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One of the hallmarks of a COVID-19 infection has been a lost sense of smell after the infection ends.

In a new study, researchers blame an ongoing immune assault on the olfactory nerve cells — cells found at the top of the nasal cavity — and a decline in the number of those cells. The study was led by a team at Duke Health in Durham, N.C.

“One of the first symptoms that has ty...

Public health experts have been warning of a “tripledemic” of respiratory viruses this fall and winter, so the American Lung Association has some tips for breathing easier this holiday season.

Flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and COVID-19 are all spreading throughout the United States, overwhelming health care systems.

One way to make holiday or seasonal gatherings safer ...

A nationwide group of infection control experts recommends U.S. health care facilities stop testing patients for COVID-19 before hospital admission or scheduled surgeries if they have no virus symptoms.

The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) statement says facilities should rely instead on enhanced layers of infection prevention.

“The small benefits that could c...

Researchers think they've figured out why people can become reinfected with COVID-19, despite immunity gained from either vaccination or a previous infection.

It turns out that antibodies produced in the nose — the first line of defense against respiratory viruses like COVID — decline faster than antibodies found in the bloodstream, British scientists say.

Nasal antibodies tend ...

As a tripledemic of the flu, COVID and RSV continues to spread across the United States, customers at two major pharmacy chains will now be limited as to how much children's pain relievers and fever-reducing medications they can buy for their sick child.

Both CVS and Walgreens confirmed the limits Monday, CNN reported, though they've approached it in different ways.

Walgre...

Doctors and patients should consider COVID-19 history when planning surgery, according to a new study.

For patients who've had a COVID-19 diagnosis, researchers found significant postoperative problems diminish gradually over time, but risks persist more than a year after the illness.

That time frame is longer than previously known, said the research team from Vanderbilt University ...

Almost 15 million people likely died as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, nearly three times more than previously reported, a new World Health Organization study estimates.

The researchers said the COVID-19 pandemic caused about 4.5 million more deaths than would have been expected in 2020, and 10.4 million more in 2021, according to the report published online Dec. 14 i...

As three highly contagious respiratory viruses spread across the United States, straining hospitals and triggering drug shortages, health officials in some major cities and states are calling for a return to indoor masking.

Over the past few weeks, COVID-19, the flu and RSV have made millions of Americans ill, and indoor masking is seen as one way to slow the spread of the viruses.

...

The antiviral Paxlovid has kept people from getting really sick and dying from COVID-19 since it became available -- at no cost to them.

But by the middle of next year, the U.S. government will stop subsidizing the medication. Instead, it will be billed for like many other medications.

While the Biden administration has paid about $530 for each course of the medication by buying 2...

Researchers may have sniffed out why colds are more likely in wintertime: The answer may lie within the nose.

A previously unidentified immune response inside the nose is responsible for fighting off the viruses that cause upper respiratory infections, according to researchers at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Northeastern University in Boston.

Unfortunately, cold weather inhibits th...

COVID-19 may harm the liver, a small study suggests.

The virus appears to increase liver stiffness, a sign of potential long-term injury, but it's too early to tell if that portends serious liver disease, the researchers said.

"COVID infections have been observed to cause inflammation and damage to a number of different organ systems like the brain, the intestines and the liver...

An early surge in cold and flu cases has created shortages in key antiviral and antibiotic drugs needed for the annual “sick season,” pharmacists report.

The antiviral flu drug Tamiflu is in short supply for both adults and children, in both its brand name formulation as well as the generic version, said Mich...

Monkeypox still exists, but its name is being phased out over racism concerns.

For the next year, the terms monkeypox and the new name mpox will be used interchangeably before the virus is permanently renamed mpox, the World Health Organization