Category: Public Health

CDC reports human case of avian influenza

A Colorado man has tested positive for an H5 bird flu virus, the first such case in the U.S., health officials said April 28. 

Conditions are ripe for measles outbreaks, WHO and UNICEF warn

Measles cases are rising globally amid a “perfect storm” of circumstances that could cause more large-scale outbreaks, the World Health Organization and UNICEF warned April 27.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: More Covid Complications for Congress

Congress is back in session, but covid diagnoses for Vice President Kamala Harris and two Democratic senators have temporarily left the Senate without a working majority to approve continued covid funding. Meanwhile, opponents of the Affordable Care Act have filed yet another lawsuit challenging a portion of the law, and we say goodbye to the late Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, who left a long legacy of health laws. Rachel Cohrs of STAT News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, and Rebecca Adams of KHN join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.

4 states reporting unusual hepatitis cases among children

Physicians and health experts are closely monitoring an outbreak of acute hepatitis that’s affected more than 150 children in 12 countries, including the U.S.

Fauci clarifies: US transitioning out of pandemic phase

The nation’s top infectious disease expert on April 27 said the COVID-19 pandemic is not over, clarifying comments from a day earlier in which he said the nation was “out of the pandemic phase.” 

Emergency Contraception Marks a New Battle Line in Texas

In the shadow of Texas’ austere abortion regulations, grassroots organizers employ stealth tactics to help young women get emergency contraception.

Sen. Orrin Hatch’s Legacy Tracks the GOP’s Evolution on Health

The man who forged a successful working relationship with Democratic health giants, such as Sen. Edward Kennedy and Rep. Henry Waxman, fell back on his deep conservative roots as opposition grew to the Affordable Care Act and the administration of President Barack Obama.

Fauci: US ‘out of the pandemic phase’

“We are certainly right now in this country out of the pandemic phase,” Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a televised interview April 26. 

Not the time to relax COVID-19 surveillance, WHO chief warns

The director of the World Health Organization said a drop in global COVID-19 cases and deaths should be welcomed with caution, since countries have reduced testing and other surveillance measures.

Nearly 60% of Americans have had COVID-19: CDC

More than half of people living in the U.S. had contracted COVID-19 as of February, including 75 percent of children, new CDC research shows.