Category: Washington Post

GOP lawmakers grill CDC director on China’s respiratory virus spike

CDC director Mandy Cohen’s appearance before Congress came as clusters of pneumonia in Chinese children emerge as the latest public health issue enmeshed in geopolitical conflict.

Extreme weather helped fuel surge in malaria cases last year

Cases of malaria rose globally last year, according to a World Health Organization report released Thursday, in part because of record flooding in Pakistan.

Suicide rate reached record high in 2022 but dropped among young people

Suicides among young Americans declined sharply, while rates for older groups — especially men — rose, according to new government data. Guns were involved in more than half of all suicides.

New CDC life expectancy data shows painfully slow rebound from covid

The United States has dug itself into a huge life expectancy hole, and not just because of the coronavirus.

Newly discovered stem cell offers clues to a cancer mystery

The finding may help resolve a long-standing question: Why do far more cancer cells spread to the spine than to other bones in the body?

Groundbreaking smoking ban abandoned in New Zealand’s swing to the right

The new government halted a plan to outlaw smoking, a move critics call “a huge win for the tobacco industry” and “an act of idiocy” for public health.

How to protect your lungs and breathe easier, especially as you age

These tips on pollution, diet and vaccination can help you breathe easier for years to come.

A life-changing injury transformed an expert’s view on disability services

“I’m happy to be alive and to see how I can take where I’ve ended up and do something positive with it,” said Nora Super, who suffered a spinal cord injury in July.

Nearly 1 in 5 adolescents now using melatonin to sleep, researchers say

The American Academy of Pediatrics urges parents to discuss sleep issues with their child’s pediatrician before trying melatonin.

How one rabid kitten triggered intensive effort to contain deadly virus

If the rabies virus spreads unchecked in raccoons, transmission would easily radiate out from Omaha into other states, putting 7 million people at increased risk.