It is safe to donate blood during the coronavirus pandemic? Do cloth face masks offer meaningful protection against COVID-19? These are among the questions Americans are asking, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the agency is offering some answers. A number of measures are being taken to protect the nation’s blood supply, according to the FDA. Blood donors must be healthy and feel well on the day of donation. Routine donor screening should prevent people with respiratory infections from donating blood. However, donors are told to contact the donor center if they become ill after giving blood, so that their blood or plasma won’t be used. No cases of COVID-19 have been linked to blood or products made from blood collected from donors who developed COVID-19 after donating, the FDA said in a news release. And giving blood is one way for you to help during this public health emergency. If you’re healthy and want to donate blood, contact a local donation center to make an appointment, the agency advised. There’s another way you might be able to help — by donating convalescent plasma, the FDA said. Scientists are investigating its use to treat COVID-19. Convalescent plasma is the liquid part of blood that’s collected from patients who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies in their blood against the virus. The…  read on >

Eating a Mediterranean diet that’s high in vegetables, whole grains and fish could reduce your risk of mental decline, two studies from the U.S. National Eye Institute (NEI) suggest. “We do not always pay attention to our diets. We need to explore how nutrition affects the brain and the eye,” lead author Dr. Emily Chew said in an NEI news release. She is director of the institute’s division of epidemiology and clinical applications. The researchers analyzed data from the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) and the follow-up study, AREDS2. The studies, which included 8,000 people in all, were set up to explore the eye disease age-related macular degeneration. At the start of both studies, participants’ diets were assessed, including their average consumption of specific Mediterranean diet components over the previous year. Besides veggies, whole grains and fish, this type of meal plan is rich in whole fruits, nuts, legumes and olive oil. A Mediterranean diet also features lower consumption of red meat and alcohol. AREDS tested participants’ mental (cognitive) function at five years, and AREDS2 tested mental function at the start and again two, four and 10 years later. Those who most closely followed the Mediterranean diet had the lowest risk of mental impairment. Although the study can’t prove a direct cause-and-effect relationship, high levels of fish and vegetable consumption appeared to provide the greatest…  read on >

You’re in lockdown, yet you still have to go grocery shopping, but how do you stay safe and avoid catching the coronavirus? The American Medical Association has some timely tips. When you go to the store: Stay at least six-feet away from other shoppers. Don’t shake hands, hug or have any physical contact. Wipe down grocery carts or basket handles with disinfectant wipes if you have them. Don’t touch your face. Wear a cloth face mask. While waiting and after leaving the store, use hand sanitizer if you have it. If you’re sick, don’t go shopping. But if you must, wear a mask, wash your hands often and keep a safe distance between you and others. When you get your groceries home: Although it’s unlikely you’ll be exposed to the virus from the items in your shopping bag, wash your hands after unpacking your groceries. Wipe surfaces with a household disinfectant. Take precautions when preparing food: Wash your hands before eating. Do not share plates or silverware with others. Rinse fruits and vegetables before eating them. If you’re 65 or older: Ask a neighbor or friend to pick up groceries and leave them outside your house or bring them in while keeping at least six-feet apart. Check with your local market and go during store hours reserved for older shoppers. See if your grocer delivers…  read on >

Even if your takeout dinner was prepared by a cook who has COVID-19, there’s little need to worry about your risk of infection, according to an expert in viruses. “Restaurant kitchens can be one of the safest places in this coronavirus outbreak because they already practice strict hygiene protocols to avoid foodborne illness,” said Paula Cannon, a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles. “Owners are taking this extremely seriously and monitoring their staff for symptoms, and encouraging the strictest adherence to all food hygiene procedures,” Cannon said in a university news release. Even if a sick chef was preparing your pizza, burger or lo mien and they coughed onto the food — “which I think is extraordinarily unlikely to happen,” Cannon said — there are also easy, additional safeguards you can adopt at home. For example, she pointed out that it’s easy to kill the new coronavirus with heat. So rewarming your meal when you get it home, or making sure that it’s hot, should provide extra reassurance, Cannon said. If you’re still uneasy, buy food to eat the next day and store it in the fridge or the freezer, she suggested. Time, as well as heat, kills the new coronavirus. Concerned that the virus may be lingering on the outside…  read on >

Advice on eating fish while pregnant has flip-flopped over the years. Now, a new study suggests that the benefit of eating fish in moderation during pregnancy outweighs the risk. Fish is a major source of omega-3 fatty acids, which are important for a developing fetus. But some fish — such as swordfish, shark and mackerel — can contain high levels of mercury, which can cause neurological damage. The new study included 805 mother-child pairs in five European countries. During pregnancy, the women were asked about their fish consumption and tested for mercury exposure. When their children were between 6 and 12 years of age, the kids’ metabolic health was assessed. Metabolic health includes factors such as waist circumference, blood pressure and cholesterol levels. The University of Southern California (USC) researchers found that children whose moms ate fish one to three times per week during pregnancy were more likely to have better metabolic health than kids whose mothers ate fish less than once a week during pregnancy. But the benefits decreased if their mothers ate fish more than three times a week during pregnancy, according to the study published online March 16 in JAMA Network Open. “Fish is an important source of nutrients, and its consumption should not be avoided,” said senior investigator Dr. Leda Chatzi, an associate professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School…  read on >

Supplemental application of Epclusa approved to treat HCV in children without cirrhosis, with mild cirrhosis  read on >

Social distancing measures have many Americans cooking at home during the coronavirus pandemic, so one food safety expert has tips for storing and preparing leftovers properly. One of the most important safety measures is to place perishable foods — those that require cold storage to be kept safe — in the refrigerator or freezer within two hours of being cooked, said Elizabeth Andress, a food safety specialist at the University of Georgia. “Cooking doesn’t remove all bacterial concerns from foods — they still have to be kept at recommended temperatures,” Andress said in a university news release. “After food is safely cooked, enjoy your meal, but within two hours of cooking food or after it is removed from an appliance keeping it warm above 140 degrees Fahrenheit, leftovers must be refrigerated,” she stressed. Divide large amounts of food into shallow containers. Cut or slice roasts, hams and whole turkeys into small pieces placed in small containers. Other larger items like casserole dishes should be packaged in smaller portions. Place leftovers in tightly sealed containers or wraps. For freezer storage, packaging should be moisture and vapor-resistant materials to prevent freezer burn. Plastics should be freezer weight and glass jars should be meant for freezing and have air-tight lids. Label each package with the name of the food, ingredients and packaging date. Package foods in amounts you’re…  read on >

In a bit of good news about the novel coronavirus, one expert says it looks like livestock and poultry don’t appear to be at risk from COVID-19. The coronavirus most likely jumped from an animal species into humans and mutated into a virus that mostly affects people, said Jim Roth, director of the Center for Food Security and Public Health at Iowa State University. “If livestock were getting the virus and getting sick we’d most likely know that from what’s gone on in other countries,” Roth said in a university news release. “It does seem to be pretty species-specific to people,” said Roth, a professor of veterinary microbiology and preventive medicine. Researchers are examining the possibility that livestock might develop minor infections or carry the coronavirus, but the virus is still too new for any firm conclusions at this time, he explained. The low level of risk to livestock and poultry is good news for U.S. livestock producers, meat packers and consumers, who could use some stability as uncertainty about the coronavirus restricts many normal daily activities, Roth noted. However, he added that the coronavirus could disrupt the U.S. food supply by causing workforce shortages for the meat packing industry. Meat packing, processing and distribution occurs around the clock, and fresh meat has a limited shelf life, so if a significant portion of meat packing…  read on >

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 researchers. That analysis found COVID-19 patients with high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes or chronic kidney disease often required treatment in an intensive care unit, were placed on ventilators or died. Diaz wrote these patients all had conditions that probably were treated with ACE inhibitors or ARBs and called for studies to see if these drugs were at least partially responsible for the severe outcomes. Diaz said the Chinese researchers did not include information on whether the patients studied were taking these drugs. However, cardiologists like Dr. David Kass, a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, are urging that “people who take…  read on >