OSHA issues $1 million in fines over deaths of poultry workers

OSHA has announced 59 citations and nearly $1 million in penalties after an investigation into a nitrogen leak at a poultry processing plant that killed six workers and injured at least a dozen others earlier this year. Read the full article: NPR

CDC revises guidance for summer camps

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has revised earlier guidelines regarding mask use and vaccinations at summer camps. The agency now says that at camps where everyone has been fully vaccinated, masks are not necessary, nor is physical distancing – except where required by local law.

COVID long-hauler finally gets a diagnosis

A growing number of people are facing mountains of frustration over health problems that linger after COVID-19 with no clear path to improvement. But for a subset of people with what’s known as “long COVID” — mostly women such as Jennifer Minhas — a POTS diagnosis offers a road map to treatment options and relief…

CDC official who warned about COVID is resigning

Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the top respiratory disease official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who was among the first to warn the American public about how much the pandemic would change everyday life, is stepping down from the agency. She made the announcement in an email to staff Friday, as first reported by The Washington…

Serious COVID cases rising among younger adults

After spending much of the past year tending to elderly patients, doctors are seeing a clear demographic shift: young and middle-aged adults make up a growing share of the patients in COVID-19 hospital wards. It’s both a sign of the country’s success in protecting the elderly through vaccination and an urgent reminder that younger generations…

Fentanyl cited as overdose deaths surged during pandemic

Researchers gathered for a conference on addiction this week received a grim update on the growing spread of street drugs laced with deadly synthetic opioids including fentanyl. The trend contributed to a stark rise in overdoses that left more than 90,000 Americans dead during the 12-month period ending in September 2020, according to the latest data.

Antibody drugs for COVID are cumbersome tool against surges

Monoclonal antibodies can hold the coronavirus in check by mimicking the body’s natural immune defenses. The drugs, produced by Regeneron and Eli Lilly, can keep people with mild to moderate COVID-19 out of the hospital and have emergency authorization for people over 65, as well as others with certain underlying health conditions. On Wednesday, Michigan…

Woman gets new windpipe in groundbreaking transplant

A medical team in New York City says it has performed the first complete surgical transplant of a windpipe. The trachea is basically a tube that transports air to and from the lungs, so you might think it would be easy to transplant. But not so. In fact, trachea transplants have been one of the last…

Inside the CDC’s battle to contain the virus

It’s been a long year for basically everyone — and especially for Dr. Henry Walke. For months on end, Walke has been pulling 13-hour work days as the COVID-19 incident response manager at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a job he took on last July. He never expected the job to last this long. “The…