Public Health

The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices met April 20 to discuss the nation's COVID-19 booster strategy, according to CNBC.

Twenty days is the shortest known gap between COVID-19 infections in a single patient, new research from the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases found.

At the CDC's request, the Justice Department on April 20 appealed a ruling from a federal judge in Florida that voided the nation's mask mandate for travelers taking public transportation, including airplanes and trains. 

Many health experts expressed concern over how the CDC's authority might be diluted in future outbreaks after a federal judge in Florida struck down the nation's mask mandate for public transportation April 18. 

Scientists and health officials are investigating upticks in severe hepatitis cases among young children in the U.S. and Europe, according to Science.

A sublineage of the BA.2 omicron subvariant — BA.2.12.1 — is gaining traction in the U.S., with the latest CDC variant proportion estimates showing the strain now accounts for 19 percent of the nation's COVID-19 cases. 

The CDC on April 19 launched a new Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics aimed at improving response measures during disease outbreaks.

A federal judge in Florida on April 18 voided the nation's mask mandate on public transportation, including airplanes, trains, buses and airports. The move comes despite the CDC's recent decision to extend the rule through at least May 3. 

Flu activity in the U.S. increased for the week ending April 9, with the highest test positivity levels in central and south-central states, according to the CDC's latest FluView report. 

Growing levels of vaccine hesitancy may be complicating efforts to catch children up on routine vaccinations, health experts told Politico April 18.