CNN – Health

By Katherine Dillinger, CNN In a possible warning sign for the US and other Northern Hemisphere countries, Chile’s 2022 flu season started much earlier than usual and brought more hospitalizations than during the pandemic, but the effectiveness of the vaccine against hospitalization was estimated to be almost 50%, according to a new study published by

By Deidre McPhillips, CNN People of color — especially Black and Hispanic people — were less likely to receive Paxlovid and other Covid-19 treatments, according to a study published Thursday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Throughout the pandemic, Black and Hispanic people have been about two times more likely than White

By Katia Hetter, CNN A common respiratory virus, respiratory syncytial virus, is surging in the United States, leading to some children’s hospitals being overwhelmed. The influenza virus is also on the rise, along with other viruses — such as adenovirus and rhinovirus — that cause the common cold. At the same time, children are back

By Deidre McPhillips and Jacqueline Howard, CNN The United States is dealing with a unique season of respiratory virus transmission: Flu cases are on the rise earlier than usual, and RSV case rates are extra high, even after an “unprecedented” early surge this summer. And Covid-19 is still a public health emergency. Public health experts

By Kristen Rogers, CNN Whether you’re getting kicked off your parent’s health insurance plan or have been doing open enrollment for years, navigating health insurance jargon can be daunting. Information about a plan’s coverage isn’t always transparent. Nor is there one right answer, since the best plan for you can depend on your health status

By Carma Hassan, CNN Monkeypox can have “devastating outcomes” on severely immunocompromised patients such as those with untreated HIV, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. New research published Wednesday in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report examined clinical case data for 57 patients hospitalized with monkeypox complications and found that

By Upasna Gautam, CNN Sahaj Kohli, whose family immigrated to the United Kingdom from India, struggled with an identity crisis familiar to many children of immigrants. As the first in her family to marry a non-Indian, the first to go to therapy and the first to start talking openly about mental health, she found herself

By Jen Christensen, CNN The measures that helped keep us safe from Covid-19 over the past 2½ years — lockdowns, physical distancing, wearing masks, washing hands — also helped limit the spread of other viruses. As people return to school and work and take off their masks, those viruses, including respiratory syncytial virus and flu,

By Brenda Goodman, CNN The updated Covid-19 booster shots appear to work about as well against the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants as the original boosters they replaced, according to two new studies from research teams at Harvard and Columbia universities. The research suggests that our bodies have been well-trained to fight the original virus,

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN The social media platform TikTok has helped spread yet another potentially dangerous idea: taping your lips shut to stop mouth breathing at night. “If you have obstructive sleep apnea, yes, this can be very dangerous,” said sleep specialist Dr. Raj Dasgupta, an associate professor of clinical medicine at the Keck School

By Brenda Goodman, CNN Parents who need to take a child to the emergency room are facing agonizing waits in many parts of the United States because of a shortage of hospital beds. Hospitals across the country say they are being overwhelmed by an early surge in respiratory infections including RSV, influenza and enterovirus. As

By Deidre McPhillips, CNN For nearly two decades, Kristin Friberg has been a librarian with the Princeton Public Library in New Jersey, where one of her many roles is to lead local book groups. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, she worried about the book club participants who had become friends over the years and the

By Jacqueline Howard, CNN New ads promoting the Covid-19 vaccines are making their debut this week, targeting specific communities that have had a slow uptake of the updated shots. Black audiences are encouraged to get vaccinated in the “On Point” video, released by the US Department of Health and Human Services on Monday. A Spanish-language

By Steve Almasy and Sara Turnbull, CNN Hundreds of students missed class Monday at a northern Virginia high school where “a number of students have tested positive for influenza A” and others have symptoms consistent with the flu. The number of students who stayed home from Stafford High School in Fredericksburg dropped from about 1,000