As Links to MS Deepen, Researchers Accelerate Efforts to Develop an Epstein-Barr Vaccine
By Liz Szabo
October 19, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Recent leaps in medical research have lent urgency to the quest to develop a vaccine against Epstein-Barr, a ubiquitous virus that has been linked to a range of illnesses, from mononucleosis to multiple sclerosis and several cancers.
Omicron and Other Coronavirus Variants: What You Need to Know
By Louis Jacobson, PolitiFact
November 30, 2021
KFF Health News Original
This new variant has set off alarm bells in the public health community, but much remains to be learned about it.
Colorado Moves to Connect Agricultural Workers With Mental Health Resources
By Vignesh Ramachandran
February 7, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Advocates say two bills under consideration could help migrant communities but that more needs to be done.
Desantis, Newsom to Tangle Over Hot-Button Health Issues
By Angela Hart and Daniel Chang
November 30, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Florida’s Republican presidential hopeful, Ron DeSantis,and Democratic firebrand Gavin Newsom of California square off today in a contest of governors that can best be described as the debate to determine ¿quién es más macho? — who is more manly — about protecting your freedoms. Both men have led their respective states since 2019, and they’ve […]
Better Ventilation Can Prevent Covid Spread. But Are Companies Paying Attention?
By Liz Szabo
April 19, 2022
KFF Health News Original
The research is clear that improving indoor air quality is an essential tool in stemming the spread of covid and a host of other diseases. But companies have to be willing to invest.
In Super-Vaxxed Vermont, Covid Strikes — But Packs Far Less Punch
By Sarah Varney
January 28, 2022
KFF Health News Original
With its highest-in-the-nation vaccination rates, Vermont offers a glimpse of what’s possible as the U.S. learns to live with coronavirus.
California Fails to Adequately Help Blind and Deaf Prisoners, US Judge Rules
By Don Thompson
April 12, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Thirty years after prisoners with disabilities sued and 25 years after a federal court first ordered accommodations, a judge found that California prison and parole officials still are not doing enough to help deaf and blind prisoners — in part because they are not providing readily available technology such as video recordings and laptop computers.
Hospital Financial Decisions Play a Role in the Critical Shortage of Pediatric Beds for RSV Patients
By Liz Szabo
December 9, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Yes, the U.S. is experiencing an unusual spate of childhood RSV infections. But the critical shortage of hospital beds to treat ailing children stems from structural problems in pediatric care that have been brewing for years.
Cómo una mejor ventilación puede ayudar a que tu hogar sea “a prueba de covid”
By Liz Szabo
May 18, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Para las personas que no viven en casas grandes con varias habitaciones y baños, un familiar con covid genera riesgos extra. Mejorar la ventilación puede cambiar los resultados.
Halfway Through ‘Unwinding,’ Medicaid Enrollment Is Down About 10 Million
By Phil Galewitz
February 7, 2024
KFF Health News Original
While more Medicaid beneficiaries have been purged in the span of a year than ever before, enrollment is on track to settle at pre-pandemic levels.
The End of the Covid Emergency Could Mean a Huge Loss of Health Insurance
By Elisabeth Rosenthal
April 6, 2022
KFF Health News Original
It is a perilous time to throw low- and middle-income Americans off the insurance cliff: A new omicron subvariant is spreading, and a program that provided coronavirus testing and covid-19 treatment at no cost to the uninsured has expired.
Covid sigue matando gente. Esto recomiendan los médicos para protegerse
By Amy Maxmen
January 24, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Las pandemias no se definen por el tiempo ni por la gravedad, sino por grandes cantidades de infecciones en curso en todo el mundo. Las emergencias son agudas y se declaran para desencadenar una respuesta urgente.
Covid Funding Pries Open a Door to Improving Air Quality in Schools
By Liz Szabo
June 13, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Researchers say the billions in pandemic funding available for ventilation upgrades in U.S. schools provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to combat covid-19, as well as making air more breathable for students living with allergies, asthma, and chronic wildfire smoke.
A Guide to Help You Keep Up With the Omicron Subvariants
By Louis Jacobson, PolitiFact
May 6, 2022
KFF Health News Original
How different are the seemingly endless stream of emerging omicron subvariants from one another and how protected are we?
Tech Titans Want the Richest Californians to Pay for Pandemic Preparedness
By Angela Hart
April 26, 2022
KFF Health News Original
A measure likely to be on California’s November ballot would tax the state’s wealthiest residents to rebuild crumbling public health infrastructure and try to head off another pandemic. But are inflation-weary Californians willing to vote for new taxes?
Todo lo que hay que saber sobre omicron y las otras variantes del coronavirus
By Louis Jacobson, PolitiFact
November 30, 2021
KFF Health News Original
La variante omicron, conocida oficialmente como B.1.1.529, apareció en noviembre en varios países del sur de África. Las alarmas saltaron en todo el mundo cuando los funcionarios de salud pública de Sudáfrica vieron que empezaba a superar a delta, la cepa dominante hasta ahora.
Health Policies Were a Prominent Theme in Biden’s State of the Union Speech
By KFF Health News and PolitiFact staffs
February 8, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Our partners at PolitiFact fact-checked a range of President Joe Biden’s statements, including key health-related comments.
Boost Now or Wait? Many Wonder How Best to Ride Out Covid’s Next Wave
By Sam Whitehead and Arthur Allen
July 18, 2022
KFF Health News Original
As the country faces a rise in new infections driven by the omicron BA.5 subvariant of the coronavirus, about 70% of people 50 and older who got a first covid-19 booster shot haven’t received the recommended second one, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many undervaccinated Americans have lost interest, and others aren’t sure whether to get boosted again now or wait for vaccines reformulated to target newer strains of the virus.
Unraveling the Interplay of Omicron, Reinfections, and Long Covid
By Liz Szabo
August 26, 2022
KFF Health News Original
The omicron variant has proved adept at finding hosts, often by reinfecting people who recovered from earlier bouts of covid. But whether omicron triggers long covid as often and severe as previous variants is a matter of heated study.
Politics and Pandemic Fatigue Doom California’s Covid Vaccine Mandates
By Rachel Bluth
May 31, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Even in deep-blue California, Democratic lawmakers pulled their proposed covid vaccine requirements before they had a vote. The lawmakers blamed the ebbs and flows of the coronavirus, the public’s short attention span, and opposition from public safety unions.