Get Healthy!

Demand for a new shot that protects babies against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) has outpaced supply, prompting U.S. health officials to recommend the doses be saved for high-risk infants.

In an alert posted Monday afternoon, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said nirsevimab (Beyfortus) should be reserved ...

A potentially deadly infection carried by mosquitoes may be more prevalent than once thought, U.S. health officials report.

Named the Cache Valley virus after the Utah area in which it was first found in 1956, it has caused seven serious infections nationwide. But it may have infected up to 18% of the population, ac...

Yellow fever may be resurfacing in the United States, thanks to climate change.

The mosquito-borne viral illness decimated southern U.S. cities from 1820 to 1905, and now a new report says it could return to those areas.

One of the potential reasons for a yellow fever resurgence? Global warming, because mosquitoes love warm, wet weather.

Exactly where yellow fever...

New research has uncovered evidence that remnants of the COVID-19 virus may remain in some patients' guts for months, contributing to the lingering symptoms known as long COVID.

The remnants appear to trigger a drop in levels of the chemical serotonin, which may explain such symptoms as fatigue, brain fog and memory loss.

About 20% of people who have had COVID-19 infections have sy...

Toilet bowls reveal much about the health of a community, alerting scientists to coming outbreaks of flu and other seasonal viruses, researchers say.

"Just one flush can hold a lot of information," said Kristine Du, co-author of a new Canadian study.

"Wastewater surveillance equ...

In rare cases, some patients may develop an autoimmune disease following a bout of COVID, Korean researchers report.

Conditions such as alopecia (hair loss), psoriasis, vitiligo (white skin patches), vasculitis (inflammation of blood vessels), Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, adult-onset Still's disease (painful skin rash), Sjogren's syndrome (autoimmune disease...

It's time to get the flu shot.

They're important not just for adults, but also for children, and keeping the whole family safe, according to an expert in pediatrics.

"You never know how bad a flu season will be,"said Dr. Mona Patel, attending physician in the department of general pediatrics at Children's Hos...

Long COVID, a constellation of symptoms that extend past the initial illness, is now a recognized condition.

But researchers say COVID-19 may not be the only respiratory virus that causes these lasting health impacts -- "long colds" may also exist.

"Our findings shine a light not only on the impact of long COVID on people's lives, but also other respiratory infections. A lack of aw...

Moderna Inc. announced Wednesday that it has seen positive early results with a new vaccine that would guard against four strains of flu plus COVID-19.

In interim findings from a Phase 1/2 trial, the vaccine showed both a strong immune response compared to the standard dose of flu vaccine in adults aged 50 to 64 and an enhanced flu shot in people aged 65 to 79. It also showed a strong res...

More than 80% of eligible Americans did not get a COVID-19 booster shot last fall. Now, a new study reveals the reasons for the hesitation.

Nearly 40% of survey participants said a prior COVID-19 infection factored into their decision to not get the booster. Another 31.5% were worried about side effects. And an additional 28% didn't think a booster would provide extra protection, while 23...

Recent research has suggested that viruses could play a role in the loss of pancreatic beta cells, which triggers type 1 diabetes.

Now, a new trial finds antiviral medications, when given soon after a child is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, might help preserve those vital beta cells.

Antiviral drugs could be "used alone, or as part of combination treatment regimens, to rescue insu...

New research shows the COVID-19 virus can directly infect coronary arteries, inflaming fatty plaque inside them, which can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.

This may explain why some people who get COVID-19 have a greater chance of developing heart disease. It also may shed light on why those who already have heart trouble develop more heart-related complications.

"Sinc...

Rabies virus is incurable and almost always fatal once it has invaded the central nervous system, with the victim doomed to suffer a horrible death.

But researchers now think they've found an effective and simple treatment that can cure even advanced cases of rabies.

A monoclonal antibody injected into lab mice successfully protected them from a lethal dose of rabies virus, research...

Women may soon have a vaccine they can take during a pregnancy to help protect their newborn from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

Following approval one month ago by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday also approved the shot, called Abrysvo. That marks the last hurdle needed for the vaccine to become widely available.

"T...

Symptoms of mild COVID-19 infection have shifted this season, and now are more akin to those of allergies and the common cold, doctors say.

Many people with COVID-19 now are presenting with upper respiratory symptoms like runny nose, watery eyes and a sore throat, said Dr. ...

COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths are gradually increasing in the United States, as two new variants gain a foothold in the nation. And with that rise, more people are looking for COVID test kits.

Hospitalizations rose by nearly 9% and deaths by nearly 11% in late August/early September, according to

Following on an approval granted Monday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, an expert panel from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday also signed off on new COVID boosters for Americans.

Final approval is expected from CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen, which would set the stage for the updated vaccines to soon become available.

The COVID-19 shots from Pf...

When you have COVID-19, when are you most infectious? Researchers are getting closer to an answer, with a new study finding that folks exhale the highest amounts of virus during the first eight days of their illness.

Scientists found that patients exhale quite a bit of virus during the first several days -- as many as 1,000 copies of airborne virus per minute.

Those levels drop st...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday gave the green light to new COVID boosters for Americans, setting the stage for the updated vaccines to become available within days.

The COVID-19 shots from Pfizer and Moderna will join the flu shot and newly approved RSV shots as part of a three-pronged public health strategy to tame the spread of all three viruses this coming winter. The ...

You've probably heard of West Nile virus, but mosquitoes spread various other illnesses, too, including the little-known Jamestown Canyon virus (JCV), which is garnering attention across the United States.

For example, health officials in Connecticut have so far identified mosquitoes carrying JCV in 12 towns across the state. Although no confirmed human cases of the disease have occurred ...

Some good news for folks who are worried about the new, troublesome COVID variant known as BA.2.86: Moderna Inc. said Wednesday that its updated vaccine held its own against this highly mutated version of the virus.

While approval for the newest version of the vaccine is still pending from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the company offered good reason for why the agency should gi...

Doctors are seeing a spike in severe cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) among young children in Florida and Georgia, U.S. health officials warned Tuesday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent an advisory to doctors, noting that regional increases us...

A new COVID-19 surge is underway, with seasonal changes and new variants fueling an increase in hospitalizations and deaths.

A new Omicron variant, named Eris, has become dominant in the United States amid signs that an even more highly evolved COVID variant called BA.2.86 is starting to spread across America.

However, experts say the public should react to this latest surge not wit...

COVID-19 variants are evolving three times faster in white-tailed deer than in humans, according to a new study.

Deer serve as virus reservoirs, places where a virus thrives and multiplies, making them the perfect host for ongoing mutation.

The virus also appears to be passing between humans and deer, where genomic analysis showed at least 30 infections in deer were introduced by ...

Public health officials have detected the new BA.2.86 variant of COVID-19 in U.S. wastewater, giving rise to concerns about the highly mutated variant in the United States.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the detection on Wednesday. ...

Women may soon have a vaccine they can take during a pregnancy to help protect their newborn from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), following U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of the shot, called Abrysvo, on Monday

The vaccine is designed to be given to pregnant women between 32 and 36 weeks of pregnancy as a way to protect infants from birth through 6 months from the sometimes ...

The idea of "doing your own research"didn't begin with the pandemic, but new research suggests that those who follow that ideology have been more likely to believe COVID misinformation.

"We had heard the phrase a lot before,"prior to the pandemic, said researcher Sedona Chinn, a professor of life sciences communicat...

All infants should receive the new long-acting preventive monoclonal antibody for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), the nation's leading pediatrics group said.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) urged that access to the new medication, called nirsevimab, be equitable.

RSV is common, contagious and sometimes deadly, the AAP said.

The antibody boosts the immune system.

Mosquitoes can be a big pest, leaving behind itchy bumps on skin and potentially spreading serious diseases, such as West Nile virus.

Sam Telford III is a professor of infectious disease and global health at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University and a commissioner for the Central Ma...

As researchers continue to try to better understand the condition known as long COVID, a new study has discovered that symptoms can emerge months after infection or even return later for some folks.

The research is considered the most comprehensive look at how symptoms evolve over the course of a year.

"It was common for symptoms to resolve, then re-emerge months later,"said lead au...

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday recommended that all infants under the age of 8 months be given a new antibody shot to help guard against severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

The antibody shot, sold as Beyfortus, has been shown to reduce the risk of both hospitalizations and healthcare visits for RSV in infants by about 80 percent, the CDC said in a