Health

Melatonin is a popular over-the-counter sleeping aid, touted as a natural way for adults to fall asleep and used by millions around the world. So why wouldn’t it be good for children, too? “There is a view that if it’s natural, then it can’t hurt,” said Rebecca Robbins, an associate scientist at Brigham and Women’s

AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine showed 79% efficacy against symptomatic disease and 100% efficacy against severe disease and hospitalization in a new, US-based clinical trial, the company said Monday. The findings from the new Phase 3 trial, which included more than 32,000 participants, may boost confidence in the vaccine, which was originally developed by the University of

AstraZeneca is expected to apply in the next few weeks for emergency use authorization for its Covid-19 vaccine in the US, and if and when it does, advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will likely have questions. Lots of questions. In interviews with CNN,

When officials from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday that they were relaxing the physical distancing guidelines for many schools, White House officials hailed it as another moment when the barriers to in-person instruction were falling. But the persistent tensions between White House officials and teachers’ unions immediately resurfaced, demonstrating the

The European Union aims to vaccinate 70% of its adult population by September. But anxiety over a possible link between the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and reported blood clot cases may put that target in jeopardy. Europe’s vaccine rollout has already been slower than expected. Meanwhile, the continent is confronting a third wave of the pandemic, fueled

Some teachers are grappling with how to protect students and themselves against the coronavirus in light of new guidelines for returning to in-person classes issued by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Friday’s announcement relaxes recommendations for social distancing to 3 feet from 6 feet and relies heavily on schools using other measures,

States are pushing ahead with expanding Covid-19 vaccine access and rolling back restrictions on businesses and large gatherings as America seeks a return to normalcy. But experts say two barriers stand in the way of reaching herd immunity and getting back to life as we knew it — Covid-19 variants and vaccine hesitancy. “We’re seeing

As details about the man suspected of fatally shooting eight people at Atlanta-area spas unfold, the controversial concept of sex addiction has resurfaced. Local law enforcement told reporters that shooting suspect Robert Aaron Long had “made indicators that he has some issues — potentially sexual addiction — and may have frequented some of these places

My cousin Iman, who lives in Cairo, Egypt, called me earlier this week to tell me that she had just been offered the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. I congratulated her upon hearing the news; vaccines are, of course, one of the best available tools to defeat this pandemic and Egypt, like many countries in the Global

The coronavirus pandemic almost didn’t happen, a new study shows. Researchers working to show when and how the virus first emerged in China calculate that it probably did not infect the first human being until October 2019 at the very earliest. And their models showed something else: It almost didn’t make it as a pandemic

Several more states on Thursday announced Covid-19 vaccines would be available to more people, news that came as the nation’s top infectious disease expert said we might need to inoculate children to reach herd immunity. But, Dr. Anthony Fauci said people are too focused on the thought of herd immunity — the point at which

The US may be on the cusp of another Covid-19 case surge, one expert says — but the mass vaccination of the most vulnerable Americans is likely to limit its human cost. “I think we are going to see a surge in the number of infections,” emergency physician Dr. Leana Wen told CNN on Wednesday