CNN – Health

By Brenda Goodman, CNN The Omicron BA.5 subvariant is no longer the dominant cause of Covid-19 infections in the United States, according to estimates released Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Instead, a host of new sublineages — offshoots of BA.2, BA.4 and BA.5 — are now responsible for the majority

By Deidre McPhillips, CNN Flu season has ramped up early in the United States, and flu hospitalizations are worse than usual for this time of year, according to data published Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s been more than a decade — since the H1N1 swine flu pandemic — since

By Jen Christensen, CNN Amid a surge of respiratory infections, children’s hospitals across the United States are so busy that some had to set up tents to handle patient overflow. The viruses are partly to blame for overwhelmed hospitals and packed emergency rooms, but for some, the problem is staffing: Many hospitals have empty beds,

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN Knowing you have higher than normal blood pressure — and taking medications daily to treat it — may be one key to avoiding dementia in later life, a new study found. Scientists already know that having high blood pressure, particularly between ages 40 and 65, increases the risk of developing dementia

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,