A follow-up study by the Northwestern Medicine Neuro COVID-19 Clinic finds that long-haulers are experiencing symptoms like brain fog, numbness, headaches, dizziness, blurred vision and fatigue on average 15 months after the onset of the disease. According to Dr. Igor Koralnik, chief of neuro-infectious diseases and global neurology at Northwestern Medicine, “As new variants emerge and the number of patients impacted by long COVID rises, we’re now focusing our research on understanding the root cause of long COVID. We’re also devising interventions to improve the management of those patients and find the best treatment options for them.” The Northwestern clinic has treated nearly 1,400 long-haulers from across the U.S.

Parkinson’s is caused by a chronic deficiency in dopamine, which triggers increasing muscle stiffness tremors, difficulties with speaking, fatigue, dizziness and a loss of coordination and balance. Patients’ movements often get very slow and small. Falling is a big problem, especially as symptoms progress. In a recent survey of more than 1,700 people with Parkinson’s disease, nearly three-quarters of those who participated in boxing reported that the program improved their social lives, and more than half said it helped with fatigue, fear of falling, depression and anxiety. According to Danielle Larson, assistant professor of neurology, “Parkinson’s disease is not just a condition that affects motor symptoms, such as how you move, walk and talk. Parkinson’s can also affect people’s moods, making them feel lonely or isolated.” Dr. Larson said she now often recommends boxing to her patients.

The number of American children affected by acute hepatitis of unknown cause continues to grow, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday. So far the agency’s investigation has spotted 180 pediatric cases in 36 states and territories over the past seven months. “It’s unusual because this is occurring in normal, healthy kids who don’t have an underlying condition,” said Dr. Tina Tan, professor of pediatrics in infectious disease at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “Nobody knows the true cause, and what makes it more scary is that these kids develop very severe hepatitis.”

Pfizer and BioNTech SE gained U.S. emergency-use authorization for their COVID vaccine booster shot for kids age 5 to 11, a move to bolster protection in school-aged kids as contagious omicron subvariants spread across the country. Two doses of vaccine, plus a booster later is the direction the COVID-19 vaccines are going, said Dr. Bill Muller of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “Kids respond really well to vaccines, so the question we all had is whether two doses is enough protection. It looks like the FDA saw saw that some of the omicron variant was infecting children after two doses. The main thing they looked at though was safety.”