Babesiosis, a tick-borne illness, has become endemic in three more states, NBC News reported March 16.
Category: Public Health
WHO updates variant tracking system to better spot new threats
As part of an updated tracking system for SARS-CoV-2 variants, the World Health Organization will move to evaluate omicron sublineages independently to better identify potential new threats.
Genetic data ties pandemic's origins to Wuhan market
Researchers have found new genetic data that links SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, with raccoon dogs sold at a market in Wuhan, China, The Atlantic reported March 16.
Judging the Abortion Pill
Any day now a conservative federal judge in Texas could upend the national abortion debate by requiring the FDA to rescind its approval of mifepristone, a drug approved in the U.S. more than 20 years ago that is now used in more than half of abortions nationwide. Meanwhile, a controversial study on masks gets a clarification, although it may be too late to change the public impression of what it found. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.
The US Remains a Grim Leader in Preterm Births. Why? And Can We Fix It?
American women are more likely to deliver their babies prematurely than women in most developed countries. It’s a distinction that coincides with high rates of maternal and infant death, billions of dollars in costs, and even lifelong disabilities for the children who survive.
Mayo Clinic considers development of avian flu test, monitors potential of human outbreak
While acknowledging the risk of a human-to-human outbreak of avian flu is currently low, Matthew Binnicker, PhD, director of clinical virology at Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic, isn’t taking any chances.
'Deaths of despair' pushed Minnesota's death rate up in COVID-19's first year: study
Minnesota’s death rate increased 17 percent during the first year of the pandemic, driven by both COVID-19 and other preventable deaths of despair from overdoses, alcohol use and malnutrition, according to new findings from researchers at Rochester, Mi…
CDC, FDA respond to Florida surgeon general's COVID vaccine claims
In an effort to “correct the associated misinterpretations and misinformation” about COVID-19 vaccines, the FDA and CDC wrote a joint response to Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, MD, after he claimed the vaccines pose severe risks.
Breaking the cycle of childhood obesity
Every specialty has its burden, and pediatric endocrinology’s is obesity. Primary care providers refer because they or the child’s parents suspect the cause is hormonal. It almost never is. The overly adipose child invariably has, using old…
Has life returned to normal? 8 COVID-19 experts weigh in
Three years into the pandemic, many medical experts have let their guards down and resumed some semblance of normal life, though most agree there is still a time and place for COVID-19 precautions, The Washington Post reported March 12.
