Don’t take them before a shot to try to prevent symptoms, but if your doctor agrees, it’s OK to use them afterward if needed. The concern about painkillers is that they might curb the very immune system response that a vaccine aims to spur. Vaccines work by tricking the body into thinking it has a virus and mounting a defense against it. That may cause temporary arm soreness, fever, muscle aches or other symptoms of inflammation — signs the vaccine is doing its job. Also read: Covid-19 vaccine not a 'silver bullet': WHO Some research suggests that certain painkillers including ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin and other brands) might diminish the immune system’s response. A study on mice suggests these drugs might lower production of antibodies, which block the virus from infecting cells. Other research has found that painkillers might dampen the response to some childhood vaccines, so many pediatricians recommend that parents avoid giving children the medicines before a shot and only if needed afterward, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently updated its guidance to recommend against painkillers before a COVID-19 shot. It says they can be taken afterward for symptoms if you have no other medical conditions precluding their use, but to talk to your doctor. Also read:Daily COVID-19 deaths in US reach highest level since May If you’re already taking one of those medications for a health condition, you should not stop before you get the vaccine — at least not without asking your doctor, said Jonathan Watanabe, a pharmacist at the University of California, Irvine. If you’re looking to relieve symptoms after your shot, he added, acetaminophen (Tylenol) is better because it works in a different way than some other painkillers. “If you have a reaction afterwards and need something, take some acetaminophen,” Schaffner agreed. He added that the immune response generated by the vaccines is strong enough that any dampening effect by painkillers is likely slight and won’t undermine the shots. Also read:Covid-19: Global cases exceed 62 million The CDC offers other tips, such as holding a cool, wet washcloth over the area of the shot and exercising that arm. For fever, drink lots of fluids and dress lightly. Call your doctor if redness or tenderness in the arm increases after a day or if side effects don’t go away after a few days, the CDC says.

COVID-19 infections were present in the United States as early as mid-December 2019, weeks before it was first identified in China and about a month earlier than the first case was officially confirmed in the United States, according to a new study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Global confirmed coronavirus cases have surged past 50 million on Monday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Even as the COVID-19 caseload in the country keeps surging despite limited testing, the novel concept of social distancing remains the exception rather than the rule in capital Dhaka as well as in other parts of the country.

Three members of the White House coronavirus task force, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, placed themselves in quarantine after contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

The U.S. government was slow to understand how much coronavirus was spreading from Europe, which helped drive the acceleration of outbreaks across the nation, a top health official said Friday.

Officials in California were deciding Saturday where to dock a cruise ship with 21 coronavirus cases aboard and four U.S. universities canceled in-person classes as Western countries imitate China by imposing travel controls and shutting down public events to contain the outbreak.

A man who visited Hawaii was confirmed to have coronavirus when he returned home to Japan, Hawaii officials said Friday.

A second case of novel coronavirus has been confirmed in the U.S. among evacuees from China, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday.