UnitedHealth offers over $3.3 bln in loans to providers hit by attack on unit UnitedHealth Group said on Wednesday it has advanced more than $3.3 billion in loans to care providers impacted by a cyberattack on the U.S. healthcare conglomerate' tech unit last month. Reuters Reuters

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Swedish study suggests link between long COVID and severity of illness Of those who had long COVID, 61% had been hospitalized after contracting the virus. CIDRAP

... high blood pressure may be a risk factor for developing the chronic condition. The study is published in BMJ Public Health.

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Do you need a spring COVID-19 vaccine? Research backs extra round for high-risk groups | CBC News Various Canadian provinces are rolling out spring COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, allowing higher-risk individuals to get an extra dose. CBC

New guidelines suggest certain high-risk groups could benefit from having another dose of a COVID-19 vaccine this spring — and more frequent shots in general — while the broader population could be entering once-a-year territory, much like an annual flu shot.

Medical experts told CBC News that falling behind on the latest shots can come with health risks, particularly for individuals who are older or immunocompromised.

Here's what to know about dengue, as Puerto Rico declares a public health emergency Most people with dengue will show no signs of infection or experience only mild symptoms, but in rare cases infections can become severe and potentially fatal. NPR

Puerto Rico has issued a public health emergency after recording an unusually rapid rise in dengue cases over the first few months of this year.

COVID-Cautious Americans Feel Abandoned There's a growing rift forming between COVID-19 experts and the COVID-cautious public. TIME

...For much of the pandemic, the scientific establishment and the COVID-cautious public were largely aligned in their desires to contain COVID-19. But as many officials argue for a more moderate approach to living with the virus, COVID-cautious individuals are increasingly the loudest voices calling for continued precautions—and, sometimes, lashing out at the scientists they feel have abandoned the cause. ...”

Some nonprofit hospitals spend less on charity care than they receive in tax breaks, new analysis shows A new study found 80% of 2,425 nonprofit hospitals spent less on charity care and community investment than they got in estimated tax breaks. Brittany Trang STAT

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Hack poses financial problems for community health centers - Roll Call In the aftermath of the Change Healthcare hack, small providers and community health centers are struggling to pay their bills. Jessica Wehrman Roll Call

Community health centers and organizations that primarily serve low-income people are being disproportionately hurt by the biggest hack in health care history, which has disrupted payments for thousands of health care providers for a month now.

Study: Kids with COVID but no symptoms play key role in household spread A study today in Clinical Infectious Diseases conducted across 12 tertiary care pediatric hospitals in Canada and the United States shows that asymptomatic children with COVID-19, especially preschoolers, contribute significantly to household transmission. CIDRAP

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The researchers discovered that 10.6% of exposed household contacts developed symptomatic illness within 14 days of exposure to asymptomatic test-positive children, a rate higher than expected.

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