Global rollbacks in testing and surveillance are making it difficult to track and identify new COVID-19 variants, officials with the World Health Organization said during a Sept. 22 media briefing.
Public Health
The rate of new COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations all fell last week, with the nation's daily case average reaching the lowest figure seen in nearly five months, according to the CDC's COVID-19 data tracker weekly review published Sept. 23.
The U.S. avoided a long-feared "twindemic" of flu and COVID-19 for the past two years, largely because of widespread masking and other behaviors that kept flu seasons mild. But the risk that both illnesses will increase this winter appears greater.
David Sousa, MD, has been seeing patients suffering from long COVID-19 at Morristown, N.J.-based Atlantic Health's COVID Recovery Center for nearly two years.
The California Department of Justice is launching an Office of Gun Violence Prevention, the first state in the U.S. to do so.
Retooled COVID-19 booster shots that target omicron subvariants could be authorized and available for children to receive within a month, the CDC said in an vaccination planning guide released Sept. 20.
Experts and patients with long COVID-19 say the government is not providing enough relief or resources for what one advocate called "greatest mass-disabling event in human history," Time reported Sept. 19.
Heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other noncommunicable diseases now outnumber infectious diseases as the "top killers globally," according to a new report from the World Health Organization.
Retail pharmacy chains CVS and Walmart have settled for $147.5 million in West Virginia lawsuits that accused the companies of oversupplying opioids, Patrick Morrisey, the state's attorney general, said in a Sept. 20 news conference.
Physicians should routinely screen adults under the age of 65 for anxiety disorders, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said in draft guidance published Sept. 20. The task force also continues to recommend screening all adults for depression.