Public Health

CMS has selected 15 states to participate in the agency's new Transforming Maternal Health Model, designed to focus on improving maternal health care delivery, support and outcomes for Medicaid and CHIP enrollees. 

Paxlovid might help treat some patients with long COVID, a recent study found.

The nation's first human case of severe bird flu has died, Louisiana officials reported Jan. 6. 

Formaldehyde, a toxic chemical found in many common products, poses an "unreasonable risk" to human health, the Environmental Protection Agency said in a Jan. 2 report.

Respiratory illness activity remains high nationwide, with emergency department visits and positive test rates rising for COVID-19, seasonal influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, according to a Jan. 3 news release from the CDC. 

The Biden administration is committing $306 million to strengthen the nation's response to the H5N1 avian influenza outbreak, according to a Jan. 3 HHS news release shared with Becker's. The commitment aims to monitor and prepare for potential public health…

Kidney stones typically affect older adults, but increasingly, children are presenting with the condition, according to research and accounts from physicians.

Each year, alcohol consumption contributes to about 100,000 cancer cases and 20,000 cancer deaths, according to a Jan. 3 report from U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD. 

Cases of norovirus and whooping cough are rising across the U.S., prompting health officials to issue warnings as the country enters peak cold and flu season.

Federal health officials say there is no current need to authorize a bird flu vaccine for use in humans since there is no evidence the disease is spreading from person to person or causing severe illness in people.