The global monkeypox outbreak still constitutes a public health emergency, the World Health Organization determined during its third meeting on the matter. 

The U.S. has seen a modest increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations over the last two weeks, according to HHS data compiled by The New York Times. 

With many children's hospitals facing unprecedented capacity issues amid a surge in  respiratory syncytial virus, flu season admissions at the highest level in 13 years and highly transmissible omicron subvariants gaining prevalence nationwide, hospitals are bracing for a difficult winter. 

For the first time, researchers have observed that respiratory syncytial virus and influenza viruses can merge to create a hybrid virus capable of evading the immune system, according to findings published Oct. 24 in Nature Microbiology.

Although COVID-19 hospitalizations ticked up slightly last week, national disease modeling paints a foggy picture of whether this metric will continue to rise as highly transmissible omicron subvariants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 spread nationwide. 

Wastewater testing has found polioviruses genetically tied to a case that left an unvaccinated Rockland County, N.Y., resident paralyzed this summer in at least five of the state's counties, according to a new CDC report. 

The CDC estimates there have already been nearly 7,000 flu hospitalizations in the U.S. this season, according to estimates in its latest FluView report. Not since the 2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic have cumulative hospitalizations been so high this early in the season.

The White House's COVID-19 response coordinator is optimistic bivalent boosters will offer protection against omicron "escape variants" BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, which now account for nearly 30 percent of U.S. infections. 

Connecting the vision between funding and implementation regarding public health solutions can help implement change, according to one of the Cambridge, Mass.-based Harvard School of Public Health panel of practitioners collaborating on public health solutions Oct. 26, as reported by The Harvard Crimson.

COVID-19 hospitalizations increased slightly this week after nearly two months of decline, while omicron subvariants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 — dubbed 'escape variants' for their immune evasiveness — continued to gain prevalence nationwide, according to the CDC's COVID-19 data tracker weekly review published Oct. 28.

More than 2,300 patients with laboratory-confirmed influenza were admitted to a hospital for the week ending Oct. 22, according to the CDC's latest FluView report. 

A man who traveled to Florida from Michigan to help with hurricane repairs died Oct. 11 after contracting a flesh-eating bacterial infection found in warm saltwater, The Washington Post reported. 

Tuberculosis infections, including those that are drug-resistant, increased globally in 2021 for the first time in years, according to an Oct. 27 report from the World Health Organization.

For the first time, the World Health Organization released a list of fungal "priority pathogens" that have emerged as significant public health threats. The list can be found here.

Omicron subvariants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 — dubbed "escape variants" for their immune evasiveness — are steadily gaining prevalence in the U.S. and now account for more than 16 percent of all COVID-19 cases confirmed nationwide, CDC data shows.

The U.S. is working to expand its Ebola testing abilities to prepare for the possibility that the virus could make its way into the country, CBS News reported Oct. 25. 

Healthcare systems account for more than 4 percent of carbon dioxide emissions on a global average basis, according to an Oct. 24 report from the World Economic Forum.

Hospitals are already seeing predictions of a severe flu season unfold, with 1,674 flu patients admitted to hospitals nationwide for the week ending Oct. 14. Kids account for more than 30 percent of flu hospitalizations, the CDC told NBC News in an Oct. 24 report. 

President Joe Biden will receive his updated omicron COVID-19 booster Oct. 25 and launch several efforts aimed at getting more Americans to do so ahead of the holiday season, according to the White House. 

Health officials in Illinois, Maryland, New York and Nevada are the latest states to report deaths in residents who tested positive for monkeypox, CBS News reported Oct. 21.