Public Health

Overdose deaths have reached a new high in the U.S., with the latest CDC data showing a 15 percent increase in fatalities last year. 

The latest CDC variant proportion estimates show a sublineage of the BA.2 omicron variant is gaining foothold in the U.S., coinciding with a nationwide increase in cases and hospitalizations. 

New reports of unusual hepatitis cases among children in the U.S. have brought the global total to 348 probable cases from 20 countries, the World Health Organization said May 10.

The nation's flu positivity test rate reached nearly 10 percent in mid-April, making it the first time such an increase has occurred so late in the flu season since 1982, according to an NBC News analysis of CDC flu data…

The omicron subvariant BA.2 accounts for a fewer proportion of new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. as the prevalence of another omicron sublineage — BA.2.12.1 — grows, according to the CDC's latest variant proportion estimates. 

The next generation of COVID-19 shots may only be available this fall to those at high risk of severe illness if Congress does not approve more emergency funding to buy the shots, a senior administration official told NBC News.

Hospitals will likely see new COVID-19 admissions increase through the end of the month, federal modeling suggests.

Researchers around the world are working to understand how a shrinking number of people have managed to avoid contracting the coronavirus for more than two years in hopes of uncovering better preventive measures and more effective treatments, The Washington Post…

The CDC is investigating "hepatitis of unknown cause" in 109 children, including five deaths, agency officials said in a May 5 update. 

The U.S. may see a "pretty sizable wave" of COVID-19 infections this fall and winter as the virus continues to evolve and immunity wanes, White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator Ashish Jha, MD, said May 8 on ABC News' "This Week."