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![Ambulances are parked outside of Wyckoff Hospital in the Brooklyn, N.Y., on April 4. A study published by the CDC finds that people in the United States under the age of 18 are far less likely to fall ill with COVID-19 or require intensive care, compared with older Americans.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/gettyimages-1209144290-edit-27b6f7e55fb2d7bf8c9e6ce76ce598320bcbd7ae-scaled-e1586204514783-900x422.jpg)
U.S. Children With COVID-19 Less Likely To Be Hospitalized Than Adults
By: Richard Harris | NPR
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A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that between 5.7% and 20% of children with COVID-19 end up in the hospital, with 2% or fewer needing intensive care.
![Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar led a press briefing Tuesday laying out the agency's strategy for preventing the novel form of coronavirus from taking hold in the U.S.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/azar-1-fd603f9343913f6dd5add14fa900a97662cc25f5-scaled-e1580236082839-900x422.jpg)
As China’s Coronavirus Cases Rise, U.S. Agencies Map Out Domestic Containment Plans
By: Richard Harris | NPR
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With cases growing quickly abroad, the federal government announced several measures to prevent the new coronavirus from taking hold in the U.S.
![Attendees hold "We Vape, We Vote" signs ahead of a Trump rally last month in Dallas. The politics surrounding vaping and industry pushback against regulation appear to have derailed the Trump administration's plan to ban the sales of many vaping products.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/gettyimages-1176494138-973bde6b01c3d13d7f10258e6b0884cd101fb401-e1574176540836-900x422.jpg)
Politics, Industry Backlash Stall White House Ban On Flavored Vaping Products
By: Richard Harris | NPR
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In September, the Trump administration said it would ban all flavored e-cigarette products in an effort to reduce the youth vaping epidemic. Since then, there’s been no movement toward implementation.
![Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria — rod-shaped bacteria in this tinted, scanning electron microscope image — are found in soil, water and as normal flora in the human intestine. But they can cause serious wound, lung, skin and urinary tract infections, and many pseudomonas strains are drug-resistant.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/pseudomonas-1-cc4ec1d78f22cce3921b8fb544902f0272d89c76-e1573680694812-900x422.jpg)
How Best To Use The Few New Drugs To Treat Antibiotic-Resistant Germs?
By: Richard Harris | NPR
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Infectious disease specialists debate whether it’s better to give the strongest antibiotics all at once for drug-resistant germs or save the most innovative medicines for use as a last resort.
![UK Biobank has granted 10,000 qualified scientists access to its large database of genetic sequences and other medical data, but other organizations with databases have been far more restrictive in giving access.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/gettyimages-1161024139-e6fcda92d4179ba5b609df706bff467480d5d9ae-e1567780519356-900x422.jpg)
How Should Scientists’ Access To Health Databanks Be Managed?
By: Richard Harris | NPR
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Medical and genetic data from more than a million Americans are now in scientific databases. Some programs hoard the data, while others share widely with scientists, hoping to speed medical discovery.
![As scientists learn more about how the complex way genes combine and work together to create human traits, the idea of "designer babies" becomes less and less likely.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/dna-pipette-gene-editing-bca26261397948b8e653983877ea1460922b0dc9-e1556832732116-900x422.jpg)
Why Making A ‘Designer Baby’ Would Be Easier Said Than Done
By: Richard Harris | NPR
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Ethical concerns aside, the genetic ingredients for human traits are so complex that editing a few embryonic genes is unlikely to have much effect — or achieve the fantasy of enhancing humans.
![A color-enhanced scanning electron micrograph shows HIV particles (orange) infecting a T cell, one of the white blood cells that play a central role in the immune system.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/sciencesource_ss2521514-c49c4f5e3c5a2e112cbe2ae5fba4d83cbe2fa589-e1551811610292-900x422.jpg)
Bone Marrow Transplant Renders Second Patient Free Of HIV
By: Richard Harris | NPR
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British doctors report the apparent eradication of HIV from a patient who was undergoing treatment for cancer. It’s only the second time this has been accomplished, despite many attempts.
![A tinted transmission electron micrograph of Chlamydia trachomatis bacteria (light purple/black) inside a cell. Chlamydia is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the U.S., with more than 1.7 million reported cases in 2017.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/sciencesource_ss2273222-a97bb7bdfb49d0c762e52db4d732578bb19042c7-e1535488182410-900x422.jpg)
Record High Number Of STD Infections In U.S., As Prevention Funding Declines
By: Richard Harris | NPR
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The U.S. has the highest rates of sexually transmitted disease cases in the industrialized world, say health trackers, with chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis reaching 2.3 million cases in 2017.
![A researcher showed people a picture of The Thinker in an effort to study the link between analytical thinking and religious disbelief. In hindsight, the researcher called his study design "silly". The study could not be reproduced.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/thinker-5a5907d8e00fed5c20f6117afcfc670c1ee37f1a-e1535408473525-900x422.jpg)
In Psychology And Other Social Sciences, Many Studies Fail The Reproducibility Test
By: Richard Harris | NPR
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Many social sciences experiments couldn’t be reproduced in a new study, thus calling into question their findings. The field of social science is pushing hard to improve its scientific rigor.
![In these two two-cell mouse embryos, the surface of the embryos is outlined in orange, the DNA in the nucleus is indicated in blue and the activity of the LINE-1 gene is indicated via bright red spots.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/outlined-2c-embryosv2-64acfd939687d5b47d2b63df021bf79a69a630e4-e1529599309407-900x422.jpg)
Some DNA Dismissed As ‘Junk’ Is Crucial To Embryo Development
By: Richard Harris | NPR
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Formerly considered useless, or maybe a parasite, the stretch of DNA known as LINE-1 actually plays “a key role” in creating an embryo and embryonic stem cells, research shows.
![](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/radiology-6_wide-6365af8087fa852510216be97efb06cc1a60ad39-e1527715926747-900x422.jpg)
For Some Hard-To-Find Tumors, Doctors See Promise In Artificial Intelligence
By: Richard Harris | NPR
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Scientists are training computers to read CT scans and in the hopes they could catch pancreatic cancer early.
![Kids antibiotic use is down](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/pills-6-da2158cc88789ea87e802adb7300a3e8d3c6c95c-e1526402378472-900x422.jpg)
Kids Are Taking Fewer Antibiotics, More ADHD Meds
By: Richard Harris | NPR
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Doctors are prescribing fewer drugs to children, especially antibiotics. But use of certain drugs, including ADHD medications, has increased.
![](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/pauul-marik-2-52191dda2bd85aef15cdd30324fecb6ae78aa90f-e1526056165636-900x422.jpg)
Can A Cocktail Of Vitamins And Steroids Cure A Major Killer In Hospitals?
By: Richard Harris | NPR
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Two big studies aim to rigorously test what could be a revolutionary treatment for a common and deadly disease: sepsis. Many doctors are awaiting the results before changing their practice.
![](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/medical-marijuana-1-f57cbb73691f06ea464adc1f243de90d5ae7887d-e1522684060949-900x422.jpg)
Opioid Use Lower In States That Eased Marijuana Laws
By: Richard Harris | NPR
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Researchers looked at states with medical marijuana dispensaries and those that allow home cultivation, and found lower use of opioids, when compared with states where marijuana remains illegal.
![](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/harris_flu-update-4b1796c6603e8a655572acffa5ce53cc41d920b1-e1520019580921-900x422.jpg)
For The Second Week, The Flu Epidemic Has Eased
By: Richard Harris | NPR
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The flu epidemic has peaked, the CDC said today. Activity declined last week, but the disease is still widespread and dangerous. And it’s still not too late to get a flu shot.