Public Health

The World Health Organization has determined COVID-19 remains a public health emergency. The agency's director-general accepted the recommendations of its emergency committee on Jan. 30. 

The U.S. saw double-digit decreases in COVID-19 admissions and hospitalizations this week, even as XBB.1.5 grew to account for nearly two-thirds of all infections, according to the CDC's COVID-19 data tracker weekly review published Jan. 27. 

Flu metrics continue their steady decline in most of the U.S., though New Mexico and New York City are still reporting high levels of activity, according to the CDC's latest FluView report. 

Since June, the number of individuals who experience long COVID-19 has dropped, the Kaiser Family Foundation wrote of its findings after examining CDC data on long COVID-19. On top of that, more than 50 percent of patients who once reported…

All COVID-19 vaccines should be targeted to the original and dominant strains, an FDA advisory panel said Jan. 26, but members debated whether a new modified vaccine every 12 months is optimal.  

Concern is rising among health experts about the possibility of an H5N1 avian flu pandemic, as the strain has now been found in mammals. A Spanish mink farm was infected with the virus in October, signaling to experts the strain's…

Kaiser Permanente has committed $25 million to support gun violence prevention efforts spearheaded through its Center for Gun Violence Research and Education, the Oakland, Calif.-based system said Jan. 26.

Below are four recent long COVID-19 updates Becker's has covered since the beginning of 2023: 

Researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York City have launched an online dashboard that provides data on 36 key health measures, including heart disease and breast cancer deaths, for all 435 congressional districts in the U.S. The…

The weekly rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations was nearly three times lower at the end of December compared to the same period a year prior, CDC data shows.