Category: Public Health

Viewpoint: Wastewater surveillance raises privacy, consent questions

The accuracy of wastewater surveillance, which can track a sample to somewhere as specific as a home, raises ethical questions regarding privacy and consent, Fortune reported Oct. 2.

A look at New York’s battle against 3 disease outbreaks 

Public health officials across New York are attempting to cope with the threat of three simultaneous disease outbreaks — COVID-19, monkeypox and polio — which emphasizes how the nation’s public health infrastructure is not equipped to handle multiple o…

50% of Americans know little or nothing about omicron boosters: KFF survey

Updated omicron boosters have been available since late August, though just 17 percent of Americans say they have heard “a lot” about the updated shots, according to Kaiser Family Foundation’s latest COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor survey. 

US COVID-19 cases to jump 10% in next 2 weeks, Mayo forecasts

While COVID-19 cases have been falling for more than 10 consecutive weeks, modeling from Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic suggests this trend will reverse over the next few weeks.

Hospital leaders meet at White House to talk ‘twindemic’ strategies

Federal health officials held a meeting with leaders from 10 health systems and groups on Sept. 29 to discuss mitigation strategies ahead of a likely COVID-19 surge and severe flu season this fall. 

Severe Sleep Apnea Diagnosis Panics Reporter Until He Finds a Simple, No-Cost Solution

An industry has grown up around sleep apnea, stirring concerns about overdiagnosis and overtreatment.

Pregnant women who get COVID, then vaccine more likely to pass antibodies to babies: study

University of California Los Angeles researchers found pregnant women who receive the COVID-19 vaccine after recovering from the virus are more likely than other mothers to pass antibodies to their newborns, HealthDay reported Sept. 29.

‘Fully vaccinated’ term may get a rebrand with omicron boosters

The CDC revised its “up to date” COVID-19 vaccination term Sept. 30 to include the primary series and the recently authorized omicron-targeting booster. 

US suicide rates increased 4% in 2021

According to newly released data from the CDC, suicide deaths in the U.S. increased by 4 percent from 2020 to 2021.

Michigan State U, Henry Ford Health, Brown U launch suicide prevention research center

East Lansing-based Michigan State University, Detroit-based Henry Ford Health, and Providence, R.I.-based Brown University established the National Center for Health and Justice Integration for Suicide Prevention Sept. 29, the universities shared in an…