A public health historian sizes up their records

Health care is a defining issue in the 2024 election – Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Republican contender Donald Trump have starkly different records on the issue. Rather than…

How HIV/AIDS got its name − the words Americans used for the crisis were steeped in science, stigma and religious language

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention first used the term “AIDS” on Sept. 24, 1982, more than a year after the first cases appeared in medical records. Those early…

COVID-19, flu and RSV shots − an epidemiologist explains why all three matter this fall

The Food and Drug Administration approved and granted emergency use authorization on Aug. 22, 2024, for the newest, updated version of the COVID-19 vaccine. The Centers for Disease Control and…

Infectious diseases spike when kids return to school − here’s what you can do about it

Ready or not, back-to-school season is here, and kids will be bringing home more than homework. They’ll be carrying germs, too. These viruses and bacteria will be agents that cause…

CDC greenlights two updated COVID-19 vaccines, but how will they fare against the latest variants? 5 questions answered

On Sept. 12, 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the newly formulated COVID-19 vaccines for all Americans ages 6 months and up, hours after its expert advisory…

FDA’s greenlighting of maternal RSV vaccine represents a major step forward in protecting young babies against the virus

With the Food and Drug Administration’s Aug. 21, 2023, approval of the first vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, for use during late pregnancy, the U.S. will soon have…

More adults than ever have been seeking ADHD medications – an ADHD expert explains what could be driving the trend

As a woman in my 30s who was constantly typing “ADHD” into my computer, something interesting happened to me in 2021. I started receiving a wave of advertisements beckoning me…

Ringworm fungal infections are common in the US and are becoming increasingly resistant to treatment – 6 questions answered

The World Health Organization considers antimicrobial resistance to be one of the most serious threats for global health. Similar to the way bacteria have developed resistance to antibiotics, fungal infections…

Many people are tired of grappling with long COVID – here are some evidence-based ways to counter it

A patient of mine, once a marathon runner, now gets tired just walking around the block. She developed COVID-19 during the 2020 Christmas holiday and saw me during the summer…

Obesity in children is rising dramatically, and it comes with major – and sometimes lifelong – health consequences

In the past two decades, children have become more obese and have developed obesity at a younger age. A 2020 report found that 14.7 million children and adolescents in the…