On Aging

Medical staff members treat a patient with COVID-19 last week in the intensive care unit of United Memorial Medical Center in Houston. Once a COVID-19 vaccine is available, experts say immunizing health workers first is the best way to curb deaths and sto

First COVID-19 Vaccine Doses To Go To Health Workers, Say CDC Advisers

8:26pm November 05, 2020

by Pien Huang

A team of independent advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a science-based outline for deploying a vaccine when it's ready. The goal is to stop deaths and viral spread fast.

Tony Potts, a 69-year-old retiree living in Ormond Beach, Fla., receives his first injection earlier this year as a participant in a Phase 3 clinical trial of Moderna's COVID-19 candidate vaccine.

Advisers To CDC Debate How COVID-19 Vaccine Should Be Rolled Out

9:41pm October 30, 2020

In advance of a COVID-19 vaccine being available, a group of independent medical advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention weighed Friday who should get the vaccine first and how.

Increasingly, many people in the U.S., like these teens in a Miami grocery story in August, now routinely wear face masks in public to help stop COVID-19's spread. But social distancing and other public health measures have been slower to catch on, especi

Mask-Wearing Is Up In The U.S., But Young People Are Still Too Lax, CDC Survey Finds

6:53pm October 27, 2020

by Rob Stein

A general increase in mask-wearing has been encouraging, U.S. public health experts say. But too few young people, especially, are social distancing and taking other steps to slow coronavirus' spread.

On average, each U.S. nursing home is connected to seven others through shared staff, a study by Yale and UCLA researchers suggests. Rigorous infection control measures can curb the spread of the coronavirus, but many workers say they still don't have suf

They Work In Several Nursing Homes To Eke Out A Living, And That May Spread The Virus

6:30pm October 26, 2020

by Jackie Fortiér

Most nursing homes are connected by shared staff to seven others. Instead of limiting workers to one facility to curb COVID-19 spread, advocates urge better pay and more PPE for nursing home staff.

Researchers say 70% of nursing homes are for-profit, and low staffing is common.

For-Profit Nursing Homes' Pleas For Government Money Brings Scrutiny

7:20am October 22, 2020

by Ina Jaffe

For-profit nursing homes say the coronavirus has left them almost broke and needing financial help from the government. But critics say their business model is the problem.

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Jim Hudspeth: How Do We Hear — And How Do We Lose Our Ability To Hear?

7:49am October 16, 2020

by NPR/TED STAFF

Over 30 million people in the U.S. have hearing loss. Neuroscientist Jim Hudspeth explains how the ear's thousands of hair cells function to amplify sound—and how they can be damaged but not repaired.

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Is that sneezing or coughing fit a sign of allergies, a cold, the flu or COVID-19? If you also have a fever — a temperature above 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher — those symptoms probably signal infection and not just allergies acting up. (Wait 30

Health & Safety

Allergies, Colds, Flu And COVID-19: How To Best Prep For Fall's 'Sick Season'

1:20pm October 04, 2020

by Kristen Kendrick

Coughs, sore throats and runny noses are common in fall and winter, and they rarely signal dire disease. But with COVID-19 a threat this year and flu an annual hazard, here's what you need to know.

A woman recovering from fever linked to COVID-19 checks medications in her home in Mineola, N.Y., this spring.

Nearly Two-Thirds Of U.S. Households Struck By COVID-19 Face Financial Trouble

7:30am September 28, 2020

by Blake Farmer

Plus, of all U.S. homes that include someone with a disability, 63% report serious financial hardship during the pandemic, and 37% have used up all or most of their savings.

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African Americans and other underrepresented minorities make up only about 5% of the people in genetics research studies.

Neuroscience Has A Whiteness Problem. This Research Project Aims To Fix It

9:59pm September 24, 2020

by Jon Hamilton

People of African ancestry have been excluded from many studies of brain disorders. In Baltimore, scientists, doctors and community leaders are working to make neuroscience research more diverse.

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Dao Thi Hoa, right, chairwoman of the Intergenerational Self Help Club in the Khuong Din ward of Hanoi in Vietnam, checks the club's account book with other members.

Older People, Got A Pandemic Problem? A Club To Help You Figure It Out — Yourself

4:48pm September 23, 2020

by Malaka Gharib

Vietnam's Intergenerational Self Help Clubs encourage older people in the neighborhood to find solutions to their own challenges, whether it's feeling lonely or needing a little extra cash.