Global rollbacks in testing and surveillance are making it difficult to track and identify new COVID-19 variants, officials with the World Health Organization said during a Sept. 22 media briefing. 

The rate of new COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations all fell this week, with the nation's daily case average reaching the lowest figure seen in nearly five months, according to the CDC's COVID-19 data tracker weekly review published Sept. 23.

The U.S. avoided a long-feared "twindemic" of flu and COVID-19 for the past two years, largely because of widespread masking and other behaviors that kept flu seasons mild. But the risk that both illnesses will increase this winter appears greater. 

David Sousa, MD, has been seeing patients suffering from long COVID-19 at Morristown, N.J.-based Atlantic Health's COVID Recovery Center for nearly two years. 

The California Department of Justice is launching an Office of Gun Violence Prevention, the first state in the U.S. to do so. 

The CDC had confirmed 24,364 monkeypox cases in 53 states and territories, as of Sept. 21.

Retooled COVID-19 booster shots that target omicron subvariants could be authorized and available for children to receive within a month, the CDC said in an vaccination planning guide released Sept. 20.

Experts and patients with long COVID-19 say the government is not providing enough relief or resources for what one advocate called "greatest mass-disabling event in human history," Time reported Sept. 19.

Heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other noncommunicable diseases now outnumber infectious diseases as the "top killers globally," according to a new report from the World Health Organization. 

Physicians should routinely screen adults under the age of 65 for anxiety disorders, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said in draft guidance published Sept. 20. The task force also continues to recommend screening all adults for depression. 

President Joe Biden sought to clarify his declaration that the pandemic is "over" after facing backlash from patients, physicians and health experts this week, The Hill reported Sept. 20.

Earlier this month, the CDC said hospitals through July and August had detected the largest number of infections caused by enterovirus D68 since 2018. 

A group of protesters with long-term COVID-19 symptoms protested outside of the White House Sept. 19, after President Joe Biden said "the pandemic is over," The Hill reported Sept. 19.

Reported cases of sexually transmitted diseases sharply increased in 2021, preliminary CDC data shows. 

Disease experts anticipate COVID-19 to remain among the top 10 causes of death in the U.S.  indefinitely, NBC News reported Sept. 19

While BA.5 is still the nation's dominant strain, its prevalence has fallen over the past two weeks, according to the CDC's latest estimates. 

COVID-19 inoculation rates among the youngest population with an authorized vaccine vary between 0.1 percent and 21 percent depending on the state, and physicians are concerned, The Washington Post reported Sept. 18. 

The number of new monkeypox cases in the U.S. are down nearly 50 percent since early August, according to federal health officials. 

Polio preys on human negligence, as vaccination performance depends on a tight alignment of technology and human behavior, Katherine Wu, PhD, a writer for The Atlantic, wrote in a Sept. 16 opinion piece.

COVID-19 cases will fall over the next two weeks, while hospitalizations and deaths will remain stable through early October, national disease modeling suggests.