Health

Fully vaccinated Michigan couple dies from COVID-19 a minute apart while holding hands: report

A fully vaccinated Michigan couple died one minute apart from COVID-19 on Sunday after coming down with the virus earlier this month, a report said.

Cal Dunham, 59, and his wife Linda, 66, had preexisting conditions and were very cautious, Fox17Online reported. But they came down with symptoms during a recent camping trip and days later were hospitalized and put on ventilators, the report said.

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They did not improve and doctors told the family that they would likely need to come off life-support on Monday. Sarah Dunham told the outlet that the pair “had other plans.”

“It was Sunday and dad’s like, ‘You know what? This is what we’re going to do today,’” she said.

They were reportedly wheeled into the same room. He died at 11:07 a.m. and she died at 11:08 a.m., the report said. They were holding hands.

The daughter told the station that her mother would joke around that she would be right behind her husband if something were to ever happen to him.

“And she really was, like she really was right there behind him,” she said.

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In studies, the two-dose COVID-19 vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna were around 95% effective at preventing illness, while the one-shot Johnson & Johnson shot was 72% effective, though direct comparisons are difficult. So while the vaccines are very good at protecting us from the virus, it’s still possible to get infected with mild or no symptoms, or even to get very sick.

Still, health experts say the vaccines provide strong protection against serious illness.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Trick-or-treating amid COVID-19 pandemic: CDC director weighs in

Looking to partake in Halloween festivities this year? Celebrate outdoors, limit crowds and trick-or-treat in small groups, says Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“Oh gosh I certainly hope so,” Walensky told CBS’ Face the Nation, when prompted whether it was safe for kids to trick-or-treat this year. “If you’re able to be outdoors, absolutely. Limit crowds, I wouldn’t necessarily go to a crowded Halloween party but I think that we should be able to let our kids go trick-or-treating in small groups and I hope that we can do that this year.”

COVID-19 VACCINE BOOSTERS: WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

Walensky’s comments come as children under 12 remain ineligible for COVID-19 vaccine, though Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said Sunday the company is “days, not weeks” away from submitting trial data to the FDA in a bid to expand use among kids ages 5-11, and Pfizer board member Dr. Scott Gottlieb has anticipated the age group could become eligible for vaccine by Halloween. Recent findings suggested the shot was safe and effective in elementary school-aged kids at a lower dose, 10 microgram (µg) versus the 30 µg dose for individuals ages 12 and older.

“Since July, pediatric cases of COVID-19 have risen by about 240 percent in the U.S. – underscoring the public health need for vaccination,” Bourla wrote in part in a release posted on Sept. 20. “These trial results provide a strong foundation for seeking authorization of our vaccine for children 5 to 11 years old, and we plan to submit them to the FDA and other regulators with urgency.”

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Last year, COVID-related precautions and gathering limits resulted in canceled Halloween events across 37 states, USA Today reported, while the CDC had discouraged Americans from participating in traditional trick-or-treating and indoor costume parties. The health agency last year advised trick-or-treaters against wearing a costume mask as a replacement for their virus-related mask or in addition to one.

“Many traditional Halloween activities can be high-risk for spreading viruses,” the CDC said in a previous advisory, adding that anyone who may have COVID-19–or have been exposed to someone with COVID-19–should not partake in any in-person activities during the holiday.

Fox News’ Daniella Genovese contributed to this report.

Salmonella outbreak from unknown source spreads to 29 states

An ongoing salmonella outbreak from an unknown food source has spread to 29 states, federal health officials warned.

The outbreak has infected nearly 280 people and more than two dozen have been hospitalized, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) latest update, which was issued on Sept. 23.

Still, there have been no deaths associated with the “fast-growing outbreak,” according to the CDC.

CARROTS SOLD TO RETAILERS NATIONWIDE RECALLED OVER SALMONELLA CONCERNS

The agency created a map showcasing where people impacted by the salmonella outbreak live.

So far, Texas has the most reported illnesses – 81 – followed by Illinois and Virginia, which have 23 and 22 reported cases, respectively.

Minnesota, with 19 illnesses, and Massachusetts, with 10, round out the top five states with the most reported cases.

However, the agency cautioned that the map may not represent all of the cases “because many people recover without medical care and are not tested for salmonella.”

CDC, USDA INVESTIGATING 2 SALMONELLA OUTBREAKS LINKED TO ITALIAN-STYLE MEATS

The CDC said officials in several states have been collecting data as part of a multistate investigation into an outbreak of salmonella oranienburg infections.

The agency added that officials have been collecting and testing food items from restaurants “where sick people ate” but have not yet identified a “food linked to illness.”

In its latest update, the CDC said a strain of salmonella oranienburg was found in a takeout condiment cup containing cilantro and lime – although the container had contained onions at one point, making it hard to identify the source.

“Because multiple food items were present in the container and in the sample that was tested, it is not possible to know which food item was contaminated,” the CDC said.

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Officials are using the information “in conjunction with other available information to help narrow the list of possible foods linked to illness.”

Each year, the potentially harmful bacteria causes about 1.35 million infections, 26,500 hospitalizations, and 420 deaths across the United States, according to the CDC.

Most people who became infected with the bacteria have diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps with symptoms lasting up to seven days.

However, in some cases, “people’s illness may be so severe that they need to be hospitalized,” the CDC said.

COVID-19 vaccine boosters: Who is eligible?

U.S. health authorities’ move last week to authorize and recommend the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to certain populations who received a second dose six months ago has left about 20 million Americans eligible, according to Jeff Zients, White House COVID-19 response coordinator.

Booster shots are aimed to extend and enhance protection against severe COVID-19 disease and related complications among vulnerable populations, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said during a White House briefing Friday. But who can receive a booster dose at this time?

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“If you are six months out from your last dose of Pfizer vaccine, you are eligible for a booster if you fall into one of three high risk groups,” Murthy said, noting the following eligible groups:

People ages 65 or older and residents in long term care facilities
People ages 50-64 with medical conditions and at high risk for severe COVID-19 illness (such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease)
People ages 18-49 with underlying conditions may receive a shot and should consider individual benefits and risks
People ages 18-64 who live or work in a setting with increased risk of COVID-19 exposure (including healthcare workers, teachers, individuals in shelters or prisons and grocery store workers)

A small fraction of Americans with moderate-to-severe immunocompromise were previously made eligible for a third dose as well. Murthy advised visiting vaccines.gov for thousands of locations nationwide offering COVID-19 booster doses.

“CDC will continue to monitor the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines to ensure appropriate recommendations to keep all Americans safe,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said in a statement. “We will also evaluate with similar urgency available data in the coming weeks to swiftly make additional recommendations for other populations or people who got the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccines.”

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“Your health matters just as much as other vaccine recipients and we want to make sure that your protection against COVID is strong and reliable as well,” Murthy added.

According to Zients, the U.S. has secured enough booster supply for every American, and doses are free with no I.D. or insurance required. Officials worked with governors, pharmacies, doctors, long term care facilities and other providers to make doses available to eligible Americans, he said, noting that 80,000 locations are offering a booster shot nationwide, including over 40,000 local pharmacies.

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More specifically, Pfizer-BioNTech booster shots are available at nearly 6,000 CVS Pharmacy and MinuteClinic locations, and patients will be prompted to self-attest to their eligibility by the defined guidelines; Walgreens, Walmart and Sam’s Club, Kroger and other pharmacies are offering doses as well.

Nevertheless, more than 70 million Americans remain unvaccinated, and federal health officials emphasized that vaccinating the unvaccinated remains a top priority in an effort to suppress the pandemic. As of Sept. 24, the U.S. recorded over 130,000 new daily cases, with a seven-day average of deaths exceeding 1,500 and weekly average for hospital admissions at 8,906.

Life expectancy of American men fell by 2 years amid COVID pandemic: study

The life expectancy of American men dropped by more than two years during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study has found.

Oxford University said in the study published Monday that the life expectancy among men fell by 2.2 years in 2020, the largest drop since World War II, according to Reuters.

Life expectancy fell by more than six months compared to 2019 for 22 of the 29 countries analyzed for the study, which included the U.S. and European nations.

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Overall, there were reductions in life expectancy in 27 of the 29 countries, the news outlet said.

Nov. 19, 2020: Ventilator tubes are attached to a COVID-19 patient at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in the Mission Hills section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Most life expectancy reductions could be linked to official COVID-19 deaths. The pandemic has so far claimed about 4.7 million lives across the globe and infected almost 232 million people, according to the latest numbers by Johns Hopkins University.

In the U.S., more than 688,000 people have died and almost 43 million cases have been confirmed.

“The fact that our results highlight such a large impact that is directly attributable to COVID-19 shows how devastating a shock it has been for many countries,” said Dr. Ridhi Kashyap, co-lead author of the study, which was published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.

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Most countries saw greater drops in life expectancy for men than women. Overall, men’s life expectancy fell by more than a year in 15 countries, compared to women in 11 countries.

In the U.S., the increased mortality was mainly among people of working age and those under 60. In Europe, meanwhile, deaths among those over 60 contributed more significantly to the spike in mortality.

Pfizer begins Phase 2/3 study for COVID-19 oral antiviral in exposed adults

Pfizer initiated a Phase 2/3 study of an investigational oral antiviral with a low dose of ritonavir to prevent COVID-19 illness, the company announced Monday. The treatment is aimed to slow viral replication after exposure to tamp down symptomatic disease and infection onset in others.

“With the continued impact of COVID-19 around the world, we believe that tackling the virus will require effective treatments for people who contract, or have been exposed to, the virus, complementing the impact that vaccines have had in helping quell infections,” Dr. Mikael Dolsten, PhD., chief scientific officer and president, worldwide research, development and medical of Pfizer, said in a news release posted Monday. “If successful, we believe this therapy could help stop the virus early – before it has had a chance to replicate extensively – potentially preventing symptomatic disease in those who have been exposed and inhibiting the onset of infection in others.”

PFIZER SAYS ITS COVID-19 VACCINE WORKS FOR KIDS AGES 5 TO 11

The Phase 2/3 study called EPIC-PEP, (Evaluation of Protease Inhibition for COVID-19 in Post-Exposure Prophylaxis), is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, set to enroll up to 2,660 healthy adults ages 18 and older living with a household member with a confirmed symptomatic COVID-19 infection. Study participants will be randomly assigned to receive PF-07321332/ritonavir or a placebo twice each day for five or 10 days, per the news release. The treatment is designed to be administered early (such as the first sign or infection or awareness of exposure) while ritonavir is intended to slow the metabolism of the PF-07321332 antiviral to help fight the virus for a longer period of time.

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“Given the continued emergence and evolution of SARS-CoV-2 variants and their immense impact, we continue to work diligently to develop and study new ways that our investigational oral antiviral candidate could potentially lower the impact of COVID-19, not only on patients’ lives, but also the lives of their families and household members,” Dolsten said.

The company intends to evaluate the candidate’s safety and efficacy in preventing confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and symptoms through two weeks, Pfizer said, noting that an early stage trial suggested the oral antiviral was safe and well tolerated. The global program involves other ongoing studies, like COVID-infected patients at high-risk of poor outcomes while another trial includes patients at a standard risk, which began in July and August, respectively.

Quitting smoking leads to eating more junk food, weight gain, study finds

Put down the pack and pick up a snack.

A new study from the University of Minnesota found that quitting smoking leads to a poor diet, potentially leading to weight gain.

The new study found that the opioid system — the brain functions responsible for addiction and appetite regulation — may cause former smokers suffering from nicotine withdrawal to prefer fatty, sugary foods to fill the void.

DIET RICH IN DAIRY MAY BE LINKED TO LOWER RISK OF HEART DISEASE: REPORT

The study was led by Dr. Mustafa al’Absi, a licensed psychologist and professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Biobehavioral Health at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth Campus, who published his findings in the Journal of Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

“We looked at whether or not acute nicotine withdrawal increases the intake of junk food — high in salt, fat and sugar — and how the stress-relieving receptors of the opioid system are involved,” al’Absi said in a press release from the university. “Mitigating these challenges during the treatment process will help patients quit smoking while understanding their eating habits and encourage healthier decisions.”

The study analyzed a group of smoking and non-smoking participants between the ages of 19 and 75. All subjects were asked to stop using nicotine for 24 hours and received either a placebo or 50 mg of naltrexone, a drug commonly used to treat patients with substance addiction problems.

DID COVID-19 STRESS, UNCERTAINTY STALL ANTI-SMOKING PUSH?

At the end of the two sessions before and after temporarily quitting, participants were offered a variety of snacks that differed in high to low energy density and dimensions of salty, sweet and fat.

The study found that those who were experiencing nicotine withdrawals consumed more calories. Those who’d taken the naltrexone were less likely to choose a high-calorie food.

“The study’s findings may be related to the use of food, especially those high in calories, to cope with the negative affect and distress that characterizes the feelings people experience during smoking withdrawal,” al’Absi said. “Results from preclinical and clinical research support this and demonstrate that stress increases proclivity for high-fat and high-sugar foods.”

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Weight gain or fear of weight gain after quitting, al’Absi believes, may be a factor in causing some smokers to relapse.

“These findings extend earlier studies that indicate the impact of tobacco use on appetite and help identify the influence of an important biological link, the brain opioid system, on craving during nicotine withdrawal,” al’Absi said. “The fear of weight gain is a major concern among smokers who think about quitting. The key to removing these barriers is to better understand the factors that increase the urge for high-caloric foods.”

WHO to revive probe into COVID-19 origins, officials warn time is running out

The World Health Organization is developing a team of about 20 scientists who will be tasked with uncovering the origins of the COVID-19 outbreak– and officials warned that time could be running out, according to a report.

The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that officials from the U.N.’s public-health arm have warned that the world may never know the virus’ origins.

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Lawrence Gostin, faculty director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University, told the paper that it is unclear if the team’s mandate will be enough to actually make progress in the investigation.

“China still holds all the cards, the WHO lacks power and it’s inconceivable to me that a new committee will be able to negotiate access to China…This is building a beautiful committee with nowhere to go,” he said.

The outbreak has also created additional tension between the U.S. and China. The Journal’s report said the Biden administration has been pressing WHO’s director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to renew the inquiry. The WHO did not immediately respond to a late email from Fox News.

An unidentified WHO spokesman told the paper that the team’s priority “needs to be data and access in the country where the first reports were identified.”

The U.S. intelligence community earlier this month failed to conclusively identify the origin of the coronavirus following a 90-day investigation ordered by President Biden and experts are divided on why. A report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) found that officials were unable to rule whether the virus escaped from a lab or spread to humans through an infected animal.

Klon Kitchen, a former intelligence officer with the ODNI, told Fox News it is in China’s interest to continue to bar access to uncovering the origin of the virus.

“China is highly incentivized and capable of denying us this information,” Kitchen said. “They’re incentivized to deny us this information because no matter what it is – whether it was a wet market or a biological facility as its origin – it’s embarrassing to the Chinese Communist Party.”

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The Journal’s report pointed out that Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed the UN General Assembly last week and said his country will “continue to support and engage in global science-based origins tracing and stands firmly opposed to political maneuvering in whatever form.”

Diet rich in dairy may be linked to lower risk of heart disease: report

A diet rich in dairy fat may be linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, researchers say.

In a new Swedish cohort study published in the journal Plos Medicine, international experts challenged the view that full-fat dairy options should be avoided due to saturated fat.

MOST WOMEN AREN’T GETTING REGULAR TESTS FOR CANCER, OTHER DANGEROUS DISEASES, SURVEY SHOWS

Looking at the dairy fat intake in 4,150 Swedish adults – the majority of whom were female, with a median age of 60.5 years – over a period of 16.6 years, the group measured the blood concentration of certain levels of fatty acids.

They recorded 578 incident cardiovascular disease events and 676 deaths, noting that cardiovascular disease risk was lower among those with higher intakes of dairy fat than compared with low intakes and that higher intakes were not associated with an increased risk of death.

Dairy intake in Sweden is among the highest in the world.

“Many studies have relied on people being able to remember and record the amounts and types of dairy foods they’ve eaten, which is especially difficult given that dairy is commonly used in a variety of foods. Instead, we measured blood levels of certain fatty acids, or fat ‘building blocks,’ that are found in dairy foods, which gives a more objective measure of dairy fat intake that doesn’t rely on memory or the quality of food databases,” Dr. Matti Marklund, of the Australia-based George Institute for Global Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Uppsala University, explained in a release.

ONE ALCOHOLIC DRINK RAISES RISK OF IRREGULAR HEARTBEAT, STUDY SUGGESTS

Then, in a meta-analysis, the researchers combined the result of the Swedish study with 17 similar studies in other countries, involving nearly 43,000 participants in the U.S., U.K. and Denmark.

The broader analysis also linked higher dairy fat consumption to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, creating what the George Institute deemed the “most comprehensive evidence to date on the relationship between this more objective measure of dairy fat consumption, risk of cardiovascular disease and death.”

“Increasing evidence suggests that the health impact of dairy foods may be more dependent on the type – such as cheese, yogurt, milk, and butter – rather than the fat content, which has raised doubts if avoidance of dairy fats overall is beneficial for cardiovascular health,” lead author Dr. Kathy Trieu said in a statement.

However, the study notes that it has limitations, including the inability of biomarkers to determine different types of dairy foods and that most studies in meta-analysis assessed biomarkers at the baseline which “may increase the risk of misclassification of exposure levels.”

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The researchers called for further clinical and experimental studies to “elucidate the causality of these relationships and relevant biological mechanisms.”

“It is important to remember that although dairy foods can be rich in saturated fat, they are also rich in many other nutrients and can be a part of a healthy diet. However, other fats like those found in seafood, nuts, and non-tropical vegetable oils can have greater health benefits than dairy fats,” Trieu added.

Idaho woman loses baby after coronavirus battle: report

A pregnant Idaho woman’s baby did not survive after she went into labor earlier this month while in a medically induced coma because of the coronavirus, according to a report.

The baby was expected to be the third child for Kimberly Rangel of Meridian, a Boise suburb, KTVB-TV of Boise reported.

After Rangel was brought out of the coma and told about the baby’s death, she experienced “severe anxiety and heavy breathing,” her sister Anne Rangel told the station.

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That prompted doctors to return Kimberly Rangel to a comatose state, the report said.

Kimberly Rangel was not vaccinated, so the family wanted to share their story in an effort to urge other pregnant women to get their shots. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) claims that pregnant women who are not vaccinated risk severe illness and pregnancy complications if they become infected while pregnant, KTVB reported.

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The vaccine does not increase the risk of miscarriage and has not been shown to be harmful to a fetus, the report said.

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