The accuracy of wastewater surveillance, which can track a sample to somewhere as specific as a home, raises ethical questions regarding privacy and consent, Fortune reported Oct. 2.

Public health officials across New York are attempting to cope with the threat of three simultaneous disease outbreaks — COVID-19, monkeypox and polio — which emphasizes how the nation's public health infrastructure is not equipped to handle multiple outbreaks, Politico reported Oct. 2. 

Oregon will expand Medicaid coverage to address hunger, homelessness, and climate change.

Updated omicron boosters have been available since late August, though just 17 percent of Americans say they have heard "a lot" about the updated shots, according to Kaiser Family Foundation's latest COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor survey. 

While COVID-19 cases have been falling for more than 10 consecutive weeks, modeling from Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic suggests this trend will reverse over the next few weeks.

Federal health officials held a meeting with leaders from 10 health systems and groups on Sept. 29 to discuss mitigation strategies ahead of a likely COVID-19 surge and severe flu season this fall. 

University of California Los Angeles researchers found pregnant women who receive the COVID-19 vaccine after recovering from the virus are more likely than other mothers to pass antibodies to their newborns, HealthDay reported Sept. 29.

The CDC revised its "up to date" COVID-19 vaccination term Sept. 30 to include the primary series and the recently authorized omicron-targeting booster. 

According to newly released data from the CDC, suicide deaths in the U.S. increased by 4 percent from 2020 to 2021.

The rate of new COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations all fell last week, with the nation's daily average hospital admissions reaching the lowest figure seen in more than four months, according to the CDC's COVID-19 data tracker weekly review published Sept. 30.

The Minnesota Department of Health is investigating 13 cases of measles that occurred from June through September.

Texas, Georgia and Washington, D.C., reported high flu activity for the week ending Sept. 24, according to the CDC's FluView report. 

In a health alert published Sept. 29, the CDC said "severe manifestations" of monkeypox have been reported in the nation's current outbreak, and urged providers to look out for risk factors for severe disease. 

East Lansing-based Michigan State University, Detroit-based Henry Ford Health, and Providence, R.I.-based Brown University established the National Center for Health and Justice Integration for Suicide Prevention Sept. 29, the universities shared in an email with Becker's.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mary Bassett, MD, health commissioner at the state's health department, announced Sept. 28 additional steps to help local and state health departments combat the polio outbreak.

More than 1,000 hospitals and health associations have joined a campaign led by New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health that encourages parents to ask about gun safety. 

While COVID-19 metrics are still down nationwide, there are early signs that the U.S. may be headed for a fall surge. 

The World Health Organization began accepting suggestions to rename monkeypox Aug. 12, but a decision has yet to be made, Bloomberg reported Sept. 28. 

Houston Methodist is reporting an early increase in flu cases, with numbers hitting levels not usually seen until the end of the year.

Researchers have published more than 200,000 studies about COVID-19 in the nearly three years since the virus has emerged — four times the number of studies done on flu in the last century. However, many mysteries still linger about the virus's origins, its future spread and the long-term effect on humans, The Washington Post reported Sept. 26.