nov. 27, 2023 (HealthDay News) — In a disease cluster last year, one infected but asymptomatic man spread a rare form of syphilis that affects the eyes to five Michigan women, a new report finds.

Since ocular syphilis remains very rare, researchers believe the strain of T. pallidum  -- the syphilis bacterium -- that...

Whole Grain Foods Could Help Black Seniors Avoid Alzheimer's

Whole grains could be the key to Black people protecting their brains against aging and dementia, a new study reports.

Black folks who ate more foods with whole grains appeared to have a slower rate of memory decline than those who ate fewer whole grains, according to findings published Nov. 23 in the journal Neurology.

Amon...