The Chicken and Egg Problem of Fighting Another Flu Pandemic
By Arthur Allen
May 31, 2024
KFF Health News Original
The spread of an avian flu virus in cattle has again brought public health attention to the potential for a global pandemic. Fighting it would depend, for now, on 1940s technology that makes vaccines from hens’ eggs.
The CDC’s Test for Bird Flu Works, but It Has Issues
By Arthur Allen Amy Maxmen
July 26, 2024
KFF Health News Original
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention promises better tests are being developed, but the episode points to vulnerabilities in the country’s defense against emerging outbreaks.
California Dengue Cases Prompt Swift Response From Public Health Officials
By Claudia Boyd-Barrett
November 12, 2024
KFF Health News Original
With the arrival in California of dengue, a dangerous mosquito-borne disease present mainly in more tropical climates, public health authorities are deploying a range of strategies to beat back the Aedes mosquitoes that spread the virus.
El problema del huevo y la gallina en la lucha contra otra pandemia de gripe
By Arthur Allen
May 31, 2024
KFF Health News Original
La propagación de un nuevo virus entre múltiples especies en un área geográfica amplia eleva la amenaza de que más mutaciones puedan producir un virus que se propague de humano a humano a través de la transmisión aérea.
MRNA Vaccines, Once a Trump Boast, Now Face Attacks From Some in GOP
By Stephanie Armour
March 10, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Republicans have proposed legislation in several states to ban the pioneering technology used in covid shots. Many doctors worry a huge medical advance could be rolled back.
Oficiales de salud en California responden rápido a los casos de dengue
By Claudia Boyd-Barrett
November 12, 2024
KFF Health News Original
En lo que va del año, las autoridades han identificado al menos 13 casos de dengue de transmisión local, frente a dos en 2023, con 11 en el condado de Los Ángeles y dos en el área de San Diego.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: A Chat With the Surgeon General on Health Worker Burnout
July 7, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Health workers are not OK, and that poses a threat to anyone who may need health services. That’s the central finding of the latest report from the office of U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, “Addressing Health Worker Burnout.” This special episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” podcast is a conversation about the report between Murthy and KHN chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner, which was recorded at the annual research meeting of AcademyHealth in June.
Much of the CDC Is Working Remotely. That Could Make Changing the Agency Difficult.
By Sam Whitehead
December 5, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Like many U.S. workplaces, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention went remote during the pandemic. Most of the agency’s staff members haven’t returned to the office full time, raising concerns about the CDC’s ability to reform itself after recent stumbles.
Rural California Hatches Plan for Engineered Mosquitoes to Battle Stealthy Predator
By Anna Maria Barry-Jester
May 10, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Tulare County officials hope the region will soon be a testing ground for a new generation of technology in a centuries-old war: Human vs. Mosquito.
It’s Hot Outside — And That’s Bad News for Children’s Health
By Colleen DeGuzman
June 16, 2022
KFF Health News Original
An article in the New England Journal of Medicine takes a sweeping look at how heat — which can be a byproduct of air pollution and climate change — adversely affects people’s health, especially that of kids.
RFK Jr.’s Campaign of Conspiracy Theories Is PolitiFact’s 2023 Lie of the Year
By Madison Czopek, PolitiFact Katie Sanders, PolitiFact
December 27, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Debate and speculation are heating up over whether Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign will factor into the outcome of the 2024 election. But one thing is clear: Kennedy’s political following is built on a movement that seeks to legitimize conspiracy theories.
La California rural utilizará mosquitos modificados genéticamente para luchar contra sigilosos depredadores
By Anna Maria Barry-Jester
May 10, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Una generación de insectos de laboratorio podría ser una herramienta eficaz para eliminar al mosquito que causa enfermedades que pueden resultar mortales.
Viewpoints: Did Zika Disappear?; Surprise Support For Trans Rights In Ohio
January 3, 2024
Morning Briefing
Editorial writers discuss the Zika virus, transgender health care, hospital billing, and other health issues.
Another Study Finds Zika Virus Could Be Used To Treat Cancer
January 19, 2024
Morning Briefing
Researchers found that the deadly virus can be successfully used to tackle cancerous tissue in mice, and, stunningly, the treatment had very highly efficacy, and required just one injection. Separately, research into Zika infections in people found that reinfection is actually possible.
Concerns Over Alzheimer’s Drug Risk For People With Down Syndrome
August 22, 2024
Morning Briefing
Among the worries: a possible brain bleed risk from lecanemab in certain people. Other news is on harnessing Zika virus as a therapy to destroy certain cancers; temperature tracking of mail-ordered drugs; and more.
Covid’s ‘Silver Lining’: Research Breakthroughs for Chronic Disease, Cancer, and the Common Flu
By Liz Szabo
March 17, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Billions of dollars invested in mRNA vaccines and covid research could yield health care dividends for decades to come.
Public Health Experts Worry About Boom-Bust Cycle of Support
By Michelle R. Smith, The Associated Press Lauren Weber Hannah Recht
April 19, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Congress has poured tens of billions of dollars into public health since last year. While health officials who have juggled bare-bones budgets for years are grateful for the money, they worry it will soon dry up, just as it has after previous crises such as 9/11, SARS and Ebola. Meanwhile, they continue to cope with an exodus from the field amid political pressure and exhaustion that meant 1 in 6 Americans lost their local health department leader.
Pandemic Poses Short- and Long-Term Risks to Babies, Especially Boys
By Liz Szabo
December 21, 2021
KFF Health News Original
A mother’s immune response to covid can be a greater danger to the fetus than the virus itself.
Research Roundup: Schizophrenia; Parkinson’s; Zika; ADHD; More
December 1, 2022
Morning Briefing
Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.
In California, Someone Caught Dengue Via Local Infection For The First Time
October 23, 2023
Morning Briefing
In startling news, a rare case of mosquito-borne dengue virus was locally acquired by someone in Pasadena — the first known case in the state for someone who had not recently traveled. Also in the news: In the hunt for Zika virus vaccines, volunteers are safely infected for the first time.
