Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:
Nearly 800 U.S. Children Have Developed COVID-Related Condition: CDC
There have been 792 confirmed cases in the United States of a rare condition in children that’s linked to COVID-19, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.
The agency added that Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) was also associated with 16 deaths reported in 42 states, New York City and Washington, D.C., as of Sept. 3, CBS News reported.
Nearly all cases of MIS-C occurred in children who tested positive for the new coronavirus, while the remainder were in youngsters who were around a person with COVID-19.
The CDC said Hispanic/Latino and Black children have accounted for more than 70% of those with the condition, which can cause: inflammation in the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes or gastrointestinal organs, fever, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, neck pain, rash, bloodshot eyes and feeling extra tired, CBS News reported.
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Teachers Have Died From COVID in at Least Three States
It’s early in the school year, but there have already been teacher deaths from COVID-19 in at least three states, leading to calls for better protections for educators.
Two teachers died recently in Mississippi, and a third-grade teacher died Monday in South Carolina. On Sunday, Missouri teacher AshLee DeMarinis, 34, died after three weeks in the hospital, the Associated Press reported.
The actual number of COVID-19 cases among U.S. teachers since the start of the school year isn’t known, but there have already been 604 cases reported among teachers and school staff in Mississippi alone.
Schools require measures such as mandatory face coverings and strict social distancing rules to reopen safely, said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.
“If community spread is too high, as it is in Missouri and Mississippi, if you don’t have the infrastructure of testing, and if you don’t have the safeguards that prevent the spread of viruses in the school, we believe that you cannot reopen in person,” Weingarten told the AP.
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Wrestlers’ Lawsuit Against WWE Dismissed by Appeals Court
A lawsuit filed by 50 former pro wrestlers who alleged that World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) failed to protect them from repeated head injuries that resulted in long-term brain damage was dismissed by a federal appeals court.
In supporting an earlier ruling by a federal judge in Connecticut, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City said Wednesday that many of the claims were frivolous or filed after the statute of limitations expired, the Associated Press reported.
The lawsuit said WWE knew the risks of head injuries but didn’t warn the wrestlers. However, the Connecticut judge said there was no evidence that WWE knew that concussions or head blows during wrestling matches caused long-term brain damage.
WWE denied the suit’s allegations, the AP reported.
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Pandemic Threatens Gains in Reducing Preventable Childhood Deaths
The coronavirus pandemic threatens decades of progress in reducing preventable deaths in children worldwide, a new United Nations/ World Bank paper warns.
It said that preventable deaths in children under 5 fell from 12.5 million in 1990 to just over 5 million in 2019, the lowest number on record, CNN reported.
But fewer resources and fears about contracting COVID-19 during pandemic could reverse gains in child and maternal healthcare services and put millions of lives at risk, according to the paper.
A UNICEF survey of 77 countries over the summer found that 68% had disruptions in childhood checkups and vaccinations, and a WHO survey of 105 countries found that 52% had interruptions in medical services for sick kids and 51% had disruptions in malnutrition programs, CNN reported.
“We must not let the COVID-19 pandemic turn back remarkable progress for our children and future generations,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
“The global community has come too far towards eliminating preventable child deaths to allow the COVID-19 pandemic to stop us in our tracks,” UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said in a news release, CNN reported.
“When children are denied access to health services because the system is overrun, and when women are afraid to give birth at the hospital for fear of infection, they, too, may become casualties of COVID-19,” she said.
“Without urgent investments to re-start disrupted health systems and services, millions of children under five, especially newborns, could die,” Fore warned.
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