Public Health

The FDA has extended expiration dates for many rapid at-home COVID-19 tests, meaning some test kits that have been stored away from earlier in the pandemic may still provide accurate results. 

Respiratory syncytial virus activity has increased across the Southeast in recent weeks, suggesting the U.S. will see a national uptick within several months, according to a Sept. 5 CDC health alert.

New lab data suggests COVID-19 variant BA.2.86 — a distant omicron relative that has been making headlines over the past few weeks because of its large number of mutations — may not be as transmissible or immune-evasive as experts initially…

Health officials at the CDC have issued a health advisory warning clinicians to look out for cases of Vibrio vulnificus, a sometimes deadly flesh-eating bacteria. 

The CDC updated its risk assessment on distant omicron relative BA.2.86 on Aug. 30, saying the strain — which has concerned experts over the large number of mutations it carries — has been detected in at least four states. 

Patients have been canceling appointments at Chillicothe, Ohio-based Adena Regional Medical Center over rumors and concerns about a Legionnaires' disease outbreak, which the health system has since described as "misinformation." 

Health officials in Virginia are warning clinicians about an outbreak of meningococcal disease, according to an Aug. 30 news release from the state's department of health.

A Texas resident died after being exposed to Naegleria fowleri — the bacteria that causes a brain-eating amoeba infection — from swimming in a lake in Travis County near Austin, Texas, according to an Aug. 30 news release.

While the COVID-19 variant EG.5 accounts for more than 20 percent of cases across the U.S., according to CDC data, the emergence of a new subvariant, BA.2.86 is drawing close attention from health experts.

The CDC updated its annual flu shot recommendations Aug. 23, with experts noting one key change: People with egg allergies can now get any flu vaccine, egg-based or non-egg based.