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THURSDAY, Nov. 25, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Protection can gradually fade after a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by Pfizer-BioNTech, which suggests that a booster shot might be necessary, researchers report.They analyzed data from more than 80,000 adults in Israel, average age 44, who had no previous evidence of infection and who had received a PCR test at least three weeks after their second shot of the two-dose Pfizer vaccine.Across all age groups, 1.3% tested positive 21-89 days after a second dose, increasing to 2.4% after 90-119 days; 4.6% after 120-149 days; 10.3% after 150-179 days, and 15.5% after 180 days or more.Compared with the first 90 days after a second dose, the risk of infection was 2.37-fold higher after 90-119 days; 2.66-fold higher after 120-149 days;...

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 24, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Parents and children who were separated under the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policy have shown lasting psychological trauma -- even after being reunited, a new study finds.Between 2017 and 2018, more than 5,000 children were separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border under the policy, which aimed to deter asylum seekers.The practice was denounced by human rights groups and medical experts as inhumane -- with the American Academy of Pediatrics calling it "government-sanctioned child abuse." It was ultimately overturned in the courts.That was not the end of the story, however. As of August, more than 1,800 children remained separated from their parents, according to a task force established by the Biden...

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 24, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- A wearable device that could inject a lifesaving antidote for an opioid overdose might be on the horizon.A new study shows that the device, worn on the stomach like an insulin pump, can detect when someone stops breathing from an overdose and inject the drug naloxone to restore breathing."Fatal drug overdoses in the United States are at an all-time high, and opioid overdoses account for the majority of these deaths; however, up to 52% of fatal overdoses occur when the person is alone," said lead researcher Justin Chan. He's a doctoral student at the University of Washington's Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering. "Our sensing system can potentially reduce fatalities caused by opioid overdoses by administering naloxone in...

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 24, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Republican lawmakers in several states are pushing vaccine mandate exemptions for workers who have so-called natural immunity due to a previous COVID-19 infection.That's despite evidence that vaccination can reduce the risk of COVID-19 even for those with a history of infection, and the fact that there's no easy way to assess the protection provided by prior infection, CBS News reported.Florida, West Virginia and Arkansas are among GOP-led states requiring employers to provide an exemption for workers with "natural immunity." Republicans in Alabama, Idaho, New Hampshire, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas and Wyoming are also trying to implement measures to protect unvaccinated workers who can prove they had a prior infection."Unlike what you see...