Flu activity has held steady in many states but risen in others, with the highest test positivity levels seen in northeast, south-central and mountain states, according to the CDC's latest FluView report. 

For health systems nationwide, COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of clear communication to patients and other stakeholders throughout the community. Over the last two years, being a public health authority is a role many healthcare organizations have grown into.

COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations increased nationwide this week, while vaccinations dipped, according to the CDC's COVID-19 data tracker weekly review published April 22.

Routine childhood vaccinations fell nationwide amid the pandemic and are below target levels, the CDC reported April 22. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated health disparities along racial and ethnic lines. In response, healthcare organizations are reexamining their role in contributing to these inequities and assessing potential action steps to address this vast and urgent challenge. This work is driving more healthcare leaders toward an essential realization: One of the most subtle and dangerous ways in which the medical profession perpetuates health inequities is through the practice of implicit bias.

Here are seven COVID-19-related research findings covered by Becker's Hospital Review since March 30:

A federal judge's rejection of the nation's mask mandate for travelers taking public transportation set off a flurry of responses. 

The current updates to the AAMI ST91 national standard are intended to reduce outbreaks linked to the use of contaminated endoscopes through quality processing. Key aspects of this updated standard focus on inspection, cleaning verification, drying post processing, and endoscope storage, in addition to physical design and an emphasis on training and certification.

The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices met April 20 to discuss the nation's COVID-19 booster strategy, according to CNBC.

Twenty days is the shortest known gap between COVID-19 infections in a single patient, new research from the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases found.

At the CDC's request, the Justice Department on April 20 appealed a ruling from a federal judge in Florida that voided the nation's mask mandate for travelers taking public transportation, including airplanes and trains. 

A small specialty hospital that operates within DMC Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit is pausing admissions due to an outbreak of the deadly, drug-resistant fungus Candida auris, the Detroit Free Press reported April 20.

Many health experts expressed concern over how the CDC's authority might be diluted in future outbreaks after a federal judge in Florida struck down the nation's mask mandate for public transportation April 18. 

Scientists and health officials are investigating upticks in severe hepatitis cases among young children in the U.S. and Europe, according to Science.

A sublineage of the BA.2 omicron subvariant — BA.2.12.1 — is gaining traction in the U.S., with the latest CDC variant proportion estimates showing the strain now accounts for 19 percent of the nation's COVID-19 cases. 

The Joint Commission and National Quality Forum selected Prime Healthcare Services and Kaiser Permanente Northern California as recipients of their John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Awards in two categories. 

New York City-based Hospital for Special Surgery has appointed Paul Coyne, DNP, APRN, senior vice president and chief nurse executive.

A study involving physician surveys and Medicare claims data found no consistent relationship between burnout and patient outcomes, according to findings published in the April edition of Health Affairs.

The CDC on April 19 launched a new Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics aimed at improving response measures during disease outbreaks.

A federal judge in Florida on April 18 voided the nation's mask mandate on public transportation, including airplanes, trains, buses and airports. The move comes despite the CDC's recent decision to extend the rule through at least May 3.