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MONDAY, June 1, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- The drug Tagrisso could offer hope to patients battling a form of lung cancer that typically hits people with little or no history of smoking, a new trial finds. Taken after surgery to remove the lung tumor, Tagrisso (osimertinib) greatly extended the average survival of people battling a non-metastatic form of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which makes up the vast majority of lung cancers. The NSCLC tumors that were the focus of the new trial were characterized by the presence of an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation on cells. This subset of tumors "are present in roughly 10% of Caucasian patients, with much higher estimates of other patient populations, such as Asian patients," said Dr. Kevin Sullivan, a lung cancer...

MONDAY, June 1, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- A grieving widower played by Matt Damon flashes a shiny coded wristband for security guards to scan in the 2011 movie "Contagion." After a quick beep and a green light, Damon is allowed into a store to buy a prom dress for his daughter. That wristband was an "immunity passport" -- a certification of his character's immunity to the movie's deadly virus. With fiction quickly becoming reality, immunity passports are now being touted as a means to reopen the world following COVID-19 lockdowns. But experts worry that a host of practical and ethical problems make the concept unworkable and potentially dangerous to privacy and liberty. Governments and private businesses are currently developing similar programs that would allow people who have...

MONDAY, June 1, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- As the number of U.S. coronavirus cases neared 1.8 million on Monday, a new poll shows that a majority of Americans still think it's more important to control the virus' spread than to restart the economy. While nearly 6 in 10 Americans say the pandemic has taken a heavy economic toll on their communities, a majority of a divided country still believes that containing COVID-19 infections is paramount, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows. Overall, 57 percent of all Americans and 81 percent of Democrats say trying to control the spread of the coronavirus is most important right now. But only 27 percent of Republicans agree, while 66 percent of them say restarting the economy is more critical. Nearly 6 in 10 independents say their priority...

SUNDAY, May 31, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- If you're off to college in the fall and have allergies or asthma, it's not too soon to figure out how you'll manage them. "There are many arrangements to be made as you head off to college for the first time, and your allergies and asthma should not be put on the back burner," said Dr. J. Allen Meadows, president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI). "It's important to start managing your health issues well before you leave for school, because there are many details to nail down to ensure you stay well as you study," he said in an ACAAI news release. Here's his advice: Meet with your allergist before school starts. If you're going to a school far away, request a referral to an allergist close to campus. Find out...