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MONDAY, April 6, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Public health officials have been warning that a COVID-19 vaccine will not be available to the public for 12 to 18 months, dampening hopes that there will be a quick end to the global pandemic nightmare. But Chinese researchers cracked the virus' genetic code within weeks of its emergence late last year, and two vaccine candidates are already in early human trials -- one in China and the other in the United States. What's the hold up? Essentially, you can speed up the vaccine development process to respond to a pandemic, but you don't want to speed it up so much that you allow a bad vaccine to enter the market, explained Dr. Greg Poland, director of the Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group. "The process of developing, testing and licensing...

MONDAY, April 6, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been moved to intensive care at St. Thomas' Hospital in London as his condition deteriorated after infection with the novel coronavirus. According to The New York Times, Johnson, 55, had tweeted from hospital on Monday that he was "in good spirits." Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who was standing in for Johnson, added that the prime minister was working from bed and was still "in charge" of the government. However, Raab has admitted that he has not spoken to Johnson since Saturday, and commentators in the U.K. have expressed concern that the prime minister's COVID-19 symptoms have persisted for 10 days since his diagnosis on March 26. According to the Times, there are reports that Johnson received...

MONDAY, April 6, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Pilates exercises can do more than help strengthen your abs -- the moves may also lower high blood pressure and reduce artery stiffness, new research suggests. Pilates is a workout program that focuses on core strength, flexibility, body posture and controlled breathing. The new study included 28 obese women, aged 19 to 27, with high blood pressure ("hypertension"). The participants were non-smokers, had no chronic diseases, and did less than 90 minutes of regular exercise a week. For the study, half of the women completed 12 weeks of mat Pilates sessions supervised by a certified instructor. The other 14 women made up a non-exercising control group. The women in the Pilates group did three one-hour sessions a week, which included 10...

MONDAY, April 6, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Americans have gotten the message on the importance of social distancing in stemming the coronavirus pandemic, a new poll shows. Conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, the survey found that 94% of Americans say they are staying away from large groups, up from 68% six weeks ago. Eighty-six percent now say they are avoiding other people as much as possible. Currently, half of Americans say they are extremely or very worried that they or a family member will be infected by the virus. That compares with 22% who said so in February. Another 34% are somewhat worried, the survey showed. That worry is translating into concrete actions: Ninety-two percent of Americans now say they are washing their hands more...