FILE - This undated, colorized electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, indicated in yellow, emerging from the surface of cells, indicated in blue/pink, cultured in a laboratory. The National Institutes of Health is opening a handful of studies to start testing possible treatments for long COVID, an anxiously awaited step in U.S. efforts against the mysterious condition. The announcement, Monday, July 31, 2023 comes amid frustration from patients who've struggled for months or years with sometimes disabling health problems. (NIAID-RML via AP, File)

LAURAN NEERGAARD

AP Medical Writer
FILE - Pharmacist Lena Springmann prepares a Covid-19 vaccination with Pfizer/Biontech vaccine at a vaccination center in Halle, Germany, Monday, Jan. 11, 2021. The Nobel Prize in Medicine has been awarded to two scientists whose work led to mRNA vaccines against COVID-19. (Hendrik Schmidt/dpa via AP, File)
Years of research laid the groundwork for speedy COVID-19 shots
The Nobel Prize in Medicine has been awarded to two scientists whose work led to mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.
 
FILE - A Moderna Spikevax COVID-19 vaccine is seen at a pharmacy in Cypress, Texas on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. Fall 2023 vaccination season is in full swing, with health officials in the U.S. urging both an updated COVID-19 shot and flu vaccine for most everyone. New this year are vaccines for older adults and women in late pregnancy to guard against another virus named RSV. (Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle via AP, File)
What to know as fall vaccinations against COVID, flu and RSV get underway
 
CORRECTS BYLINE TO MARK TESKE, NOT DEBORAH KOTZ - In this photo provided by the University of Maryland School of Medicine, surgeons prepare for a pig heart transplant into Lawrence Faucette at the school's hospital in Baltimore, Md., in September 2023. Two days after the transplant, Faucette was cracking jokes and able to sit in a chair, doctors said Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. (Deborah Kotz/University of Maryland School of Medicine via AP)
Surgeons perform second pig heart transplant, trying to save a dying man
Surgeons have transplanted a pig’s heart into a dying man in a bid to prolong his life. He’s only the second patient to undergo such an experimental feat.
 
Relatives of Maurice “Mo” Miller, Mary Miller-Duffy, his sister, right, and her wife, Sue Duffy, stand with his body at NYU Langone Health in New York on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. “I’m so proud of you,” Miller-Duffy said in a tearful farewell. For a history-making 61 days and despite a brief rejection blip, a pig’s kidney worked normally inside his brain-dead body. (AP Photo/Shelby Lum)
Pig kidney works a record 2 months in donated body, raising hope for animal-human transplants
For a history-making two months, a pig’s kidney worked normally inside a brain-dead man. And while the dramatic experiment ended this week, it’s raising hope for eventually testing pig kidneys in living patients.
 
This photo provided by Pfizer in September 2023 shows single-dose vials of the company's updated COVID vaccine for adults. U.S. regulators have approved updated COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, shots aimed at revving up protection this fall and winter. The Food and Drug Administration's decision Monday, Sept. 11, 2023 is part of a shift to treat fall COVID-19 vaccine updates much like getting a yearly flu shot. (Pfizer via AP)
Americans can now get an updated COVID-19 vaccine
Americans can now get an updated COVID-19 vaccine. Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday endorsed the new shots for everyone 6 months and older. The agency’s director quickly signed off on the panel’s recommendation.
 
This photo provided by Pfizer in September 2023 shows single-dose vials of the company's updated COVID vaccine for adults. U.S. regulators have approved updated COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, shots aimed at revving up protection this fall and winter. The Food and Drug Administration's decision Monday, Sept. 11, 2023 is part of a shift to treat fall COVID-19 vaccine updates much like getting a yearly flu shot. (Pfizer via AP)
US approves updated COVID vaccines to rev up protection this fall
U.S. regulators have approved updated COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, shots aimed at revving up protection this fall and winter.
 
FILE - Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, receives a flu vaccine from Nurse Practitioner Whitney Goggans at the Atlanta Press Club, where Cohen spoke about health issues, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023, in Atlanta. Cohen says the U.S. is in “our strongest position yet” to avoid another chaotic respiratory season. “There will be a lot of virus this winter. That’s why we want to get ahead of it.” (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)
Updated COVID shots are coming. They’re part of a trio of vaccines to block fall viruses
Updated COVID-19 shots are coming soon, part of a trio of fall vaccines that doctors hope will help avoid another “tripledemic.” The new COVID-19 shots will be released in time to pair with the yearly flu shot.
 
This image provided by Pfizer shows the RSV vaccine. U.S. regulators on Monday, Aug. 21, 2023, approved the first RSV vaccine for pregnant women so their babies will be born with protection against the scary respiratory infection. (Pfizer via AP)
FDA approves RSV vaccine for moms-to-be to guard their newborns
U.S. regulators have approved the first RSV vaccine for pregnant women to protect their newborns. The respiratory infection fills hospitals with wheezing babies every fall and winter.
 
Mary Miller-Duffy, left, sits next to her wife, Sue Duffy, in their home in Newburgh, N.Y., on Aug. 2, 2023. Research with her brother-in-law's body has changed Sue's outlook on organ donation. “Maybe I don’t need all my organs when I go to heaven,” she says. “Before I was a hard no. ... Now I’m a hard yes.” (AP Photo/Shelby Lum)
How a family’s choice to donate a body for pig kidney research could help change transplants
A sister’s choice to donate her brother’s body for research is helping doctors learn how to one day use pig organs to save human lives. Mary Miller-Duffy struggled with the decision after her brother’s sudden death but is glad she agreed.
 
Surgeons at NYU Langone Health prepare to transplant a pig's kidney into a brain-dead man in New York on July 14, 2023. Researchers around the country are racing to learn how to use animal organs to save human lives. (AP Photo/Shelby Lum)
Pig kidney works in a donated body for over a month, a step toward animal-human transplants
New York surgeons transplanted a pig’s kidney into a brain-dead man and for over a month it’s worked normally. The experiment at NYU Langone Health marks the longest a pig kidney has functioned in a person, albeit a deceased one.
 
Patient Mike Camilleri works with physical therapist Beth Hughes in St. Louis, Mo., on March 1, 2023. Somehow, a mild case of COVID-19 set off a chain reaction that eventually left Camilleri with dangerous blood pressure spikes, a heartbeat that raced with slight exertion, and episodes of intense chest pain. (AP Photo/Angie Wang)
COVID-19 took a toll on heart health and doctors are still grappling with how to help
COVID-19 has taken a toll on the nation’s heart health but how profound is only starting to emerge. Heart attack deaths spiked early in the pandemic, erasing years of progress in battling cardiovascular disease.
 
FILE - This undated, colorized electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, indicated in yellow, emerging from the surface of cells, indicated in blue/pink, cultured in a laboratory. The National Institutes of Health is opening a handful of studies to start testing possible treatments for long COVID, an anxiously awaited step in U.S. efforts against the mysterious condition. The announcement, Monday, July 31, 2023 comes amid frustration from patients who've struggled for months or years with sometimes disabling health problems. (NIAID-RML via AP, File)
Brain fog and other long COVID symptoms affect millions. New treatment studies bring hope
The National Institutes of Health is starting some studies to test possible treatments for long COVID. Millions of people are estimated to have the mysterious condition.
 
FILE - A sign for Eli Lilly & Co. sits outside their corporate headquarters in Indianapolis on April 26, 2017. New research shows another experimental Alzheimer's drug can modestly slow patients' inevitable worsening. Patients given monthly infusions of Eli Lilly and Co.'s donanemab declined about four to seven months more slowly than those given dummy infusions in a large study. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)
Second Alzheimer’s drug in pipeline can slow the disease by a few months but with safety risk
New research shows another experimental Alzheimer’s drug can modestly slow patients’ inevitable worsening. Patients given monthly infusions of Eli Lilly and Co.’
 
Extra COVID vaccine OK’d for those with weak immune systems
U.S. health regulators have authorized an extra dose of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines in people with weakened immune systems to better protect them from the virus.
 
Health panel expands lung cancer screening for more smokers
More Americans now qualify for yearly scans to detect lung cancer under new guidelines. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force on Tuesday expanded eligibility for the screening, opening it to lighter smokers and starting at age 50 instead of 55.
 
COVID-19 shots might be tweaked if variants get worse
The makers of COVID-19 vaccines are figuring out how to tweak their recipes just in case the shots need an update against worrisome virus mutations. But changing the recipe is just one step.
 
AP FACT CHECK: Trump distorts on vaccine, state distribution
President Donald Trump is wrongly taking full credit for Pfizer’s announcement that its COVID-19 vaccine was robustly successful. That’s according to an AP Fact Check.
 
AP FACT CHECK: Trump’s claims on vaccine, election are wrong
Refusing to concede a presidential election he lost, President Donald Trump is spreading false claims about voter fraud and drugmaker Pfizer’s news that its COVID-19 vaccine may be 90% effective. That’s according to an AP Fact Check.
 
COVID-19 vaccine hunt heats up globally, still no guarantee
About 100 research groups around the world are pursuing vaccines against the coronavirus, with nearly a dozen in early stages of human trials or poised to start.
 
Blood donors urgently needed to avert shortage amid outbreak
Surgeon General Jerome Adams is urging healthy Americans, especially younger ones, to donate blood. Around the country, blood centers are seeing supplies dwindle as blood drives are canceled during the coronavirus outbreak.
 
Questions about Sanders’ health linger after heart attack
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders says he doesn’t plan to divulge additional information about his health, months after suffering a heart attack and subsequently pledging to release “comprehensive” medical records.
 
Cholesterol levels dropping in US, but many still need care
New research shows cholesterol levels are dropping the U.S. Researchers found encouraging declines in patients taking cholesterol-lowering medicine since 2005.
 
Early study results suggest 2 Ebola treatments saving lives
Two experimental Ebola drugs being tested in Congo seem to be saving lives. Health authorities say they’ve stopped a major study early because the two drugs were working much better than two others also being tested.
 
Daily HIV prevention pill urged for healthy people at risk
New recommendations are urging doctors to prescribe a daily prevention pill to people at high risk of HIV infection.
 
Using a smartphone to sound out sign of kids’ ear infections
Researchers have created a way for a smartphone to “hear” a warning sign of ear infections. Fluid buildup behind the eardrum can cause infections. Even if it’s not infected it can be painful and muffle kids’ hearing.
 
It seems like Alzheimer’s but peek into brain shows a mimic
Too often, people think a dementia diagnosis is the same as Alzheimer’s but there are multiple brain changes that can harm memory and thinking skills.
 
Experimental app might spot drug overdoses in time to help
Researchers are creating a cellphone app that can tell if someone’s overdosed on opioids and summon help. It’s still experimental.
 
AP-NORC Poll: Edit baby genes for health, not smarts
A new poll finds public support for using gene-editing technology to protect babies against disease but not for changing DNA to make them smarter, faster or taller.
 
Fear that uproar over gene-edited babies could block science
The uproar over the unproven report of gene-edited births in China has researchers elsewhere worried about a backlash.
 
The scoop on how your cat’s sandpapery tongue deep cleans
Cat lovers know when kitties groom, their tongues are pretty scratchy. Now science offers a peek at why: Cat tongues are carpeted in tiny hooks that spring up during grooming _ and those hooks contain hollow scoops.
 
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