Pitt researchers involved in clinical trial for covid-19 treatment option
University of Pittsburgh researchers are collaborating with other universities for a clinical trial testing convalescent plasma in the treatment of covid-19. The group, which includes scientists from Michigan Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina and Stanford Medicine, were awarded more than $7 million from the National Heart, Lung and Blood...
Poll shows Pennsylvanians think it’s important to follow covid safety guidelines. But are they actually doing it?
Pennsylvania’s registered voters strongly approve of coronavirus-related safety guidelines suggested by state and federal health authorities, a recent poll shows. According to a Franklin & Marshall College Poll, two in three, or 68%, registered voters believe it is “extremely important” to wear a mask whenever they leave home, and close...
‘Yoga in the Square’ returns to Downtown Pittsburgh
Strike a pose. The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership and several area yoga studios are reintroducing “Yoga in the Square.” The one-hour outdoor classes at Market Square will be offered free, Wednesdays and Sundays beginning Aug. 5 and running through September. The Wednesday sessions begin at 5:30 p.m. and Sunday sessions at...
Pittsburgh’s Jewish Community Center back in operation after receiving $2.5 million JHF grant
Brian Schreiber takes daily morning walks past the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh in Squirrel Hill. “I live less than a mile and a half away, and when we were closed (because of the pandemic), I would walk by and think ‘my baby needs help,’ ” said Schreiber, president...
Brain surgery helps Kittanning toddler become seizure freeVideo
Breane DeComo Kotyk was waiting to hear her daughter cry for the first time. Nothing. Not a sound. Little Khaleesia wasn’t breathing. The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck. She was lifeless and blue. It took doctors at West Penn Hospital in Bloomfield 18 minutes to resuscitate her. The...
Managing ‘maskne’: Simple steps to keep your complexion clearVideo
Summer sun, heat and humidity can do a number on sensitive skin. Put a mask on top of it and you might end up with irritation and breakouts that have been labeled “maskne.” “For some of our patients, it is a problem,” says Dr. Charles Mount, director of the Allegheny...
Pitt’s School of Public Health welcomes students with opera about obstetrician who championed hand-washing
With uncertainty hanging over the campus during the pandemic, the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health was kicking around socially distanced ideas of how to welcome students back. That’s when the school hit upon the notion that a screening of a modern opera about the “father of sanitation...
CORE launches social media campaign to promote organ donation
The Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) launched a social media campaign to spread awareness and recruit new organ donors. The campaign, dubbed #JustOne, aims to demonstrate how many lives just one new organ donor could save. “The very fact that one donor can save eight lives showcases the...
Scientists get closer to blood test for Alzheimer’s disease
An experimental blood test was highly accurate at distinguishing people with Alzheimer’s disease from those without it in several studies, boosting hopes that there soon may be a simple way to help diagnose this most common form of dementia. Developing such a test has been a long-sought goal, and scientists...
Pa. school leaders to state officials: We need specifics, not guidance, for reopening plans
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s existing reopening guidance for schools is too vague, and superintendents and school boards need more specifics from the state Department of Health about how to do it safely, a superintendents group said Monday following a call with Wolf administration officials. The superintendents asked for more concrete recommendations...
FDA warns Americans of toxic hand sanitizers
WASHINGTON — U.S. health officials are warning Americans again to avoid a growing list of imported hand sanitizers that may be contaminated with the toxic chemical methanol. The Food and Drug Administration said Monday there have been increasing reports of injury due to people using— sometimes ingesting—the unauthorized sanitizers, which...
AHN Cancer Institute at Allegheny General unveiled in Pittsburgh
Allegheny Health Network and Highmark Health on Monday unveiled the new AHN Cancer Institute at Allegheny General, the centerpiece of AHN’s cancer care expansion. The cancer center will provide cancer fighting technology and access to cutting-edge research and clinical trials, as described by AHN officials. The new facility in Pittsburgh’s...
Experimental covid-19 vaccine is put to its biggest testVideo
The biggest test yet of an experimental covid-19 vaccine got underway Monday with the first of some 30,000 Americans rolling up their sleeves to receive shots created by the U.S. government as part of the all-out global race to stop the pandemic. The glimmer of hope came even as Google,...
New AHN Cancer Institute-Allegheny General opens Monday
Allegheny Health Network plans to open its new 90,000-square foot AHN Cancer Institute-Allegheny General on Monday morning. It’s the centerpiece of Highmark and AHN’s $300 million expansion of cancer care throughout Western Pennsylvania, according to an AHN statement. The institute will serve as a hub for Allegheny Health Network’s community...
Legal experts: Mask requirements likely don’t violate Americans with Disabilities Act
Cries from across the country claiming constitutional rights are being stripped away by mask requirements might not be as valid as some people think. Mask requirements, put in place to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, are being challenged with lawsuits claiming they violate the Americans with Disabilities Act....
Medical study is seeking people who may have tick immunity or resistanceVideo
Jason Bobe is looking for a few of what he calls “medical superheroes.” Bobe, an associate professor in the genetics and genome science department at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, is part of Mount Sinai’s Resilience Project. It seeks to find people who,...
Pepcid as a coronavirus remedy? Trump administration’s $21M gamble fizzled
A nearly $21 million government-funded study to see if a popular, over-the-counter heartburn medication could be a covid-19 remedy has fizzled amid allegations of conflicts of interest and scientific misconduct, according to interviews, a whistleblower complaint and internal government records obtained by The Associated Press. In mid-April, the Trump administration...
Pa. sees 1st West Nile case of the year in Potter County
Pennsylvania recorded its first probable human case of West Nile Virus this year, according to state health officials. A resident of Potter County was tested for the virus, with samples sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for confirmation. The state recorded seven cases of West Nile in...
FDA recalling some hand sanitizers over methanol risk
Careful what hand sanitizer you choose. The Food and Drug Administration said this month that it has seen a sharp increase in hand sanitizers that contain methanol but are listed as containing ethanol, or ethyl alcohol. Methanol, or wood alcohol, can be toxic when absorbed through the skin and can...
Pennsylvania reports 962 new coronavirus cases, 16 additional deaths
The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Thursday reported 962 new coronavirus cases statewide and 16 additional deaths. The state’s total now sits at 104,358 cases and 7,079 deaths attributed to covid-19. Pa. coronavirus by dayInfogram The number of tests administered within the last seven days is 147,837, with 5,731 cases...
Pennsylvania health department looking to hire more contact tracers, nurses
State health officials are looking to hire more contact tracers and nurses to better control the spread of coronavirus and prepare for any potential surges in covid-19 cases. Contact tracing is the process of identifying, notifying and monitoring anyone who came in close contact with an individual who tested positive...
Pennsylvania announces new grant recipients to fight opioid epidemic
Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration announced new grant recipients to fight the opioid addiction epidemic. Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine announced that the latest Pennsylvania Coordinated Medication Assisted Treatment (PacMAT) grant recipients would build medication-assisted treatment programs for uninsured, underinsured or privately insured residents who suffer from addiction. These grants...
Coronavirus infections far exceed reported cases, CDC estimatesVideo
Far more people were infected with the novel coronavirus than previously reported in several corners of the United States, according to data released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency conducted a survey looking at antibodies to the virus in 10 U.S. regions. It found prevalence...
UK coronavirus vaccine prompts immune response in early test
LONDON — Scientists at Oxford University say their experimental coronavirus vaccine has been shown in an early trial to prompt a protective immune response in hundreds of people who got the shot. British researchers first began testing the vaccine in April in about 1,000 people, half of whom got the...
Doctor in Alabama who survived covid-19 bewildered by public disregard
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Dr. Michael Saag spends much of his time treating patients fighting for their lives and working with colleagues who are overwhelmed and exhausted by the relentless battle against the covid-19 pandemic. But he enters a different world when he walks out the door of his Alabama clinic:...
