Public Health

The CDC released guidelines for clinicians on how to handle suspected polio cases.

The U.S. confirmed its first monkeypox death Aug. 30 as the virus continues to spread nationwide, surpassing 18,000 total cases.

Nearly 4 out every 5 children have evidence of a SARS-CoV-2 infection, according to CDC estimates. 

Health officials in Harris County, Texas, said a resident with various severe illnesses who was also presumed to be positive for monkeypox died Aug. 28 at a local hospital. 

While large pustules are characteristic of monkeypox, patients infected amid the current outbreak have presented with a broad range of symptoms, physicians told The New York Times in an Aug. 26 report. 

The CDC has detected polio in four wastewater samples from Sullivan County in New York.

National disease modeling suggests COVID-19 hospitalizations will remain stable through mid-September while cases and deaths fall.  

The nation's seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases decreased more than 6 percent this week, marking the fifth consecutive week of decline, according to the CDC's COVID-19 data tracker weekly review published Aug. 26.

There are early signs monkeypox cases may be peaking in Chicago, New York City and San Francisco, according to health officials. 

While COVID-19 appears to have hit a plateau in the U.S., a misinterpretation of eased CDC guidance may contribute to an uptick this fall and winter, according to an epidemiologist at Chicago-based Northwestern Medicine.