Public Health

The deadliest fire at Changfeng Hospital killed at least 29 people – most of whom were receiving nursing care or staying at a private hospital for extended periods of time. It brings to light a bigger question of China’s rapidly aging population, even with the prevalence of social stigmas against…

Mayor Eric Williams and his administration are preparing to launch the “Public Health Call Center”, which will be open 24/7 and have doctors available to answer questions from citizens and health-care workers about a wide variety of medical issues, including COVID-19. The pandemic brought about the…

Delaware Governor John Carney has announced that the state's Public Health Emergency order, which has been in place since March 13, 2020, will end on May 11, the same day that the federal Public Health Emergency is set to end. The order ensures access to federal emergency assistance and enforces…

The medical community in America is increasingly adopting artificial intelligence (AI) products to speed up patient care and prevent burnout among healthcare professionals. Various AI technologies are being introduced in hospitals, clinics, and doctors' offices across the country. California-based…

US District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk blocked approval of the abortion drug mifepristone by the Food and Drug Administration, while US District Judge Thomas O. Rice ordered the FDA to retain access to the medication in select states. The conservative groups sued the FDA, where in response, the…

An advisory committee to the US health regulator has recommended Pfizer’s respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine for older adults, voting 7-4 in favor of its efficacy and safety in preventing lower respiratory tract disease caused by RSV in people aged 60 and above. However, some members…

Countries have proposed more than 300 amendments to the WHO International Health Regulations 2005 (IHR) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed amendments were discussed during the second meeting of the Working Group on Amendments to the International Health Regulations. The 194 member…

Shirley Holtz, 91 with dementia and enrolled in hospice care, was evicted from the assisted-living facility she had been living in for the past four years, because she relied on government health insurance for low-income seniors. A recent increase in evictions in Wisconsin have been attributed to…

A study published in mBio journal shows that rats in New York City can carry three Covid-19 variants, according to virological studies and genomic sequencing on samples from 79 rats. While the CDC notes that animal-to-human transmission of Covid-19 is rare, the study's principal investigator, Dr…

Avian flu infection was detected in a 9-year old girl from Ecuador who came in contact with poultry that died without apparent causes. The infection, caused by the avian influenza A(H5) virus, elicited persistent nausea and vomiting symptoms in the girl which progressed into more serious…

The US House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, now under Republican control, is launching its review of the Biden administration's handling of the pandemic crisis. The Health and Human Services (HHS) Department has released 900 pages of records to the panel, including phone…

New British research finds that long COVID patients, even those who were not hospitalized, continue to experience mild organ impairment up to a year after their initial COVID diagnosis. The study, involving 536 patients, revealed that at an average of six months after their initial COVID diagnosis,…

The North Korean government has imposed a 5-day lockdown on its capital city as it fights the "recurrent flu and other respiratory diseases". In August, North Korea claimed that it had eradicated the coronavirus without vaccines after reporting its first outbreak of Covid-19 in May of last year.…