Category: Public Health

The U.S. resumed its program that ships four free COVID-19 tests to every household Dec. 15 as the mostly vaccinated but scarcely boosted nation braces for a winter surge in cases. 

At least four children’s hospitals in the U.S. are seeing an increase in severe strep A infections, NBC News reported Dec. 14. 

Long COVID-19 has contributed to the deaths of at least 3,544 people in the U.S., according to a CDC analysis of death certificates published Dec. 14. Experts who reviewed the report say the findings are almost certainly an undercount. 

Emergency room and critical care physicians continue to see significant levels of respiratory syncytial virus activity, according to survey data published Dec. 14. 

New York’s executive order on polio is “no longer necessary” as the number of positive wastewater samples has declined, health officials said Dec. 12. Efforts to increase vaccination uptake, however, will continue as coverage rates in affected are…

Respiratory virus activity is already high, and health experts anticipate the upcoming holiday season to accelerate virus spread. 

COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are steadily rising nationwide, suggesting a winter surge may be near. At present, however, the duration, magnitude and scope of such a surge is still unclear, experts told The Atlantic.

Adults who were prescribed Paxlovid for mild to moderate COVID-19 were 50 percent less likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19, according to the CDC’s COVID-19 Weekly Tracker published Dec. 9. 

Nearly 26,000 lab-confirmed flu patients were admitted to hospitals for the week ending Dec. 3, up from the nearly 20,000 that were admitted the week prior.