Lisa Jarvis

A new study that mined health records from the Department of Veterans Affairs hints that the drug Paxlovid might be useful in preventing long Covid. Scientists have been urging the government and the drug’s manufacturer, Pfizer, to study the idea that lingering virus could be the culprit behind…

After decades of failure, weight loss drugs seem finally poised to become big pharma’s newest blockbuster category. Bloomberg Intelligence sees the US obesity drug market alone as worth $12 billion in 2028. Morgan Stanley Research recently made a far more bullish prediction, forecasting global…

As parents worry over the cases of RSV filling up pediatric hospitals in the US, finally some good news: Vaccines that protect newborns from the virus could be ready in time for next year’s season. Pfizer Inc. today unveiled promising data on a maternal RSV shot that shows it lowered babies’ risk…

Two new, small studies are stirring up more controversy over the new Covid boosters, updated to match the omicron BA.4 and BA.5 strains. The research suggests the shots are no better than old boosters. But that doesn’t mean we should write them off — and certainly doesn’t mean that getting one…

Some rather alarming headlines recently circulated about the newest members of the omicron family. “Nightmare Covid variant,” read one. “The most immune-evasive Covid variants yet.” Apparently, it’s spooky season for Covid variants. Or not. These fear-mongering headlines and viral all-caps…

It’s the time of year when US public health officials are practically begging people to go out and get a flu vaccine. This year, their message is particularly urgent: Protect yourself now because the country might be in for a bad flu season that coincides with a resurgence in Covid cases. Last…

The price of “living with Covid” in a free and open society is turning out to be much heftier than public health experts predicted. Even with good vaccines and treatments, this year’s US death toll is already many orders of magnitude higher than that of the other virus that circulates each year,…

A new study has upended the way researchers think about how air pollution causes lung cancer. The work cracks open a whole new way of thinking about certain cancers and how to treat and even prevent them. It also suggests environmental agencies may have good reason to impose much stricter limits on…

You might not have heard of “forever chemicals,” but you’ve certainly been exposed to them. This large family of molecules can be found in everything from the wrapper on your take-out burger to the stain-resistant fabric on your couch. You might unwittingly encounter them when you floss your teeth,…

Evidence is growing that monkeypox, like Covid, can be reliably detected in wastewater. Yet the US has moved far too slowly to include the virus in its regular scans of sewage for coronavirus. By the time the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launches a program in the next month or two to…