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[ad_1] In this photo illustration, Abbott's at-home covid-19 rapid test kits are seen on display in Orlando. Paul Hennessy | LightRocket | Getty Images As Covid cases surge again in the U.S., Americans are digging out unused at-home tests that they stashed earlier on in the pandemic.  Many of those tests may have passed their expiration dates , but don't throw them away just yet.  The Food and Drug Administration has extended the expiration dates of many popular at-home test products, which means some of your old kits may still be safe to use. You can check by visiting a page on the FDA's website that lists expiration information for each test brand. "That's the first thing I would do before using an expired test or throwing it away," Andrew Pekosz, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told CNBC. If the date has not changed, the FDA advises against using expired tests. Doing so increases the chance of an inaccurate tes...

[ad_1] NEW YORK -- A new study is shedding light on why women of color die more often from breast cancer . The reason might surprise you. In October, breast cancer survivor Atia Allen shared her story with CBS New York . "I did eight rounds of chemotherapy. I did 25 rounds of radiation. But here I am, two years later," Allen said. "This is life after cancer. I'm doing wonderfully." READ MORE :  Queens woman beats breast cancer for 2nd time with help of doctors from Jamaica Hospital and Memorial Sloan Kettering But a new study from the University of Maryland explains why Allen's happy ending doesn't always happen. "We know that Black women have a 40% higher mortality rate compared to white women when they get breast cancer. It's interesting because the numbers have caught up in terms of Black women getting their screenings. Black women tend to have more aggressive forms of breast cancer," said Dr. Janna Andrews, chair of radiat...

[ad_1] A GSK lab in London. Oli Scarff | Getty Images The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved an RSV vaccine produced by GlaxoSmithKline for use on adults ages 60 and older. The approval, the first ever globally by a regulatory body for an RSV vaccine , is a decisive victory for GSK in a race against drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna to bring to market a shot that targets the respiratory syncytial virus . Shares of GSK rose nearly 2% Wednesday following the approval. GSK's chief scientific officer Tony Wood said in a statement the decision "marks a turning point" in the company's effort to reduce the "significant burden" of RSV. The company will now focus on ensuring eligible older adults in the U.S. can access the vaccine "as quickly as possible," he said. GSK will also work toward regulatory review and approval of the shot in other countries. London-based GSK during an earnings presentation last week said it has "mil...

[ad_1] Travelers from China will need to test negative for COVID-19 before boarding flights to the U.S. starting next week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday. The testing requirement will apply to travelers from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, and covers all passengers regardless of their nationality or vaccination status, the CDC said.  Americans should also "reconsider travel to China, Hong Kong, and Macau," the CDC now urges. In a  travel alert  published Wednesday, the agency cited "reports that the healthcare system is overwhelmed," along with the risk of new variants. Beyond masking while traveling in places like airports or planes, the CDC also recommends that Americans visiting China wear masks while indoors in public. The moves come amid a record wave of infections in China since it relaxed its "zero COVID" policy in early December. The Chinese government has ...

[ad_1] A vial labelled "Novavax V COVID-19 Vaccine" is seen in this illustration taken January 16, 2022.  Dado Ruvic | Reuters Novavax 's updated Covid vaccine won the backing of U.S. regulators on Tuesday, putting the shot on track to roll out weeks after new jabs from Pfizer and Moderna reached Americans. The Food and Drug Administration authorized Novavax's single-strain vaccine, which targets omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 , for emergency use in people ages 12 and up. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now including Novavax's shot in the same recommendation it issued last month for updated vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. That recommendation says all Americans ages six months and older can receive an updated Covid jab. Novavax said in a statement that doses of the shot will likely be available within the next few days. "Novavax's authorization today means people will now have the choice of a protein-based non-MRNA option to help...

[ad_1] Blood sample for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) test Jarun011 | Istock | Getty Images U.S. Food and Drug Administration staff on Tuesday said Pfizer's vaccine that protects infants from respiratory syncytial virus has "generally favorable" safety data. The FDA staff made the conclusion in briefing documents ahead of a meeting on Thursday when a panel of external advisors to the agency will discuss whether to recommend full approval of the RSV shot . The advisors will vote on whether Pfizer's late-stage clinical trial data on the vaccine supports its safety and efficacy. The FDA typically follows the advice of its advisory committees, but is not required to do so. The agency is slated to make a decision on whether to clear the shot in August before RSV season in the fall. If approved, Pfizer's jab would become the world's first vaccine that protects infants against RSV.  RSV usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms. But infants and older ad...

[ad_1] Twenty-year-old Alex Morrin says an unexpected danger of vaping is it is easy to hide. "You can do it in the same room as them," Morrin told CBS News of vaping around his parents. "It vaporizes," Winna Morrin, Alex's mother, added. "So you don't see any smoke." A new U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released Friday — based on 2021 data from a National Health Interview Survey — found that 11% of 18- to 24-year-olds define themselves as current e-cigarette users, more than any other age group of adults. The report also found that White non-Hispanic Americans between 18 and 24 vape more than Latino, Asian or Black youth in the same age group. Overall, the survey found that 4.5% of adults ages 18 and over vape. The survey defined current e-cigarette use as respondents who say they vape "every day" or "some days." It's not just young adults who vap...

[ad_1] A healthcare worker prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination clinic in the Peabody Institute Library in Peabody, Massachusetts, on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022. Vanessa Leroy | Bloomberg | Getty Images The Biden administration on Thursday announced a program to provide free Covid vaccines to uninsured Americans through December 2024 after the federal government's supply of shots runs out this fall. Those free shots, which the government is purchasing at a discount, will be available to the uninsured at pharmacies and 64 state and local health departments. The Health and Human Services Department also is hoping that vaccine makers will donate shots to pharmacies as part of the program. There are between 25 to 30 million uninsured adults in the United States and other Americans whose insurance will not cover free Covid products this fall, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Currently, the government has an ...