While the U.S. keeps close watch on several omicron variants that can more easily evade immunity ahead of an anticipated winter surge, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator believes there's reason to remain optimistic. 

Polio has been detected in a wastewater sample from Brooklyn (Kings County) and Queens County from August, the New York State and City Departments of Health said Oct. 11.

Experts are raising concerns over COVID-19 isolation guidelines after a new study showed 80 percent of symptomatic participants who were infected when the omicron BA.1 variant was dominant were still testing positive five days after symptom onset. 

Evidence mounted suggesting COVID-19 likely spread zoonotically  — an animal to human jump — as the debate into the pandemic's origins flared up again after a new report from an expert panel, Science reported Oct. 10.

Nearly half of U.S. adults reported misrepresentation and/or nonadherence regarding public health measures against COVID-19.

Signs are mounting that the U.S. may face a winter COVID-19 surge, which could strain the U.S. healthcare system, especially if coupled with a potentially severe flu season.

A rare strain of Ebola has been suspected or confirmed in at least 64 cases in Uganda, and global health experts are concerned because no vaccines or treatments exist, Nature reported Oct. 7.

The resurgence of a social media trend encouraging people to eat a chip with two of the hottest known peppers is sending some children to the hospital. 

A sore throat is starting to beat out fever and less of smell as the most common symptom of COVID-19, according to recent data from the U.K. 

For the week ending Oct. 1, 885 lab-confirmed flu patients were admitted to the hospital, according to the CDC's latest FluView report. 

Here are 14 COVID-19-related studies Becker's has covered since Sept. 12: 

The firearm homicide rate in 2021 was 8.3 percent higher than in 2020, and the firearm suicide rate among people aged 10 years and older also increased by 8.3 percent during the same time period, according to an Oct. 6 report from the CDC.

Starting Oct. 20, the CDC will publish data on COVID-19 cases and deaths every Wednesday. It had been updating the figures on a daily basis since the start of the pandemic. 

Of the nearly 24 million patients in the U.S. suffering from long COVID-19, 80 percent are having trouble carrying out daily tasks, an Oct. 5 report from the CDC found.

The CDC is warning clinicians to be on alert for potential Ebola cases in the U.S. and implementing airport screenings amid an outbreak in Uganda. 

Monkeypox eradication in the U.S. is unlikely in the near future, as experts anticipate low-level transmission will continue indefinitely, according to a CDC technical brief published Sept. 29. 

There will likely be an increase across a number of infections in the wake of Hurricane Ian, infectious disease specialist Judy Stone, MD, wrote in an Oct. 4 piece published in Forbes. 

Nine out of 10 adults believe there is a mental health crisis in the U.S. today, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation/CNN Mental Health In America Survey, as reported Oct. 5 by CNN.

Increasing COVID-19 booster administration this fall could save up to 160,000 lives and prevent more than 1 million hospitalizations, according to an Oct. 5 analysis from the Commonwealth Fund.

A new COVID-19 variant could pop up in the coming months, as winter poses a risk for an uptick in respiratory illnesses, Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in an Oct. 4 interview with the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism.