Health

Daily Mail UK - A new study has added fuel to concerns that America could face a surge in dementias in coming years and decades due to COVID. The research found that nearly two-thirds of people over 65 who were hospitalized with the virus went on to suffer cognitive decline, which can be a precursor for dementia, weeks and months after the infection cleared.

CDC data shows that over-65s accounted for nearly half of hospitalizations in the first two years of the pandemic, or roughly 1.7m people. The new study stops short of concluding that COVID and dementia are definitively linked, but experts described the evidence as 'compelling'.  

NPR -  New COVID-19 vaccines that might combat the latest virus strains are expected to be approved any day now by the Food and Drug Administration. The new vaccines have been reformulated to stay up to date with the virus, which keeps evolving to evade our immune systems. The Pfizer-BioNtech and Moderna vaccines target the K-P-2 variant. The Novavax vaccine targets an earlier strain called JN.1. Both target strains have already been overtaken by newer variants, but the hope is the vaccines are close enough to boost immunity and protect people through the rest of the summer wave and the surge expected this winter. Dr. Peter Marks, who runs the FDA Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, tells NPR the new vaccines could cut the risk of getting COVID by 60% to 70% and reduce the risk of getting seriously ill by 80% to 90%.