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May 31, 2020

Live Science podcast 'Life's Little Mysteries' special report: Coronavirus (June 4)

In this special episode of Life's Little Mysteries, we focus on a serious topic that everybody is talking about: SARS-CoV-2, and the disease it causes, COVID-19. Every day at Live Science, our reporters and editors track the latest coronavirus developments around the world: from global case numbers and quarantines, to...

May 31, 2020

Toilet flushes may spread Legionnaires' disease

Legionnaires' disease could potentially spread through toilet flushing, which releases invisible plumes of contaminated water into the air, according to a new report. The report, published Wednesday (June 10) in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, describes the cases of two patients at a hospital in France who likely contracted Legionnaires'...

May 31, 2020

One company's hand sanitizer products contain potentially deadly substance, FDA warns

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning the public not to use hand sanitizer products made by a Mexican company because they contain a poisonous substance called methanol, which can be deadly when absorbed through the skin or ingested. The warning applies to nine hand sanitizer products made by...

May 31, 2020

Pregnancy may make COVID-19 more severe, new study suggests

Pregnancy may increase the risk of severe COVID-19, a new study suggests. Pregnant women were more likely to require admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) or use of a ventilator, compared with people who weren't pregnant. However, pregnant women don't appear to be at increased risk of death from...

May 31, 2020

'Don't talk': How to stay safe from COVID-19 inside elevators

For people in cities like New York, getting back to work during a pandemic may mean taking several elevator rides a day, to and from their office spaces ⁠— but without safety measures in place, elevators could become hot spots of COVID-19 spread, data suggests. COVID-19 can spread when infected...

May 31, 2020

Many Americans with COVID-19 don't know how they got infected, survey suggests

Many Americans with COVID-19 can't pinpoint how they got the infection, a new study suggests. The study researchers, from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), found that more than half of U.S. patients with COVID-19 in a recent survey couldn't identify another person with the disease whom...

Apr 30, 2020

FDA releases more stringent rules for COVID-19 antibody tests

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued more stringent rules for COVID-19 antibody tests sold in the U.S., after a slew of antibody tests hit the market without adequate proof that they really work, according to news reports. Under the new rules, companies that are already selling these...

Apr 30, 2020

Coronavirus was circulating in France in December, case report suggests

The coronavirus was circulating in France as early as December, new evidence suggests. Doctors in France discovered that a patient who went to the hospital in late December with respiratory symptoms was positive for COVID-19, according to The Guardian. The man contracted the virus nearly a month before France confirmed...

Apr 30, 2020

Here's how the COVID-19 pandemic could play out over the next two years

Although no one yet knows what the future holds for COVID-19, most experts seem to agree that it isn't going away anytime soon. Indeed, a new report estimates that the pandemic will likely last about two years. The report, from researchers at the University of Minnesota, draws on information from...

Apr 30, 2020

Is it safe to visit your mom on Mother's Day? A doctor offers this checklist.

As a physician, mother, daughter and socially responsible human, I’m finding Mother’s Day to be complicated for me this year, as it is for millions. Questions of whether and how to see my adult children and my own elderly mother present medical and ethical quandaries. As an associate professor of...

Apr 30, 2020

2 Washington cases of 'COVID-19-like illness' in December raise questions about when disease arrived in US

Two residents of Snohomish County, Washington, who fell ill with COVID-19-like symptoms in December have now tested positive for antibodies against the new coronavirus. The findings suggest the virus might have arrived in the U.S. earlier than thought. One of these residents — identified only by her middle name Jean...

Apr 30, 2020

How do you stay safe now that states are reopening?

Editor's note: Now that states are relaxing social distancing restrictions, people desperately want to see friends and family, go to a restaurant and let our kids have play dates. Even grocery shopping sounds fun. But how can you do that and still stay safe? Here, an epidemiologist who is immune-compromised...

Apr 30, 2020

Intense fitness classes can lead to rapid spread of COVID-19, report shows

Fitness dance classes are yet another venue where the new coronavirus appears to easily spread, according to a new report. The report found that dozens of people in South Korea caught COVID-19 after participating in fitness dance classes at the beginning of the pandemic. The researchers traced the cluster back...

Apr 30, 2020

50 days in lockdown, 30 days of relaxation, could help contain COVID-19 pandemic

Social distancing has become the norm for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic, but keeping these measures in place for months on end could cause economic devastation. Now, a new study suggests a potential strategy for fighting COVID-19 while reducing economic impacts. The study found that alternating between 50 days of strict...

Apr 30, 2020

The CDC is lumping positive COVID-19 viral and antibody tests together. Here's why that's bad.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and several state health departments have been reporting COVID-19 diagnostic tests and antibody tests as one grand tally, rather than keeping their results separate, The Atlantic reported. Reporting these numbers as a lump sum, rather than two distinct data points, presents...