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MONDAY, March 30, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Dentists, hygienists and other dental professionals are at high risk for work-related exposure to coronavirus, but they can take steps to protect themselves. "We have really good ways to prescreen patients: by taking their temperature, asking them questions regarding travel in the last two weeks, asking how they're feeling and if they have flu-like symptoms," said Dr. Fotinos Panagakos, vice dean of administration and research at West Virginia University School of Dentistry in Morgantown. "But they may still answer 'no' to all of those questions, and their temperature may be normal, but they may still be infected though they're not showing symptoms yet," he said in a university news release. Patients' coughs and sneezes aren't the only ways...

MONDAY, March 30, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Stressed-out parents should reach out to others for support during the coronavirus pandemic, child health experts say. As the number of coronavirus cases rise and families spend long periods in isolation, parents face unique financial and emotional stresses. Research shows that family stress puts kids at increased risk of abuse, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). The academy advises parents and other child caregivers to take time to look after themselves, including eating a healthy diet, exercising and getting enough sleep. It's also important to maintain connections via phone or video to friends, family and others who can provide support, the AAP said in a news release. "During this time of understandable anxiety, give...

MONDAY, March 30, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Genetic mutations that put some younger people at high risk for severe illness from the new coronavirus will be investigated in an international study. Plans call for enrolling 500 patients worldwide who are under age 50, have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and admitted to an intensive care unit, and have no underlying health problems such as diabetes, heart disease or lung disease. Studying these patients' DNA may identify genetic mutations that make some people more susceptible to infection, according to study leader Jean-Laurent Casanova. That could eventually help doctors identify people most at risk of developing severe coronavirus disease. "We're going to try to find the genetic basis of severe coronavirus infection in young people," he...

MONDAY, March 30, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Could a blood pressure or diabetes medicine make COVID-19 more severe? A proposed new theory says the coronavirus could be binding to angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors in the lower respiratory tracts. Commonly used drugs ACE inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), often used to control heart failure and blood pressure, can increase the number of ACE2 receptors in the body -- making these patients more susceptible to severe COVID-19. Dr. James Diaz, a professor at Louisiana State University's School of Public Health in New Orleans, warned of the possible risk in a letter to the editor published online March 24 in the Journal of Travel Medicine, based on an analysis of nearly 1,100 COVID-19 patients by Chinese...