Ten years after receiving a treatment that modifies a patient's own immune cells to attack cancer, two patients who had a form of blood cancer show no signs of the disease, researchers report Wednesday.
Why it matters: The patients' remissions hint at how long the effects of CAR-T therapy — a promising but currently very costly treatment— may persist in some people.
Employers are beefing up benefits packages to lure workers in a tight labor market, and many are adding pricey fertility benefits — such as in-vitro fertilization and egg freezing — to their offerings.
Why it matters: Benefits around fertility and family-building have long been overlooked by employer health care plans, but that's rapidly changing.
A Virginia judge on Friday temporarily barred enforcement of Gov. Glenn Youngkin's (R) executive order making masks optional in schools.
Why it matters: Seven school boards have sued Youngkin over the order, calling it a violation of Virginia’s constitution, which leaves school supervision up to the boards, and a state law that requires school districts to follow federal health guidelines.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Friday that it will expand a program that detects the coronavirus in wastewater as part of an effort to better track infection trends across the U.S.
Why it matters: Roughly 40-80% of people with COVID-19 shed viral RNA in their feces, according to CDC estimates. That makes wastewater surveillance a critical tool for monitoring the virus' spread.
Driving the news: N95 and KN95 masks worn in indoor public settings reduced the chance COVID-19 infection by 83%, while surgical masks cut the risk of infection by 66%, according to the report.
Black Americans are diagnosed with HIV at a rate that's nearly four times higher than the rate for all other racial groups combined, according to new data released by the CDC.
By the numbers: Black adults made up a disproportionately high number (43%) of newly diagnosed cases of HIV and AIDS, at a rate of 39.2 per 100,000 people in 2018, the data shows.
Austria on Friday became the first country in the European Union to legally mandate that all adults get vaccinated against COVID-19, CNN reports.
The big picture: Those without vaccine proof or an exemption face an initial fine of up to up to 600 euros (around $680). Authorities are expected to begin checking people's vaccine status March 15, per The Guardian.
The extent to which Omicron's rapid spread leaves the world better off in its fight against COVID depends on a few big questions, including how long infection-induced immunity actually lasts.
Why it matters: Vaccinations and infections at high enough levels can form an immunity wall against the future spread of the virus.
