HEALTH AND SCIENCE HIGHLIGHTS

May 12,  2020 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future—including the latest on COVID-19.

HEALTH

• 15 children in N.Y.C. identified with rare COVID-linked condition. More cases are likely out there. (NBC)
• Second-trimester miscarriage attributed to a coronavirus infection of placenta (CNBC)
• The coronavirus can be found in semen, raising questions of whether it can be sexually transmitted, new research says (Business Insider)
• In race for a coronavirus vaccine, an Oxford group leaps ahead (Seattle Times)
• Purplish Lesions On Feet Could Be Sign Of Virus, Say Dermatologists (Huffington Post)
• Young and middle-aged people, barely sick with covid-19, are dying from strokes (Washington Post)
• Hopes High for Anti-inflammatories to Combat COVID-19 Immune System Storms (TCT MD)
• Remdesivir drug shows promise -- but it is far from a coronavirus cure (CNN)
• Expert report predicts up to two more years of pandemic misery (CNN)
• The Dr. Fauchi of the 1918 Spanish flu (Forbes)

SCIENCE

• ‘Murder Hornets’ in the U.S.: The Rush to Stop the Asian Giant Hornet (New York Times)
• Elon Musk defies coronavirus order and asks to be arrested (The Verge)
• People Are Social Distancing Less, Cell Phone Data Show  (NPR)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

HEALTH

15 children in N.Y.C. identified with rare COVID-linked condition. More cases are likely out there. (NBC)

Other cases have been reported across Europe and along the eastern part of the U.S.

Second-trimester miscarriage attributed to a coronavirus infection of placenta (CNBC)

… Reports of newborns with fetal distress and stillbirth after maternal contraction of the virus during the third trimester suggest that there may be a Covid-19 induced placental infection, according to the research published Thursday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The coronavirus can be found in semen, raising questions of whether it can be sexually transmitted, new research says (Business Insider)

A study published Thursday in the Journal of the American Medicine Association found the coronavirus in semen too. Particles were detected in the semen of men who had active infections and those who had recovered. Many types of viruses that aren't typically sexually transmitted have also been found in semen in the past…Other research on viruses in semen has shown that the Zika and Ebola viruses can be sexually transmitted.

In race for a coronavirus vaccine, an Oxford group leaps ahead (Seattle Times)

In the worldwide race for a vaccine to stop the coronavirus, the laboratory sprinting fastest is at Oxford University…The Oxford scientists now say that with an emergency approval from regulators, the first few million doses of their vaccine could be available by September …

Purplish Lesions On Feet Could Be Sign Of Virus, Say Dermatologists (Huffington Post)

Doctors say “COVID toes” could be a way to track the coronavirus in otherwise asymptomatic patients.

Young and middle-aged people, barely sick with covid-19, are dying from strokes (Washington Post)

Doctors sound alarm about patients in their 30s and 40s left debilitated or dead. Some didn’t even know they were infected.

Hopes High for Anti-inflammatories to Combat COVID-19 Immune System Storms (TCT MD)

How the immune response tips so radically off-balance is unclear, but research, some drawing on recent CVD trials, ploughs on.

Remdesivir drug shows promise -- but it is far from a coronavirus cure (CNN)

The study showing that the experimental drug remdesivir might help Covid-19 patients recover more quickly is positively good news. Shortly afterward, Dr. Anthony Fauci said remdesivir will become the "standard of care" for all infected patients. But beyond the initial optimism, the study also made clear that remdesivir is far from a cure for Covid-19.

Expert report predicts up to two more years of pandemic misery (CNN)

The new coronavirus is likely to keep spreading for at least another 18 months to two years—until 60% to 70% of the population has been infected, a team of longstanding pandemic experts predicted in a report released Thursday. They recommended that the US prepare for a worst-case scenario that includes a second big wave of coronavirus infections in the fall and winter.

The Dr. Fauchi of the 1918 Spanish flu (Forbes)

January 1919, Washington’s health commissioner urged legislators in the state capital, Olympia, to enforce strict measures against the spread of the Spanish flu, …Both the city and county voted against those measures. In response, the commissioner sought to get the State Board of Health to enforce its police powers against the county. Instead, he lost his job. A public health official getting fired over unpopular social distancing measures during a pandemic has an eerie echo today, when business leaders and politicians are chafing against restrictions urged by authorities to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. But it was precisely these restrictions that enabled Seattle and other cities in Washington to protect themselves from the Spanish flu…

SCIENCE

‘Murder Hornets’ in the U.S.: The Rush to Stop the Asian Giant Hornet (New York Times)

Sightings of the Asian giant hornet have prompted fears that the vicious insect could establish itself in the United States and devastate bee populations.

Elon Musk defies coronavirus order and asks to be arrested (The Verge)

Tesla is reopening its California car factory against Alameda County’s wishes.

People Are Social Distancing Less, Cell Phone Data Show  (NPR)

State leaders are considering reopening economies and allowing people to leave their homes, but more and more Americans appear to be doing so on their own. Emerging data suggests that though people dramatically altered their habits around staying at home during the first month of America's response to the pandemic, that cooperation has since leveled off and — eventually — decreased.