Public Health

Americans spend far less time face-to-face today than they did 20 years ago, reaching a new low for "social fitness" that spills over to other dimensions of health and wellbeing.

Most parts of the country have seen hospitalizations for COVID-19, flu and respiratory syncytial virus drop in recent weeks. However, the CDC anticipates the nation could see a second wave of flu and "many more weeks" of disease circulation, according…

The CDC may recommend an additional COVID-19 booster this spring, but likely only for those who are most vulnerable to the virus, NBC News reported Feb. 15. 

The National Institutes of Health will pump an additional $515 million into researching long COVID-19, the agency announced Feb. 13.

Forgoing the usual metrics for emergency medical services, researchers evaluated more than 9,000 EMS companies through 11 measures. They found large discrepancies in patient care.

Kawasaki disease, an acute febrile illness that affects children, declined by 50% during COVID-19, but physicians at San Diego, Calif.-based Rady Children’s Hospital have noticed a resurgence, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Feb. 13.

Emergency departments are finally seeing some reprieve after weeks of capacity issues exacerbated by respiratory virus activity across the U.S. Visits to the ER for respiratory viruses continue to follow a downward trend, but the amount of respiratory illnesses in…

The CDC has appointed Robyn Neblett Fanfair, MD, as the permanent director of the Division of HIV Prevention, which falls under the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, according to a Feb. 12 news release.

In early 2024, clusters of measles outbreaks have appeared in at least six states. Here is a quick timeline of events:

The CDC plans to do away with its five-day COVID isolation guidance, aiming to put the recommendations more in line with those for flu and respiratory syncytial virus, officials familiar with the matter told The Washington Post.